I was tagged!

Not once, but twice! Thanks Heather and Lauren. Here we go.

The Rules:
1-Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2-Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3-Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4- Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.


1. I never thought I would become a runner. Never in a million years. Now that I have started I LOVE IT!!! I love how it makes me look and feel.
2. I was in Girl Guides for about 12 years. I am thinking of going back as a leader.
3. I don't have a favorit season, I love them all, for different reasons. Summer I can spend the whole day outside in the sun. Fall I enjoy watching the leaves change color. Winter I love playing in the snow and going snowboarding. Spring everything smells great and it's perfect for running.
4. Even thought I have "fat days", I am pretty happy with what I see in the mirror on a daily basis. That's not to say I wouldn't mind getting rid of these extra pounds I'm carrying, but I am content with how I look now.
5. I became "friends" with my grade 1 teacher. She would come over and swim at Gramma's house sometimes.
6. In my first year of high school, I was supposed to be in the remedial program, but I just made it into the main stream. By my second year, I was in the advanced program.
7. I always complain that I am so busy, but the reality of it is I wouldn't have it any other way. I hate having nothing to do.

So there you have it. Facts about me! I think everyone has been tagged, but if you haven't and want to be, consider it done!

Weekend to End Breast Cancer

As some of you may already know, I am planning on walking in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer in Ottawa, June 2008. We have all been affected by breast cancer either directly or indirectly. We need to fight together to find a cure. In order for me to walk, I need to raise $2000. To help me raise the money, I am making and selling necklaces and pins. I am asking for your help. Below you will find some pictures of the necklaces and pins I have made. Each one is listed with a price. Please keep in mind that all of the money I get from the necklaces is going to Breat Cancer Research

The pictures are of necklaces I have made right now, and becasue alot of them are one of a kind, you may not be able to get the exact one shown. I am constantly making new and different ones. So if you let me know what colors and lengths you like, I am sure I can find something that will work for you.

When you do find the one you like, I will mail it to you, probably via Canada Post. As for payment, I will be collecting money through the Weekend to End Breast Cancer site. That way, you are sure that the money is going to Breast Cancer research!

Lastly, please remember that I am doing this for charity, so I am also accepting donations. If you would like to donate please visite: http://www.endcancer.ca/goto/angelafurniss

So buy necklaces for yourself, buy them for friends and family (for christmas!) and help support a great cause!

If you have any questions, either e-mail me or leave me a comment.

These are some of the different colors I have for the multi-strand necklace. Price: $10


Price: $10 each


This is a close up of the center part of the necklace. Price: $10


These are some of the colors for pins I have. If you want a specific color, let me know. Price: $3



These are some of the pendants that have yet to be made into necklaces.

Monday Update

Court: Waste of my time. I sat around for 45 minutes, only to be told I wasn't needed and I could go home. So why did I show up in the first place?? The up side, I took the rest of the day off and got caught up on some house work and stuff that needed doing.

Running: I only go 3/5 runs in last week. I really need to be more dedicated and really get out. I have an excuse, but it's not really a good one, so I'm not even goig to post it.

Cookies: My roommate made cookies this weekend. I hate it when she does this. Her cookies are soooo good! I had 4 (yes, 4!) while playing cards on Saturday night and another 2 on Sunday! Once the overflow is off the counter and all the cookies are in the cookie jar, it will be alot easier to avoid them.

Sunday breakfast: I went to McDonalds. I wanted something more, but I couldn't find anything else open after my long run! 17 for breakfast. Not great, but not the end of the world.

Weekend to End Breast Cancer: I have finally gotten around to taking pictures of the necklaces I am selling. I will posting them in a new thread on here very soon (sometime this afternoon) will all the details.

Oops!

Sorry for the lack of postage, things have been really stressful at home this past week. Hopefully, things are starting to get better.

I don't have a whole lot to say today, so I will keep it breif.

I joined a challenge on the WW boards, and it seems to be doing some good. I have had a really good week so far. Hopefully it keeps up and I will make my mini-goal of below 200lbs by Christmas.

Halloween was good. I didn't by any candy to had out, so I have no leftovers. One guy at work was handing out goodies, but it's a small bag of cookies, that are 2pts for the bag I think. So far I have tossed it in my bag and am trying to forget about it. I might eat them later, I haven't decided.

Running is going well, I am still struggling to get my 5 runs a week in though. There seems to always be something else that needs doing.

Wish me luck, tomorrow I'm in court to do with the fire at my place. I have no clue what to expect!

Finally Friday!

Hurray for fridays! Another week over!

Not much going on this weekend. I have decided that I haven't seen my friends in WAY too long so I'm having some people over this weekend for a card party. Should be a blast! Probably not going to drink too much, so I should be good on the WW front. Plus people aren't coming over until after dinner.

Bad news, my wrists and elbows hurt. It's probably from (a) spending so much time on a computer, and (b) making all those breast cancer pins. Sigh. Hopfully it will go away soon!

In other news, I have been doing pretty good at staying on track all week. Except for the minor slip up called Chinese Food. We ordered out last night. Pizza I can deal with, Chinese, apparently not! Oh well, I drank tons of water today, and I plan on going running tonight. Nothing much (3km), but at least I will be geting out.

I signed up for the Hypo Half in January today. Registration started this week and it's already at over 100 people. It's capped at 300!!! I'm glad I got signed up before it was full! I would have been pretty upset if I couldn't do the half after having trained for it all through December!! On a similar note, I should sign up for the resolution run before it fills up too!

Well, I'm off to finish up at work, before heading out a little early! Have a great weekend!

ENOUGH!!!!!

I am sick and tired of this rollercoaster of a ride I am on. I want to get off! It's a horribly visous cycle! I don't loose, so I don't track, so I don't loose. I have had enough! I'm not loosing, I'm not tracking, and I'm not eating right! If I plan on getting below 200 by christmas, this has to stop, and it has to stop NOW!

The only thing I am doing right, is running. And even then I'm struggling to get out regularly. According to the Running Room schedule, I should be doing 5 runs a week. I'm averging 4. Not too bad, but still not great. I'm paying for the gym, and I haven't been there in about a month now. I hate wasting money like that...

What happend to my motivation? I NEED it back, and fast.

I'm going to take it one day at a time. I will track one day at a time. When I get through today, I will worry about tomorrow. Hopefully this will get me back on track. I don't know what else to do.

On a different note, I have decided to cut WAY back on the amount of pop I drink. I'm going down to when I'm out, or special occations. I'm going to drink more water, and probably some crystal light. So far so good. I'm on day 2 without any pop.

You know your a real runner when...

You actually look forward to a run in the rain.

I just got back from a nice run out in the rain. Ran alot faster then usual too! It was a good run..

Now, off to dinner.

What a weekend

I'm pretty happy with my time at the Zoo run. Not a PR, bit then again, they can't all be PR's! I do want to say Way to Go to my Uncle who did get a PR (56min!!) and DBF who finished his first timed 5km! You guys rock!

I spent the day Sunday vegging on the couch, watching movies. It was great to have a relaxing day. Plus I got some beading done.

My pet peeve of the day: people who show up to a training class, but spend the whole time checking their blackberry. If you have better things to do, don't waiste my time. Grrrr...

Whats new with me...

Not much. I started selling a few of my necklaces at work, and I think I did pretty well for my first day, $45! And a bunch of people saying they would love to see more. So I'm pretty happy about that!

I got rear-ended on wednesday night, while driving home. Nothing overly serious, but it still sucks. It's gonna cost almost $700 to fix the back bumper, and it will take 2 days. At least the guy that hit me realises that it is his fault and has agreed to pay for the damages. So thats good too.

I'm heading to Toronto tonight to go and run the Zoo Run 10km. I'm looking forward to that, it sounds like something a little different in terms of races.

Well, that's pretty much all that's new with me! What's new with you?

So close, but...

Still so far! I almost made it in to the Running Room for the Sunday group run. However, around 8:30, when I woke up, I realised that I wasn't going. Oh well, maybe next time. I did get up and do an 8km run though, so that was good!

Thanks for giving your thoughts on the business cards. I ended up going with some bright colored cards. I have hot pink, line green, bright blue, yellow and red. I decided to go with the colored cards, that way, if people get them mixed in with other papers and other cards, mine will stand out much more then a white card. Here's an example:


Well, I suppose I should get back to work. Hurray for 4 day work weeks!

This weeks WI!

Yahoo!! I'm down 3.5lbs. That puts a good dent in the 7lbs I want to loose by christmas!

My treat this week: A bottle of Cream Soda, and two cookies.
(Every week after WI, I allow myself to have something "not WW". Sometimes it's pizza, or fries) I fought off the craving I've been having for chip wagon fries, and bought 2 cookies at a bake sale for United Way. MUCH better then the greasy fries!

I gotta get my act together for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer stuff. I've been telling people at work about it and a bunch of people have already said they will support me! I plan on getting my personal webpage set up and ready for donations this weekend, allong with the "business cards" that I will be handing out. What do you think, should I print them on bright pink paper, or on white with a picture of a pink ribbon? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Have a great turkey day!

Sorry!

Sorry for the lack of postage ladies (and gents). Life has been busy. Work had me going all over the city putting out "fires" (not real ones!) I always say things are going to be settling down soon, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Oh well, I just roll with the flow!

WW is going ok. I'm hoping to stay the same this week, but if I'm really lucky, I might loose (given my food this week, I doubt it!) But I am proud to say that I am back at it and am tracking everything religiously again, and measuring food. This is good.

I am also back at running. Which is also good. So far I'm enjoying the 1/2 marathon clinic. Nice people, and the distance isn't too bad, yet.

I have also decided that I am going to walk in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer this year. So I am getting started on raising my money now! I am going to make beaded necklaces and sell them. As soon as I get a few things ready, I will be posting some pics here, so you can see them, and even buy some if you are interested! More info to come on that.

I'm looking forward to the long weekend, I need some time off! I'm going to try really hard to stay on track though. The last thing I need is another "event" to throw the whole WW thing off, again.

My next goal is to be below 200lbs for christmas. That's 7 lbs in 3 months. As long as I stay on track, it's do-able!

Back to normal?

Almost. I think that October is when it will really calm down. Things will get into a routine and I will be good to go.

I had a good weekend. There was a wedding. It was TONS OF FUN!!! I had an amasing time. WW-wise, kinda iffy, but hopefully I can get by with just staying the same. We'll have to see tomorrow. I am proud to say that I got out of bed early on saturday and went for a 5km run knowing that I would need the AP's. The bad part? I haven't tracked all week! My tracker is sitting on my dresser at home, just waiting to be writen in...Oh well. I am hopeing to not see a gain this week, but at least I know why if I do see one.

To answer your question Amy, yes, I am taking the clinic at Slater. I decided that since I am taking this clinic alone, I should go to the location that is closest to me. I was hoping that doing it close to home I would be less stressed about it then I am with the LTR I am doing now at Merivale. However, the clinic hasn't even started yet, and they already have me annoyed! (There was some "confusion" about wheather the clinic runs mondays or tuesdays, and then I got 2 conflicting e-mails about start times.) *Sigh* I am trying to not let it get to me and just go and enjoy the clinic.

Tonight is the last night of the LTR clinic. We are going for a run a then out to dinner. Should be a good time. I've had fun helping Mom with this clinic, but I am ready to move on. I'm finding it too much to go out to Merivale 2 nights a week to run, the commute takes longer then the actual run. But, if asked to, I would probably do it all again!

Well, they usually expect me to do some work while in the office, so I should get back at it...

I have missed you...

Today is the first day in a while that I have been able to get back into my old lunch time habbit. That of reading everyone's blog and then posting my own. And I admit, I have missed you. I have missed reading about what is going on with people, I have missed all the inspiration I get from you all, and I have missed posting. It helps to keep me accountable.

Life is starting to get back on track, I think. I'm hoping that as of next week, life will be somewhat normal, but that may be too much to hope for. Next monday I start the half clinic and I am so looking forward to it! I can't wait! This will be the first clinic that I do "by myself" and I am doing it much closer to home. This means I *might* even haul ass out of bed early to go for the sunday morning group runs, but I still think 8:30 is too early!

I am hoping that WW will fall back into place next week too. I have a wedding this weekend, so I am going to try and save my flex for that. I am thinking I might even get out of bed early and go for a run saturday morning, just so I have the extra points for the day. I will have to see how things go.

Have any of you seen the new "toy" on blogger? The one that lets you watch pictures as they are being posted? If not, check it out! (http://play.blogger.com/) It's really cool, and a great way to waste some time, I mean...pass the time. :)

Holy Stress Batman!

It has been a looooonnnnnnggggg week. I worked all week, but wasn't in the office at all. I have been running here and there to different clients. It was quite a week and I am so glad for the weekend to be here. One more week of insaneness before things calm back down and go back to normal. Then hopefully I will be able to concentrait more on WW. I also start my training for the half marathon on the 24th, so hopefully that will get me going again. I still have to build up to be able to start that. When things calm down, I should be able to be get back into blogging more often.

Have a great OP week!

Goals

I was at WW tonight and the topic was goals. How important they are, and how they help you get to where you want to go. It got me thinking, I haven't sat down and thought about my goals in a while. I decided that tonight was as good a time as any and that this was a great place to write them up. So here we go.

Running Goals

1. Dream Goal: Run a marathon, or even an ultra-marathon


2. Season Goal: Complete the half-marathon clinic and the associated race


3. September Goal: Build up my running so I can make it through the clinic. This means running 3 to 4 times per week.

Weight Loss Goals

1. Ultimate Goal: Make it to lifetime and maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle.


2. Christmas Goal: Be below 200 lbs once and for all before christmas


3. This weeks Goal: Have 7 completely OP days. Stay the same for my WI next week.

What a week

Sorry I haven't been posting, I've been really busy this past week. Work has been insane. I did and hour and half of overtime today! It's been nuts. But I did take the time this evening to get caught up on everybody's blog!

On the WW front, I have been OP since Wednesday. I have tracked and measured everything. And got most of my oils in. I'm feeling really good! I've been getting out and doing my activity too.

When I left work today, I felt the need to go running. I almost sprinted from the office to the bus stop, but decided against it. As soon as I got home, I changed into my running gear and went out for a nice 5km. I felt great.

I made what I call "Cheap Stir-fry". It involves taking the beef cubes from the freezer and adding some frozen veggies, oil and spices. yummy!

I did some baking tonight too. I made some more scones, some more oatmeal bars and some PB Fudge.

Alright, off to bed for me!

The weekend and such

Well, I made it throught my weekend ok. Saturday morning, I got up early and went to the gym for an hour before the wedding. For dinner I had a 1/2 pizza and salad. It was really good! I had a cookie for dessert. Thats about it. I didn't go overboard!

Sunday I got up and went for a run. I managed to do a 5km, but I was dragging along by km 3. Oh well, I finished it and that's what counts. I showed up early for the shower and asked if there was anything I could do to help. The girls organizing it asked if I would be ok with counting jelly beans, knowing that I couldn't guess how many there were. So I jumped at the chance, because I LOVE JELLY BEANS! I knew that if I sat there and counted them, I couldn't win the prize, and therefor couldn't leave with 629 jelly beans! So I counted away, and only ate 2! And the food that was put out was pretty healthy too: veggies, fruit, crackers, cheese, sausage bits, corn and tostitos. All in all, I think I did pretty well.

I am frustraited with WW right now, as you probably already know. So I have decided to go back to flex and make sure that I measure everything before I eat it! I'm hopefully going to get the new measuing spoons from WW, hopefully that will make a difference.

Well, time to get back to work!

Drag Queens and other stuff

I was at a comdey show at Yuk Yuk's yesterday, the third annual Laugh Out Proud show. It was awsome. One of the comedians came out dressed in drag and I realised how much respect I have for someone like that. Think about it. Think about how much confidence and self-estime you have to have to go out dressd in drag. You are going completely against what society deems to be "normal". I think it's great that they can go out and do that. And to take a phrase from the comic yesterday "You go girl!"

And now on to a slightly more regular post.

I was WAY off plan yesterday. We went out to lunch to celebrate the upcoming wedding of a co-worker. We went to a place called "Le Panacher" in Hull. They server traditional french cuisine. They had and "A La Carte" menu, and only had about 5 different meal options for lunch: Lamb (on the bone), Pork (agian with bone), Fish (which I don't like), Shrimp (which I also don't like) and then a pasta and chicken dish. So I had pasta. It was good, but the whole restaurent was not my thing. They also had unlimited fresh baked bread with herbs in it. Now THAT was awsome! Then for dinner, I was on the run and grabbed some potato wedges from Loblaws. I've been craving them for a while now, and sorta got into the mentality of "Oh well, the day is already bust". But on the bright side, I did go to the gym for an hour.

This weekend is going to be full of challenges. I have a wedding to go to tomorrow and a bridal shower on sunday (two different couples). The wedding shouldn't be too bad. We aren't invited to the dinner, a bunch of us are going out, so at least I can choose something WW friendly. And then I just have to stay away from the boose at the reception, but I have to drive, so I know I won't go too over. As for the shower, it's going to be trickier. I'll make sure to eat something before going, so that I won't be hungry. Then I'll just stay away from the food!

Here's to a great OP weekend!

Yesterday's Race

I did a 10km race yesterday. It went well. It was a hard course though. For those who know Ottawa at all, it was held at the Experimental Farm Arboritum. The route was half gravel, half pavement. And I'm not talking nice, hard packed gravel, it was loose and moved all around. I had tons of rocks in my shoes. Oh and did I mention there was a hill? A big hill? With a gravel path up it? That I had to run three times? So yeah, my hamstrings are killer today! Oh well. I think I will opt out of running tonight, maybe go for a bit of a walk instead (does shopping count as walking?).

On the bright side, I managed to cut about 15 seconds off my race time. Considering the course, that's pretty decent!

Monday Morning

I had an awsome weekend! Saturday I went and got my hair cut and for a quick trip to the USA. Unfortunatly, there wasn't much going on in terms of getting clothes. Maybe it's because I was in a cheep mood, maybe it was because I didn't have any other girls with me. Either way, I came back with only one running shirt.

I knew it was going to be a day full of food challenges, so I dragged my a$$ to the gym saturday morning and did 1h15 of weights! Then we had lunch at Harvey's, and I only ordered a kids meal, and ended up throwing half the fries out because I wasn't hungry. For dinner we had pizza and I only had 3 pieces (still a little much I know), but I didn't have the one lonely last piece.

Sunday, I spent the afternoon baking. I made mini cookies, blueberry scones (only 2pts and delish!), oatmeal squares (core!) and then some meatloaf for dinner. With dinner we had some bread, and I only ate about half of what I usually have! Still had a little more then I should have, but I'm happy for cutting back!

I'm thinking of changeing WW meetings. I don't like the fact that one week I WI at lunch and one week I WI in the evenings. Things are work are changing, and it looks like I will be downtown 2 days a week, so starting in September, I think I will start going to a Friday lunch meeting. That way at least it will be more consistent. It will depend on what the client thinks of me taking a 45 minute lunch!

Late night post

Not much to day today except yay me for going out running at 3:30 today!

Have a good weekend!

My Thursday

Today was a boring day. I found out at 9:00 am that work wanted me to go and shadow one of the other girls from the office at one of our Government client site. Because I work in a very casual work place, I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt so I had to boot it home to change and then back to the office, so I could get a drive to downtown. Then I sat around and watched Nat work all day.

I didn't feel like bikeing in today so I drove, and went right to the gym afterwards. I spent 1h30min on the bike and doing weights. That's twice at the gym this week. And I'm planning on going back saturday morning.

Right now I don't feel like bikeing tomorrow, but I am thinking of driving in and going for a 5km run at lunch time. I think I'm getting tired of bikeing. I can't wait for september, when I get a bus pass again.

Take a look at the collage of fireworks pics I made earlier this week:


I think it looks awsome! I bought the frame for $30!! Regularly $60!!

Bah

Up 2 lbs at WI. Not overly suprised. But I did walk from downtown to the office after lunch today (about 30min walk) and I'm going to the gym tonight. Time to get back on track.

Bad WW weekend...

So, how was everyone's weekend???

WW wise, mine SUCKED!!! I had so much junk it's not even funny! And I told myself that I would go to the gym on friday, that never happend. So I said I would go Saturday morning, again, didn't happen. Ok, so I will go sunday morning. You guessed it, I didn't go. My only saving grace was the really sucky 3km run I did sunday evening with DBF. I like haveing someone to run with, but we were both tired and didn't really want to be running. I am glad we got out.

The plan is to get back on track and drink tons of water today in hopes of salvaging something for tomorrow's WI. At least I will know why the scale stays the same or goes up.

I spent saturday rearranging furniture in my bedroom and the living room, with DBF's help. I love the new looks. Everything is so much more open now. Sunday we drove around the parking lot at Tunney's so DBF could practice driving standard. He's doing really good.


Hope everyone has a great OP day!

Feeling Better

I'm feeling better today. Not so much cow like. Which is good. I had a great OP day yesterday, and even went for a 40min run.

Heading for another OP day today. Going out for indian tonights, so I will have to watch what I take.

Everybody in the office has St-Hubert for lunch, paid for by the boss. I opted not to get anything and had my tuna, salad wrap. I did have an itty bitty piece of apple pie though. And I stood my ground when the boss wanted me to take the leftover pie home. No more pie for me! (Plus, how would I get it home by bike?)

My confession...

Last night, I had my WI. Up 1 lb. Again. So I went to Pizza Hut for dinner, and ate 1/2 a pizza. Great way to loose weight. So today I am feeling like a cow. Mooo.

Oh well. Time to move on.

Going running tonight. Hopefully it won't be too hot and I can really push it.

Didn't bike in. It was raining and I have things to do this evening on a very tight time frame.

Some days I wonder if I will ever make it to goal. I know the progam works, it's worked for so many people I know. It worked for me for the first 40 lbs. So why can't I get it to work for the last 20 lbs?

What a weekend!

Not too good WW-wise, but fun! I drank too much, ate too much. But I did get out and move on sunday. I spent almost 2 hours in the gym sunday morning, and then went for a 30min walk in the evening!

Back at work today, so back on track too. It kinda sucks having to go to work today, when everyone else is at home. Oh well, very slack day, got some good work done, and the boss wasn't here!

So I'm gonna head out early...

As Promissed...

Here are some photos of the fireworks from last night

Can you belive the heat!!

How crazy is this...It's like 500degrees outside, and I am sitting in the office in a sweater! I have turned off a fan, hopefully it will "warm up" in here!

So how are you lovely ladies coping with the heat? I plan on spending this evening at the pool. I can't wait to get home and hang out by the pool!

Last night, we went to see the Lac Lemay fireworks. They were pretty cool. I got some really neat pictures. I will post them when I crop them down a bit, probably this evening.

Other than that, not much going on here. I'm still sore from tuesday and have opted to not go to the gym tonight, but I will go back on the weekend.

Try and stay cool!

Still sore

As expected, I'm sore today. Not as bad as I thought I would be, but still sore. Oh well, it will pass.

Haveing an ok OP day. There was cake at our board meeting this morning...never a good thing. I had a small piece, but still, I don't need cake at 10 in the morning!

Going running tonight, and then right into the pool!!

Menu:
B-Rice Crispy's (2), Yogurt, Grapes
S-Watermelon, cake (4)
L-Rice, chicken
S-Apple, Almonds (4)
D-No clue....

AP's-Running (3), Biking (3)

Owieeee!!

I hurt everywhere!
I went to the gym today, and tried out a new fitness program (Thanks JBird!), but seeings how it's new, and I haven't been in 2 weeks, my arms and legs hurt. I'm scared what it will be like tomorrow! Oh well, no matter what, I will be getting up and biking to work tomorrow, and running tomorrow evening.

Hopefully it won't be too bad.

WI Today

Sorry for the lack of posts this past week...I had some important reading to do...like Harry Potter! But I'm done now, and back!

Nothing overly interesting happend this past week anyway. Tracked everything religiously though, very proud of that. And appartently it paid off this week, with a 1lb loss!!

Thats about all I have for today.

WI last night...

SUCKED!!! I'm up 2lbs. How can I be up 2?? *Sigh*

This week I will track everything, and put the pts values in too, just to make sure I'm not eating more than I think I am.

Today's menu:
B-Raisin Bran(3), milk, raspberries
S-Hot Chocolate(1), apple, cheese
L-Kamut Pasta, pesto sauce, olive oil, carrots
S-Pear, almonds(4)
D-No clue, I'll be running the roads, so we'll see what I can find (probably going to raid Mom or Gramma's fridge)
S-Frozen pudding pops I made last night.

AP's: 40 min bike ride (3), 45 min walk at lunch, run tonight (don't know the distance yet)

Back at it

So I have decided that now that the detox is over, I am still going to try and follow it. Mostly.
-I miss my milk and dairy products, so those are back in.
-I love bread waaayyyy to much, so it is going to stay out for a while. Plus I had a ton on sunday night, and then felt shity on monday, so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it.
-Sugar is back in, sorta. No more deserts at lunch. One sweet treat a day, after dinner, IF I want it.
-Diet pop is back in, because I pretty much only drink water, milk and pop. I will be cutting back though.
-Fruits and veggies that were out are also back in, such as grapes, melon, oranges, etc.
-Almonds and almond butter is staying in, even though it's 4pts for almonds!
-Other than that, I'm going to try and stay away from the processed foods and stick to the natural and home made items.
-I'm also going to start mesuing my food more, even though I'm on core. I think that some of my portions have gotten a bit out of control.

Today's menu:
B-Raisin Bran (3), milk
S-Apple, cheese
L-Salad, pork, dressing (2), rice crackers
S(around 2:30)-Carrots
S(after WI)-Grapes, some form of FF latte from Starbucks
D-Don't know yet...

AP's: 60 min biking

Wish me luck for tonights WI, if I lose 2lbs, I will be in one-derland, hopefully to never go back up! I'll post how I did tomorrow!

Shopping!

I haven't posted pics of me in a while, so I used the new clothes as an excuse!









So, those are pretty much all my new clothes! What do you think?

Hurray for Fridays!!

Finally friday here!

I'm going to Montreal tomorrow, should be lots of fun. And I'm going to try really, really hard to stay OP.

I'm very proud of myself, I drove into work today, and didn't stall the car once! Yippie!

I have absolutly no motivation at work today. None. It's sad really.

Today's Menu:
B-Hot chocolate, oatmeal
S-Apple, almonds
L-Stir fry, rice, veggies
S-Rice crackers, salsa
D-I have no clue what to have.

Detox Day 10

I can't wait for this detox to be over! Yes I feel great, yes it's helping me with WW, but I can't stand the herbal "pills" I have to take! Starting next week, when I'm off the detox, I'm still going to eat the same types of food (whole foods, not processed stuff) because it's basically core, but I am going to start eating/drinking milk products like milk and yogurt. I'm going to try and avoid the cheese, because I was eating WAY TOO MUCH.

For lunch today, I brought some salad, and tuna, but I noticed that my lettus had gone bad! It was nasty. So I walked up to marchello's and got some steamed veggies, roasted zuchini, mashed potatos with veggies, brown rice, and one perogie. It was really good!

Today's menu:
B-Oatmeal, apple
S-Pear, almonds
L-Lots of veggies from Marchello's
S-Popcorn
D-Dunno, I'll see how I'm feeling when I get home.

Hump Day!!

Going in point form today because....I can!

1. I couldn't return my pants because they didn't have any 12's. I think I will look for a nice belt that I could wear with them, and I should be go for a while. I did buy 2 new spagetti strap tanks though, in Large (as opposed to XL)

2. Didn't get out and get any AP's yesterday. Oh well, I'll make up for it today.

3. My treat last night: a Funky Monkey from Booster Juice (chocolate soy milk, FF frozen yogurt, bananas). So good, and I only got the small size too!

4. I'm defrosting the fridge at work today, and I found a bottle of salad dressing that expred May 2006! Nasty!

Today's Menu:
B-2 Hard boiled eggs (done to perfection!), 2 rice cakes (I'm loving these things!)
S-Apple, handfull of almonds
L-Moroccan Stew, couscous
S-Veggies and hummus
D-Hamburger patty, couscous, squash, salad

AP's: Biking to and from work (40min), Running Room 20 min challenge (althought I will probably be running for about 25 min)

Today's WI!

Woot Woot!! This detox is paying off! I'm down 4lbs! Looking back, I have never had a 4lbs week. I'm hoping that if I stick to the detox for the next week, I will hopefully hit One-derland next week. I have been trying to get there since July 2006!! Sooo excited!!

On a slightly sadder note, this morning I was going to wear my new black pants (the ones that I got in a size 12). It turns out that they are actually 14's. The tag put on by the store said 12, but the tag in the pants says 14. They still feel too big, so I'm going back to the store tonight to see if they have a pair of actual 12's. If not, I will keep the 14's and maybe have my aunt take them in when they get to the "falling off too big" size. I would like to add that I am still really happy that I was able to buy a size 14 and have it be too big!

A new resaurent had opened in Ottawa, it's a sandwich and salad bar called Gooney's. If you work downtown, I strongly suggest you try it (it's on Laurier close to O'Conor, right across the street from WW). Really good food in there. They have some good looking salads too. I should look and see if I can find the NI.

Today's menu:
B-2 Rice cakes, almond butter, apple
S-Latte made with soy milk, handful of almonds
L-Salad with chicken, asparagus, mushrooms, balsamic vinagrette (from Gooney's)
S-Pear, almonds
D-Pasta, with spagetti squash

Monday...already?

Not too much going on in my corner of the world.

Took the car out on saturday and drove around a parking lot for 2 hours. I now feel that I understand how this whole standard thing works. About 90% of the time, I can start from a stop without stalling. It's not fast, but at least it doesn't stall. I still struggle with hills. John said he will go out with me this week and help me master those!

I was pretty good this weekend. I managed to track everything, and ate better then I normally do. Slipped up a little as far as the detox goes, had some popcorn and pop while at the movies on sunday. This is looking like another great OP week!

I'm really hoping for a loss this week. I've been really good, and I really need to see a loss, to help keep the motivation up!

Today's Menu:
B-Apple, 2 Rice Cakes, Almond Butter
S-Pear, Mixed Nuts
L-Morocan Stew, Couscous
S-Carrots, Celery, Cucumbers, Hummus
D-Stir-fry, Brown Rice

AP's: 40 min bike ride, 25 min run

Random Pics

First, here's a shot of the new car, a 2007 Yaris. I did pretty good last night, only stalled it a few times. Take offs are a little bumpy, but getting better!


I know it's not the best shot, but it was raining out and I took it from my balcony. I will post better pictures soon. I promise!

Fairwell Echo, you have served me well these past 3 years. You will be missed!


Next, this is a pic of the necklace Anthony gave me. I think it's beautyful!


No other interesting news, or photos for me.

The detox is going well, still not feeling 100% though.

Today's Menu:
B-2 Rice cakes with almond butter, apple
S-Pear, mixed nuts
L-Left over stir fry
S-Carrots, cucumbers, brocolli, maybe hummus
D-Probably chicken with something

Detox Day 3

Not feeling too great today, but I suspect it's from the detox. As they say in the documentation that goes with it, all the nasties that you are trying to get out of your system have to go through your system first. Oh well, hopefully I will be feeling better soon.

On the bright side, I get the car tonight!!! I can't wait! I'll put up some pictures soon!

Today's Menu:
B-Oatmeal, apple
S-Almonds (had a pear but wasn't hungry for it)
L-Salad, tuna, garlic lemon dressing, rice crackers
S-Veggies
D-Pasta and pesto sauce, that I didn't have yesterday

Detox Day 2

I made stir-fry for dinner last night, and it was delish! It had chicken, onion, carrots, celery, brocoli, zucchini, red and green peppers and tons of garlic! I put some olive oil and lemon juice on it. I served it over rice. Amasing. Took a while to cut up all the veggie though.

Going running with the LTR class again tonight. Probably going to do a 2.4km again.

For those who asked, I'm getting a Red 2007 Yaris. Can't wait until tomorrow!

Today's menu:
B-3 Rice cakes with Almond butter, apple
S-Pear, mixed nuts
L-Leftover stir-fry and rice
S-Veggies and hummus
D-Brown rice pasta, basil and pesto sauce, maybe a salad

Detox, running and new car!

First running. Last night was the first night of the running class. It went well. It's a big class, about 25 people! Next week I will be giving the talk on the online stuff, what tools are there and how to use them. I'm looking forward to it.

New car. I found out that my new car is already in at the dealership and I am going to get it on Thursday. I can't wait! Should be fun to drive it home. Still learning the whole standard thing.

Detox. Today is day 1 of the detox and it's going well. I went grocery shopping yesterday and bought tons of fruits and veggies. I tasted almond butter today, it tastes great. I almost like it better the peanut butter. Almond butter on rice cakes will make a very good snack. I made up some dressing from the detox cookbook: lemon garlic. I have made it before and I LOVE IT! Basically it's garlic, lemon juice and olive oil.

Today's Menu:
B-Scrambled eggs with red and green peppers
S-Apple, almond butter
L-Salad, tuna, lemon garlic dressing, rice crackers
S-Celery, carrots, cucumbers with hummus
D-Stir fry (zucchini, carrots, celery, peppers, brocoli, sugar snap peas, chicken, with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil), with jasime rice

AP's: Biking (50min)

Gotta get back at it

My pledge to you dear reader:
Seeings how I log on everyday to read other peoples blogs, I will post something everyday. Maybe not much, but at the very least I will post my menu. This will hopefully keep me on track!

The wedding this weekend was great. The bride was beautyful, the groom was hansome, they looked some much in love. WW wise, it was ok. I probably ate too much, drank too much, but I did get alot of dancing in, so it sorta evens out, right? Hopefully tomorrow's WI won't be too bad. On a good note, I have no more parties and what not planned for a little while.

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be doing a herbal detox program. The food on it is basically core, minus the option of flex points. I am hoping this will give me the kick in the butt I've been looking for.

I start running tonight, nothing big, it's a LTR, but I am looking forward to it.

Today's menu:
B-Hot Chocolate (1), vector cereal (3), milk
S-Apple, nuts
L-Salad, chicken, cheese, dressing (2), cookies (3)
S-Pear, small piece of cheese
D-Dunno yet, something quick and easy.
AP's: running tonight

Yippie!

I have gone down another dress size!! I bought my first pair of size 12 pant! I can't even remember the last time I bought anything in a size 12!! And on top of that, they were clearance, and only cost me $20!!

I have a wedding to go to this weekend. No sure how well thats going to going WW wise, but I am going to try and make good choices. I have been good most of this week and would really like to see a loss on tuesday.

Slacker!

What a slacker I have been! I haven't posted in almost a week!! And with such awsome news too!

-I ran the HBC run for canada on the weekend, in 70.57 minutes!!!! That is soooo much better than I thought I could do! Apparently not running for two weeks helps! :)

-Canada Day weekend was a huge bust in terms of WW. I knew I was going to be over my points for sunday, but I had planned on getting right back on track come monday...didn't quite happen! I forgot that we always get McDonalds for breakfast after huge parties. And then pizza for dinner, and my WI on tuesday! I only gained .5lbs, so I'm happy with that. I'm back on track now, and hopefully will see a loss next week.

-I found out that I will be getting my car sometime in the week of July 16th. I can't wait!

Friday before the long weekend...

I have recently recomited (for about the 100th time, I know), but I am feeling really good about myself and WW now. I resisted the temptation of the nachos calling me last night. I realised that I only wanted to snack for the purpose of snacking, I wasn't hungry. So I put away the bowl I had pulled out, and counted out a few mini-wheats, and then tracked the points for it! Feels great.

I'm a little worried about this weekend. With it being Canada Day, we are having a HUGE party, and of course there will be chips and booze. I'll have to try and stick to the program, I still have 20 flex left, and I have a race that morning (hellllooo AP's!). If I can stay away from the chips and junk food, I should be good, I'm not much of a drinker anyway.

On sunday, I'm running in the HBC Run for Canada. I'm looking forward to it, but it starts at 7:30am!!! I prefer to do my runs in the evening. Oh well, I'll get it out of the way, go home and nap, and then have all the AP's that come with running at 10km race! My only goal this race is to beat my time from the last one, so anything below 72min and I will be happy. The only issue is I haven't run in two weeks! I have been biking every day though. We'll have to see how it goes! Wish me luck!

Today's Menu:
B: Honey Nut Cheerios (3), milk
S: Apple, nuts
L: Salad, tuna, cheese, dressing (2), reese snacksters (2, I LOVE these!)
S: Popcorn!
D: Dunno, I'll have to find something downtown. I'm going try and not use any more flex though.

AP's: 40min Bike ride (3)

Hump day, already?

Well, I have recomitted. Despite all the challenges I know are coming, I am back on track 100%. It's amasing what a difference meetings make. I just switched from the meetings in Hull, back to my usual Ottawa meeting, and I already see a difference in me (and the meeting was just yesterday!) When I got home, I was hungry and craving pizza. I have a bunch in the freezer, I checked the NI on them, and it's 300cals for 1/4 of the pizza (and I knew I would eat 1/2)!! So instead, I pulled some pitas out of the freezer, added some sauce, ham and cheese, baked them for 5 min and they were awsome! And only 4pts (the rest was all core!!)

Today, I'm back to tracking everything, and measuring stuff too! I'm going to start eating slower too, so that I will stop eating when I'm not hungry anymore. I feel great!!

I was at Walmart last night, and made a great find! They're called Reeses Snacksters. They're 100 cal packs with cereal bits, peanuts and reeses pieces in them. They also have hershy ones!



Yummy!


Today's menu:
B: Yogurt, watermelon, mini-wheats (3)
S: Apple, nuts
L: WW pasta, homemade sauce, carrots, Reese Snackster (2)
S: Celery, PB (2)
D: Don't know yet, I'm thinking chicken, rice, and veggies

AP's: 40 min bike ride (3), 45 min at the gym (3)

One year to the day...

Since the fire. At 9:30am, June 24th, 2006, our neighboor decided to light multiple fires in the basement of the house right next to mine. I still think about it on a daily basis. I wonder if that will ever go away. This is the sort of thing I would never wish on anybody. Last summer seemed so long, sitting around, waiting to find out what was going on, when I would finally get my house back. A year later, it still scares the daylights out of me I hear the fire alarm go off, even if I know I'm the one that set it off, while cooking. I suspect that feeling will last for quite a long time.

We have been back in for 6 months, things are pretty much done, a few small things here and there, but nothing major. There is still the stress that goes with it. Every so often I will still find something that needs to be fixed or replaced because of the fire. Most recently, the electrical outlets outside don't work.

On the bright side, I finally go the new property evaluation for the house, and it is back up to the same amount it was before the fire. So thats good.

I guess I'm just in a pensive mood today, I suspect it will pass (at least I hope it will).

What a slacker...

I have been! I haven't posted since Monday! Life has just been so darn busy!

I need to find a way to cope with the next few weeks, my weekends look like this:
June 23 - Bachlorette party, involving tons of alcohol and food
July 1 - Canada day party, again involving alcohol
July 7 - Wedding, with food and booze I am sure

I need to find someway to make it through all this without gaining like a whale! I'm not a huge drinker, but what I like is the creamy stuff, Baliey's and such... I think the first step I need to take is to realise that aiming to stay the same is an acceptable strategy. I will try to get at least 3 AP's on the party days. Other than that, I will attempt to not snack.

In the mean time, here's my menu for today:
B-Multi-grain cheerios (2), milk, grapes
S-Apple, nuts, 2 timbits (2)
L-Leftover chicken and pasta, pudding
S-Pear, cheese
D-Dunno, BF's in charge of dinner tonight...

AP's: 40min bike (3), 45 min at the gym (3)

Ah, Mondays

I was pretty good this weekend, not as good as I had hoped, but not as bad as I have been the past few weeks. The fondu was good, but a little clumpy. We still haven't mastered the art of getting the chocolate to melt properly. Oh well, guess we'll just have to practise some more! ;)

On sunday I went for a run. I haven't run in about a week. It felt good to get back out there. My Mom is going to be teaching the LTR in July, and I think I will group lead for her. Because it's a LTR, I think I will be fine to bike to and from work and then go running too. It won't be alot of running, but at least it will be running, then I can do a longer run on the weekends.

I have an appointment with a personal trainer tomorrow, to see about starting that. I just don't know if I have the money for that right now. I'll talk to her tomorrow and see what I can do.

Here's my menu for the day:
B-Banana, yogurt, mini-wheats (3), grapes, honey dew melon
S-Pear, cheese
L-Pad thai from the local thai place, chocolate pudding
S-Apple, chocolate (1)
D-Dunno, depends what I can whip up quickly.

AP's for the day: 40min bike ride (3)

Enough is enough!

I haven't been eating bad, but I haven't been eating good either. And it's time that stoped! I have been avoiding posting my menu, and this somehow makes me less accountable. Well this is it! No more excuses! I am going to do this, and I'm going to stop wasting my time and money by only doing things half-assed.

Tonight after my WI, I'm going to the gym, gonna do some weights, and I think I might go for a short run on the treadmill as a warm up (hopefully this time I won't wipe out!). Tomorrow is a "rest day" so I will only be biking to and from work. Saturday I have a meeting at the gym to see about getting a personal trainner, just to help me set up a workout schedule that works for me. This weekend, I'm gonna go for a run, probably around the 8km mark.

I'm having a party this weekend, and we are going to have chocolate fondu. I will make sure to eat more fruit without chocolate than with. No more "cheating". I will be good!

My menu for today looks like this:
B-Banana, yogurt, mini-wheats (3), grapes
S-Pear, cheese
L-Pork, rice, carrots, cookies (3)
S-Apple, 2 piece chocolate (2)
D-Chicken, whole wheat pasta, salad

AP's: Bike to and from work (3), Gym (3)

New Dress

I have 3 weddings to go to this summer, so I decided to buy a new dress! Here's a picture of it.



The back tire on my bike decided it was time to go. It got really, really warped on me on my way home last night. I brought it in to the store and bought a new one. Got it back today, meaning I wasn't able to bike to work today. :( Instead I did 20min on the bike at the gym, followed by my standard weight training. It was a good workout, but I can't wait to get back on the bike tomorrow.

Back on Track

I had the nasty tendancy of falling off the WW band wagon on weekends. Its usually not too bad but, I tend to not count points, or journal, or stick to core foods. This weekend was too bad, but it still wasn't good. I went for a run on saturday (3km) and then spent 4 hours walking around Rideau Centre to find a dress for all the weddings this summer (I took a picture of it, I will post it when I get home). Sunday, I slept in until noon (and it felt great!). Then I went for a 2 hour bike ride. I have said it before, and I will say it again: Holy Crap John bikes fast! I was peddling close to my max the whole time and he would bike ahead and wait for me a corners. It was nuts! But it made for a great workout!

I went grocery shopping, and got tons on fresh fruit for the week. And uh-oh, John conviced me to try strawberries, and I LIKED THEM!! I might just start eating them! Apparently he's a good influence when it comes to produce, he got me to try pears too, which I now love, and pinapple, it's ok, and I will eat small amounts of it.

I have come to realise that if I want to get my exercie in, I need to plan it. I am trying to come up with a writen plan that I can follow for the summer, but I don't know how well it will work. This is what I have come up with so far:

Monday: Bike (40min)
Tuesday: Bike (40min), Strenght Training (45min)
Wednesday: Bike (40min), Run (various distances, maybe some speed work)
Thursday: Bike (40min), Strenght Training (45min)
Friday: Bike (40min)
Saturday: Run (various distances, basically a long run)
Sunday: Rest

I would kinda like to be doing more running, but I find it really hard to bike to work and then do my running too. I think I will give it a try this week, and see how I feel, and tweak it from there. I am planning on doing a 10km race a month this summer, and my only goals are to 1) beat my previous time (even if only by a second) and 2) run a 10km in 70min before the end of the summer. I just don't know how much training I need to be doing along with the bikeing. (Any comments on this would be appriciated).

Well, I suppose I should be getting back to work now. Have a great monday!

OMG!

Last night I bought a car!! I still can't believe it! It's a 2007 Toyota Yaris sedan, in red, and it's fully loaded!! I'm so excited, I can't wait to go and pick it up!

Unfortunately I didn't make it to they gym last night. I didn't get home until 8:30, and I still hadn't eaten dinner. But I am going running tonight, and I plan on going to the gym after my WI tomorrow night. Plus I will bike into to work tomorrow (I didn't feel up to it monday, had training on tuesday, and needed my car today).

Eating had been ok. I have tons of good stuff at home. Made up some fat-free, sugar-free white chocolate instant pudding this morning and have some for lunch, I can't wait!

Haven't posted a menu in a while so:
B-Hot chocolate (1), Bagel (6), orange
S-Watermelon
L-Salad, tuna, blue cheese dressing (2), pudding
S-Apple, nuts
D-Chinese casserole

I will probably have some yogurt and timbits after the run...

What a weekend!

I had a blast at the Weekend to End Breast cancer. It was tons of fun, but also tons of hard work, and two very early mornings! We were up and on a bus ready to leave by 5:30am both days! But it was well worth it, and for a great cause! Didn't really follow WW too much, it's hard when you have no control over the food. But I don't think I did too bad. Most of the choices were good, plus, I spend most of both days running around outside, so I am sure I racked up the AP's. Plus I made myself get back on track yesterday.

Tomorrow night I have a 5km race. It should be good. I haven't done much running since my race last week. I have been biking though. Tonight I hope to make it to the gym. I have to go talk to the people at Toyota, so we'll have to see when that finishes. I'm finding it hard to get the AP's in. I think things will get better next week when I won't be quite as exhausted. I gotta start getting my speed workouts in if I have any hope of bettering my time at the next race!

And Maria, can you add me, so I can read your blog. Pretty please!!

McDonalds

I was out this evening, running the roads, tons of things to do. The plan was to do my running around, then go home and eat dinner. Well, that didn't quite happen...I was at Wal-mart, and of course there was a McDonalds there. At this point, I was getting hungry. So I said that I would do my shopping, if I still wanted mcD's then I would go. Well I did, and I went. I had 2 chicken fajitas, fries, and a pop. As I was sitting there, all of the people sitting there were huge. It made me feel gross. I threw out half of my fries. I don't think I will be going back there any time soon. I got that stupid craving out of my system.

On the bright side, I lossed 1lb at WW this week!

Well, I'm off to pack for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer!

Hurray for Hump Day!

Well, my plan hasn't quite worked out as I hopped, but I don't think it's that bad. I have been drinking my water (3L on avg a day), and biking to work (my legs hurt). I did go running on monday, but didn't make it to the gym on tuesday like I said I would. I think I need a break. Going running tonight, I'm going to the gym tomorrow after my WI.

This weekend is going to be insane. I'm working with the weekend to end breast cancer. Gonna be really busy, but it should be a blast!

The BIG Race

Saturday was the big day. My goal was to run the 10km in 70 min, so at a 7min/km. That's really fast for me. I've been averging 7.5 to 7.3 min/km. I didn't quite make my goal, but I'm ok with that. I did it in 72 min!! I'm pretty excited about that!

In terms of WW for the weekend, it was ok. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible. We had chinesse food after the race, I had a little taste of everything, and that's it. I didn't go back for seconds. So that's good. Sunday, I had a serious case of the munchies while dinner was cooking, so instead of having the pizza my roommate offered me, I had an oatmeal square. That was good too. I didn't do too much exercise this weekend, taking it easy becasue of the race. I didn't go to the gym on friday, I ran on saturday, then sunday I did some walking.

Everything is lining up well for this week. I started biking into work today, took me 20 min. I plan on biking in everyday this week, running tonight, wednesday and probably friday. I'm gonna go to the gym on tuesday and wednesday. I'll probably just bike there right after work, save me some time, I won't have to do a warm-up.

As for todays menu, it's looking ok:
B-Banana, honey-nut cheerios(2), milk
S-Watermelon
L-Pork, couscous, colslaw
S-Pear, cheese
D-Probably some pizza, with veggies

AP's-40min bike ride, 3km run

No big suprise...

I gained last night.

I knew it was coming, but I still wasn't ready for it. It was really hard to see the numbers going up. This is not what I want. Why do we sabotage our efforts? I knew on the weekend that I didn't really need those nachos and cheese. But I got them anyway, because they were there. They didn't fill me up, infact, ended up spending even more money becasue and hour later I was hungry again. Why take the nachos? Why not have gone straight to the healthier, more filling options? (In this case it was chilli) What was the point of the nachos? Yeah they tasted good, but it's 4 days later and I'm still thinking about how I shouldn't have had them.

Even thought I know exactly what I did wrong this week, and I pretty much expected to gain, I was not prepared to see the numbers go up. I found it so disheartining. My first reaction was "I will never be able to do this, it doesn't matter what I do, I still gain", say the typical self-pity things. Then I stopped myself and said "wait a minute, you can't expect to loose after the poor choices that were made over the weekend". The program works, but only if you work it! You can't expect to be able to eat junk all week and see a loose, if you could, there would be alot more skinny people out there!

So this week, I am back on track. No more self-pity. I have to work for the results that I want. I am ready to see one-derland!

My plan for the week:
*I will drink all of my water (2-3L a day, even on weekends)
*I will ride my bike to and from work every day (unless major weather issues)
*I will go and do weights at the gym 3 times this week
*I will go for at least 2 3km runs
*I will eat only core foods, and not go over my 35 pts for the non-core foods
*I will make sure that I have quick and easy things availible for lunches
*I will track everything that goes into my mouth

And most importantly...
**I will forgive myself for all my slipups last week. I can't go back and change them, but I can change my attitude and my choices in the future.


On a brighter note
Good luck to all the wonderful ladies racing in Ottawa this weekend! My fellow runners, you motivate me more than you will ever know! I will be out to cheer on the 5km, and cheer in the 1/2 and full marathoners! 10ker's I will be running hard with you!

Good luck to you all!

WI tonight...

*Sigh* I don't want to WI tonight. I had really high hopes. After seeing a slight gain last week, I had hoped to get things going again and see a loss this week. Well, I pretty much blew it over the weekend! And I just don't think that being good yesterday and today will count for too much, when I didn't do well Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday!! Hopefully I will stay the same. With this week, that's about all I can hope for.

I am back on track now. I spent most of the evening last night cooking. I made some stuffed peppers, some potato salad and a chick pea salad. All core items, which is good, becasue I was severly lacking in core lunch items. I am determined to see a loss next week.

I think the biggest thing that helps me loose is doing weights at the gym. I've been going about twice a week, but running was always taking priority over the gym. After my race this weekend, the gym will become my priority for a while, with running in the back ground.

My total OP menu for today:
B-Chai Latte (made with skim of course!), yogurt, vector (3), banana
S-Pear
L-Potato salad with ham and cheese added, chickpea salad, oatmeal cookies (1)
S-Apple, nuts
D-TBD, I'm thinking I'll grill up some chicken and have some veggies with it.

Random Stuff

Well this week's a bust! The best I can hope for at tomorrow's WI is to stay the same! I over ate all weekend. Tried to get back on track yesterday but I went out to dinner and there wasn't much in terms of pts friendly meals on the menu. I tired. I'm gonna be guzzling the water, and I have been getting my exercise, but I don't think it's enough to see a loss at the scale. I am back on track today and have some time this evening, I'm gonna make up some food. I have nothing to take for lunches this week! Usually I take leftovers, but I have been so busy and on the run, that I haven't been making dinner. Tonight, I'm gonna make some stuffed peppers, boil some potatos to make potato salad and I will probably cook up the last chicken breast and throw that in the potato salad for lunch tomorrow.

I will go through my cook books soon to and pick out a few recipies to make up on the weekend. If I'm going to do this, I have to start having good, easy food I can take for lunch!

On the running side of things, my times seem to be getting shorter and shorter, and I LOVE IT! It feels great to say I did a 3km at a 7.1 pace. I can't wait for the race this weekend to see if I can actually do it in at a 7min/km pace! I think I can!

Today's menu:
B-Yogurt, granola(4), banana
S-Orange slices
L-Colslaw salad, with cucumbers, carrots and celery added, a few chickpeas on top, some feta, and greek dressing, rice crakers, pecan caramel square (3) (No idea how it will taste, but that's all I had to grab this morning)
S-Apple, 2 oatmeal cookies (1)
D-Roasted peppers, ground beef, rice, some other kind of veggie

I did it!!

OMG! I went on my long run last night, and we were supposed to do 12km. We decided to do a 3km loop 4 times. It was raining and not nice out, and my uncle was with us and he's been having back issues, so at least he could stop any time he wanted to. Well, after having done the loop 4 times, I decided that I wanted to do 15km! So I did! I actually did a 15km run, and it felt great!! I felt like I could keep going if I wanted to. It took me about 1h55min. I ran it at a very steady pace of 7.5min/km, which is very good for me.

I'm really happy about it!

Hurray for Fridays!

Finally it's the long weekend! I'm not up to much this weekend, dinner at a friends on saturday (gonna try and make good choices, but I have no idea what's on the menu), sunday afternoon I'm gong to a play, and then for my long run (13km!!!) Monday night it's a big party at the ball game!

I went for a run last night. Didn't leave the house until almost 10pm! Ran a 5km in 36 min, which is awsome for me!! I usually run at a 7.6 pace, that was a 7.2 pace, and I wasn't even trying to go faster.

Today's menu:
B-Yogurt, vector (3), I was going to have a banana, but I forgot it at home :(
S-Apple, cottage cheese
L-Leftover chicken, carrots, cucumbers and celery with italian dressing and feta, cookies (3)
S-Smart Pop Popcorn, will probably have an oatmeal square and the banana I didn't have earlier, after the gym, before grocery shopping
D-Dunno, probably eat out again...

A few rough days...

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, been going through a bit of an emotional rough patch. On the bright side I would like to say, I DID NO EMOTIONAL EATING! I would have to say the worst thing I did was have a blue menu tv dinner for supper last night, simply because I really wasn't up to cooking. The way I see it, it could have been much, much worse! But things are better now, and I'm good to go! I just hope I at least stay the same at WI tonight.

On to today's menu:
My treat to myself: A skim milk chai latte (gotta love the treats that are core!)
B-Cornflakes (2), milk, banana
S-Apple, nuts
L-Chicken, mixed raw veggies, oil dressing, oatmeal cookies
S-Small bag smart pop popcorn
D-TBD...I'll probably stop at subway while running the roads this evening

I'm gonna try to get in a 5km run tonight, but I don't know when I'm going have time. I might end up going at 9:30 tonight, when I get home. I really want to get out, I didn't make it out yesterday, so I'm itching to get out there....

I want to share my favorite pic that I have taken:


It's a bed of flowers right near the office, now that everything is in bloom, there isn't a single red flower amoung them!

New week, great start

Had a few hiccups over the weekend, but it's a new week, therefor a new begining! I am determined to break the curse of up and down every week at the scale. So far, I'm doing good, 2 weeks in a row of losses! Hopefully I can keep it up!

Monday's Menu:
B-Hot Chocolate (1), vector (4), milk, banana
S-Cantelop
L-Salad, ham, cheese, dressing, rice crackers, oatmeal cookies
S-Apple, roasted chickpeas
D-Maybe some left overs from Mother's Day dinner, minus the DQ cake of course!

AP's - I plan on hitting the gym when I get home from work.

Here's to a great OP week!

My Weekend

Apparently weekends aren't my strong point. Didn't do too great this weekend either. Both days were ok, but not great. There was always something, yesterday it was the bread, today it was the DQ cake. I'll just try to not eat the rest of my flex and call it even.

Didn't go running yesterday, instead I went for a 28km bike ride. John came with us and we went alot faster than I normally do. It was a good ride. I didn't go running today either, I was too busy cleaning and cooking for mothers day. But at least it was really good.

I'll be back on track tomorrow. I'm definetly going to the gym tomorrow. Hopefully 4 days off will do my blister some good and I'll be able to run on it pain free as of Tuesday.

To any mothers who may read this, Happy Mother's Day!

Weight Loss

I was updating the excel doc where I record all my WI's and decided to share this graph that I made with you. Shows where I started and how far I've come, and how I struggled to get here!

My Friday

Weigh in last night was awsome! Down 1.8lbs!! This puts me at my weight from before Africa, .7lbs away from a 40lbs loss and 4.2lbs away from my current goal of getting hitting 200!! Oh how I love core! I was on core before the fire and losing tons, after the fire, it just wasn't feasable to do, so I switched to flex and absolutly stuggled to loose. Now I'm back on core and my body is just loving it! I'm hoping to be down to 199lbs by the end of the month. That's 3 weigh in's left. I think I can do it!

Last night, after my run, I did some baking. I made some oatmeal square type things. I eat them for breakfast. It's basically just baked oatmeal, but it's really good. Next time I make it, I'm going to try putting in some apple pieces, and maybe some nuts or raisins. I also made some oatmeal "cookies". Very similar to the bars, but in cookie format. Both are core. Next time I make the cookies, I will probably add some chocolate chips and maybe nuts too, just to give them a bit more of a kick. Count them as 1 pt for 2, depending on how much chocolate I put in. I also made some curry roasted chickpeas. SOOOOO GOOD!! And so easy to make too. I'm going to buy more chickpeas tonight and make more I think (assuming chick peas are still on sale).

Today's menu:
B-Oatmeal Bar, yogurt, cantelop and watermelon
S-Grapes
L-Taco salad (salad, taco beef, cheese, salsa), rice crackers, 2 oatmeal cookies
S-Apple, roasted chickpeas
D-Dunno yet, gonna be eating out while doing some running around with John.

I plan on going to the gym tonight, get in a good workout.


PS-Let me know if you want any of the recipes!

Been busy these days

I haven't been getting on here as often as I would like. Like is a little on the hectic side right now. But on the bright side, I have been staying on program, and doing all my running and most of my gym workouts.

My run yesterday was ok. It took alot to actually get out the door, then the moleskin I had for my blister fell off, and I had to stop and pull it off. At least the blister didn't really hurt while I ran. When I got about 3/4 of the way through, I almost triped. My foot sorta twisted to the outside and I almost wiped out. I sat down for a bit, streched it out and then walked for a while. It doesn't hurt anymore, but I was really happy to finish my run yesterday!

After that run, I was able to get up the energy to go to the gym in the evening. I went and did my usual circuit. I'm starting to see a difference in my arms.

Today, I have my WI and then I'm going for a 6km. I'm hoping to get some speed work in. I want to do the race in 1h10, so a pace of 7min/km. Right now I usually run at about a 7.5min/km. I don't know if my goal is too fast thought. I think I will aim for 1h10, but will be happy with 1h15.

Today's menu:
B-French Vanilla (4pts), yogurt, granola (3pts), banana
S-Watermelon
L-Whole-Wheat pasta, garlic pesto sauce, salad, dressing, pecan square (3pts)
S-Apple, nut mix
D-Don't know yet, I think I might make up some more potato salad, so maybe something with that.

Is it Tuesday already?

Yestday sorta when by in a blur. I went to the gym, got in a good 45 min workout. Then hurried home, ate and then hurried out again.
My menu was pretty good:
B-Hot Chocolate (1pt), vector cereal (3pts), milk
S-Apple
L-Potato salad, ham, cheese, carrots and cucumbers, chocolate eggs (2pts)
S-Grapes
D-Morrocan Stew, couscous
S-Java Chip from Starbucks (3pts), rice cakes, cheese and salsa

Today's menu was kinda rushed, I had training this morning, so I bought my lunch, and becasue I have running today, I bought something to have as "dinner" in the early afternoon.
B-Yogurt, vector (3pts)
S-Apple, Green Tea Chiller from Second Cup
L-Chicken Wrap (3pts for the pita), chick pea salad
S-Mixed raw veggies (carrots, celery, cucumber, green peppers)
D-Veggie Sushi
S-??Probably a bagel from Timmies after my run.

Tonights run is 6 hills. I'm sorta looking forward to it, just for the sense of accomplishment that comes from completing them!

Some pics I took

Here are a pics I've taken over the past few days...

My weekend

I was a bad lil' weight watcher this weekend. Oh well, I caught myself and was back on track today...

Friday night I didn't eat until about 9:00, and then had oven pizza, not really core...and I made some pecan bars and had one of those.
Saturday morning, I had toaster pancakes, alone, not too bad, but I had 3 (4.5pts) and some fruit salad. Lunch was good, potatoe salad with some ham and cheese. Dinner was Morrocan stew with couscous. Then we went to a movie and I had popcorn. Had 2 pecan bars.

Not too bad, but still bad! At least I realised it and have gotten back on track.

Today:
B-2egg omlet with ham, green peppers and chesse, yogurt
S-Apple, pecan bar (3pts)
D-Spagetti made with whole-wheat pasta, garlic bread (3pts)
S-I'll probably have some frozen yogurt a little later (2pts)

I went for a 12.2 km run today, took 1h33 min. Pretty good run too, except for the huge blister I have on my foot. I was running in new shoes, so I decided to wear my good socks (I even pulled them out of the dirty laundry thinking that if I'm wearing new shoes, I should wear good socks). Well, I guess the socks are getting old, and I have worn through a layer of the sock. There was sock fluff inside and it kept rubbing. I don't think I have every had a blister this big! Oh well, it should get better soon!

TGIF!

I am so tired today! I didn't get to bed until 12:30 last night! It was the condo board meeting, and while I'm not going to get into it, we were there until 11:00! And there was a ton of excitment so when I got home, John and I had to talk about it all, and then Tracy came home and wanted to know what had happened as well. At least I should sleep well tonight!

As for dinner last night, I made some ham, with mashed potatoes (from a box!) and some frozen peas. Not the best, but it was ok. I did manage to get my run in before, that's why dinner was so quick!

Last nights WI went well. I'm down 1.2lbs! So hurray for me! Hopefully this whole being on core will work in my favor and the weight will start coming off again.

Today's menu:
B-Hot Chocolate (1pt), yogurt, vector cereal (2pts), apple
S-Apple sauce, crispy mini's (2pts)
L-Salad with chicken from St-Hubert probably
S-Veggies
D-Dunno yet, see what I get while grocery shopping!

I am going to get the stuff to make the Morrocan Stew that Amy posted a few days ago...

I have more pictures to post of flowers that I took yesterday, but I want to play with them in photoshop first, see if I can't get them to look really good.

Happy Thursday!

I'm very happy to report that last night, there were no tim bits, but there was was nuts and granola bar type things, and I didn't have any! Instead I made myself some "nacho's" when I got home (crispy rice cakes with ff-chesse and salsa).

Tonight I plan on running 5km somewhere between WW and the condo board meeting. Gonna be rushed, but maybe that will give me some extra insentive to run faster?

Today's menu:
B-Hot Chocolate (1pt), yougurt, granola (2pts)
S-Apple, cheese
L-Stuffed pepper, salad, ff-dressing, 2 chocolate eggs (1pt)
S-Carrots and green pepper
D-Don't know yet, it will depend on what I can make really quick. I'm thinking ham and something...

Completely off topic, but check out what I did at lunch time today!


Can't seem to get this one in focus though...

Hills, hills and more hills!

Last night was hill training with the RR clinic. Now I'm not a big fan of hills (who is?), but I am starting to see the advantages of it... While out running longer runs, the hills don't seem as bad as they used to. I can go up them without much difficulty at all. Plus after running 5 hills last night, there was such a sense of accomplishment. As odd as this sounds, I'm looking forward to doing 6 hillls next week, just so that I can say I did it!

I went for an 8km run at lunch today. It was a good run. It took me 65min, but I didn't feel like I was going to die at the end (always good!). Not sure when I'm going to find the time to run 5km tomorrow...between my WI and the condo board meeting in the evening, there isn't much time. And I can't run at lunch because there is no one else in the office. I am thinking I will skip out on the meeting tomorrow and run then. Then go home and have a really quick dinner and shower and then run off to the meeting.

Today's menu is good.
B-Hot Chocolate (1pt), Oatmeal, 1tsp Brown Sugar (0pts)
S-Apple, 2 Twislers
L-Salad with ham and cheese, dressing (2pts), 2 chocolate easter eggs
S-Carrots/Celery/Cucumber and dip
D-??? Probably the piece of fish, some whole-wheat pasta and some sort of veggie.

I have a meeting this eveing and I expect there will be Tim Bits like last time. So, I will sit far away from the donughts (so I can't reach them), and I WILL NOT have any!

Welcome to Core!

Yesterday was my first day on core. I think I made out ok.
My menu:
B-Hot Chocolate (1pt),
Yogurt, Melon, Granola (2pts, I thought it was core when I bought it, now I need to eat it up)
S-Apple and some cheese
L-Home-made baked beans (thanks mom!), carrots, 2 pieces of licorice (2pts)
S-Cucumber, Feta and Red Pepper Dip (1pt)
D-Chicken, Brown Rice Pasta, Oil and Spices sauce, Milk
Then after dinner I caved and had some chocolate eggs (3pts)
But I did go to the gym. So for my first day on core, I finished at having eaten 6pts. Not too bad.

Things should be better today:
B-Hot Chocolate (1pt, some people have their coffee, I have this)
Oatmeal, 1tsp brown sugar (0pts), banana, small glass of milk before leaving home
S-Apple, Rice Cakes (2pts)
L-Stuffed Red Pepper (with ground beef and basmati rice), salad and italian dressing, 2 chocolate eggs (1pt)
S-Melon
D-Asparagus soup, carrots/celery/cucumber and home-made dip (thanks again mom!)

Tonight is my clicnic night, and we are doing 5 hills, so I'm expecting about 8km, so a little over an hour's worth of AP's. Then, I will probably have something from Tim Hortons after my run this evening.

I was supprised at the amount of food I packed in my lunch, but when you figure that I was bringing all 3 meals for today, it doesn't seem like all that much.

Update:
I had a 3pt Peanut Butter square and 1/2 bagel after running, putting me at a total of 5pts for the day.

This weekend

Horrible WW weekend! I ate chips and chocolate and candy! Tonight for dinner I had a stuffed pepper, 2 cabbage rolls, 4 perogies and a huge piece of carrot cake. I feel gross! Tomorrow I'm starting core, and am all ready to get back on track. Hopefully this won't mess up my WI on thursday. I think it's still early enough in the week that I can recover from it.

As for running, on friday I ran home from work. It was a good run, but I forgot how many hills there are on the bike path. Saturday I went to the gym, it was a good workout. The gym is suprisingly empty on Saturday mornings.

I went for a 10km run today. We ran along the bike path next to the transit way. It was a good run. There were a few hills, but they didn't feel that bad. I finally figured out what Steph (the RR leader for the clinic I'm in) means when he says "Push, push, pull, pull" as we go up hills. I think I need new shoes though. One shoe felt like I have no arch support in, and I now have a blister on both feet! I'm gonna go to the drug store tomorrow and see if I can find any of the band-aids made for blisters, and then I'm gonna have to get new shoes!

Last night's run

Last night was my worts. run. ever!

I was gonna go running around my WW meeting, just for a little change of scenery. Well, when I got out side it was raining, and I really, really didn't want to go running in the rain, so I figured I would go to the gym (which happens to be in the same place as my WW meeting). So I go, and get started on the treadmill, going ok.

On my first walk break, I managed to catch the emergency stop cable and pull it out, lost all of the info for what I had already done (time, distance, etc). I get going again, after about 5 min, I almost trip over my sweater that had fallen down. I figured out what it was and let it roll off the end of the treadmill and then just left it on the ground.

A trainer walks by a little later and hands it to me, as I'm putting it back on the railing, I step on the runner that goes along the side, and of course, my one foot stays there, the other one goes flying backwards. I ended up banging my toes, shin and knee on the way down. I was so annoyed with myself that I just left. Didn't even finish my workout!

Plus it was soooo hot in there! I was sweating like a pig, it was really bad.

Oh well, I guess this just goes to prove that I should run outside where there is fresh air!