Lost Week

I wish the title of this post referred to a week full of events related to the hit ABC series LOST (Only 3 months ’til it returns!!) but sadly it refers to the past seven days of my weight loss.  Over the last week I had gained 2 pounds and then lost 1.5.  I’m back down to 190 as of this morning.

I’m feeling a little better though.  I’m ready to forget about my poor exercise and less than perfect diet this past week and concentrate on making my way through the 180′s. I need to start working out a little harder and more consistently now and drink more water.  I’m going to fill up my water bottle right now.

Hang on a sec…

Okay I’m back.

Here’s what I ate yesterday.

I started early, like 3:30 AM.  I had woken up and couldn’t go back to sleep and I was starving so I had

• 6 grapes
• 1/2 a Weight Watchers String Cheese
• 3 Sunsweet Prunes

Breakfast was Chocolate Honey Bunches of Oats with 1% milk and a kiwi (skin on, of course):

I finally made it back to the school’s gym and had some treadmill time.  Again I started running and ended up walking, but I did better than I have been.  I think I ran for close to 20 minutes.  I ended up doing 3 miles in 43 minutes.

Lunch was in prepared quickly and ended up being salad and yogurt:

This was salad greens with some dried cranberries and cherries, almonds, pistachios and some of Ken’s Lite Accents Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette Spray (only 1 cal. per spray!).

And some plain Oikos with Kashi GoLEAN Crunch and honey.

My afternoon snack was a Fage Total with Honey.  These were a manager’s special on sale for 72 cents!  Of course the sell by date was two days ago but I had to get at least one for that price!  I knew I couldn’t let it sit in the fridge much longer either so I ate it became yesterday’s snack.

I got just a little bit creative for dinner.  I had a big salad with grilled chicken, grilled peach slices, grapes and almonds and some more vinaigrette.  It really could have used some walnuts and feta cheese.

Then I was still ravenous the rest of the evening.  After dinner I had 3 more prunes.  Then I had some Low Sodium Ezekiel toast with light ricotta and honey while watching SYTYCD.

Then I had 3 Dove Dark Chocolate Promises while watching Glee. Then I was still hungry and I can’t go to bed on an empty stomach so I had another kiwi.

I’m pretty sure I went a little bit over my calorie range yesterday, but that’s okay.  I usually don’t feel bad about it if I’ve chosen good foods and I only ate when I was hungry, which I did.

Not a bad day for the most part.

Feeling Blah…

I’m definitely in a plateau now.  Stuck around 190.5.  I am feeling bloated like I am retaining water and I just feel “fat” so I skipped weighing in this morning altogether.  My diet hasn’t really been that bad lately but my exercise has been severly lacking.  I said I was going for a run yesterday but it ended up being another walk.

So I’ll be going to the gym this morning to get some calorie burning in.  Great news though!! I may have a gym really close to home to go to in a couple of weeks!  There is an Anytime Fitness opening up less than 2 miles from our house!  I spoke with the owner yesterday and he said they’re having a special through the first week of November.  It’s a one year contract for $30 a month and a $30 joining fee.  This may be just what I need.  I really miss going to the gym every morning.  And maybe not being in a crowded college gym with a bunch of young weight lifting dudes will encourage me to use the weight machines!  I really need to do some strength training and get this show on the road.  I’m ready to get into the 180′s finally and this new gym might be just what I need, especially now that I’ll have even less time to work out with my new job.

So yesterday’s breakfast was a hot meal!

An egg white omelet with sauteed diced zucchini and onion, 1/2 a Weight Watchers String Cheese and seasoned with Garlic and Herb Old Bay.  And a piece of Ezekiel toast with Smart Balance Light Spread.

Lunch was a Lean Cuisine.  I finally tried out the Fiesta Grilled Chicken and wasn’t really a fan.  I added a little greek yogurt to the rice:

I didn’t really care for the sour cream sauce or the texture of the ckicken (kinda rubbery).

I went to Meijer in the afternoon since I was almost out of food and spent way too much on groceries but I got a couple of items I’m looking forward to trying.

Afternoon snack was a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats with Chocolate Clusters and 1% milk.

Then I went for my attempted run but I gave up too easily on the running part.  I ended up walking for about 50 minutes, which is better than nothing I suppose.  The weather was nice at least.

Dinner was a bowl of Imagine Organic Light in Sodium Sweet Potato Soup with some plain Oikos mixed in for protein:

and a side of quinoa with sauteed diced veggies (zucchini, squash, onions) mixed in. This is a pic of some of it I ate the other day that had some tuna and Old Bay mixed in as well:

Dinner was pretty yummy!  I really enjoyed the soup.

Evening snacks were some Kozy Shack Simply Well Pear Mangosteen Pudding:

And 2 Sunsweet Prunes (not pictured), some Planters Nut-rition Healthy Digestion mix

and two Dove Dark Chocolate Promises:

Gotta run! I have to rush to get ready to leave now!!

Okay. I’m really back this time.

Hey guys!! Sorry it’s been a while.  I kind of got away from the blog for a little while!
So where to begin?  When I last left you I told you about my job interview on Thursday.  Well, I got the job!!  I will be working at Blockbuster beginning on October 28!!  I’m a little nervous just because I’ve really gotten used to having a lot of down time so it’ll be weird to have to work 20+ hours a week, but I think I’m ready for it.  And I’ll finally actually have a chance to meet some new people here in Louisville. Plus, free rentals!! I can watch movies again!

So I got the call with the job offer on Friday night while at David’s Bridal.  I went with one of my best friends who is getting married on August 7.  I have the honor of being a bridesmaid (it’ll just be my 2nd time!) and I’m excited.  I got to try on some dresses and all the 18′s were too big!  I think it’s safe to say I’m officially a size 16!  I even bought a pair of size 16 jeans from the Misses’ section this weekend and they fit great! Woo Hoo!

Unfortunately I allowed myself a couple too many indulgences over the weekend, primarily in the form of mexican food.  On Friday night my friend and I split an order of fajitas that were awesome!  I had just a little sour cream on mine and a couple of chips and salsa.  It wasn’t too bad, but I’m sure it was way more fat and sodium than I needed.  Saturday night we went to Tumbleweed and I had the Ancho Lime Tilapia with rice, skillet veggies, and cornbread.  I boxed half of my meal right away and took it home. I ended up eating it for lunch on Sunday.  It was another really good meal, but again it was too much in the fat and sodium department. Other than these meals I didn’t do too bad.  I think the things that have been getting me in trouble are my lack of exercise and my poor water intake.

My exercise has been anything but noteworthy since I last posted.  Saturday morning I attempted a run and ran about 14 minutes before walking and I only did about 20 something minutes total.  But I was feeling guilty about that so later that morning I ended up doing the Wii Fit and got about 28 minutes of actual exercises in.  It left me sore!! My left calf is still sore from it today!  Last night I knew I needed to do something and it was pretty nice out so I decided to go for a walk.  I ended up doing about 3.35 miles in about 45 minutes.  I didn’t really pay attention to the time.  I did get the urge to run once Queen’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now” (I don’t know if that’s the actual title or not) came on my MP3 player, so I did.  I only did about 7 minutes because I was not properly dressed (I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt) and I didn’t want to risk chafing or anything.  But it felt great!! I’m definitely going for a run today!

I seriously need to get back on track! I haven’t gotten that far off track, really.  But I’ve gained 1 pound over the last 4 days when normally I would have lost 1.5 pounds. So yeah.  Not too happy about it but I’m going to get the scale moving again in the right direction.  I’m going back to basics.  My plan is to:

• Drink enough water!!! I have really been sucking at this lately!

• Track everything in the food tracker!!!

• Eat in the middle to upper part of my calorie range!!

• Exercise every day (except occasional rest days)!! 40 minutes of cardio minimum and strength moves 3 times a week!!

I’m only 6 pounds away from no longer being obese and I’d like to get there by Nov. 4th.  So that’s 2 weeks, which is totally doable! But I better get moving if I’m going to do it.  It’s time to get back in the swing of things!

I’m Back

I promise I’m still here! I just got back home after going to Owensboro for the weekend. I will post more later today!!

Seven Years Ago

On October 15, 2002 my first real boyfriend asked me to go out with him.  That man is now my husband.  It’s hard to believe we have already been together for seven years!  Here are some pics from our past:

Our First and Second High School Dances: Homecoming and Senior Snowball

On a trip to Tennessee to visit my BFF (circa 2004-2005?):

On our way to a band contest:

A good ole’ night at Denny’s:

At our friends’ wedding – Oct. 13, 2006:

And Our Wedding – January 12, 2008:

(sorry for the self-indulgent barrage of photos!)

(God, was that cake good!)

It’s been wonderful so far.  I wonder what the next seven years will bring?

Okay.

Now back to the boring stuff.

Last night’s dinner was some yummy Health Valley Organic No Salt Added Black Bean Soup with some  Plain Oikos:

And some veggies seasoned with Mrs. Dash Table Blend and cooked up on the George Foreman grill:

I enjoyed my daily dose of Jello Mousse Temptations while watching SYTYCD and Glee.  Both episodes were a little less exciting than usual.  Can’t wait to see who the top 20 dancers are next week, though!

And to meet my calorie quota I topped the night off with 2 squares of dark chocolate!

This morning I actually cooked breakfast:

I made some pumpkin pie oats with honey and flax!  Here’s what went in:

1/2 cup Quaker Oats

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup 1% milk

1/3 cup canned pumpkin (I think. I just used what I had left)

Vanilla Extract

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Ginger

Cloves

1/2 Tbsp ground flax

1 Tbsp Honey

These were pretty good!  I love how filling oatmeal is.

The rest of the day was kind of weird and I didn’t take pictures of the rest of today’s food except for dinner.  I took Bobby to his doctor’s appointment and we were gone from about 10:15 to 12:30.  Lunch ended being a Lean Cuisine Tortilla Crusted Fish topped with some greek yogurt (what else?) Then I went to pick up some celebratory anniversary Pepperoni Rolls from Old Chicago and while I was waiting on them I stopped into Kroger and was super excited to find these:

I haven’t found them at any of the 3 groceries near me or at Whole Foods, so I had to buy a box.  I also bought another loaf of this:

I had to throw out the last 1/3 of my last loaf because it had gone bad.  I can never seem to eat an entire loaf of bread before it goes to waste!

I also picked up one of these:

I can’t wait to eat this!!

I also got some sodas for the boy and some hand soap.  Exciting, huh?

I came home and started prepping for my interview this evening.  I had a Deep Chocolate Vitatop for a snack (and I snuck a couple of bites of the pepperoni rolls too. Shhh! Don’t tell!)  but was still hungry before I left and I didn’t want my stomach growling during the interview so I tried to find a suitable snack.  I thought I’d try part of a Banana Bread CLIF Bar but I didn’t find the taste pleasing so I only had a bite.  Then I figured I’d eat my last plum.  It had a nice texture but wasn’t sweet at all so I tossed it.  I ended up going with the good ole’ reliable Oikos with Honey.

My interview went great! Of course I was over prepared and over nervous.  They are almost never as difficult as I expect them to be! It was a second interview and I was interviewed at the same time as 2 other girls (for different locations/positions.) I’m hoping to hear something soon!

Which brings us to tonight’s dinner, which is nothing exciting really. I had the leftover Health Valley Organic No Salt Added Black Bean Soup with some Plain Oikos:

Looks about the same as yesterdays.  I also had a microwave sweet potato with Smart Balance Light and cinnamon (served on one of my cute Kelloggs plates):

And last but not least, after I got home from my interview I decided to snap a few body shots while I was dressed in properly fitting black clothes and wearing heels because I thought I looked pretty good.  I bought these pants about two weeks ago and I can tell they already fit a lot better and the tank top does too.  Here are the pictures:

Alright.  Sorry for the long post and congrats if you read it all.  Now it’s almost time for The Office.  See you folks later.

50 Degrees + Rain = Gym

The weather is yucky today!  I want my sunny Fall days back!

So last night’s eats were:

Another Tofu + Okra combo!  I love this stuff!

and some of these bad boys:

The Kashi Roasted Garlic crackers with Vermont cheddar cheese.

And of course to top it all off I had yet another chocolate Jello Mousse cup and a square of dark chocolate.  I hadn’t eaten enough calories yesterday and I think they boosted me right up into the low side of my calorie range.

I noticed I tend to eat most of my calories in the evening, since that’s when I’m hungriest.  I sometimes try to skip my morning snack because I know I’ll be wanting/needing to eat more later in the day.  How do you usually distribute your calories?  Does it make a difference for your weight loss?

Eating more in the evening must not hurt me too much because this morning I was down another pound! Woo Hoo! I’m almost out of the 190′s now!

Breakfast was a repeat of yesterday: a bowl of Kashi Warm Cinnamon Oat Cereal with 1% milk and a plum. Hey, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right?

I ended up deciding to go to the gym due to the gross cold drizzly day.  I decided on the elliptical today and here’s what I did:

Time: 45 minutes

Distance: 3.5 Miles

Calories Burned: 489 (according to the machine, so I’m sure it’s really less)

Lunch was a yummy 300 calorie Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Orange Chicken:

This was a good one!

And my afternoon snack was a yogurt mess.  Here’s what went in it:

1/2 cup plain Oikos

1/4 Kashi GoLEAN Crunch

1/2 Tbsp. ground flax seed

1 Tbsp. honey

And here’s what it looked like:

This was really very good and I thought it would tie me over until dinner but it’s only 5:10 and I’m starting to feel peckish.  I think I’m going to go prep my veggies for dinner.

Tonight is SYTYCD/Glee Wednesday and I’m super excited!! I should spend some time prepping for my job interview tomorrow, but I think I’ll have plenty of time for that tomorrow afternoon after I get back from taking Bobby to the doctor.  So I think I’ll just enjoy a leisurely evening tonight.  It sounds like tomorrow will be a rest day too because I’m not sure when I’ll be able to squeeze in a workout.

Disappearing Days

You know those days when you can’t really remember accomplishing anything and before you know it the day is over?  Yesterday was one of those days.  I didn’t do much of anything.  Plus the weekend got me out of the habit of taking pictures of my food, so I only have a few to share.

What I did do yesterday was have plenty of internet time. I was using the computer at my MIL’s house over the weekend and was glad to be home. It’s always nicer to be back on your own computer with all your bookmarks and passwords remembered.

In the afternoon I watched the Chronicles of Narnia, finally!  Now I am able to intelligently discuss the movie with the husband and hopefully it will help him write his analysis.  I also took notes during the movie so it took me at least 3 hours, so there went my afternoon!

I also took a late afternoon trip to Walmart to pick up some groceries.  I didn’t get anything too exciting this time.  I found some really good looking okra and picked up a red pepper, squash, zucchini, and some plums.  I did pick up two new (to me) Kashi products to try.  I got the Heart to Heart Warm Cinnamon Oat cereal and the Heart to Heart Whole Grain Roasted Garlic crackers.  Plus I had to restock on Oikos.  I really wish Walmart carried Fage yogurt!  Don’t you hate how different stores carry certain items you love but none of them carries them all?

So here’s what I’ve been eating since I’ve been back home:

Monday

Breakfast = Kashi Go LEAN Crunch with Light Vanilla Silk

Morning Snack = frozen Yoplait Whips Chocolate Mousse

Lunch = Lean Cuisine Tortilla Crusted Fish

Afternoon Snack(s) = 6 dates, a Weight Watchers String Cheese, and a small Oikos with Honey

Dinner = a yummy old favorite:

Tilapia filet that I sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkled with Old Bay Less Sodium seasoning and broiled for several minutes, plus a microwave sweet potato with some Smart Balance Light and cinnamon!  I used to eat this all the time but hadn’t had it in quite a while.

Evening Snack(s) = I had to break into the Kashi Roasted Garlic Crackers and give them a try.  But who wants to eat crackers by themselves? So I topped them with a little bit of Vermont cheddar cheese that I had bought for Bobby.  These little guys were great!  The cheese was awesome but the crackers were amazing! I love that I can have a Triscuit-like cracker that’s good for you and has lots of flavor for very little sodium!

Later I had another Chocolate Jello Mousse Temptations.  This is apparently my new addiction!

I ate A LOT yesterday, but I couldn’t help it.  I was ravenous! I definitely used up all of my calories for the day.  And I took a rest day yesterday as well, so I was a little worried what the scale would say this morning but I was actually down half a pound, so I’m sitting pretty at 192.  I’ll take that!

Thankfully I’ve done a little better with my picture-taking today.  Here’s what I’ve had so far:

Kashi Heart to Heart Warm Cinnamon oat cereal with 1% milk and a plum.  This cereal is yummy!

Lean Cuisine Orange Chicken.  This isn’t one of my favorites but I hadn’t had it in a while and I wanted to change thins up a little.  But the sauce in this dish always tastes a little syrup-ier or sugarier than the sauces in the Sweet and Sour or Sesame Chicken.  Maybe it’s because it’s thicker and there’s more of it.  I like the rice on this one, though because it has little almond slivers in it.  This was just an okay lunch.

And I just got back from my run and grabbed this Oikos with Honey to refuel and tide me over until dinner.  Not sure what’s for dinner yet.

I actually had another great run today!  I ran in the neighborhood and it was overcast and just cool enough to be the perfect temperature once I got going.

Distance: 2.98 miles

Time: 41 minutes

Average Speed: 4.4 mph

Calories Burned: 312

That’s not too bad for me!  Hopefully I can keep it at this level and improve soon.

I suppose that’s it for the time being!