Heart Rate Monitor Watch!

Ok, so clearly I'm not doing any work today.  Oopsie!  I was perusing the WW message boards, and saw a thread about a heart rate monitor watch.  What a good idea!!!  So I went and bought one and soooo excited for it to come in the mail!  I had suspected that I'm not working out hard enough when I'm on the elliptical, and I don't like walking outside because I can't monitor my calories, etc.... Problem solved!  Anyway, it won't arrive for awhile because I'm cheap and used Free Shipping on Amazon, but I'll let you know all about it once it arrives!  I've been weary of the way the Points Tracker Online calculates my AP - so now I'll have it down to an exact science!  Because really - I don't want to eat Activity Points that I haven't earned!  Ok - must get back to work now! 

Crock Pot!!!

So my Crock Pot arrived yesterday and I'm sooooooo excited!!!!  So today at work, I printed off all the slow cooker recipes (under 6 points) from WW website and a few from CookingLight.com and made myself a little cookbook for free!  Going to try one the recipes this weekend - I'll let you know how it goes!

Back on track

So yesterday was. . . not good.  I exercised in the morning and ate well in the morning/afternoon so that I could have a bunch of points for dinner with Nick.  Well.  Because I'm such a good girlfriend, I convinced him that we should go to the new Wal-Mart and stock up on some groceries.  (He's almost 30 but still such a boy - he's been ordering out almost everyday because he doesn' t have any food in the house.  The only grocery store that's downtown where he lives is RIDICULOUSLY expensive - like six bucks for a box of cereal.  And it's insanely expensive and unhealthy to order food everynight.  So we go to Wal-Mart.  And NIck buys Snickers ice cream.  And peanut butter M'Ms.  And I proceed to eat a buttload of both last night.  A disgustingly large amount of ice cream and peanut butter M'Ms.  You know when you haven't had something in a really long time, so when you finally have it - you stuff yourself?  Yeah, that was me last night.  BAD BAD BAD.

So I ate well today, stayed within my points, and did an hour on the elliptical in the fat burning zone.  I'm staying upstairs in my bedroom to keep away from the refrigerator.  Way too many temptations downstairs.

BTW - I tried Tofu Shirataki noodles, and I HATED THEM.  Literally had one bite and threw them away.  BLEGH.  Sorry HungryGirl - I have to disagree with you on this one.  I'd rather not have pasta at all than have these poor imitation of pasta.  Rubbery.  Weird tasting.  No good. 

Making up for yesterday

So my plan for last night did not work out so much.  HOW CAN YOU RESIST WHEN YOU'RE AT WOLFGANG PUCK'S FOR GOODNESS SAKES????  I mean, it's not like going to TGIFriday's and complaining that you can't splurge.  It's a ridiculously nice restaurant!  So anyway, my plan for no bread did not go well.  They had these AMAZING cornbread squares, and I had two.  Oh my god, they were the best cornbread I have ever had.  Then I had a crabcake for my apetizer (I just couldn't bear to order the boring salad) but gave 2 or 3 bites to Nick to make the portion smaller.  I did make a good choice for dinner though - I got scallops which were AWESOME.  There were 4 HUGE ones, so I ate 3 and gave the 4th to Nick.  Oh yeah, and we ordered a bottle of wine and split it.  So I had between 2 and 3 glasses of wine.  And then we split dessert, which was this awesome apple tart.  So all in all, not as bad as I could have done (I could have gotten a crazy awesome pasta dish or a huge steak) but didn't do as well as I had planned. But hey - it was a special night at a special restaurant.  I mean, it's not everyday that we go to a crazy nice restaurant like that.

But I made up for it today.  I did a step areobics class this morning, and had a good breakfast/lunch.  Then I got invited to go out to dinner and then go out to the bars afterwards.  Frankly, I wasn't even in the mood to go out.  Is anyone else think that going out isn't worth the calories anymore?  Because frankly, I'd rather have a sinless ice cream at Coldstone than 2 beers.  (BTW - Nick was doing a boys night and watching the IU game tonight, so I was on my own for plans.)  Part of me really wanted to stay home and just stick to my points, but then my friend called and told me that she had gotten engaged, so I had to meet her out.  We went to BW3's and I ordered water and a grilled chicken salad, no croutons, with Light Italian dressing on the side.  And I really didn't feel like going out afterwards, so I came home.  And I just calculated my points and I stayed within my daily allowance!!!  YEAH FOR ME. 

So anyway, I finally got my shipment of Vitalicious Vita Tops and VitaBrownies. . . .  they're only eh!  I, of course, will eat them all and savor every single one, but the Hostess 100 calorie cupcakes are a 1000X better for the same amount of points.  These are WAY healthier though, with tons of vitamins and fiber though.  But they are too expensive in my book to keep ordering them from the internet.  If I could buy them from a local store, that would be a different story.  But anyway, I'm glad that I tried them. 

Ok - yeah to me for getting back on plan today!  Hope your weekends are going well!

Feeling good(ish)

So I had planned to get up early today to work out, but when the alarm went off at 5:30 AM, I realized it was NOT going to happen.  I actually was ridiculously sore, and I realized, that for the first time in a long time, I had actually worked out Saturday-Thursday everyday.  So you know what, I actually really did need a rest day today!  So I'm feeling guilty about it now, and really wish I could have some Activity Points for my fancy dinner tonight, but know that the best thing for my body is a day of rest.  I'm hitting a Step class tomorrow morning with my friend, so I'll be hitting it hard tomorrow!

Portion control did not go so well last night, which is bumming me out.  I actually did really well in the beginning (steamed some broccoli for myself since Nick hates vegetables) and did a pretty good job at portioning myself some brown rice (made Nick buy brown rice instead of white) and some stir fry that we had made.  Well, I SCARFED it down because I was starving, and didn't wait to see if I was full or not.  So I went and had seconds.  And didn't do such a great job with the rice portion the second time around.  Boo.  I'm pretty sure I still stayed within my points, b/c I had been pretty stingy with them all day in preparation for dinner AND I had earned like 8 Activity Points for BodyCombat (60 minutes of high intensity cardio).  And I had a sugar free banana pop after dinner, which is 0 points.  I actually bought sugar free banana pops to keep in my house, and they really hit the spot when I want something sweet for after dinner.  So I bought another box to take to Nick's.  It'll help me not say "Can we go get ice cream?" after dinner.

So I've been pretty stingy again with points today, in prep for our fancy Valentines Day dinner.  I asked if we could celebrate tonight, since I wanted to work out last night and would rather have this be a Friday night event, you know?  Nick is taking me to Puck's (a Wolfgang Puck restaurant - pretty fancy!) and I'm going to try to get a nice fish entree and make as good as a choice as I can.  No bread.  ONE glass of wine.  I can do it.  Our reservation is at 7:30, so I might eat an apple around 5PM so that I'm not starving, and that's only one point. 

Have I mentioned that i got TWO compliments yesterday on how it looks like I've lost weight???  One was from my girlfriend, and another was from a guy I work with.  AND the best part is, the guy apparently told ANOTHER guy that I looked good, and the second guy asked me about it over IM today when we were chatting.  This is amazing!!! I don't know if I'm standing taller or if I am losing some inches, because 164 doesn't seem that great to me when I'm still 24 pounds from goal.  (I might need to adjust that goal, by the way.  I'm not sure it's achievable anymore - I might need to move it up to 145 or something.  We'll see.)  Anyway, still feeling good about the compliments.

Ok - I will make good choices at dinner tonight.  I will resist the bread.  I will stick to ONE glass of wine.  I will choose fish.  I WILL CHANGE MY BEHAVIOR.  

Have a good weekend everyone! 

164!!!!

Oh thank god, I'm 164.  My last weigh in was about a month ago, and I was 167.5, and I freaked out.  I'm back to my January 3rd weight, which is a very good thing.  (However, I look at my graph and see that valley of when I magically reached 158.5 back in October. But I will get back to the 150's again soon!!) 

So yeah, I'm soo sooo sooo happy that I have lost a few pounds since the 167.5 incident.  I was soooo upset at the time for being on THAT side of 165.  Now, I can technically round down to 160 if anyone asked me my weight and only wanted two significant digits (any science geeks out there?)  Anywho, I have a plan for this weekend and week, and I will continue to keep Thursday morning as my weigh in day.  I just have to make sure I spend Wednesday nights at my house!!

Ok, excited about today and keeping the momentum going.  Tonight, I need to practice good portion control when I eat at Nick's (he's making me dinner for Valentines Day).  Good luck everyone!

Bought a crockpot!

Stopped at Meijer on the way home to buy a few odds and ends that I either forgot to buy last night or because Wal-Mart didn't have them.  And I found House Foods Tofu Shirataki noodles at Meijer of all places!!!!  Anyway, ALMOST bought a crockpot there, but decided I should probably do a bit of research before I bite the bullet.  So glad that I did!!!   The model I almost bought got HORRIBLE reviews on amazon, and tons of people claimed that the "low" setting was way too hot and their food burned or cooked too fast.  So did a bit of research and bought a 6 quart, round, white Rival Crock pot and got free shipping from Amazon!

Can't wait to try some slow cooker recipes!  There's some awesome ones on WW online, and I'm excited to start cooking!

Anyway, had a good day today.  Resisted this big pan of brownies (with chocolate icing on it too!!!) and had a Diet Swiss Miss (0 points!) instead to appease the chocolate craving.  I have to admit, I wanted more chocolate after I finished it, but I distracted myself and didn't think about it again.  Did the elliptical for an hour today after work - wahoo!

AND I got a compliment today - my boss' boss (who is a woman also struggling with her weight) told me I looked like I was losing weight.  I have no idea if I am (doubt it though) but I thanked her graciously and figured it's the exercise that's changing the way my body looks, even if the scale tomorrow reports something in the high 160's. 

I FACE THE SCALE TOMORROW.  EEK.  WISH ME LUCK.

Ok, on the TMI note again, (sorry to those who don't like to talk about it), I didn't do a Number 2 again today.  WTF?  For awhile, I was doing AWESOME in that department, and had thought that I had finally gotten regular.  What am I doing wrong?  I'm eating tons of fiber (Fiber One, carrots, apples, Curves bars, etc..), drinking tons of water, and exercising.  What else can I do?  After getting to the point where I was doing a Number Two everyday AT THE SAME TIME OF DAY, it feels really weird to go an entire day and not.  Argh.

Who knew that I would obsess about poop? 

Reinvigorated!

Been feeling really good today and loving every minute of it.  Took a snow day today, did a little work from home, but basically took the day off.  Enjoyed making food for lunch and dinner (since I usually do Smart Ones for both on weeknights if I'm busy) and went to the gym early at 4.  Did the elliptical at a moderate pace (fat burn zone) for an hour, but hadn't finished my new Glamour.  So I hopped on the treadwill and leisurely walked for another 30 minutes so that I could finish my magazine.  I thought that was a pretty big NSV for me!  I had the time, so why not just take a stroll on the treadmill to finish the Glamour?  So proud of myself!   Then went to Wal-Mart to stock up on some essentials (Clear American, Fiber One Original, frozen tilapia fillets, Curves bars) and picked up a few new items!! 

1.  Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedges - 1 point per wedge

2.  Wasa Fiber Rye Crispbread Crackers - 0 points for 1 cracker (which is pretty big!)

3.  Swiss Miss Diet Cocoa - 0 points per serving

I also picked up an old favorite - Granny Smith Apples.  I slice them, bake them in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, sprinkle some cinnamon and Splenda on it, and oila! apple pie for only 1 point! 

I was bummed though, because Wal-Mart doesn't carry: Amy's frozen meals (which I'm obsessed with), Gnu bars (which I wanted to try after seeing them featured on HungryGirl), Almond Breeze (also featured on HungryGirl) nor packaged salmon (these refrigerated 4 ounce cooked salmon fillets - perfect for salads!).  I've also noticed that Wal-Mart's baby carrots are ALWAYS dried out, which is gross, so I never buy them.  Bummer.  I just didn't feel like making a second stop, so I'll go this weekend to the regular supermarket or maybe WildOats. 

BTW - if anyone is wondering, I did a Number 2 today.  Thank God.  I know, I know, too much information!

Question - What size crockpot should I buy?  I'll be cooking for 2 people (myself and Nick) so I'm inclined to think that the normal 6 quart is too big.  But should I just make the investment, knowing that this is probably a lifelong investment?  (Hahaha - it sounds like I'm talking about buying a house and I'm talking about a crockpot.)  I'm really anxious to try some of the WW slow cooker recipes - and the easier the recipe, the better in my book!

Wahoo for internet!

OK, so for some reason, my internet has fixed itself and now I have internet at home again.  Wahoo!!!  This is perfect timing too, since it's supposed to snow tonight and this allows me to work from home tomorrow without having the deal with the roads. 

1.  Day One of TOM was today.  Am feeling ridiculously super bloated because of it, and also. . . .this is probably too much information. . . I haven't done a Number 2 since Friday.  That is three full days without a Number 2.  I drank TONS of water today, and ate tons of fiber-rich food, so hopefully tomorrow? . . .   But this is not helping with the bloating, fat feeling that I've having.  What can I say - I need to do a Number 2!

2.  Got back on the wagon today as well.  Been on and off again lately, and really been beating myself up for it.  Really really really need to get on the scale, so think I will get on Thursday morning.  Need to see how much damage has been done since the last time I weighed in.  Thursday Thursday Thursday.  Someone give me the courage to get on the scale!

3.  Nick is freakin' awesome and things are going ridiculously well with him still.  It's a constant battle with him with the eating thing, but I'm getting better.  I'm trying to have us cook more, which goes well when I cook.  But since he's a good boyfriend, he cooks too some nights, and he usually picks things that taste good and are not point friendly.  But I try to make my own veggies to volumize.  And I'm saying "no" to ice cream lately.  I did cave on Saturday night and we got Coldstone, but I got a Like It "Apple Pie a la Coldstone" but subsituted the Sinless ice cream for the regualar sweet cream.  By my calculations, that was a 6 point treat.  Again, not something I should do all the time, but not nearly as bad as the 22.5 point dish I used to get.  He's taking me to a Wolfgang Puck restaurant for Valentines Day, and I'll try to get a healthy seafood dish if possible.  I swear the small changes will add up!!

3.  I am now obsessed with HungryGirl's website.  Check it out!

4.  I've been trying to resist all Valentines Day chocolate at work, since I don't do well when I don't plan my day's food.  I mean, one little truffle will quickly turn into 12.  But I've been really really craving chocolate, which has been killing me.  So per the suggestion of WW's website, I ordered some chocolate treats of vitalicious.com.  Am really looking forwad to them - and only 1 point a piece!  That way, I can save one point everyday for something chocolate at the very end of the day.  I need to learn how to have ONE of something, knowing that I can have another tomorrow. 

5.  MUST GET ON THE SCALE ON THURSDAY. 

Ok, back to my movie.  Have I mentioned that I'm watching it upstairs in my bed with my laptop to avoid the refrigerator?  Yeah, I'm crazy. 

Behavior Changes

I literally just bent down and my pants split. Literally the seam from my crouch to halfway up my butt is split wide open - no joke. This really just happened to me while I'm at work. Worst part - I can't leave work to go home. I'm literally working for the rest of the day with my jacket tied around my waist. These things only happen to me. Seriously.

I'm pretty proud of myself though - I've been craving chocolate all day, probably due to my PMS.  And if my pants had splits at work a  year ago, I would have bought a huge chocolate brownie or something and inhaled it.  You know, because I deserve something like chocolate for having to deal with this embarassment at work.  Then, I would have felt guilty for "blowing the day" and thrown in the towel for tracking my points for the day. Then I probably would have gone to Qdoba for dinner tonight. Instead, I bought a dark chocolate bar from the vending machine, calculated the WW points for it (5) and am eating half of it now (so only 2.5 points.) 2.5 points isn't that bad for a snack - and I'll leave the rest for tomorrow or something. I put the 2.5 points in my tracker, and I still have 11.5 points left for snacks and dinner tonight. Go me.