Mothers-in-law, snow and orchestral music

What a long day and I'm glad it's over with. I'm still sick (insert violin music here) but had to go into work again (more violin). Fortunately, I was allowed to go home early (orchestral upswing) but had to do errands all afternoon (violin again).

To top it off, I had to do the dinner thing with my mother-in-law on account of it being her birthday (tuba section in d-flat). Though she did compliment me nicely on my weight loss (apparently I'm looking rather "trim") she almost took the conversation into full on uncomfortable diet conversation talk. She doesn't quite understand obesity and tends to make really uninformed and ignorant comments. Fortunately, her longtime boyfriend saw where she was going, squashed it like a bug and changed topics like a pro. Gosh I love him (1812 overture with cannons).

I'm finally at home now, in my PJs, a cup of hot chocolate in hand, and an eye to the window, waiting for the snow to come. I know most of Canada hates snow, but I absolutely love it. *insert clappy happy dance here* I'm hoping the roads will be clear enough tomorrow for my weigh-in and that my chest will cooperate enough to let me go outside and get some snow on TinyTrim action (walking in a winter wonderland)(with cannons).

Fixing tickers and finding perspective

I finally got around to fixing my weigh-in tickers. After a certain period of time, inactive tickers are shut down. And because mine are single-post tickers, I had a whole lotta broken images. I knew it was something I should've taken care of way back in the beginning, but I kept putting it off and putting it off until the job of fixing it looked about as fun as a root canal. But now it's did and there should be no more broken tickers unless Picasa implodes.

However, the real point of this post is this: after having gone through every weigh-in to fix the tickers, I'm amazed at just how far I've come. Things that seemed big at the time, turned out to be small and surmountable. I also used to be 204 lbs. Can you believe it?

For everyone else, I encourage you go back through your own weight-loss blog – to the beginning if you have time – and look at all you've accomplished. Hopefully you'll feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. And if you don't, you should! :)

Hand me my violin

Well, I'm back at work, still sick, still oughter not be here, but there's yet another deadline. And I'm the only one here who can work on this particular project. So, I've spent my day infecting my keyboard, picking apart HTML templates and generally wanting to be at home with another bowl of KD and a tiny violin.

I had a near thing at lunch time when I went to get some wonton soup and saw they had spicy fried chicken on the menu. Can you say yum? When I'm better and my stomach is more settled, I need to arrange a (chaperoned) date with Colonel Sanders. WW.ca says I can, so I think I'm going to follow that advice.

Sensible KD

I'm sick again. Just like last time, the Kraft Dinner came out of the cupboard and said "eat me!" Yesterday, while I was ensconced on the couch, covered with two comforters, two cats, and a roll of toilet paper, my husband was in the kitchen cooking up a box of it for me. After the water had boiled, he said, "I'm going to make it according to the 'sensible' directions, okay?"

I'm embarrassed to say that my first thought was "@&%# dang it!" I was actually hoping he'd make it using the half a pound of butter method and screw any suggestion of "sensible." LOL. But, I wisely said nothing because, sick or not, the "sensible" choice would be better for me.

This morning I'm feeling better, but I've kept myself at home lest I infect my coworkers. (A sensible decision.) I've had a sensible breakfast of a scrambled egg, whole grain toast and a mandarin orange. And for lunch later, I see that in the fridge there are very sensible pre-portioned containers of sensible KD.

HMCS Crock Pot: The Sunday Dinner

This being a lazy Sunday, I've thrown together a pork roast in the crock pot for tonight's dinner. I cobbled together two ideas (Junebaby's and Brodiegirl's) and it looks pretty tasty so far.

Pork roast, 1 cup chicken broth, 1/3 cup dry sherry,
1 small sliced onion, half a sliced apple, salt and pepper to taste.

Hopefully it'll turn out okay! (At my house, cooking experiments sometimes go horribly wrong.) At the very least I triple checked to make sure I removed the absorbent pad from the bottom of the roast. Not that I've accidentally cooked the pad in with the meat many times before. *shifty eyes*

UPDATE:
Well, it turned out rather dry but it's not the recipe's fault. It's my $%@%# crock pot's fault. I really need to get another one. The manufacturer missed the "slow" part of slow cooker. This thing gets very hot despite being on low and will overcook things in about five hours. Even though I know this, I always think (for some reason) that this time will be different.

It's time to keep my eyes peeled for a new one with a timer. Because really, what's the point of a slow cooker if you can't leave it on all day while you're at work?

Forty-second Weigh-in

I've lost another 1.4 lbs this week! I'm almost at 50 lbs lost, can you believe it?

The meeting was good as usual. There's a lot of successful folks there. One lady had lost 59 lbs, another had lost 45 lbs, and of course there were many people just starting out who had lost weight, too. I just love hearing everyone's successes, big or small.

Have a great weekend, everyone! I'm off to Mark's to hopefully get some cozy sweaters and some boots for my ski trip :)

A slice of cheese

I eat at Subway a lot. What can I say? Their sandwiches are quick and relatively healthy. I can get a serving of veggies in and protein at the same time. I also discovered – quite recently in fact – that if I get a turkey sub, I can have cheese on it for only 1 point more. Cheese makes the world of difference on a toasted sub. It's almost like mayo. But gooier.

As profound a thought as that is, I'll go a bit further and discuss my other favourite cheese – trashy romances. With Christmas nearing, I've been treating myself to 25-cent specials from the local thrift store instead of filling up on cookies and chocolate. There's nothing like curling up on the couch, drinking Mandarin Orange Spice tea, and reading a Christmas romance. It's about the best zero point treat you can have.

Of course, it goes without saying that there are certain parts of these books I like the most. You know, the nookie parts. They make an already cheesy romance a full-fat cheesy romance. However, despite being romances and all, you'd think that there'd be lots of nookie going on. But alas, I keep striking out. Every book I've bought lately has had either no nookie or sub-par nookie. It's like taking a bite of a twinkie only to find out they forgot to put the creamy filling in. It's just not the same!

So I ask you, what is it with these nookie-less books? Is there a shortage of nookie going on? Women who love nookie demand an answer!

The answer could be that I've been picking the wrong books. For example, my latest thrift store purchase looked promising. A Christmas double-digest with two romances for the price of one. After getting about a third of a way through the first one, I became rather suspicious that this was a non-nookie book. Maybe it was the third or fourth time the author had slipped a psalm from the bible into it that gave it away. That's not to say that there's anything wrong with a few good psalms now and again, but in a romance novel, it doesn't bode well for the nookie connoisseur. Sure enough, I decided to take a closer look at the cover and found the culprit right away. Publisher: Steeple Hill. Their logo: a church. Nookie: denied.

And so my quest for a nookie-filled romance continues. At least I can do it now, secure in the knowledge that if I can't have full-fat cheese in my romance novel, I can at least have it on my Subway sandwich. (You see how clever I am tying the two together?)

I. Love. The. Biggest. Loser.

I've been meaning to write about it ever since it started, but now I finally have to say it. I love the Biggest Loser show. It's unbelievably inspiring to see all these people working hard at losing weight. Though it's difficult to watch sometimes (seeing backstabbing and heartache), the "how are they doing now" segments at the end of each show are great to watch. You're sad that someone was voted off, but wow, look at them now!

And tonight's show was beyond awesome. I just loved seeing the makeovers and the reunions with loved ones. That rocked so much. My husband and I both were sitting there bawling our eyes out because it was so touching.

***Warning: Spoilers ahead!****






The only thing half sucky about the show was that they voted Kae off. Kae has been my absolute favourite. Of all of the contestants, she's been the most inspiring to me. Not only because of her size, but her determination and focus. If only we could all be like Kae every week! Though I hated to see her voted off, I loved seeing her transformation at the end of the show. Wow. She looks absolutely fabulous. Between that and her reunion with Bob, my husband and I were bawling again. Hot damn what a great show!

Forty-first Weigh-in

It's nice to see my little hula girl moving in the right direction. Plan-wise I've being doing pretty darned good and it's paying off. I'm down 1.4 lbs this week!

It's a great feeling being committed again, happy to be tracking my food, and basically being in control.

Have a great week everyone!

Blood test

I finally got in to get my blood test done this morning. Now all I have to do is wait. I hate waiting!

In other news, I'm afraid my "new" black pants may have to go to another home. I wore them all day yesterday and came to the conclusion that they're just too big. Teehee!

Seasonal Treats

It's that time of year again. Seasonal goodies are coming out of the woodwork. Fortunately, I've found a number of low-point treats to tide me over and I thought I'd share.

• Mandarin Oranges - easy to peel, eat, and they taste great. One orange will give you a serving of fruit and almost 40% of your daily vitamin C. And, if you manage to remove the peel in one piece, your wish will come true! Or at least that's what my grandpa used to tell me. A medium mandarin is just half a point.
  
• Celestial Seasonings Teas - there's a whole variety of holiday teas out now, my favourite being Candy Cane Lane. Yum! Of course it just makes me want to add cream and sugar to it, hehe. Also look for Mandarin Orange Spice. Although technically not a "holiday" tea, it's still Christmasy to me! Also keep in mind that with no added cream or sugar, herbal teas are zero points.
• Starbucks Sugar-free Gingerbread Latte - a tall non-fat latte with sugar-free gingerbread syrup (and no whip) is the same points as a regular latte but with Christmas mixed in. If you're not big on sugar-free syrups, get a "short" instead and go for the real deal. While you might not get as big a cup, it's still just 2 points.

I've had all of these over the last week or so and am feeling very spoiled and Christmasy. In fact, I'm sipping a cup of Mandarin Orange Spice right now, thinking longingly of the next time I go to Starbucks, and eyeing the green paper-wrapped oranges on the table. Now all I need is for someone to invent no calorie whipped shortbread!

If anyone else has low-point holiday treat ideas, please share!

Shopping in your own closet is awesome

There's been this pair of black jeans kicking around in the bottom of our drawers for a long time now. I thought they were my husband's. He used to complain that his black jeans were too tight and so stopped wearing them. Since he's lost about 8 lbs since I started WW, I told him to go try them on this morning. That's when I hear from the bedroom, "Honey, these say women's cut on them."

Sure enough they were! They'd been around so long, I'd forgotten they were mine. I assumed they'd be too tight for me (after all, they'd been around much longer than I've been fat) and almost put them back in the drawer to wait for thinner times. On a whim, I slipped them on, did them up, and found they were a bit too loose. Eeeeheeeheee!

I now have a pair of serviceable black jeans. I don't know whether I'm more excited that they're loose or that I don't have to go pants shopping!

Review: Mexican Cafe con Leche

I saw a recipe for something called Mexican Cafe con Leche on WeightWatchers.ca a few weeks back and I finally had a chance to try it out. It was really good!

It's a creamy and sweet cinnamon-flavoured coffee drink and is well worth the points. Preparation was easy and the coffee itself had a nice sharp kick to it - mostly likely due to the fact that the coffee is boiled. I made it for some friends who seemed to like it. I know I definitely did! I'd for sure make it again, especially on a cold dreary night. Yum!

Fortieth Weigh-in

Today's weigh-in is brought to you by Staying the Same! I didn't lose this week but I didn't gain either. And I'm perfectly okay with it. In fact, I'm more than happy with it. I knew that Halloween had to catch up with me. I'm very happy that it finally did, and it didn't cause me to gain. I'll take staying the same over a gain any day!

Plan-wise, I've been right on track and nowhere near the half-assed attempts of the last few months. I've been tracking on time (and not minding), I've been exercising, and I've been trying to meet the healthy guidelines. In short, everything as per normal before things got rocky :)

Charms: 40lbs, 45lbs, and Half Marathon

My latest charms arrived in the mail faster than I expected! The replacement "BMI" butterfly is there along with a few more:



As usual, these have meanings, too:

• Turtle (40 lbs): Slow and steady wins the race. Though it might seem like it's taking forever, I'm still moving forward!
• Ribbon (half-marathon): A special charm for accomplishing this momentous feat.
• Yin and Yang (45 lbs): Balance in all things. There are times when it's easy, but there's also times when it's hard. Both are needed to learn from the other.

My bracelet is getting close to being full. There's only five blank links left!

Girly little bites

I've never had a stranger comment on my food choices before. That is, until last night. My husband and I went to a friend's birthday celebration. I did pretty good at dinner and even mentally prepared myself for cake. When the cake came, I declined saying I would only take a bite from my husband's plate. And when I finally got around to taking said bite, a guy sitting next to my husband started rudely going on to me about how I was taking a "girly little bite" and maybe I should just go get my own piece of cake. WTF???

First of all, it's one of those prearranged things with my husband and I. He'll often let me take a little bite of whatever he's having so that I don't feel deprived. Second of all, it's no business of anyone else if I want to take a small bite. So, [insert rude gesture here], piss off! I'll have my "girly little bite" if I want to AND I'll count it as an NSV.

The one test I can't wait to take

I went to my doctor's this afternoon for my annual checkup. I've always hated checkups. Especially the weigh-in part of it which I always managed to block out thanks to a habit of closing my ears and humming "la la la" to myself. But this time, I proudly stepped on the scale and didn't cringe once. In fact, I had to resist striking a John Travolta pose.

When the doctor finally came in to see me, the first thing she said was "Wow, you look GREAT!" And all through the rest of the checkup she kept complimenting me* and asking me things like if I've gone shopping yet, what my ultimate goal was, and so on. When she asked if I was still on Weight Watchers and I told her I was, she did a little dance in her chair, grinned and said that she always loved hearing success stories like mine. Success stories! Like mine! Eee!

It was so nice to go to an appointment and be showered with praise instead of being gently remonstrated about my weight :)

At the end of the appointment, she looked at me and said, "Let's do your cholesterol! I'm so excited to see how much it's improved!" As much as I hate needles, I'm excited, too! At my highest weight, my cholesterol was verging on being too high. I remember thinking at the time that I was too young to have high cholesterol and that it was the sort of thing that only happened to my folks. Well, no. I wasn't too young. My weight was to blame. But now, I've lost over 50lbs since my last blood test and I'm hoping that means the cholesterol has gone down.

Bring on the 10-hour fast and the nurse with the pointy thing!

*John Travolta pose*


*Tip: compliments during a pelvic exam do not take your mind off of things happening "down there" as much as you would hope they would.

Charms: BMI and 35lbs

Sorry it's taken so long to post this, but better late than never! Here's a photo of two charms I earned a couple of months ago:



As with my other charms, these have meanings as well:

• Butterfly (BMI of 29.9): With this BMI, I'm no longer classified as "clinically obese." Therefore, the butterfly is a fitting symbol of transformation. I'm emerging again, healthier than before.
  
• Watering Can (35 lbs): Tending your body is like tending a garden. With water (lots of water), the proper nutrients, and love, it will flourish.

I owe myself a few more charms for other achievements and have gone ahead and ordered them. I'm actually replacing the butterfly charm pictured above because I really don't like it. It's too big and doesn't really go with the other charms. I think maybe it's part of the reason why I haven't been ordering charms or even wearing my bracelet. So, out it goes! I'll be replacing it with another butterfly – one that isn't so big!

The recurrent dream

About once a month, I have a dream with a recurrent theme - namely finding myself having to go back to a job I loathed. It's always a great relief to wake and find that it was just a dream and that I hadn't totally lost my senses. However, when I got larger, these dreams changed. Not only was I there, tail-between-my-legs forced back to a dead-end job, but I was embarrassed to be seen by my old coworkers as having become fat. It's hard to shake off that sort of dream because, though I can reassure myself that I'd never work that job again, weight does not disappear when you regain consciousness. Funny how that works.

Last night, I had the dream again. This time it was a job I hadn't worked at for a good ten years or more. But this time in my dream, I wasn't actually working there. I was visiting. And I was distinctly not embarrassed to be seen by my coworkers. I remember thinking "I can hold my head up now." I didn't mind that I still had a few more pounds to shed. I was proud of myself and happy to see my coworkers and be seen by them in turn.

Now, I don't kid myself that this means the end to these sorts of dreams. But I am hoping my weight isn't going to be featured in them anymore. It was an awesome feeling not to be embarrassed by my body anymore :)

Thirty-nineth Weigh-in

I didn't deserve it, but there it is. I'm down 1.8 lbs this week. Well...maybe I deserved it a little. I've been pretty hard on myself this last week – not only did I not feed myself well, but I also beat myself up pretty badly about it.

However, in spite of it all, I did manage to pull myself out of it. I could've let the whole week go. I wanted to let the whole week go. It would've been easy to say "well, you blew this week, let's wait to start over next week." But I didn't give into that...and so...perhaps...a little credit is deserved along with a good stern talking to. I almost feel like a teenager whose spectacularly bad decision (let's use mom's credit card to go to Vegas for the weekend!) ended better than it should have – with a "thank goodness you're safe" from mom and a year's worth of hard chores.

Though I no longer live with mom, I have been served a punishment of sorts. My loss this week puts me into the 150s (yay!) but it also means I've lost a daily allowance point (awwww, moooom!). Normally losing a point is a celebration, but I've been getting less excited about it. Whoohoo, I get to eat less!

My loss also means that I've lost another 5lbs. I received a star at my meeting and now I'm shopping for new charms for my bracelet. I never actually got around to buying a charm for my last five pounds, so I'm rectifying that. Maybe by the time they arrive, I'll feel a little more deserving of the latest charm.

Lastly, thanks very much for everyone's kind words of support. You're absolutely right. If this was supposed to be easy, we'd all be on the beach by now sipping margaritas in our scanty polka-dot bikinis :)

Thirty-eighth Weigh-in

I've come out from under my rock to finally post my last weigh-in. There's no two ways about it, I'm embarrassed. I've decided to post it and get it over with despite how sheepish I might feel. I'm up again, another .4 lbs. I know it's just a wee amount, but then I look over the last few months and it's distinctly becoming a trend.

I know I can certainly explain it away to my heart's content – work has been busy/stressful, I'm back on birth control meds, it was that time of the month, etc., etc. – but excuses only cut it so far when you're not really following the plan. I did it before when things were rough, why not now?

This week hasn't been any better. There's been one Halloween festivity after another. I even paid for it dearly the morning after a night of icing/eating Halloween cupcakes with friends. My stomach was in such knots that I took the day off work. Though that wasn't fun at all, I still ate badly on Halloween itself. Needless to say, I'm expecting another gain tomorrow.

So, what to do? I am reminded of a quote from my favourite movie...

When a job went wrong, you went back to the beginning.”
– Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

And that's what I'm going to do. Back to the beginning with me! Menu plans, tracking every morsel into my mouth, drinking water and exercising. All the good things that got me to where I am today. Because, despite my excesses this week and my hit-and-miss attitude of the last few months, I've still lost over 40lbs and should never lose sight of that.