Tonight's the night

I'll finally be seeing my friend tonight. We're taking her and her boyfriend out to dinner at a lovely Thai place. Fortunately, I've been blessed with a good hair day and I'm wearing a cute little top I found at Winners on the weekend.

I feel and look good, but I'm still trying not to be nervous!

Lunch Joy

My 60 lbs lost reward came in the mail! It's an L.L. Bean tote and it's the cutest thing in the world. I had it embroidered with my middle name. It seemed fitting for a lunch bag. After all, eating food is a joyous occasion ;)

Also pictured are some of my favourite lunch snacks:

• Activia Fat-Free Peach Yogurt
• BC Gala Apple
• Baby Carrots (usually with hummus)
• Kashi Dark Chocolate Cherry bar.

I brought it to work today and it's sitting on my desk looking adorabubble. It's made out of stiff canvas so it holds its shape well. So pleased, so cute!

Tiny gets Cliniqued

I made it to the Clinique sale! I almost chickened out again. I'm such a loser, haha. But I did it. Marched right up to that counter and said "mimblewimble." Fortunately, a nice Clinique girl took pity on me. Here's my haul:



Most of what's pictured is all from the bonus gift. Two lipsticks, mascara, eye shadow, anti-aging cream, and cleanser. There's also a purple makeup bag but I couldn't fit it nicely into the picture. It's very cute though.

The middle box is what I bought to get the gift. It's called "Even Better Skin Tone Corrector" and it's supposed to break down sunspots. Exactly what I need! It was a pricey little box (over $50), so I also qualified for the orange bag pictured in the background.

So far, I've tentatively dabbled with the makeup. I tried the lipstick first and managed to get it on right the first time. Then I got brave and put on some eyeshadow. I was doing pretty good until I got to the second eye. I honest-to-goodness poked my eye out with the brush. I looked very pretty with eye shadow on one eye and tears streaming out the other. Ahahahaha, I really am lame when it comes to this!

Fortunately, help is at hand because the Clinique girl also booked me for a complimentary consultation. Because they couldn't book consultations until after the giveaway, the first day they could get me in is a Saturday in May. That day also happens to be my birthday. How perfect is that?

Pegger and PM, it was fate indeed :)

Ran the 10k :)

I did it! I ran the 10k in an hour and five minutes. I met and exceeded my New Year's goal and set my fastest time ever doing the 10k. Whoohoo!

I never thought I'd be able to run so far. A year ago I got sweaty just thinking about walking a couple of blocks. In fact, last year I did the 10k in 2 hours by walking. I'm pretty pleased with the improvement! Maybe next year I'll get in under an hour?

When the official pictures are published, I'll see if mine is nice enough to post. I was going full-tilt at the end so I imagine my "race face" might be a little embarrassing, hehe :)

Sixty-fourth Weigh-in

I'm down 1.8 lbs this week. With this loss, I've reached a major milestone. My BMI is now within the normal range. I am no longer overweight.

I am no longer overweight!!!!!!

:) :) :) :) :) :) :)

I am so freaking proud of myself right now. This day has been long in coming. Today there is no better number than my BMI. It represents a promise I made to myself not only to lose weight but to become healthy at the same time. Any other weight I lose on the way to goal is just low-point gravy.

I feel like making an appointment with my doctor just so I can dance around in the examination room and high-five her.

I am no longer overweight!!!!!

Tomatoes, grapes, and OCD

There are no words to describe my husband. This is what happens when it's his turn to wash the produce.

Coming up for air and makeup

Why does everything have to happen in one week? It's like some personal Murphy's Law that follows me around. Busy week? Let's add more!

Work is crazy. We're full out on a project with a tight deadline. There's tonnes of 10k stuff happening (training runs, shopping, dinner making, package pickups). The cat had to go to the vet yesterday and now needs to have medicine and cleaning twice daily (don't worry, he's okay). Plus, Mr. Trim and I have been trying to find time to clean and decorate between all of this so our place looks presentable to guests and the realtor coming over tonight. Was I up till 11:30 last night stuffing things in cupboards? Why yes I was!

Aggggh!

And yes, I know I ought not to be blogging. And I shouldn't have waited three years to start decorating. But it helps to whine :)

So all this is going on and I'm thinking that there's just no way I can get to this Clinique sale that Pegger and PM have told me about. I convinced myself out of it until I saw the flyer for it today. Now I totally want to drop everything and get girlified. To heck with the house! Hopefully there's enough of the bonus gifts left on Saturday morning because that's the only conceivable time I can get there.

In slightly related news...I've been cleaning my face and moisturizing every day. I missed a few here and there, but in general I've been keeping up with it. Though my pores are still huge and that silly sunspot is still taunting me, I think my face has been looking somewhat better. Or at the very least, not oily. Yay for doing girl things!

License to cheer

My driver's license came in the mail today. Whee! And my picture isn't half-bad, either. When I flipped it over to see my weight, it was a bit anti-climatic. I don't think of weight in terms of kilos so seeing it that way was like, "Yay! 61 kgs! I don't know what that means! But...yay!"

In completely different news, I went to a hockey game tonight and our team won. I earned a lot of APs jumping around swinging my towel. I had my pedometer on and I went 2000 steps without moving a foot from my seat.

I haven't had a chance yet to go shopping and I'm not sure when I'll be able to. Most of this week is all 10k related. Tomorrow is the last clinic run. Thursday is a homework run. Friday is a pasta dinner (cooked by yours truly), and Saturday is errand/housework day. Not only am I trying to get me in shape for my friend, but my house, too!

Childhood friend

My best friend from childhood is visiting from Toronto tomorrow. I only found out about it on the weekend. She moved away many years ago. Whenever she came to visit, she was always thinner and I was always bigger.

It was always hard for me to be seen like that because she'd only known the skinny me before she moved. As she is one of my dearest friends and I value her opinion highly, this shamed me to the core. I know she loves me no matter what, but I always felt like because I let myself down, I let her down, too.

When I first started to lose weight, one of the things that kept me going was the thought that she might make one of her surprise visits. I never wanted to give her another awkward hug. I wanted to give her an entirely unembarrassed happy embrace without thinking twice about my big unwieldy body. In short, to feel joy at her return instead of shame for myself.

Now that the day has finally arrived, I think I'm more scared than anything else. She's bound to notice that 60 lbs of me is no longer there. I guess I hope she'll be proud of me.

Between all the 10k training preparations, the soonest I'll be able to see her is this Sunday. Hopefully there's enough time in there for me to get some new clothes. All that's really left from my mega shopping trip last September is baggy, black, and blah. Though I was waiting till goal before going shopping again, new clothes will give me a bit more confidence to face the past and embrace my friend :)

Sixty-third Weigh-in

It's amazing how much more relaxed I've become these days about the scale. I'm down .2 lbs and am perfectly happy with it. 62 lbs lost is a nice even number. I like even numbers!

At the meeting today we talked about getting more active. The excuses, the benefits, and why it's not only good for weight loss but good for our bodies in general. I don't normally talk a lot in the meeting, but since this is near and dear to my heart, I was a regular motor mouth!

I can't sing the praises of exercise enough. Yes, I still have to convince myself to go out some days. But I'm in the best shape of my life. Even better than when I was a skinny teenager.

When I walk, I feel the joy of movement, the muscles in my legs, the easy beating of my heart. The number on the scale means nothing compared to the feeling I get from enjoying the gifts my body has given me.

I can feel the wind go by when I run. It feels good. It feels fast.”
– Evelyn Ashford, Olympic Champion

I’m 135 lbs...

...on paper that is.

In my province, your weight is listed on your driver's license. When I renewed mine ten years ago, it was the first time I had to do it. Being my first time, I didn't realize that your weight was put on the back. Unfortunately, I had gained weight since first getting my license and the clerk wasn't going to let me forget it. He curled his lip, gave me a long slow look up and down and asked scornfully if I thought I was kidding myself. He went on to berate me and made me feel about two inches tall.

Okay, I get it man. I have to list my proper weight. I understand that. But did you have to let me know in such a rude and condescending "you're a fat chick, I know it, everyone else knows it, but you obviously don't know it" way? Of course I knew I was overweight! And I would've updated my info without question if I had known.

For ten years now, I've been described on that bit of plastic as being 180 lbs. And I always think of that rude clerk whenever I look at it.

So it was such a sweet and triumphant feeling when I went in to renew it again last night. Like a dutiful, law-abiding person, I made sure to let the clerk (a nice lady) know that my weight had changed and gave it as 135 lbs.

Okay, maybe not exactly "law abiding." I may have fudged a little. But I will be there soon and since I'm going to be carrying that bit of plastic around for another five years, I want it to show the weight I'll be at in a few months.

Take that rude license clerk man. Who are you kidding that you're a nice member of the human race? I may have been overweight, but I got skinnier. What's your excuse? Thhhbbbbppp.

Running through some quick updates

There's been so much I've been wanting to talk about lately that I might as well point-form it.

• Thanks so much for your kind comments on my most recent progress pics. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside :)
• Also, thanks to everyone and their comments/suggestions about the Mysteries of Makeup. PM, since you and Pegger are all suggesting Clinique, that'll be my next purchase.
• We did a 10k trial run last night, following the same route as the upcoming race. It went very well and we're in good form for race day. That's me in my running gear by the way. Mr. Trim says I look "fast." I love Mr. Trim :)
• I tried a WATP exercise video for the first time in months. Where before I was puffing and wheezing through it, it was ridiculously easy. Never under-estimate the power of Bootcamp!
• I ordered a cute little tote from L.L Bean as my 60 lbs lost reward. I'm hoping it'll help me bring a lunch to work more often instead of going to Subway so much. Not that there's anything wrong with Subway. It just gets expensive if you go there five days a week.
  

There's more that I've been thinking about, but I'll leave those for other posts. Specifically, I'm starting to put a great deal of thought into goal and beyond. And what I'm going to do to celebrate reaching it. There's lots to think about!

Progress Pictures: 60lbs

I thought it was about time to crawl out from under my shy rock and post some progress pics. I even screwed up the courage to go digging for old unflattering shots. I found a doozy, too.



On the left is me wearing a shirt that I shouldn't have ever tried on. Mr. Trim, bless him, had bought it for me in the largest babydoll size he could get. I put it on because it was a Christmas present and bravely let it all hang out. Literally. It was one of my more embarrassing "overweight" moments.

On the right...that's me today, 60 lbs lighter. Wearing the same shirt I swore I'd never wear again after that fateful Christmas. I'm looking pretty hot in it, too. I have neck things!!!

And the cookbook I'm holding? I received it the same day as the shirt. I found it this evening while I was clearing out some clutter and tossed it on the donation pile. Then I found that old picture of me and I knew it was a sign.

After Mr. Trim took my picture tonight, the cookbook went back into the donation box. The shirt and my new look...well those I'm keeping :)

Maybe it’s Maybelline?

I don't know...is it? Somebody please tell me because I'm completely clueless when it comes to skin care, makeup, or even leg shaving. When I was growing up, importance was placed on how much sand and dirt you could come home with between your fingers and toes. Moisturizer? Pffft.

But as I've gotten thinner, I'm looking at my body in a new light. I used to take it for granted. With Weight Watchers and exercise, I've been taking care of the inside. Now that I'm feeling fabulous on the inside, it's time to take care of the outside.

So I've been googling. Yes, googling. For product reviews. It's so sad, it's funny. I feel like Data from Star Trek trying to emulate human behaviour; the more I learn, the more baffled I become. Like toner. I don't know what it is. I know the kind that goes in a laser printer, but somehow I don't think it's the same thing you splash on your face. Unless being smeared with charcoal is the new look for spring?

The mysteries of toner aside, I've so far put together that I should be cleansing my face twice a day and using moisturizer. Accordingly, I've bought cleanser and a moisturizer with sunscreen. And because I'm a deer in the headlights and susceptible to marketing, I also bought a doomahickey that looks exactly like a miniature belt sander for your face.

I used my new products over the weekend and my face actually feels fresh and smooth. Maybe this face cleaning thing isn't so bad? I'll try it for awhile and see how it goes. My next step might even involve makeup. And then, dear readers, I really will be asking if it's Maybelline. Or Cover Girl. Or...or...or well I've run out of names because, as you've no doubt already concluded, I'm clueless ;)

Sixty-second Weigh-in

I'm down 2.2 lbs this week. This means I've now lost over 60 lbs. I've also been sitting here for the last five minutes trying to come up with something to say.

As I get closer to my goal, I'm becoming more shy about it. I couldn't talk in the meeting today either when my name was called. I teared up and could only stammer that I felt 100% better. Doh!

I'm an ingrained shy person. I manage to appear friendly on the surface but always hold something back. Some people think I'm aloof but I'm not. I'm just too darned shy. And as I get closer to this extremely personal goal of mine, I feel like crying "don't look at me!"

So I'm sitting here, proud as a peacock of my newest milestone and yet unable to really talk about it. At the rate I'm going, getting to goal is going to render me utterly speechless!

The will to win

The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare.”
– Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner

Isn't that a great quote? I've been thinking about it a lot since it was sent to me in my running clinic newsletter. It doesn't just apply to running; it applies to any challenge, weight loss especially. You can't just want to lose weight. You have to put the effort in to make it happen.

Birds of a feather run together

I'll give you three guesses as to who won the Crazy Sock competition at the running clinic tonight :)

Okay, so what if my team and I were the only ones who actually wore crazy socks. If there had been other people who entered, we still would've won. I mean, c'mon. I'm sporting knee feathers. Knee feathers! You can't get much crazier than that.

Or silly for that matter. We did our training run wearing our socks. I didn't notice, but apparently we were getting all sorts of looks from people. And here I thought everyone was just admiring our running posture.

For our delightfully awesome footwear, we each won a water bottle. Awesome! Who says running can't be fun?

Sammies...a greasy little high-point sandwich

I finally tried one of Quiznos' "Sammie" sandwiches - the Chicken Bacon Ranch. Not worth it at all. Not only are they tiny, they pack a lot of calories and fat into such a small package. The best guess I have is 7 points for a sandwich the size of a small taco.

I'm estimating because Quiznos Canada doesn't have nutritional information. I eventually found the NI for a similar sandwich on the American site which is what I'm basing my estimation on. 310 calories, 26g fat, and 1g fibre.

Was the sandwich tasty? I suppose I would've found it yummy once upon a time. Nowadays it isn't anywhere near tasty enough to merit spending that many points on it. I have it marked in my points tracker as "never again."

Server: 1, TinyTrim: 0

Please tell me that tomorrow is Friday. This week at work isn't going very well.

I just got back from an emergency trip to retrieve a server that died. When removing it from the rack, it fell and pinched my finger something fierce. My finger is all tingly and an interesting shade of red and white. The loss of sensation is currently a blessing in disguise because it looks like it'll hurt like a sonnuva when the feeling comes back.

In other news, the running clinic is going very well. My team and I did a homework run last night and it felt really good. It's hard to believe we're up to running 8:1 intervals now. Tomorrow at the clinic we'll be doing 9:1 intervals for the first time. It's also "crazy sock night" and we're hoping to win a prize. Wish us luck!

Sixty-first Weigh-in

I'm down 0.2 lbs this week. I wasn't expecting anything because of TOM so even a little bit is better than nothing :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

March Madness

Oy. What a week! And what a month for that matter. March was so crazy it spilled over into April. This is the first lazy Friday afternoon I've had in a long time.

Aside from work, I've been busy with my running clinic and going out just about every evening to have fun with friends and revel in the fresh air. I can hardly believe just how active I've become. I used to sit on the couch and think "outdoors" was a dirty word. I love moving now.

Except maybe not this particular second. It's TOM right now. Though I'm not as puffy and crampy as last month, I'm still not expecting great things on the scale tomorrow.

Anyways, I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still around and that I really appreciate everyone coming to check up on me. It's supposed to rain this weekend so maybe I'll finally have a chance to catch up on blog reading?

Rice in the valley

Today at work we had lunch brought it from a Mexican restaurant. I was so good. I only took a small slice of a burrito and savoured it as slowly as I could. Unfortunately, some rice fell out, down my shirt and into my bra.

If I was at home, I would've immediately shoved my hand in there and fished it out. I briefly considered doing it anyways, but my coworkers are so straight-laced I don't think they even know what cleavage is.

So I sat there for half an hour until I could make a break for the washroom. Retrieving cold sticky rice from your cleavage never felt so good.