Itchy long weekend

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. After having come off an extra long weekend, it was nice to take a break from blogging and such. I'll be using my blogger wand to turn back time and post a few things that I was up to as well as a product review.

Before I do that, I'd like to put it out there that swimmer's itch sucks. I'm an itchy mess! But at least I got out there in public no less and had a nice relaxing swim. Next time though, I'm heading for a pool or a nice river. *attempts not to scratch*

EDIT: Okay, all done with my magic wand. Scroll down to read more :)

Tiny goes to Yoga

As part of my New Year goals, I went to my very first Yoga class last night. After having researched Yoga and getting muddled up by all the different types, I finally settled on Hatha Yoga. Since "Hot Yoga" scares me, Hatha seemed relatively calm in comparison.

Fortunately, it was a good guess because the class was very relaxing and the instructor was great. She was an older slightly plump woman that exuded an indefinable sageness and calm. She led us through introductory poses as well as yogic breathing. I felt so calm and fluid afterwards that I can't believe I've never tried it before.

As everyone in the class was of all body shapes, sizes and abilities, I didn't feel out of place at all. If you've never tried Yoga, I highly recommend it. I can't wait for next week's class.

Namasté!

Review: Dr. Oetker's Light French Vanilla Mousse

This post could also be titled "Dr. Oetker, I love you." Seriously, this was the best tasting dessert I've had in a looooong time. Yes, it tastes a bit like pudding made from a box, but the texture was so light and creamy that I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

To make it, you whip together the mousse powder with a cup of skim milk. After it's all light and fluffy, you spoon it into cups and chill. That's it. I love simple.

I served it in small bowls topped with fresh grapes. The fruit was such a nice compliment to the mousse, that I can't imagine having it without. I also didn't notice the artificial sweetner which normally I do. Though to be fair, I think the grapes helped with that.

Each box makes five servings. One serving is 1 point for half a cup. Yes, that's right. Sinful and low in points. Please feel free to double-check the value yourself.

Dr. Oetker's light mousses (moussi?) come in three different flavours, all similar in NI: French Vanilla, Milk Chocolate, and Strawberry. For more info and NI, visit Dr. Oetker's site and give him my undying love.

*yum!*

Happy Canada Day!

A belated Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends! I'm glad to report that after the excess of the weekend, I spent the day perfectly on track and in control.

In the morning, I participated in the HBC 3K Walk for Canada. When I saw other people running instead of walking, I decided to run as well! Normally I do run/walk intervals, but this time I thought I'd try to run the whole way. And I did it! I believe I came in fifth, too. At the finish line, we all received a really beautiful silver medal.

If you've never done the HBC walk (or run), I highly recommend it. You get a shirt, a high-quality medal, and a bag full of product samples and other free goodies as part of the registration fee. Visit the official site for more info.

The rest of the day was spent with friends hiking around a lake followed with fireworks in the evening. At the end of the day, I'd earned 10 Activity Points and had eaten on plan. I always love it when that happens.

Lastly, this blog post is brought to you by Local Strawberries! It's strawberry season here now and wow are they ever good. Small, juicy, red through-out, and oh so sweet! Best part is, zero points for a cup. Eaten on their own or with a dollop of light Cool Whip and you'll be in heaven.

Seventy-third Weigh-in

Sorry for the delay in getting this one up. I was away for a mini-vacation this weekend. I went up 1 lb this weigh-in, which is to be expected considering the number of eating blow-outs I've been racking up.

Speaking of which, this past weekend was quite the bender. Remind me why I shouldn't eat until I hurt. Oh, that's right. Because that leads to 70 lbs of weight gain. And it wasn't like it was extremely tasty food either. I just kept trying to find that one meal that tasted so good it was worth all those calories. I never did find that one meal. It was all mediocre from start to finish. Meanwhile, four bajillion calories later and my insides weren't so happy with me today.

Needless to say, this week is damage control. Which is rather ironic because I've been working up to a particular decision for a few weeks now. Yep. Maintenance. I had pretty much decided to start on it this week. After this weekend though, it'll have to wait until next week.

In the meantime, I'll be doing lots of reading and research while I do laps around the block trying to work off two days of excess.

Starbucks light frappuccinos = summer

As the sun finally starts shining in my neck of the woods, I'm once again reminded of my dear dear friend of last summer. The Starbucks light frappuccino. Seriously sinful and low on points. Plus, there's new flavours to try this year.

If you're hankering for a frosty treat, get thee to your local Starbucks. A tall mocha light is only two points. Ask for it double-blended for an extra-creamy treat. Want to try other flavours? Be sure to check Starbuck's nutrition calculator before you go because not all light fraps are created equal.

Update: To the anonymous poster who said the above points value for the tall mocha frap light is wrong, I kindly suggest recalculating because it's most definitely 2 points. The NI for one is 110 calories, 1g fat, and 2g fibre. Note, that it's just 1g fat and not 10g fat. There's 10 calories from fat, but not 10 grams of it.

I used all three calculators available to me (the online calculator, my paper calculator, and my handheld calculator) to triple check the points value. I also looked up the points value using Weight Watcher's online database. All four methods yielded the same results: a tall mocha frap is 2 points.

I know it's too good to be true, but it is :)

I'm thinner than I think I am

I'm still amazed at how a number of my pre-weight loss mindsets still float to the surface. It's like they're never truly gone; they wait just below the surface only to emerge in awkward places like the dressing room.

Case-in-point...I mentioned on my last post about some poor eating choices I'd been making. As a result of that, somehow I thought that I had gained so much weight as to go up in a number of clothing sizes. I actually found myself thumbing through sizes that were too big for me. When I caught myself doing this, I made myself try on a smaller size. It was an honest-to-goodness kick in the head when I found it fit me.

What went through my mind at that point? "I can't possibly fit in a size this small, I've been eating out of control." It's the same sort of thinking I had even before I gained weight to begin with. "I can't possible fit in a size this small, I'm not good enough." As a result, I never even tried on smaller sized clothes. I expected disappointment and I received disappointment in return.

Maybe that's exactly why I became so overweight? I saw myself as large and unattractive. I wasn't really. But I believed it and I became it.

Now here I am at square one. Back where I started before I put on weight. Rummaging through the racks looking for larges, thinking I'm not good enough, that I can't possibly be allowed to try on small sizes, that I'm not worthwhile.

If you're itching to smack me right now, I don't blame you. Fortunately, there's a difference this time. Though I didn't recognize it at first, I was eventually able to identify that old sneaky thought pattern before it successfully crept onto me like a badly-fitting puce-polka-dotted frilly-cuffed mark-down shirt.

I don't kid myself that it won't try again. (Fashion disasters lie in wait for us all.) But when it does try again, I'll remember this: I'm thinner than I think I am. But more importantly, I just have to believe I'm better than the image I have of myself. Because if I believe it, I will become it. And maybe then I won't come home from the store with plaid stirrup pants and poofy pink shirts.