Alot to catch up on!

Wow it’s been over a week and I fully intended to blog since Tuesday. Last weekend we did indeed go to Pete’s where I found my all time favourite Christmas Tea! I had it for the first time last year and went searching and couldn’t find it anywhere, then over the summer realized that Pete’s sells the brand so I knew it would be there, and it was just as good as I remember it! Last weekend also involved our first snowfall and I did indeed bake more cookies!

Tuesday brought around a loss on the scale! And I have worked out/ walked pretty much everyday this week. I am enjoying my flex points but that is what they are for. I also see that new changes are on the horizon for the Weight Watchers program. They start next week so we will see what happens with them.

This weekend we finished up our Christmas shopping for the family, I baked mini brownie muffins (which went stright to the freezer), and we got out the Christmas decorations. We got a good start yesterday and will probably finish up this evening.

I weigh in tomorrow, and I am feeling really good about it, I am glad I re-joined WW because I now am feeling in control again which will no doubt help me through the holiday season!

A Quick Week Re-cap

Well I can admit I am struggling with Weight Watchers. Through the week some Timbits, Cheesies, and Pizza have shown up in the mix. Although I have tracked them and moved on it is still hard at the end of the work day and I have 5 PTS or less to work with for supper. I am horrible at controlling my eating at work, I have known this for a long time. Another issue is that being a nurse everything is usually about food. The girls often bring in goodies and there is usually a bag of chips or box of choclates. It sucks!

I can predict that I will eat better over the weekend while I am off, however I will indulge in some wine I think! It is so much easier for me to eat at home, I don’t become as hungry and I have more choices. Packing food for work is hard and I tend to eat it all if I bring it, so it is hard for me to have options!

I have also notices some things about weight watchers online that I don’t like.

• They don’t have alot of brand names in their database.
• They don’t have alot of junk food in their database
• Points seem more than calories!

I mean take today for example, we were looking for something for supper, we were looking at things that were about 300 calories per serving, which didn’t seem too bad, but when I do the math its 6 or 7 pts! Seems like alot when you do it that way. I don’t know I know there are changes coming to the program and I can only help things will change for the better!

Plans for the weekend include introducing activity back into my life (my ankle is feeling alot better), cleaning and hopefully a trip to Pete’s Frootique. I may also bake but we will see!

Welcome Back, hrclark!

Well here we go, I have a huge confession of sorts, I am totally unsure how I feel and I hope writing it down can help me figure it out. Remember my Guilty little secrets post? When I said Part of my brain says “oh we won’t really crack down on weight loss until the 190’s”  Well it happened. Last night me and Dean were talking things over, and really my mood is much better. The only thing that is holding me down in terms or self image and respect is my weight. So this is what I did;

Yep I joined Weight Watchers online… again. I weighed in and I was… are you ready for it… 190.0 lbs. I almost cried, I laughed, I think I may have been in shock. So I went through the process… sucky. Then Weight Watchers has this lovely little feature on there side that saves you past data and I happened to be a member of Weight Watchers in November of 2008. I weighed in at… Can anyone guess? Yep 190. So there you go, in two years I haven't lost any weight. Wow that really sucks. So my plan is to do this and make it work, I am not sure how yet, I don’t feel in control, in fact I am feeling totally out of control but hopefully in a few weeks I will feel that control again! I mean I have enough health problems, I am short of breath alot, I have low iron, low B12, low energy, I have joint pain, and while not all of this may be due to my weight, alot probably does!

Well that is it for me, hope everyone is having a good week.

Oh What a Night(s)

Hey there everybody! What a weekend! I have had a great few days off and I am very happy I took tomorrow off to!

My vacation was very productive. I already told you about my cleaning adventures and I am happy to report it was all good!

Friday night we hung out with Lynn and her hubby, Dean made an awesome stir-fry and we sat and talked and relaxed, had a few drinks and a great time!

Kitty even got in on the action!

Saturday I was a bit sleepy but had stuff to do anyway. I made a batch of my slow cooker chilli and cleaned house for another friend to come visit. All around busy fun! Today I was very productive, we made hummus for the first time ever.

I had it with my veggies for lunch. This is Cumin and Black pepper flavour, and I got the recipe from Betty Crocker. Dean wasn’t a huge fan but I love it! It made enough to last a bit too which is good. I don’t like mayo so for me I use hummus as a spread on wraps and sandwiches.  It was so simple this will be a recurring thing. I normally don’t care about packaged goods, but I get bored of the same thing, so I will experiment with different spices and see what happens.

 

Also today I made Snickerdoodles. Basically they are cookies with cinnamon sugar on them. I thought I should get my Christmas baking started since I don’t have any other real time off before Christmas. However I would like to say that I am not in the Christmas sprit yet… at all!

Over all I had a great few days.

I have been putting alot of thought into joining WW again. I know there are some changes that are going to come around really soon and I am thinking that might be a good time for me to jump back on the band wagon. I did weigh in today and was down, but I still feel its very difficult for me to get in the right mindset to lose this weight. I haven't made up my mind yet, but that is one thought that is floating around in my head!

The other thing is I twisted my ankle over the weekend and have been hobbling around on it. It felt much better today and we went to the mall but after about an hour and a half it was getting swollen again and throbbing like mad! So limited exercise for me, which sucks because it was the one thing I was being pretty consistent with!

Hope everyone has a good Monday!

Feel good day!

Hey everyone, I am one of the lucky ones that made the holiday on Thursday turn into a long weekend, actually I took Monday off too so I have a 5 day weekend!

Yesterday I spent as a me day. I did 30 minuets of yoga with Bob Harper on The Biggest Loser game. And I can tell ya I am sore today! I also picked up my mom’s dog.

She is meek and mild, and a huge wimp. She has had two “accidents” since being here. She is totally stressed but I think today she is coming around a bit. We went for a great walk last night with hubby and I went for a solo one with her today! But let me tell you my wonderful cat doesn't like the dog being here. I mean they know each other as we lived with mom for over a year, but he was growling and going on like a possessed beast yesterday. But today he was just sooking up to Daddy in the sun!

Yesterday the rest of the day was reading, and cross-stitching. I decided to start watching Grey’s Anatomy from the beginning on my weekends, I enjoy doing that while cross-stitching. Dean got off early yesterday so we went out for supper instead of staying in.

Today I was a cleaning machine! I worked from about 830 until 1130 non-stop. I am beat! And speaking of cleaning Angie has a great giveaway on organic cleaners going on right now!

It feels so good for me to have stuff done off my to-do list. Also I have plans with friends tonight, and my aunt tomorrow. Dean is off Sunday and Monday with me so we will see, I would like to get our Christmas shopping out of the way since we have to ship our gifts to the in-laws!

I have been in a pretty good mood this week, I got my blood work done, and I was started on a new inhaler and I am starting to notice a difference in my breathing, which effects soo much! Well I guess that is it to share right now, hope everyone has a great weekend!

Today Remember…

Do you know what that is? It’s a poppy, we where it today. Today is Remembrance Day, the day we are suppose to recognize what the military and veterans have done for us. It started with the first world war, and continues today with the “War on Terrorism” over in the middle east. When I was younger there wasn’t a year I missed going to the cenotaph and watching people lay wreaths and crosses or laying them myself. I was a Navy Cadet first, and even walked with the veterans holding a flag down from the local legion to the cenotaph. That was a cold grey day, and I remember thinking my hands were going to freeze. Then I moved on to Girl Guides. I remember sunny days and rainy days, but I really think all were cold days. It wasn’t until last year that my own friends and family come to mind when I think of everyone who has fought for us and our freedom. One is here and the other is not. One is a friend who I went to high school with. He has done a term in the middle east and has forever been changed by that expiernce.

The other: My grandfather, while he didn’t serve in a war, but he was in the Navy, another experience which also forever changed him, and his whole family. My Dad remembers him being away alot, he had a strict upbringing and he was proud.

Today I remember. When I was a child I did not understand what it meant to remember, I didn’t have anyone to remember. I was always respectful but didn’t understand. I took today off, sure it’s a great excuse to sleep in and not go to work, I even made it into a long weekend. But as the 11 o’clock hour hit, I had tears in my eyes and thought in my head and heart.

So please take a moment to remember who you may have in your life who has been impacted by war, or the military forces, without them where would we be?

Guilty little secrets

Well another weekend is over. I have had a weekend and week full of struggles. I am really struggling with finding myself, which is what this blog was meant for in the end. I don’t want this to be a “weight loss” blog. That is never what I intended. But the truth is so much of my personal struggle revolves around my self image and weight. I don’t feel good in my own body. Secret #1: Part of my brain says “oh we won’t really crack down on weight loss until the 190’s” How crazy is that? And yet it is my internal talk. I feel completely mortified that I would think that way. But also some of me thinks I am happy where I am at some of the time. I know my husband loves me, I know my friends (what little I have) love me for who I am. To the people that matter I could be 400 lbs and they would still love me. Except I wouldn’t love me, and I don’t now either.

And that brings me to another thing. Secret #2: I am a loner. And I don’t really think of that as a bad thing. I could name on one hand my friends. I know they are real friends and that is important, but also lately I have been craving socialization. I am alone after work and on Saturdays, and while sometimes I really enjoy that alone time other days I just wish I had more friends so I could have plans.

And last of the confessions Secret #3: I play Farmville on Facebook. Haha, yea lame I know but it passes time and is sometimes cute and interesting.

Well that's all of my little secrets today. What are some of you guilty secrets?

Today I started working out. I did the Biggest Loser game. a 25 minuet boxing routine and a 5 – 10 minuet challenge. It was fun but I am exhausted. I have a feeling my arms and calves will be cursing me tomorrow!

We also went through the Christmas stuff to see what we wanted/needed for the house. The top of the list is a new Christmas Tree. We were able to get rid of a box of stuff for donation! And after going through that we are now fully unpacked and purged of all the junk! It feels really good.

After lunch we headed to Dartmouth Crossing and found a coffee table and end table set. We got them from JYSK. We also looked at a nice Dining room set, but that will have to come later!

Now I am waiting for supper (hamburgers) and very upset that it is dark out at 5:00. Its a short week for me as I have Thursday and Friday off! I plan to work out tomorrow when I get home from work! I will let you know how it goes!

Is there a Dr in house?

This morning I was up early and out to the Doctors. Nothing really wrong just a check-up. However what sucks is that my doctor is 40 minuets away. I really want to find one closer to home, but I am hesitant too because I don’t know anyone who has a doctor in the city. So after driving 40 minuets and waiting 50 I was in and out in 5. Good thing my mom lives close so the trip wasn’t totally wasted.

I had a good visit with Mom, helping her with some things around the house. I love that no matter how long I am way it is still home, still “my room” and I can still feel 100% comfortable.

I got home around 3 and as much as I wanted to have a quick workout before Dean got home I could barely keep my eyes open. Next thing I knew it was 5:00 and Dean was home.  We headed out for supper tonight, wend to Jack Astor’s. We waited for about 30 minuets before getting a table, but then got one right next to the kitchen which was interesting to watch.

Now I am home sipping on some wine, chilling with my wonderful husband.

Plans for tomorrow involve working out, weighing in, and maybe opening a Christmas box. And this brings me to another topic. It is too early to be decorating for Christmas? There have been things around facebook and twitter to have courtesy and respect and not to put lights on and decorations out until after Remembrance Day. I totally agree with this, I can understand the malls and shops having Christmas things out but I think at home it’s too early. We usually start when the Parade of Lights is going on.

So when is it appropriate for Christmas Decorating and Christmas events?

I have found the motivation!

Well boys and girls I think I have the motivation back… Last night we went and bought the Xbox Kinect. It is similar to a Wii and uses all movement. Along with it we also bought The Biggest Loser, Ultimate Workout. I just did about 20 minuets of it and I am sore today! It felt good to be sore again. I really think this will motivate me because I plan to do this after work. That means no more naps for me!

My eating still isn’t great but I know if I can focus on exercise that I will lose weight!

I have a doctors appointment tomorrow and I am looking forward to figuring out my blood work and all that. I am hoping everything will be ok, but I really think I will need to be on supplements the rest of my life.

What else do you do for motivation? Do you focus more on what you eat or exercise when you are trying to lose weight?

Oh I with there was a simple way to change your life!