Quick check in

Ugh... so busy this week. I'm sorry I'm not keeping up with everyone's blogs lately and that I haven't posted much. Life should slow down by next week!

As far as eating goes, I'm doing pretty good and staying on track but haven't counted points completely. I took the kids to Swiss Chalet last night and made a healthy choice (grilled chicken breast with veggies and a little rice) but today for lunch I grabbed Quiznos, thinking they would have low fat options and trust me, after looking up the points for what I had, I won't be going back there anytime soon. I had a sandwich with ham and turkey, swiss and some sauce (thought it sounded light) and I think it was about 15 points!!! AHHHHH! I don't know for sure though because I requested it without the bacon and can't find the NI for that on their website. In any case, umm yah, I'll stick with Subway and Mr. Sub.

Oh - I also bought some pilates dvd's today when I was on a quick birthday present run for a party T got invited to tomorrow. It is a box set of 2 Stott's Pilates dvds plus a waterbottle and I got it for $5 so I figured why not! I've never done pilates before but have heard many good things... anyone done these dvds before? Will I be sore? LOL I bet I will... hoping to try them out tomorrow so I'll let ya know.

Anyways, I'm off to bed... another busy day tomorrow and yes, I work again too. Fun times!

Healthy You Check In - No Cheat Challenge Week 2!

I'm sorry that I'm a little late checking in tonight, it's just that kind of a day. Working day and night is starting to really suck. I haven't even had time to deposit some checks and just realized tonight that I'd better pay some bills before they are overdue. I'm normally so good with that stuff! Ah well... "two more weeks, two more weeks" has become my mantra.

Other than overall business, it's been a good day today and a good week. A little incident at work today really reminded me about how much I really like to be in control (not controlling, just on top of things). If I have some uncertainties, I feel scattered, stressed and sometimes even a little panicky but the last few months, I've been able to recognize this and have been able to do what I need to do to feel back on top of things before it gets out of hand. I think this is related to my weight loss journey. I don't like the feeling that I get when I'm out of control with food. I have a feeling that this is why I've been able to get right back on track instead of remaining in the depths of an endless binge session, upset, depressed and unhappy. Hurray! My mom also commented to me tonight that this time around on my weight loss journey, I seem different. She was wondering what had finally "clicked" with me and what has made me so persistent and focused on my goals. It was neat to me that she noticed this and actually felt like a huge compliment so that made me feel good.

Anyhow, today's menu:

Breakfast: 4 points
Quaker reduced sugar oatmeal w/1/3 cup skim, 1/2 banana
1/4 whole wheat english muffin, 1/4 tsp butter (kids leftovers)

Lunch: 8.5 points
Ham and Cheese "quesadilla" w/1 multigrain flatout wrap, 2 slices ham, 1/3 cup 2% cheese
Eating Right potato leek soup (new cup of soups thingies from Safeway - really yummy!)
Maxwell House French Vanilla Capp w/2tsp nonfat creamer

Snack: 2.5 points
1 orange
Maxwell House French Vanilla Capp w/nonfat creamer

Dinner: 6 points
Smart Ones Santa Fe Rice and Beans

Dessert: 2.5 points
fat free vanilla pudding w/2 tsp toasted slivered almonds

Snack: 2 points
London Fog (1 cup skim)

25.5 / 30 but I'll have another little snack while I'm watching Biggest Loser... not sure what yet.

Hope you are all doing well... join me in another week of the No-Cheat Challenge!!

No Cheat Challenge Day 7 and Weigh in!

Thank you all so much for the great comments that I receive! Ok, I just really needed to say that.

You all have convinced me not to change my WI day. Having my WI Monday morning was something that I chose to do, just to keep me more accountable on the weekends. And changing it would not really be helping myself but rather enabling myself.

So, today has been better... much better. I weighed in at exactly 245, which was down 1.6 lbs. Not bad considering my cookie disaster yesterday. I'm totally back in control with the eating stuff today and I feel much better about myself. I really can't wait to crack my 20 lbs mark! Hopefully next week for sure.

Today's Menu (so far)

Breakfast: 4 points
Reduced sugar oatmeal, 1/3 cup skim, half banana, half grapefruit

Lunch: 6 points
Smart Ones Florentine Lasagna

Dinner: 9 points
3 flatbread crackers w/1 tsp hummus (while I was making dinner)
M&M's bbq chicken kabob, 4 spears asparagus, 1/2 tsp oil, 4 oz baby potatoes, 2 tbsp light sour cream
1 tbsp sunflower seeds

Dessert: 2.5 points
fat free vanilla pudding cup w/2 tsp slivered almonds

Snack: 2 points
London Fog (one cup skim)

That's only 23.5/30 but I'm sure I'll have a little something else too.

Anyone else care to join in for another round of the No Cheat Challenge starting tomorrow? Though I did slip up yesterday, it's an improvement! In the past I've stopped tracking most Friday nights and haven't started again until Monday. This weekend I only stopped tracking Sunday afternoon/evening. I can do it!!

No Cheat Challenge Day 6

Not good. I counted up until this afternoon.. we even went to Wendy's for lunch and I did OK (taco salad without the dressing and chips so it was 8 points)... then stuff happened and the points when down the drain. Not sure exactly why I binged... I need to think about this some more. I do fine when I'm out of the house but if I am home, I'm finding it really hard. I think I was partially feeling a little frustrated... kid's are a little under the weather and were really whiny this afternoon so I couldn't really get anything done and I couldn't really have a rest (what I really wanted) because baby K kept getting into stuff (when will this phase end?!?!). So I ate. Reaalllly realllly yummy gourmet cookies left over from Christmas. But oh so bad and laden with buttery goodness. Yah. Um I ate the whole box. Which was relatively small but still approximately 20ish points. Then a piece of pizza (which wasn't even good).

I weigh in tomorrow morning so I am really keeping my fingers crossed that this won't totally cancel out what I may have lost this week.

I'm also thinking that maybe I should change my WI day to Friday instead of Monday so that I have the whole week to make up for any crap I may eat on weekends. Any thoughts?

No Cheat Challenge Day 5

Okay... I have a confession. Last night, just before bed, I scarfed down the last three one-bite brownies that were sitting in the kitchen. Not sure why I did it.. I wasn't hungry and I was on my way to bed for pete's sake! I was too scared to check out the nutritional info on those and quickly threw the empty bag into the garbage. When I woke up this morning and decided that I should actually enter my sins into my points tracker, the trash had already been emptied. Rather convenient! But stilll, it's technically not a cheat because I have 31 flex points left still but I still felt bad about it. For a little while anyways.

Anyways, today has been good. I've tracked all day and that in itself is a record for a Saturday.

Here's today's menu:

Breakfast: 3.5 points
Reduced sugar oatmeal with 1/3 cup skim
3 oz grapes

Snack: 4 points
2 flatbread crackers with 1 wedge light laughing cow
1/2 grapefruit
Calorie wise Maxwell House french vanilla capp

Lunch: 7 points
Mr. Sub small ham sub with lots of veggies
sm. bag baked lays

Dinner: 7 points
Yummy omelette with shredded potato, tomato, ham, mushrooms (I'm getting this recipe perfected!)

Dessert: 3.5 points
1/2 banana
fat free chocolate pudding cup w/ 2 tsp slivered almonds

Snack: 3 points
London Fog (1 cup skim)
1 point popcorn
apple

29/30

No Cheat Challenge Day 4

Today was OK. I was home this afternoon and found myself feeling more snacky than I have been... but probably because I was a little bored. I also retook the points quiz and now I get 30 points per day instead of 31. I'm over that by a few today but this is the first of any of my flex points I've used this week so it's fine. The good thing is that typically weekends (starting Friday nights) have been when I've slipped up and stopped counting points. That will not happen this week!!

Breakfast: 3.5 points
Quaker reduced sugar oatmeal w/ 1/3 cup skim and half a banana

Lunch: 7 points
Smart Ones Santa Fe Rice and Beans (one of my faves)
half of a whole wheat pita

Snack: 3.5 points
Grimm's Turkey pepperoni stick
1 package of Annie's organic Hunny Bunnies

Dinner: 10 points (and the worst part is that I really didn't enjoy any of it! But my dad cooked and was trying to be "health conscious" and make something I could eat)
3.5 oz bbq'd steak
4 1/4 baby potatoes
2 oz green beans
1 tsp butter (split between my gr. beans and potatoes)
8 baby dill pickles
1/2 slice garlic bread (shouldn't have had this but it looked so good!)
1/2 grapefruit

Dessert: 3 points
fat free chocolate pudding cup w/1 tbsp toasted slivered almonds (my new favourite!)

Snack: 6 points
whole wheat english muffin with 2 tbsp jam
London Fog (1 cup skim)
1 tbsp slivered almonds

33/30

No oils today and I'm a little short on dairy but overall, far better than the last many Fridays! I hope you all are doing well. Weekends are always the hardest times for staying OP, aren't they? The only thing that may make it easier for me this weekend is that I have to work tomorrow so I'm not home to snack. Stay strong!!

Work and kids and ARG

So, I've been working full time for the past 2 weeks and am scheduled to do so for another two weeks. And to be honest, I've really enjoyed it. Even though work has been crazy busy and comes with it's own issues, it's still quieter and easier than trying to work at home around two screaming kids, always trying to find a spare second to get to the computer to just "finish something up". So I've been tossing around the idea of looking for a more permanent full time position and quitting the contract work that I've been doing at home for the last year and a half. But today, I am reminded WHY I had chosen to work from home in the first place.

FINDING RELIABLE, CONSISTENT CHILDCARE IS NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!

Sorry for "shouting", I just feel incredibly frustrated right now. For the second time in less than a week, my babysitter has called me at work asking me to pick up the kids at lunch time because something has come up. Then yesterday, she sprung it on me that she will be away March 4-8 and how I should call the day home agency to find a back up sitter. The problem is, there is only one other lady from the agency that can take them and going to her means an extra 30 minutes of driving in the morning. And this is not a problem with only my agency - this is a problem with all childcare in my area. There just isn't enough! So, instead of selecting a caregiver who is the most loving, caring and best suited for our needs, I essentially get no choice and am just stuck with whatever is available, whether I like the person or not.



Ok, sorry, rant over ;)

No Cheat Challenge Day 3

Another good day here! I'm finding it a little tough to eat all my points the last few days but it's probably because I haven't been exercising but rather sitting on my butt working at my desk all day. Work has been so busy that the time just flies by and I hardly remember to eat lunch. Oh well, easy not to snack that way I guess. Anyhow, here's today's menu:

Breakfast: 3 points
Quaker High Fibre Berry Medley Oatmeal
1/3 cup skim milk
1/2 grapefruit

Mid-morning snack: 2 points
1 sm bag baked Lays (yesterdays lunch leftovers)

Lunch: 6 points
Smart Ones Veggie Lasagna

Supper: 7 points
M&M's BBQ chicken kabob
2 oz cooked baby carrots and 4 oz baby potatoes roasted in 1 tsp canola and greek seasoning
4 Grissol Garden Herb Baguettes
1/2 grapefruit

Snack (trying to use up points): 9 points
yogurt cup with 1 tsp wheat germ
London Fog (1 cup skim)
1 whole wheat english muffin w/ 1 tbsp light cream cheese and 1tbsp jam
1 apple

27/31 and I'm headed to bed now so that's it for the day.

It's bad not to eat all of my points, isn't it? But I just can't right now!

Hope you all had another good non-cheating day!!

No Cheat Challenge Day 2

Another day OP is nearly over. Carolyn's omelette yesterday made me want one so that's what I had for dinner... a little high in points but oh so yummy! Also, I hadn't eaten much all day so I had points to spare. I used real eggs instead of any of those substitutions and there really is no comparison with the taste. I'd rather have eggs less frequently and actually enjoy the taste than eat those "fake" ones.

Here is today's menu:

Breakfast: 5.5 points
Quaker reduced sugar oatmeal
1 banana
1/3 cup skim milk
3/4 of a little cup thingy of yogurt (baby K wouldn't finish)

Lunch: 5 points
Subway 6" ham sub w/lots of veggies

Afternoon snack: 1.5 points
Maxwell House French Vanilla Capp w/2 tsp fat free creamer

Dinner: 10.5 points
Yummy omelette with shredded potato, ham, cheese, mushrooms and tomato
large grapefruit

Snack: 6 points
10 Grissol Garden Herb Crispy Bagettes
2 wedges Laughing Cow Light
London Fog (oh so yummy 1 cup skim, 2 tbsp Starbucks sugar free vanilla syrup, earl grey tea)

This takes me to 28.5/31 points so maybe some carrots and hummus are in my future.

I hope you are all on program with me today and are feeling good!

No Cheat Challenge Day One!

I'm proud to say that there was no cheating around here today. Even though it was my brother's birthday and there was pizza, cake, brownies and cookies all around, I did not succumb! I was really not even tempted partially because of this challenge, and partially because I know I did badly on the weekend and need to work hard to see a loss this week.

Here's today's menu:

Breakfast: 2.5 points
2oz frozen mixed berries
1/3 cup skim milk
1 package Quaker Oats high fibre berry medley

Morning snack: 1.5 points
Starbucks Skinny vanilla latte (only drank half)

Lunch: 7 points
Mr. Sub 6" Ham sub w/cheese, honey mustard, pickles, cucumber and lettuce
1 sm. bag Baked Lays
diet coke

Supper: 9.5 points
1/2 serving chicken stew (baby's leftovers)
Smart Ones Santa Fe Rice and Beans
1 whole wheat pita

Dessert: 3.5 points
fat free chocolate pudding cup
3/4 tsp toasted slivered almonds
1 grapefruit

Snack: 3 points
London Fog (1 cup skim milk, earl grey tea, 2 tbsp sugar free Starbucks vanilla syrup)
2 oz baby carrots
1.5 tbsp hummus

27/31 points

It's almost 10 pm and I think I'm done for the night. I might add a yogurt cup in though because I'm short on dairy today. All in all a good day!

Healthy You Challenge Update and NO CHEATING!

My schedule is a little bit wacky right now so I figured I'd do the update a little early. I also did my weigh in yesterday morning, instead of my usual Monday morning because I was away overnight and didn't get back until late this afternoon. Sooooo....

The Good News: I'm down 2.2 lbs! Honestly, I have no idea how I pulled that off but I'm thrilled none the less. That puts me down 17 lbs total and that makes me feel really good. I haven't been at the weight that I'm currently in well over a year. That means that the weight I put on in 2007 is gone!!

The Bad News: I've eaten like crap for the last two days. Yesterday was a potluck for lunch and then finger foods for dinner (consisting mainly of crackers and cream cheese). This morning was a buffet (I filled my plate with fruit and then had 1.5 pieces of french toast and one small serving of hashbrowns), lunch was chicken noodle soup and hot chocolate and dinner was pizza... with a bunch of sweet snacks in between. Not good. BUT, that's what happens when you're staying away from home and come home disorganized and not feeling like cooking... then having to run out to take your kid to the walk in clinic because she's fevered and crying in pain (she has a UTI). I found myself back into that awful mindset of "oh well, today's shot anyways, I'll eat like crap and start again tomorrow". However, I WILL be back OP tomorrow, that is a promise!

Actually, I'm inspired to throw out a challenge to all of you who have been having trouble staying on program or on track, especially on the weekends (like me!!).

I challenge you all to spend the next 7 days (Tuesday the 19th through Tuesday the 26th) completely ON PROGRAM.

If you are on Weight Watchers, this means not going over your points for the week. It also means counting points every day (I've been in the habit of slacking on this, especially on weekends). If you are following some other program, this means sticking to it - NO CHEATING! I know for me, I need some extra motivation and accountability so I will post every day and let you all know my point total for the day (or my menu).

Anyone care to join me?

This is tough!

I'm having such a hard time staying on track the last couple of days. But this has been my weekend habit the last several weeks - not counting points, not eating super bad but definetly not completely on program. I think the other reason that I'm having a harder time is that I haven't been able to get to the gym in a week and a half. I've worked out twice at home but it's just not the same for me. Going to the gym just sets the tone for my day (I usually go in the morning) and I eat better, feel better, etc. Looks like I will just have to try my best as my schedule will be super busy like it has been for about 2 1/2 more weeks (until the election is over!). I'm really trying to just chill out about it all though and not beat myself up too much. I was having some huge losses last month, as is more typical in the beginning stages of WW plus I was working out like crazy so it's obvious that I won't achieve the same results right now as I did then. I've resigned myself to feeling "okay" about this, just as long as I keep losing, even if it is just a tiny loss. It's not forever as as soon as my job is finished in the first week of March, I will be back at the gym and (hopefully!) getting some good numbers again.

That said, I did make some positive steps yesterday and prepared a big batch of Lynn's Chicken Stew and some vegetable barley soup and froze it all into meal sized portions. We're also heading out to Kananaskis tomorrow and I should burn some calories pulling the kids around in the sled and hiking around there. I'm also bringing my gym clothes in case I have the opportunity to hit the hotel's gym. I'm really looking forward to going out there and just relaxing a bit and enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery.

I also decided that I would WI tomorrow morning before I leave seeing as I would miss my WI Monday morning. Really hoping to see a loss but I'm not all that optimistic about that happening.

Anyways, I've got a ton of packing to do tonight still. I hope all of you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

It all started with the chocolates

Stupid stupid Valentines chocolates. My mom really should have known better than to give me some. She was trying to be sweet though... and it was only one of those tiny boxes of Lindt with three chocolates in it. I put them up on top of the fridge... 5 minutes passed.... I ate one.... another few minutes.... I had another.... as soon as I was done chewing, I went and had the last one. Ashamed of myself and what I'd just consumed, I chewed so quickly that I barely tasted it. Then, as I was contemplating what to make for dinner, the chocolate euphoria took over and before I knew what I had done, I'd picked up the phone and ordered from Mr. Greeks - a gyro, with fries and extra taziki sauce. I ate it all.... every last crumb. I DESERVE it, I rationalized. It will be my splurge of the week. I promise I'll stay on track for the rest of the week, I kept telling myself. And now, as I sit here feeling gross, overstuffed and completely disgusted with myself, I wonder what it is exactly that I deserved? Why have I gotten accustomed to using food as a way to reward myself? And why would I want to eat such an unhealthy meal that would saboutage the hard work that I've done? Why would I want to fill myself so full that I sit here feeling ill? And how do I manage to trick myself into believing that eating a meal like that will somehow make me feel better/happy/content?

Healthy You Check In and when should I weigh in next?

Sorry - I'm a day late with this!

I sat down last night to write out my post ... I started out sort of complaining... something about not getting to work out yet again. Then I looked at the clock - 8:17 pm. I jumped up and put in my Walk Away the Pounds dvd and did a 3 mile workout. I felt so much better afterwards! No, it was not a hard workout like when I go to the gym, but I felt better and it did get my blood pumping. I think what made me feel so good was not just the exercise, but the fact that I got over myself and just pushed through the feeling tired and DID IT. I've had this thing about exercising when other people (I live with my mom, dad and two brothers + me and the girls - yep, a crowded house!) are home. For some reason I've felt ashamed of it?!? Typing that out makes me see that it makes no sense. But last night, I got over it and exercised anyway. You know, I think that is a NSV! I plan on doing it again tonight after I'm done on the computer.

Anyways, overall last week I did OK. The eating could have been better over the weekend but I'm not beating myself up over it. I still had a loss. I didn't get in as much exercise as I would have liked either with my new schedule and all, but I'm working on improving that this week.

As far as my weight loss goals go, I think I'm doing pretty well. My goal was to reach my 10% loss by March 15. I only have 12ish lbs to go so hopefully I'll make it. I also have a new birthday goal. By the time I turn 29 on July 15th, I want to weigh no more than 214 lbs. That's a total loss of 50 lbs, or about 35 lbs from now. Do-able? Only time will tell!

I'm pretty excited about this weekend because on Sunday night, we're going to stay at the Delta Kananaskis Hotel!! Our church always goes out there on the Sunday afternoon of the Family Day weekend and we've decided to make an overnight trip of it this year. I'm a little worried about the eating I'll do out there but it's only one day and there has to be some healthy choices available.

So here's my question:
My normal WI is Monday mornings. I'm leaving Sunday and won't be back until Monday evening. Should I WI Sunday morning instead? Wait until Tuesday morning? Or do it Monday afternoon?

Weigh in #5

Ay yi yi I've been horrible at updating lately! Today was my WI day and I was down 1.2 lbs. Not great but it put me under the 250 mark, which is what I'm the most pleased about. I've gotten into the really bad habit of not tracking over the weekend and I know that's why my loss is not as high as I would have liked. I also only managed 18 APs last week. That's disapointing to me but as I've started my new job, I'm still trying to figure out when I can get to the gym. I thought that since my office is across the street from the Y that scooting over there on my lunch break would be a cinch. But alas, we really get no lunch break. I mean, I'm sure I could run out and say I'll be back in an hour but I would feel really bad doing that as I already have to leave early every day to pick up my kids. The office hours are 9-6 but I leave every day at 4:45 in order to pick up the kids by 5. I drop them off at the babysitters at 8:45 so there's really no option of going to the gym before work either. So, there the Y sits (I can see it out my window when I sit at my desk), taunting me... making me feel guilty for not somehow getting over there.... and worse yet, today is the first official day of the fitness challenge thingy that I signed up for there and we're supposed to work out 4 days a week. UGH. Really my only option is to muster up some energy and head over there after I get the kids to bed. Quite honestly though, by 8pm tonight I was ready for bed, not ready for a workout. What to do... what to do....

A whole bunch of self-realization...

The last two days have been sort of weird for me food-wise. I haven't felt hungry. I haven't felt the need to snack. I haven't felt the urge to rip apart the kitchen looking for something sweet. I've had to struggle to eat all of my points, or at least not have a huge amount leftover. This is so completely opposite to how I was feeling last week that I am wondering what the heck is wrong with me!

But it's making me think of how they say that it takes 3 weeks to make a habit... well, in more than three weeks I haven't had a chocolate bar. I Haven't had any desserts other than the weekend of my daughter's birthday last month. I haven't had anything deep fried. I haven't had any fast food (except my little Burger King slip up 2 weeks ago and all I ordered was a grilled chicken sandwich OOOOOH BAAAAD). And you know what, I don't want any of that stuff. And it makes me feel incredibly strong, powerful and determined to feel that way.

Now I'm not a complete dreamer. I realize that it's not like I'm never going to want or NEED some chocolate. But it would appear as though the bad habits that I had of eating those types of things on a regular basis seem to be broken. And yeah... well, that feels powerful. It feels like I have control over the food instead of me being controlled by the food. At some points in my life, I thought that would be impossible.

Here's another thing I've noticed. When I'm eating badly and not exercising, I feel really badly about myself. I'm embarassed of my body. I avoid mirrors. I don't even try dressing up because I feel like I'll look like crap in everything anyways. My self talk is very negative. But since I've had a little success in this journey and know that I'm making better choices and taking positive steps in my life, I feel amazing! I'm always trying to look my best, I'm making eye contact when I talk with people, I'm smiling more, I'm walking with confidence... I feel beautiful. And outwardly, I'm sure I don't look that much different because at my weight, 13ish lbs isn't really that noticeable. But that part doesn't even matter. My self esteem is getting better! And I realize now that all it took was making some good choices and feeling a sense of accomplishment, feeling proud of me! And it's been oooooh so verrrrry long since I've been able to feel proud of myself.

The last 10 or so years of my life, I've been through a lot. A lot of people would say that I had so much promise, then threw it all away for a guy. I compromised my whole self, all of my values and everything that I had held as important. Like all bad decisions, you have to deal with the consequences. Trust me, there are a lot of difficult consequences to throwing away your education to get married at the age of 20 to a much older, yet extremely immature, alcoholic, drug-addicted man who cannot hold a job. And having two of his children. Don't get me wrong - I don't regret any of it for a milisecond. My girls are my world and I've learned so much and I am blessed with a very supportive family. But what I'm trying to get at is that making bad choices and compromising yourself and living in an abusive place can leave you feeling like a pile of crap. You blame yourself for your situation but don't know what to do about it. You feel ashamed and embarassed. You feel like you have no value and everything is your fault. And my point is that I don't feel like that anymore!!!! This has not happened overnight. I have made many positive steps in the last year and half since my separation. But up until the last few weeks, I still felt embarassed about myself because of my weight. And now that's starting to go too. I just can't imagine how great I'm going to feel when (NOT if) I reach my weight goal if I feel this good already. I think I will want to shout from the roof tops! It will be such a freedom.

You now know that I can really ramble. Sorry about that. I'll get to something more food related now. One point muffins!!! I've had a container of nonfat plain yogurt in my fridge for a while now so I've been looking for a way to use it up. I came across a recipe from the Beantown Baker and adapted it a little bit to suit the ingredients that I had. Here's what I came up with:

One Point Berry Muffins

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
3 tbsp applesauce
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup splenda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup mixed frozen berries

Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls, then mix together. Add the frozen berries last and stir gently. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Makes 12 muffins.

They are really good! I was really impressed because there is basically no fat or oil of any kind in the recipe. I've never made any like this before. The dough is weird though... it's actually doughy, not kind of pourable like other recipes I've made. Don't worry - they are supposed to be like that.

Healthy You Check In

I said yesterday that I'd do a catch up post so here it goes.

The last week has been extremely busy for me. The end of the month always is as this is when my deadlines for one of my jobs always comes and I seem to need that pressure to actually get to work (in other words, I'm a procrastinator perhaps?). Top that off with a weird virus that hung around for a few days that left me headachy, exhausted and my body all achy and I didn't manage to accomplish much outside of looking after the kids and finishing my work. This means that I chose to ignore the points system for the weekend. I did make good choices for my meals though, but a few extra snacks snuck in there and then there's always a few bites here and there of the kid's leftovers. It also means that I did not cook ahead and plan meals (as was one of my goals from last week). Nor did I accumulate 32 APs (only 23). I'm okay with all of that though because at my WI yesterday, I was still down 3.4 lbs!

Now that I've told you all of the things that I didn't accomplish, I'll tell you what I DID do.

• I took the YMCA's Fitness Challenge on Saturday. I was weighed, had my measurements taken, took a flexibility test, did pushups (19) and situps (33), did a chair sit on the wall (only lasted 29 seconds ACK), ran up down the stairs (19 times in 2 min) and completed 11 3/4 laps in 10 minutes. I will be tested again in 6 weeks!
• I did some form of physical activity everyday last week except Sunday for a minumum of 20 minutes (and yes, walking my daughter to and from school counts, right?)
• I more than achieved my goal of exercising for at least 1000 minutes in January. In fact, I didn't even start until January 7 and still made 1030 minutes!
• I achieved my goal of being at 250 by Feb. 4th. In fact, I weighed in at exactly 250.0!
• I've booked myself a pedicure for this afternoon to reward myself for my efforts!

February is going to be a bit of a different month for me. As my fellow Albertans will know, an election was called yesterday for March 3. I am working for Elections Alberta in the Calgary North West district and that job will start either tomorrow or Thursday. This is going to be weird for me because 1- I'm used to working from home on my own schedule 2- I haven't worked out of the home in ummmm 2.5 years 3- I'm going to have to wear "real" clothes LOL 4- My kids will be going to the dayhome full time and I feel like I'll hardly ever see them. But, on the flip side, I'm also looking forward to it. I won't be doing my contract work this month, which means I shouldn't have to spend all my evenings plugging away at the computer. I'm burnt out on that stuff and really looking forward to a break from it. I was really worried about how I was going to fit the gym in while working full time but I think we've just secured an office space right across the street from the Y!!! There really is no excuses not to go on my lunch break or something and get at least a 30 min cardio workout in.

So my goals for this week are:

• Relax a little and spend quality time in the evenings with the kids.
• Get out of the 250s for good!!
• Get in all my fruits/veggies (did pretty good on this last week actually)

Longer term goals:

• Acheive my 10 percent loss by March 15th - only 12.4 lbs to go!
• Exercise for 1000 minutes during the month of February

Weigh In (4 weeks OP!!)

Once again I kind of slacked off over the weekend. I've been feeling pretty sick (major headache going on 3 days now and total body ache) and although I ate relatively healthy meals, I did have extra bites of the kids' leftovers and a few extra snacks. I also did not track points on Saturday and Sunday. Which is not good. Which I'm going to work harder at and be sure not to do next weekend.
But the important thing is that I still lost 3.4 lbs! And I've been on program for 4 weeks! And I've lost 13.6 lbs in total! Ooooh AND I'm considering myself successful on the first goal I made (to be at 250 by today and I'm bang on! My exact WI was 250.0!!) For these things, I'm proud of myself.

Anyhow, just a quick post today. My head is hurting so badly right now that I can hardly see the screen. I'll do a better update tomorrow, I promise.