Marathons

I always hate that every time I have a million things to do there's a marathon of one of my favorite shows on tv. Today I wanted to do the dishes, clean the apartment, work out a little bit, buy a new book at Borders, read it, go shopping with my mom (for new clothes - yay!), and who knows what else. But alas - there's a Psych marathon on USA. Fortunately for me, it's on the last episode of the marathon, so I can finally get some work done!

For those of you who have never seen it, you MUST check it out - here. It's a great comedy where the lead (played by James Roday) has great observation skills but pretends that he's a Psychic. It's freakin' awesome. Totally full of one liners and keeps me laughing the entire time. I love the actors too...I like to think they act like that in real life!

What's a birthday like on Weight Watchers?

Birthday flowers from my co-workers!! Nice surprise...

I am proud to say that while today was my birthday, I had a very good food day!!

I had a Weight Watchers bar (2 pts) for breakfast. It wasn't a problem, because I wasn't really hungry. It's getting under control - woo hoooo!!!!!!!!

Then for lunch, I had to have a Smart Ones Weight Watchers meal because I had to take my car in for a new battery. (I know - great birthday). That was only 5 points, and actually filled me up more than I expected! I also had about a 20 oz bottle of water with a Crystal Light packet, and that probably could have helped control the hunger.

Every time someone has a birthday at work, we have a "birthday party" for them. I put that in quotes because it's more like a 30 minute "come-and-go" type event, where you sit around a table and awkwardly get asked about your birthday plans with people you barely talk to while they make small talk with each other. But...my boss made a homemade tirimisu from a recipe I found, and it was very yummy - and only 4 points per slice!

Finally, dinner was a BBQ Chicken Pizza (SUUUUUPER YUMMY!) which was 6 points a slice. I had 14 left for the day, so I helped myself to a Birthday 2-slices with 2 left over, and salad on the side with about 1 point for the dressing. I wasn't even planning on having dessert, just because that's my downfall, so I try to avoid it. But my mom surprised me - the BEST surprise of the day....

Weight Watchers 2 point ice cream!!! It was so perfect, because I haven't had ice cream in FOREVER (again, I would have just gone nuts and blown my progres), AND I only had 1 points left for the day!! (I would have used an extra point). It was an extremely thoughtful gesture from my mom, since I hadn't even requested a dessert. She just knew I would love it!

And...here's the kicker - - I only had HALF! Seriously, I took a few bites and then *boom* - that's enough. I wasn't really hungry, and I didn't want to finish it. So I stopped. I am so proud of myself! And what's even better is that I only ate about 1 points worth - so I didn't have to use an extra point.

So all in all - I can do this!! I'm very proud of myself for sticking with this progam for this long, and I am already seeing results. I haven't done anything for this long, so this says something to me. I will keep going and look forward to only seeing more good things happen!

Accountability

I will admit...I haven't been very good. I haven't taken the stairs one day this week. I'm just in a rush in the mornings and the stairs take too long. Then at the end of the day, I can't wait to just get home and relax. But...I still have that goal to work out 3 times by next week, so I know I can do that. In fact, after I finish dinner, I'm going to do some Pilates.

What's for dinner you ask? Salmon with homemade "marinade" with cilantro. And a side of cous cous with some yummy veggies. Smells goooood...

And coming soon - a new blog layout and header! And yes, I will make my own header!

I hate stairs

I'm just not a stair walker. Especially 4 flights. I must say, it's hard. There's always goals for next week!

Oopsie

I will be honest and say that I didn't take the stairs up or down at work today. But to be fair, I totally and completely forgot. So I will try harder tomorrow!!

On an up note: I went to Panera Bread today and got an entire meal for ...

ZERO POINTS!!

Oh yea that's right. In my quest to be "good" at a potentially high point restaurant, I was too good. Then I had to make up for it with snacks and dinner. Oops.

So, for those of you who are wondering, I had:

Salad: (their "Classic" handtossed salad)
- field greens and romaine lettuce
- tomatoes
- cucumbers
- onions
- balsamic vinaigrette

Soup: Garden Vegetable, Low fat and vegetarian
- tomatoes
- zucchini
- yellow beans
- chard
- cauliflower
- bell peppers
- pearled barley
- tomato broth
- pesto

Goal Check-In

Just a quick accountability note...

I'm still trying to eat healthy, but had a few meals over the weekend that didn't have points and I had to "guess". Now, I tried to guess high points, but I have a sneaky feeling that I guessed too low. So I have to be extra good this week. Going to Panera Bread tomorrow for lunch with my dad will be tough - I will need to stick to a nice, light salad, and be sure to have chicken or something on it, but be careful of the dressings and little things added on.

Goal update from last week:
- continue tracking points: I'm still all over it! Haven't missed a thing!
- Lose at least 2 pounds: Didn't make it to two pounds, but I did have a loss. At least it wasn't a gain!
- Try to eat more fruit: Unfortunately, I did not meet this goal. I had some fruit last Monday, but that was only because we had leftovers from a parfait making party from Friday. Fruit is just too darn expensive and goes bad too quickly! Enough excuses..I should at least look for deals.
- Try not to "cheat" and look at my weight before Thursday's weigh in: I'm proud to say that from last Monday on I didn't check! It made me a little disappointed at the weigh in on Thursday though that I didn't reach my 2 point goal though. I keep thinking if only I had looked I could have worked harder and at least lose an extra pound or 2.

Goals for this week:
- Lose 2 pounds: I definitely want to hit this goal, so I'm pushing it into this week!
- Work out 3 seperate times before next Monday: If I want to hit my 2 pound goal, other than continuing to eat properly, I need to also burn calories that are coming in! I haven't fit in any working out so far on this program and I feel that it's time to start.
- Take the stairs up to my office: This is huge. I work 4 flights of stairs up from where I park. And I HATE taking stairs! If I can do it from Tuesday-Friday, then I've met my goal!

10-Day Forecast

I don’t know if this is accurate, or if it will actually happen, but if it does – I’ve died and gone to Heaven.

Quick Update

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, hasn’t it? Part of it is due to the fact that I discovered this wonderful website – Veoh.com where you can either watch tv shows or movies online, or download them and watch them later! (Which is great because then you don’t need an internet connection to view them if you download them to your computer!) And part of it is that I’ve been spending almost the last week watching my parent’s dog Baxter, while they’re on vacation! I’ve spent most of the time at the house with Baxter and my dog Bailey and they’re a handful!

And I guess another reason why I haven’t blogged so much is because of this Weight Watchers thing. I spend a lot of time tracking points and foods, which will ultimately pay off in the end because once I know the points, I know them – I only have to find out once. It’s just all this legwork early on that’s tiring. But it’s working – I’ve lost some weight and hopefully will lose a little more.

Goals for this week:
- Continue tracking points
- Lose at least 2 pounds
- Try to eat more fruit
- To not “cheat” and check on my weight before Thursday’s meeting

I need to post more pictures. I’m sure people see my wordy entries and think “maybe I’ll check back later”. I do tend to ramble, so I get that. I like to think that the more pictures I post the easier it is for people to read it. So since I still haven’t replaced my camera cord (since Bailey destroyed it) but my parents let me use their computer, here’s a visual recap of the last few days:

I had a "I need a BIG Starbucks morning".
Taught my first "official class" last week - Word for Beginners

Reached my first Weight Watchers milestone - my first 5 pounds!
My co-worker Kearstin was on Wheel of Fortune!
We made homemade parfaits at work on Friday for our weekly meeting - YUMMY! (Darn those granolas - they were 7 or 8 points!)
It snowed a few times - the dogs love to go out and "eat" the snow.

A funny little story...

On Sunday, Justin went fly fishing and Bailey and I tagged along to get some exercise. Bailey was awake from about 9:30 am to 5 pm; no naps at all! That’s pretty unusual, considering that I am at work 8 hours a day and I’m pretty sure all he does when I’m gone is sleep. He passed out as soon as we got home (after eating dinner of course) and didn’t wake up until 9 pm. We had been out by a creek all day, not to mention there was a snow storm that hit in that area last week that was starting to melt, so obviously he was pretty darn muddy. I knew he needed a bath, but I wanted to let him sleep a little first. So he and I hopped in the shower after his “siesta”.


(Side note – I live in an apartment so I have no backyard or “hose down” option, so my only choice is washing him in the bathroom. And I have a walk-in shower, not a tub, so essentially if I want him to be washed, I have to get in with him. I usually only wash him when I need a shower too, to kill 2 birds with one stone. It works. And since I can shut the door behind me, there’s no comedic moment with a soapy dog tearing through the apartment midway through the bath).


Anyway, I get him initially rinsed off and grabbed for his doggie shampoo, only to realize upon opening the bottle that it was completely empty. How that happened, and I didn’t notice before then, I will never know. But here I am, standing in a shower with a fully soaked 117 pound dog. And no doggie shampoo. He needed to be washed. And I had to make an impulsive “dog mommy” decision –


I had to use my shampoo.


Herbal Essences: Long Term Relationship. It’s made for people with long hair, which Bailey definitely does not have. (Not to mention he’s a dog). Needless to say, each time I poured more shampoo into my hands and lathered Bailey up with it, I groaned a little inside thinking “I can’t believe I paid for this shampoo and it’s going on my dog! Now I have to buy shampoo sooner because I’m wasting it!”


There is some good news to share though – he smells AMAZING and I haven’t felt his fur this soft since he was a 2 month old puppy!! I may have to save my shampoo up once a month when I wash him! I’m so glad I have a short haired breed that only needs a shower once a month! (Per the vet and Dogs 101 instructions on Animal Planet!)