Trisha Weighs In

HAPPY day!

2012-01-31T17:48:00.000-08:00

OK, a few happy things today :)

1) I realized that my weight on my driver's license is MORE than what I actually weigh!!! HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!? And, boy the picture looks so different!!! It was taken last May, which was before I started my healthy journey!!!

2) I am wearing a pair of pants today that I wore only when I first moved here so long ago! YEAH :)

Today was just a day full of accomplishments, and I love it when things get done! I think the sunshine was making all the kiddos have positive energy, as it was just a fun day!

GOALS...
Water - 100 ounces
Tea - nope
Exercise--nope, decided I needed the extra hour of sleep again today. I am going to exercise tomorrow morning though:)
Protein - 77.6 grams of protein
Calcium- 113.5% from my food.
Vitamins - YES!
fruit/veggies - 7 servings
Calories -YUP!

I definitely feel like I am feeding my body well. I am eating quite healthy, and I like that I am focusing on the fruits, veggies, calcium, and protein.

CALORIES IN = 1140
CALORIES OUT = 0
NET CALORIES = 1140

IN...
1/2 cup cottage cheese -100- protein 15 grams, calcium 10%
coffee- SF FF- 16 ounces - 105- 12 protein, calcium 46.5%

celery - 20 - .8 grams of protein, 5% calcium
Laughing Cow Cheese- 35 - 2.5 grams of protein – calcium 6%
Gardenburger 120 – 6 grams of protein and 8% calcium
cukes – 20 - .8 protein, 2% calcium
Jello pudding - 60 - 2 protein, 10% calcium
Carrots – 20 - .5 protein, calcium 3%
Open Nature bar - 180 calories, 5 grams of protein, 2% calcium

tatertot casserole- 250 - 24 grams, 1% calcium (meat), 2 grams of protein (tatertots), 5%calcium, 1 gram of protein (cream of mushroom soup), 7% calcium,
salad- 20
croutons - 30
raspberry lite vinaigrette - 50
cheesy bread - 150- 5 grams protein, 6% calcium
strawberries - 49 - 1 cup - 1 gram of protein, 2% calcium

Good Monday :)

2012-01-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

Today was a GREAT day :)
I didn't feel too shabby when I woke up, and I was a bit worried that I was going to be sicky icky today :( I decided to not workout, which was hard for me, since that has been two days in a row--didn't work out yesterday either. I am DEFINITELY going to workout in the morning tomorrow!! So, tomorrow will be day 26 of my aerobics!!

Water - 100 ounces
Tea - 1 cup of tea!
Exercise--nope, decided I needed the extra hour of sleep, and I am VERY glad that I did that because I feel so much better right now :)
Protein - 84.9 grams of protein
Calcium- 112.46% from my food.
Vitamins - YES!
fruit/veggies - 5 servings
Calories -YUP!

CALORIES IN = 1372
CALORIES OUT = 0
NET CALORIES =1372

1/2 cup cottage cheese -100- protein 15 grams, calcium 10%
coffee- SF FF- 16 ounces - 105- 12 protein, calcium 46.5%

apple - 95- .5grams of protein, 1%

232 calories -2 of my yummy homemade Mexican egg rolls that I baked last night for dinner!
113 for 2 egg roll wraps--4.6 grams of protein, 1.3% calcium
109 for 2 ounces lean ground beef--16.5 grams of protein, .66% calcium
10 for cabbage

celery - 20 - .8 grams of protein, 5% calcium
Laughing Cow Cheese- 35 - 2.5 grams of protein – calcium 6%
jello- 10 calories

cukes – 20 - .8 protein, 2% calcium

french dip - all natural roast beef- 60 calories (4 slices)- 11 grams of protein
bun - 230 calories, 7grams of protein, 8% calcium
1 slice mozzarella - 50 calories - 4 grams of protein, 10% calcium
au jus sauce - 5

sweet potato fries - 28 fries--280 calories--4grams of protein, 4% calcium

smoothie - 150 calories - 7 grams of protein, 20%calcium

Today started off rough, but it definitely got better!!! WAY better :) I am feeling sooooooo much better!!!!!!! YEAH :)

WEIGH-IN!

2012-01-30T18:04:00.000-08:00

Another pound, buh bye!!!
Last week: 193.8
This week: 192.8

YAHOOIE :))

CRAZY WEEK!

2012-01-29T11:47:00.000-08:00

Okey dokey, artichokey!
WHAT A WEEK!!! MY GOODNESS...

I blogged yesterday about my NSVs :) YEAH! That was awesome!! I didn't blog about, but realized another NSV last night at the performance. There were several people during the play run that I had not seen in months and months, and what was super cool, is that they all commented about how good I look!! YEAH :)) That rocks!

So the last real blog was on Monday. Let me tell you about my week...

It was our play week, which included three dress rehearsals (one with an audience of 150+), and four performances, and a cast party to celebrate!!!!

Plus, you gotta add on the following:
1) End of first semester, which includes final second quarter projects, and of course GRADES!!!
2) I picked up a nasty bug :( I blogged about a tickle in my throat on Monday, and it was full blown sicky icky by Wednesday, and TERRIBLE on Thursday! A little better on Friday, and I seem to be on the upswing today!
3) A friend and former co-worker passed away on Wednesday evening :(((( It is a really sad story for this family...they have had a ROUGH year and a half. My heart is with them!

I didn't blog because when I got home, I seriously just went to bed. I was taking lots of Emergen-C, Airborne, drinking tea, and Nyquil and hitting bed early to try and beat this nasty cold, which many of our students have been down with it for WEEKS.

OK, so I am not going to catch up on the day-to-day bit, but I will just sum things up for ya, and we are back to normal blogging :)

Eating--I ate well, I ate enough veggies and fruits, and I did have some treats. On Friday after school my little one and I went to Dairy Queen. I had my first Blizzard in I don't even know how many months, maybe six? I had a small, and let me tell you, it made my poor little sore throat feel so much better! Ad, it was a nice treat :) As well, I ate veggie pizza at our cast party, though I just ate the toppings. I ENJOYED food this week, though I didn't worry about it, and I just paid attention to portion sizes!

I drank enough water and tea! I did take my vitamins every day, and PLUS!!!

I did not keep track of calories, calcium, or protein, though I did write everything down! I will get back to that today :)

OK, now for exercise...I did get up in the morning to do my aerobics. THOUGH...I did not on Thursday, which actually made me sad. BUT, I knew I needed to take it easy, and I needed the extra sleep. When I woke up with the alarm on Thursday morning, I had a fever, and I just knew, even though I really wanted to that I needed to skip it. I was on such a roll...23 days in a row through Thursday. I skipped Thursday, but then back on Friday. I did workout out on Saturday, and I am going to do it again today! SO, that puts me at 26 today. So, even though I didn't do The Firm 30 days in a row, almost, but instead I will do it 30 days (with one day off in there). I also did not do my sit-ups this week, mostly because I just felt so crappy.

There ya have it...what a week!! I survived, and I am looking forward to my weigh-in tomorrow!!

NEVER fear, I am still here!!!

2012-01-28T15:05:00.000-08:00

SO, this week has been NUTSO! I will blog ALL about it tomorrow and catch up!!!

This is just short and sweet to:
1) Tell you I will update tomorrow!
2) Share some NSVs with you :)

Non-Scale Victory #1
I had lost a shirt that I love, and another staff member had the same shirt, and it was too big for her, so she sold it to me! It is a size large, so I figured I wouldn't be able to wear it for a bit. BUT, I wore it last night, and I actually had tons of comments about how slim I am looking :)

Non-Scale Victory #2
I bought two pairs of black size 14 jeans that I have worn this week! It's so hard for me to realize that I am in a SIZE 14!!! At the beginning of summer, I was in TIGHT size 20s, and really unwilling to purchase any 22s, so I would not even wear jeans or shorts that were a size 20, and instead wear athletic shorts...

Non-Scale Victory #3
I am still wearing the same bra size--at least the cup--which is nice that I am not losing it there :) But, the around part has gone down!!! First it was one hook, then another, and now an entirely different number :)

Non-Scale Victory #4
I haven't bought any new ones yet, BUT OH MY GOODNESS...I need to, and will do so this week, but my undies are like bloomers at this point, so dang big that they roll down or bunch up, LOL...too much extra material.

So, there ya have it. Still feeling motivated :) Still doing GREAT!! Still seeing progress. YUP, I'm definitely STILL HERE!

MONDAY!!!

2012-01-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

195.8 last week
193.8 this week!!
That's a loss of 2 pounds :)
And, a total of 50.2 pounds!! WOOT WOOOOOO!
At this rate, in two weeks, I should be into the 180s!!!!!

Slow and steady. Slow and steady! And, that's with eating nachos and whatever else my heart desires! Just writing it all down, being ACCOUNTABLE AND HONEST!!!

I am keeping the same goals as last week! I will look at changing them next week, after the play is over!!

Goals!!!
Water - at least 100 ounces
Tea - at least 1 cup
Exercise - The Firm every day, and 200 sit-ups a day starting Tuesday-100 each in the morning and the afternoon.
Protein - Keeping track of grams of protein again.
Calcium- Keeping track of the calcium I get from my food.
Vitamins - Taking a multi-vitamin, B super complex, and a fish oil.
fruit/veggies - At least 4 servings
Calories - At least 1000 calories.

So, how about today?

Water - 100 ounces
Tea - 1 cup of tea!
Exercise - Day 21 of The Firm, and 95 sit-ups in the morning and 95 sit-ups in the evening.
Protein - 85 grams of protein
Calcium- 122.5% from my food.
Vitamins - YES!
fruit/veggies - 5.5 servings
Calories -YUP!

CALORIES IN = 1359
CALORIES OUT = 360
NET CALORIES = 999

Cereal- Frosted Cinnamon Toast Crunch- 160 calories -1.5 grams (p) 15%(c)
Milk-Not sure how to count this because I don't drink it when it's had cereal in it. So, I do know that I consume some of it, but it's very little.
coffee- SF FF- 16 ounces - 105- 12 protein, calcium 46.5%

celery - 20 - .8 grams of protein, 5% calcium
Laughing Cow Cheese- 35 - 2.5 grams of protein – calcium 6%
Gardenburger 120 – 6 grams of protein and 8% calcium
cukes – 20 - .8 protein, 2% calcium
Jello pudding - 60 - 2 protein, 10% calcium
carrots - 20- Carrots – 20 - .5 protein, calcium 3%
Open Nature bar - 180 calories, 5 grams of protein, 2% calcium
LC Cheese - 35 - 2.5 grams of protein – calcium 6%

cod fish - 189 calories - 41.1 grams of protein -3% calcium
salad - 20- 1 gram protein, 2% calcium
cukes – 20 - .8 protein, 2% calcium
honey mustard - 20
croutons - 30
1/8 cup of cheese - 55 calories - 3.5 grams of protein, 10% calcium

sweet and salty granola bar-160 calories, 3 grams of protein, 2% calcium
orange juice - 110- 2 grams of protein- shocked no calcium?!?

It was a long day. Up and down. UP and down. uP and dOwN!! But, overall it was good, and it ended with a massage, and my honey had dinner ready :) SIGH.

P.S. I think I am trying to get sick. I have a tickle in my throat :( I have been taking Airborne and EmergenC, and I am trying to keep it at bay!! I don't have time to be sick! I haven't been sick in so long...SO, I am hoping I can kick this before it becomes anything. I will keep ya posted.

SUNDAY :)

2012-01-22T10:39:00.001-08:00

Let's see...I did get to sleep in today :) YEAH! Then I did some reading...into anew series right now. I am reading James Dashner's The Maze Runner series. It's fantabulous!! Totally. If you like the Hunger Games, you will like this trilogy, too.

I did get up, and since I forgot to take my vitamins last night, and I had a tiny headache, I decided to take them this morning with some Excedrin, and THAT was not a good idea :( I ended up puking about 15 minutes later. NOT FUN. But, I know better than to do that!! That's why I take the stinking things at bed time in the first place, DUH!! So, I am going to write a note and put in by my bed to remind myself!!

I am getting so excited for this upcoming week of the play!! I am also so proud of myself for keeping my health goals WITHOUT any excuses!!! Normally I would be eating fast food because it's easy and fast, and I wouldn't be exercising. Instead I am prepping, planning, cooking healthy, and getting my butt out of bed in the morning to exercise! This just shows me that if I can do this during THE busiest month of the year for me, it is a part of my life now. That's exactly it...I have changed my life :)

Another MAJOR difference in my life now...I plan out all of our meals at least one week, sometimes two or three weeks at a time. I plan out my exercise for the week, and I write EVERYTHING down that I eat, keeping track of my calories. All of that planning is HUGE for me. I also am doing tons of prepping of all my veggies for the week.

Goals!!!
Water - YUP! 125 today!
Teas - nope
Exercise - YES! Great day of exercise!!!
Protein - 57 grams of protein
Calcium-104.6% from my food.
Vitamins - Tried to make-up yesterday, and that DIDN'T happen. But, did take them tonight!!
fruit/veggies - Just barely made 4 servings!
Calories - Yes...wasn't sure it was going to happen since I didn't feel like I could eat anything until late afternoon. I definitely ate more chili than I would have if I would've eaten normal calories for the day!

CALORIES IN = 1070.4
CALORIES OUT = 702!!! Not too shabby :D
NET CALORIES = 368.4

IN =
Today was a really tough day. I started the morning out throwing up because of the vitamins ordeal. ANYHOOT...then I just didn't feel like eating anything at all :(

almonds - 1 ounce - 170 calories, 6 grams (p), 8% (c)

2 cups of white chili soup - 314.40 - 24.4 grams of protein, 5.6% calcium- Very yummy and easy, and even more easy with the shredded chicken I had already prepped and had in the freezer! I have the recipe posted on the recipe page!
milk 2%- 8 ounces - 130 calories - 8 grams of protein, 30% of calcium
cheese - 1/4 cup - 110 calories - 7 g (p), 20% (c)
sour cream- 2 tbsps - 40 calories - 1 g (p), 6% (c)
croutons -12- 60 calories - 1 g (p)
pear - 96- .6 grams of protein, 1% calcium

smoothie -
frozen peaches- 50 - 1 gram of protein, 4% calcium
milk- 100 - 8 grams of protein, 30% calcium

OUT =
The Firm DAY 20!!! And, it's consecutive!! I didn't think I would get all 30 days of mine in a row, but now I am starting to think it might be possible. I am not going to beat myself up about it, if I don't make it 30 in a row, but I am doing it 30 days!! I can feel the difference in the muscles in my arms and legs, and I can SEE the difference in my triceps!! I did 90 sit-ups in the morning, and 90 sit-ups in the evening. That's 380 calories burned. WHICH BTW, was in our little house sauna...83 degrees, MY GOODNESS!

Then this afternoon I decided to go out and make my own cross-country ski track in our field, which I did, and it was a BLAST!! I LOVE cross-country skiing!!!! And, I was thinking that our little one, who wears the same size of shoe I do, could totally do this next weekend, depending on the weather. Today I was out there for 35 minutes and my HRM recorded 322 calories!! WAHOOOIE!

I have my meals planned, snacks prepped, and I'm ready for the week!!!

SATURDAY!

2012-01-21T12:58:00.000-08:00

The plan for Saturday was to get some things done that needed to be done! And, I did just that!! I caught up on laundry, which was behind. I did my shopping--which I saved 45% on my groceries, highest percentage yet :)

Goals!!!
Water - 100 ounces of water, right on the dot!
Teas - Nope.
Exercise - The Firm- Day 19 and 85 sit-ups in the morning and evening!
Protein - 57.8 grams of protein
Calcium- 68% from my food.
Vitamins - dang it! I forgot. I am going to put up a note in my bedroom, so I don't forget!!!
fruit/veggies - 6 servings
Calories - Just barely squeezed in enough calories. I do find it hard on the weekends to eat enough...which I think is the opposite for most people. I think most people go a little bonkers on the weekend. IDK.

CALORIES IN = 1015
CALORIES OUT = 429 calories!
NET CALORIES = 586

In...
Coffee with creamer - 40

celery - 20 - .8 grams of protein, 5% calcium
Laughing Cow Cheese- 35 - – 2.5 grams of protein – calcium 6%

Pretzel thins - 110 calories - 3 grams of protein
Salsa - 30 calories
Pomegranate juice -100% - 150 calories, 1 gram of protein

chicken drumsticks - 234 calories for three - 38.1 grams of protein, 3% calcium
BBQ sauce - 40
homemade coleslaw- 90 - 2 gram of protein, 8% calcium
cukes – 20 - .8 protein, 2% calcium
pear - 96 - .6 grams of protein. 10% calcium

smoothie-
frozen strawberries- 50 - 1 gram of protein, 4% calcium
milk- 100 - 8 grams of protein, 30% calcium

OUT...
EXERCISE - 349 calories for The Firm today! It was AN AWESOME workout!! That's a relief considering yesterday's was not. I wonder if the calorie burn today was the fact that it's 83 degrees in the house?? Or, maybe just the extra sleep. LOL! It's all good. I will take it! 40 calories for sit-ups in the morning/40 in the evening-170 total sit-ups today!

Two days...

2012-01-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

My Thursday and Friday were good!! They were busy! That's my life :)

So, Thursday I had school, drama, back home for dinner, and then back to the school for Poetry Out Loud, which was AWESOME! So, when I got home at 8:30, I just wanted to watch some American Idol and go to bed! I did do my sit-ups, but I didn't blog, and I forgot my vitamins--not habit yet, I suppose.

Thursday
Water - yes! 144 ounces
2 teas - yummy pumpkin spice and black cherry
Exercise - The Firm- Day 17 and 75 sit-ups in the morning and evening!
Protein - 104.8 grams of protein
Calcium- 96.5% from my food.
Vitamins - Forgot to take them!
fruit/veggies - 5.5 servings
Calories - 1224 calories

CALORIES in = 1224
CALORIES out = 345
Net calories = 879

1/2 cup cottage cheese -100- protein 15 grams, calcium 10%
coffee- SF FF- 16 ounces - 105- 12 protein, calcium 46.5%

celery - 20 - .8 grams of protein, 5% calcium
Laughing Cow Cheese- 35 - – 2.5 grams of protein – calcium 6%

Ahi Tuna - 2 ounces -70 - 17 grams of protein
shrimp - 2 ounces - 35 - 10 grams of protein
2 mandarin oranges - 85 - 1.2 grams of protein, 6% calcium
pom poms - pomegranate seeds - 50 - 1 gram of protein, 1% of calcium

carrots - 20- Carrots – 20 - .5 protein, calcium 3%
Open Nature bar - 180 calories, 5 grams of protein, 2% calcium

spaghetti - 524- which was 2 servings - 39.8 grams of protein, 17% calcium
sauce - 100 calories, 4 grams of protein, 4% calcium
noodles - 210 calories, 7 grams of protein
beef- 164 calories, 24.8 grams of protein, 1% calcium
Parmesan cheese - 50 calories, 4 grams of protein, 12% calcium

EXERCISE--
I am so proud of myself! I can't believe I am waking up early to exercise!!! WAHOO. And, that I have worked out consecutively for so many days!!!The Firm, today day 17!!!! And, I have made huge increases in the sit-ups.

FRIDAY, OH FRIDAY! How I love thee...
So, I can say that Friday I didn't feel like I had TONS of energy, probably from a busy week. I loved it when I was wearing my skinny expensive jeans, and YUP, they are already loose. AND, you know they are cute when middle school girls tell you so!!!

Friday
Water - 100, just barely made it.
no tea :(
Exercise The Firm- Day 18 and 80 sit-ups in the morning and evening!
Protein - 77.6 grams of protein
Calcium- 119.5% from food
Fruit/veggies - 4 servings
Calories - 1362, YUP!
Vitamins- YUP, yup!

CALORIES IN = 1362
CALORIES OUT = 320
Net calories = 1042

IN...
oatmeal- 1/4 cup- 75 calories, 2.5 grams of protein
brown sugar - 1 tsp - 15 calories
Coffee- sf/ff- 16 ounces -105- 12 protein, calcium 46.5%

Gardenburger 120 – 6 grams of protein and 8% calcium
honey mustard - 20
peas - 33 – 4% calcium and 2 grams of protein
LC Cheese 35 - 2.5 grams of protein – calcium 6%
Cukes – 20 - .8 protein, 2% calcium

Open Nature Bar - 180 calories, 5 grams of protein, 2% calcium

Nachos - 759 calories, 43.8 grams of protein, 51% calcium

cheese - 240 calories, 14 grams of protein, 40% calcium
chips - 280 calories, 4 grams of protein, 4% calcium
hamburger meat - 164 calories, 24.8 grams of protein, 1% calcium
salsa - 30
sour cream - 45, 1 gram of protein, 6% calcium

EXERCISE -
So, this was the first day that I felt like I was going through the motions when I was doing my aerobics in the morning. I did do it. But, you know how some days your workout is intense and you just really feel it, this was not one of those workouts.

I did have a good day which you read about over at my other blog, but it was just funky morning energy.

It's Wednesday already?

2012-01-18T18:16:00.000-08:00

Now crashing out last night, and my general BLAH, it all makes sense…TOM showed up this morning. Sheesh. One thing, though, NO cramps at all. But, grumpiness yesterday, indeed! Today I feel MUCH better, less tired, and definitely not cranky. I love all the snow, even though everyone else around me is complaining. IT’S pretty!!

GOALS---------------->
Water- 120 ounces
Tea- 2 cups today! That was easy with this COLD weather!! I had a cup of egg nog tea, and a cup of licorice tea.
Calories - I am so proud of myself. I have been eating the necessary 1000+ each day!
Exercise- YUP! The Firm (Day 16) and 140 sit-ups total.
Vitamins - YES! I actually double dosed these, one round this morning, another tonight.
Veggies/fruits= 6.5 servings
Calcium = 80% from my food only...
Protein = 72.4 grams

Calories IN = 1224.5
Calories OUT = 348
Net Calories = 876.5

Calories OUT = 348
The Firm – day 16!!!
Sit-ups 70 – since I missed last night’s. I did get 70 yesterday, but I figured I would reset today with 70 in the morning and 70 in the evening.

What went IN =
Cottage cheese – 100 - protein 15 grams, calcium 10%
Ff/sf coffee – 70 – yeah, found out the calories are even better than what I thought! 31% calcium, 8 grams of protein

Garden burger – 120 – 6 grams of protein and 8% calcium
LC cheese 35 – 2.5 grams of protein – calcium 6%
Peas – 33 – 4% calcium and 2 grams of protein
1.5 Mandarin orange – 67.5 - .6 protein and 3% calcium
Cukes – 20 - .8 protein, 2% calcium

Open Nature bar (honey, peanuts, raisins, sunflower seeds) - 190 - 6 grams of protein, 2% calcium.

tatertot casserole- 433 - 24 grams, 1% calcium (meat), 2 grams of protein (tatertots), 5%calcium, 1.7 grams of protein (cheese), 1 gram of protein (cream of mushroom soup), 7% calcium, 2.2 grams of protein (milk)
pear- 96- .6 grams of protein, 1% calcium
salad, croutons, homemade dressing - 60
1224.5 total

Today was a much better day, thank goodness!! I give it a solid 8.5 :) And, now we are on the downhill into the weekend!

BLAH and crash!

2012-01-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

Tuesday…felt like a Monday. That was the energy of the day. I started off with working out and felt really great, and expected it to be a ROCKIN’ day, but in the end, it was funky. The kids were very forgetful at school, and it just felt like everything was a little off. I would rate the day a 7, which is probably generous.

In the end, when I got home, we had a really nice dinner—Ricky cooked! And, I was glad to be home and warm. At bedtime, I read with our little one, and we finished our Ramona the Pest book, yeah! We read it on her Kindle Fire, and for the first time with the lights out in the room. So, we were all snuggled under my duvet. When we finished, and she kissed me good night, I just relaxed a bit and closed my eyes. Next thing I know, Rick was waking me up to ask me if I was really going to sleep, which I was! I fell back asleep and did not wake-up until 5 this morning to the alarm to get up and workout. So, I fell asleep at 8 p.m. last night. I guess I needed it! But, this also meant that I did not take my vitamins, charge my phone, set anything up for today. You get the picture!

So, here is what yesterday looked like otherwise!

No vitamins – took them in the morning, and will take today’s in the p.m.
The Firm – Day 15
70 sit-ups in the am - NO sit-ups in the pm
Veggies and fruit – 6.5 servings
Water = 120 ounces
1 cup of tea—blueberry
Protein – 116.9 grams of protein
Calcium – 61% of calcium for the day via food – not counting the vitamin I am taking.

What went in:
SF mocha frap – 210 – bday and Pumphouse - 31% calcium – 8 grams of protein – Normally I would NOT have a mocha frap, but it was my best friend’s birthday, and we were having a FRAP party for her birthday!!! And, I did choose a SF frap, which was pretty tasty. I REALLY appreciate how cool the Pumphouse peeps are! I love Rachel, the owner. She totally help me to figure out how many calories were in the drink, since it’s not something I normally drink. And, the other cool thing about this, I found out that the milk she serves me is SKIM instead of FF, and it has 70 calories for 8 ounces instead of 90!! So, that will change my calculations each day!
Cottage cheese ½ cup – 100 with green Tabasco – protein 15 grams, calcium 10%

Chicken – 110 – 25 grams of protein
LC cheese 35 – 2.5 grams of protein – calcium 6%
Peas – 33 – 4% calcium and 2 grams of protein
1.5 Mandarin orange – 67.5 - .6 protein and 3% calcium

Celery – 20
LC Cheese – 35 - – 2.5 grams of protein – calcium 6%

Open Nature mixed sesame Nuts, fruit, honey bar – 100% natural - 6 grams of protein, calcium 6% – 190 – YUMMY!!!! I love these bars. BEST ones yet!!
Cukes – 20 - .8 protein, 2% calcium
Carrots – 20 - .5 protein, calcium 3%

Chips - 100
Salsa – 20
Ahi tuna steak – OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 140 calories for 4 ounces, 34 grams of protein!
Shrimp – 4 ounces – 70 calories – 20 grams of protein
Salad with homemade honey mustard dressing and croutons – 60
Bbq sauce – 40

Dinner only 310 calories and OH SO fulfilling!!! All that protein. Even Rick felt like the Ahi tuna steaks made him really full!! WOWSER, they were sooooooo good!!! Definitely adding this to our regular menu, and hoping Safeway keeps them in stock in their fresh seafood section.

CALORIES in = 1270.50
CALORIES out = 330
Net Calories = 940.50

What a day...

Another good day!

2012-01-16T20:35:00.000-08:00

So, first today I did my workout! YEAH!! Then we got ready and headed down to run a few errands, before heading to drama rehearsal. Today we ran our show from 1-6:30 p.m. It seems like a long day, but in the end, it was a blast :)

We spent the beginning of the rehearsal getting costumes on--trust me, the energy is NUTS! We took cast pictures, and then ran the show in costume, so the kiddos could get a feel for how they could move and whatnot. It's all really coming together. And, we had a huge potluck of snacks, and finally we had a YUMMY cast dinner. We are on big family :) I love the dinner times for us!

My goals:
*I ate 7 veggies/fruits. CHECK
*4 servings of calcium. Approx. 47 grams of protein.
*Last night I started and tonight I will take: A multi-vitamin for women, a fish oil, flax, and borage capsule, and a B-Super Complex.
*I exercised finishing the 14th time of The Firm. And, I did 65 sit-ups this morning and this evening!
*I drank 116 ounces. NO tea.

Calories IN = 1260
Calories OUT = 340
Net calories = 920

In...
banana - 110
coffee- 16 ounces - 125

Mandarin orange - 45
celery- 20
LC Cheese - 35
carrots - 25

taco salad- hamburger meat, salad, sour cream, cheese, tomatoes - 300

1 chocolate chip cookie- 90
1 brownie- 100

salsa- 40
chips - 170
1 cup of milk - 100

apple -100

OUT - The Firm and 130 sit-ups :)

Tomorrow will be an early morning! Getting up to do the aerobics! Lunches are already packed, clothes already set out, both for workout and school! BRING IT ON!

Weigh-IN!

2012-01-15T22:22:00.000-08:00

198.8 last week
195.8 this week!!
That's a loss of 3 pounds :)
And, so long 48.2 pounds! Next week will hopefully be the big 50!

Still no TOM. Not that I am complaining, but it should have already happened, and I did have the crazy PMS, so IDK.

I am feeling really good! I am feeling more tone :) It's crazy to think that I have exercised every day except on Christmas Eve since December 15th. That would mean from December 15th - January 15th (32 days), I worked out 31 days! And, as far as consecutively, it has been 22!!! I am freaking ecstatic about that!!

Actually I am so glad I have this blog, though I have been thinking about keeping a tracker or record either online or the old fashioned way to record just my exercise, so I can remember things more easily.

January--no work out days...
THAT WOULD BE A BIG FAT ZILCH SO FAR!!!

December--no work out days...
December 25
December 13
December 14
December 6
December 2

The big difference also between December and January is that some of the days of exercise in December were only 15 minutes, since that was my goal, and in January all of the exercise has been 45 minutes for The Firm aerobics AND then however long for the sit-ups!

Now, looking at my weight...
Mid-June I weighed 244.
I made it through Vegas and back at 242.
July 3 239.
July 10 = 235.4.
August 1 = 228.4.
August 8= 227.2
August 15 = 225
August 22 = 223
September 19 = 218
September 26 = 215.6
October 10 = 212.8
October 17 = 211.8
October 31 = 207.8
November 8 = 209.2
November 14 = 206.2
November 30 = 203.8
December 5 = 202.8
December 19 = 198
December 26 = 197.8
January 2 = 199.8
January 9 = 198.8
January 16 = 195.8

I highlighted the half month marks, or as close to it, as I could to see my progress. This last month was definitely slowest, but I am OK with that, because I am seeing the most change in my body! And, I keep reminding myself that I didn't gain between December and January. As well, if I look at the bigger picture, I have lost 10.4 pounds in two months! I am totally GOOD with that :) And, 22.2 pounds in four months, so it's been a pretty steady average of 5 pounds a month. If that's what I keep doing, then mid-February I could see the 180s! I do also realize that as I get closer to my goal, it's going to get harder and harder to lose weight. But, I will just keep trucking! I AM DOING THIS :D

My life is all about goals!

2012-01-15T22:12:00.000-08:00

GOALS last week—
Now, let's look at last week's goals :)
*Eat at least 4 servings of fruits/veggies a day and at least 1000 calories a day. THIS was way easier than I thought, especially with my prep of cutting veggies and storing them in easy to grab snack bags! And, my oh my, how much fuller I felt!! Don't have to eat crappy food, when you are all full of the wholesome natural stuff!
*Exercise- The Firm every day (45 min x 7) this week AND get my run in on at least one day. I wanted to run this week, and I didn't :( Even though I did meet my exercise minutes goal!—So, I did The Firm, no problem! I am so proud of myself for getting up early on work days!! I did not get my run in, and quite frankly, I am OK with that. I am going to hit the running again seriously in February when my play is over. That will give me almost three months to prepare for my half-marathon.
**I also want to do 25 sit-ups to start. I would like to add 5 sit-ups each day. That would make me up to 55 sit-ups by next Saturday! THIS IS SOOOO funny! I doubled this goal! YUP!! I made it to 120 sit-ups a day, with 60 in the morning, and 60 in the evening.
*Drink at least 100 ounces of water AND at least one cup of tea a day. – I did this, too!! Yummy, I love tea, and forgot how much I do. I only had one day of not drinking tea!

Goals for this week coming!
>>>Keeping the at least 4 veggies/fruits a day.
>>>I want to keep track this week and tally the number of calcium and protein servings that I have. Then it will give me an idea for what my goal should be with that next week!
>>>I am going to take a daily vitamin and B-12, and maybe fish oil.
>>>I will continue to do The Firm each day. And, I will continue with the sit-ups adding 5 a day in the morning. So, I will be at 90 times twice a day, by next week!
>>>Continue drinking at least 100 ounces of water and at least one cup of tea a day!

So, I really haven't added too much, just some little things that hopefully will make a big difference!

CHEERS :D

Today was full of ACCOMPLISHMENTS!

2012-01-15T19:45:00.000-08:00

This morning I had a HUGE list of things I needed to do! So, I am glad to say I did LOTS of stuff that needed to be done. Besides the normal housekeeping and laundry duties, I decided to rearrange and organize our pantry. YOU SEE...since I have been crazy coupon lady, I have too much stuff! And, it was all hodge podge in the pantry. NOW, it is all completely organized :) YEAH ME!

I did take some time to do some searching on Pinterest! I LOVE LOVE LOVE love Pinterest :) I have some great ideas for decorating my door at school the next couple of months! And, I let our little one look at all the Valentine's Day card ideas, and she chose some really cute ideas!

Then we had errands to run, and thankfully I had my little helper, which made it easier and LOTS MORE FUN! First went to Ace Hardware to look for one item I needed for the play, but they didn't have it, which means either a Wal*Mart or Home Depot:( But, I did find THE cutest card ever for my best friend for her birthday on Tuesday! I almost bought another Carhart coat because they were on sale for 40% off, but in the end, I decided to wait. You see...I have a 2X coat now which is WAY too big, so I tried on a L, and it totally fit, but I plan on losing another 50 pounds by next winter, so I would need to get a M, but they didn't have one. Felt good to easily wear a L!

So, we headed to the $1 store next, needing to get some props for the play, and also a few things for our Valentines :) Then we headed to Rite Aid to find a few other things on my list, and we stumbled upon CRAZY sales. I got the CUTEST Christmas gi-normous coffee mugs (I collect these) for only 74 cents, so I bought the rest of them, and stored them for Christmas gifts next year! As well, I bought a couple of presents, that were also 75% off! YES!!!

Our final stop was the grocery store for our weekly grocery trip! I ended up using $40 in coupons, and saved $85 on sales and BOGO free deals! SWEET!

We came home, put all the groceries away--which was super duper easy with everything so organized. Then I did all my veggie prepping, where I cut celery and cucumbers, and then bag them and carrots in to snack size bags! I LOVE snack size baggies :)

We did a little V-Day decorating...I know it seems early, just under a month away, but our little one is only with us half-time (rotating weeks), so we try to do special things about a month ahead of time, so that she can enjoy it for two weeks or so (which ends up being a month, our time).

So, with all of this going, on I didn't do my aerobics in the morning. SO, I REALLY really really really really didn't feel like doing them, and seriously considered not doing them, since I was going to be starting at 5 p.m. In the end, I knew I would be disappointed in myself, if I didn't, so I did! AND, I am soooooo glad I did!! It was a good workout, too! I also did my sit-ups on the exercise ball, which makes them FULL sit-ups and not crunches. I have now done the aerobics 13 days in a row!!!! WOO HOO :)

I have observed that it generally harder for me to eat enough on the weekends, and also to consume enough water! The structure of the school day makes it wasy easier.

AND...some semi-bad news...I think I have bursitis at my hip. What is bad about that is that the pain in the worse in the middle of the night, and it radiates down the lateral side of my right leg and wakes me up several times :( UGH. I did see that it is related to overuse...HMMM. I found some stretches to do, so I am trying that, and this didn't start until I started the sit-ups, so I don't know if it could be that? I am not willing to stop The Firm, and once I get up and get going, it does usually feel better. It's a bit frustrating :(

Goals today--
Water- 100 ounces
No tea today…struggling to drink enough water!
Workout – The Firm – Day 13
120 sit-ups- did them on the exercise ball
Enough calories, YUP!
Fruits and veggies – 4 ½ servings—not so stellar, but still over my goal!

CALORIES IN= 1225
CALORIES OUT = 375
Net calories = 850
Coffee with creamer – 40
½ of a heart-shaped waffle – 50
Lite syrup – 50
Open Nature – Sweet and Salty Nuts and Honey 100% Natural – 200 -I just discovered these babies!! They were on sale, so I decided to buy one, and OH MYLANTA, yummy!
Honey mustard pretzels- 120
Celery - 20
Carrots- 25

½ pear- 50
7 ounces of chuck steak – 320 – Yeah, my honey BBQed, even though it was crazy cold outside! LOVE HIM!
1 yellow potato – 100
Sour cream – 40
BBQ sauce – 60

Smoothie – 150 (frozen fruit and milk)
1225

Overall, it was a good day! I am glad that I was able to get lots doneso! Feels good :) I am pretty excited about my weigh-in tomorrow!!

TODAY WAS A 10!!

2012-01-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

:D

I did get up early and do my workout!! I am so proud of myself for being consistent with this!! I am starting to feel like I can feel a difference in my muscles in my arms...I don't know that you can see it yet, but I can definitely FEEL it!

We drove over and picked up my Mama and baby sis!! I was so excited to see them!!! They were hysterical commenting on my weight loss. They haven't seen me since right when I started this journey. We had such a blast, so much laughing and talking :) Ricky and Lacy are so funny together! I can't wait to go visit them on Spring Break!! I will see them this week, too, but it will be fun when I go in April, and I don't have to work. Plus, I will get to see Cody and his wife!

We stopped in Airway Heights for lunch at Quiznos, and one of my favorite students, who graduated last year, was working there!! SHE GUSHED about my weight loss. Then when we got to Omak, and I took my Mama and baby sis to Wal*Mart to pick up a few things they needed, and I ran into another one of my favorite cheerleaders EVER, and her parents, and they asked how much I have lost and told me how great I looked!! I had actually seen them back in November, so that's cool that it is noticeable to them now. WOW...that's a lot of people in one day!!!!!

Another great thing about the trip over, I was able to plan out my meals for the next TWO weeks, and even write my grocery list. I also did my detailed lesson planning for school for the next three weeks! YAHOO :) I do have lesson plans that I have figured out through the rest of the year, but I usually do a week or two at a time for the detailed bits, so I feel really ahead of things. I also did some stuff I needed to do related to the play. YEAH!

Oh, by the way, TOTALLY OFF TOPIC, but I haven't mentioned it before, but I love my George Foreman grill!!! Tonight I did hamburgers on it, and it's so fast, and it also takes ALL the grease away. We do bbq in the winter, but my little GF grill is quick and easy :) I also like to use it for our sausages--chicken, of course!

GOALS--
The Firm DAY 12 :)
Veggies/fruits- 6.5 (not counting the baked beans)
Water- 118- 1 cup of tea
Ate enough calories!

I did pack snacks for the trip!!

In...
Coffee- 16 ounce – 125
Banana - 110

Small veggie sandwich at Quiznos- 230

Carrots – 20
Celery – 20
LC Cheese- 35

Gala apple –74
½ pear – 50
Whole wheat bun- 180
Hamburger meat ** - 3 ounces - 164 -- So, we just got 100 pounds of hamburger from my fellow teacher. We always buy from him, and it's the BEST hamburger meat I have ever eaten, even including when we raised our own beef!! He is very into what and how he raises his beef. ANYWHO, it's cool because there is VERY little fat!!
BBQ sauce, honey mustard, lettuce, onion - 50
Beans- 160

Smoothie - 150

CALORIES IN = 1368
CALORIES OUT = 370
Net calories = 998

OUT =
Workout- 320
110 total sit-ups - 50

Today was FANTASTIC :))

FRIDAY the 13th!!

2012-01-13T20:52:00.000-08:00

Today was an odd energy day. Up and down, up and down. I started the morning off spilling my water--all 24 ounces :( But, I cleaned that up, and then had an awesome workout :)) The day proceeded as such. I heard some not good news from a friend. Rick was sick, but then school was fun and good. You get the picture. SO, I give this Friday the 13th all solid 7. The highlight of my day: definitely our little one coming home. I love those Friday nights!!

Here's the day's calories and goals in review:

120 ounces of water-no tea today because I had a second latte :)
6 servings of fruits/veggies
EXERCISE CHECK!
The Firm -45 minutes- 320 calories - 11th day in a row! Oooh rah!
50 sit-ups this morning and this evening! I can't wait until I am up to 100 in the morning and another in the afternoon.

CALORIES in = 1522
CALORIES out = 345
Net Calories = 1177

Here's what I ate:
cottage cheese- lime juice, garlic and pepper- 100
coffee- 125- 16 ounces

coffee- 75- only drank half of it!

pear- 110
cukes in honey mustard - 45
celery -20
LC Cheese-35
fish- 120- gotta love leftovers :)

Mandarin orange - 45
carrots -20
LC Cheese - 35

Chicken artichoke bacon deelite Papa Murphys pizza- 198 per slice x 4 = 792 - And, yes, I knew what I was doing. I ate two pieces, and then had another two much later.

That would be it. I'm pooped! Going to bed early, big day tomorrow!!

THURSDAY! I give this day an 8.5 :)

2012-01-12T20:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was an emotional but satisfying day!

War Horse was a good movie. It’s long, but it’s one of those movies, where you don’t feel like it was as long as it really is…I cried. But, I knew I would. This older couple was sitting in front of us, and I heard the little old man say to his wife, “I got all misty eyed there, Dear.” TOO SWEET!

Going to the movies is one of my favorite things to do! Rick and I always sent in the same seats—he’s the creature of habit, not me! And, I like watching movies in the newer theater because we are able to put the little armrest up, and snuggle! I also brought some nuts last night packed in a snack bag to give me the salty treat, if I needed one. That and my water, and I was a happy camper! It doesn’t even feel like I am missing out on the greasy popcorn, and I appreciate how it makes our movie trip way CHEAPER!!

So, I talked a little bit about why yesterday was emotional, and one reason was the Rachel’s Challenge assembly. Rachel’s Challenge, an incredible program that came to our school. WOW! Truly touched my heart. So, after hearing the back story—which is absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!! You then learn the 5 basic tenets of the Rachel’s Challenge program. What I love about this…THIS IS HOW WE ALL SHOULD LIVE. Adults included!!

1. ELIMINATE PREJUDICE – by looking for the best in others. And, we don’t have to just talk about prejudice of gender, race, religion, etc. We can even think about when we don’t like someone (sometimes for valid reasons), how we just need to FIND THE GOOD in them. We have those people in our lives, too. So be it the stranger who we PRE JUDGE or the person who annoys the heck out of us, make the effort to find their best.

2. DARE TO DREAM – set goals, keep a journal. BOY howdy! This has been a year of goals for me!! All sorts of goals that I am accomplishing. I don’t journal in a journal anymore—though I have volumes of these—but, I do blog every day, which is just an electronic journal. I definitely dare to dream, and I think it has made my life so much more positive and fulfilled.

3. CHOOSE YOUR INFLUENCES - input determines output. This is all about surrounding yourself with positive people and finding outstanding role models. I have them as an adult, and I try to be one, as well.

4. KIND WORDS - small acts of kindness= huge impact. This is sooooo truth! Whether they be random or on purpose, giving kindness makes you feel alive, and it’s awesome to receive it, too!!

5. Start a Chain Reaction - with family and friends. It’s like a puddle that ripples out. Make things right, be positive, do good things to those around you, and it is contagious, it will start a chain reaction.

This is so relevant to my life this year, and my working on being appreciative! I’ve noticed that other people in my life are being less negative, too. I have also begun to notice the people who are REALLY negative. People that I hadn’t noticed that before because I was sucked into how they were thinking. That’s been an eye-opener for sure!

All righty then, here’s what today looked like…

Well, first off, the last two days I have got out of bed to exercise, and I have had an extremely sore thigh muscle, along the side of my right leg. Not muscle sore, but it actually feels more like nerves. I have had sciatic nerve problems before, but those are more in the hip and back. THIS is nuts. It makes me tempted to not exercise, but instead I spray on the analgesic, rub down my thigh, and then work right through it. I have felt better by the end of working out, but boy it’s ugly when I first get up. Guessing I have a pinched nerve or something. I am stretching now before bed, and extra after the workout, hoping that will help. The bottom line is I am not going to let it get me!

Calories IN = 1010

Calories OUT = 325

Net Calories = 685

EXERCISE:
The Firm – 45 minutes – DAY 10!!! How cool is that?!?! Day 10. I am so PROUD of myself for getting up in the morning to do this workout. I am going to do it for 30 days, and then I will try something new. And, then I will actually do different things, at least ever 6 or 7 days. But, for now, this is a goal for me, to do the video 30 days, and I would LIKE it if it was consecutive days, but I will take 30 days nonetheless!! I am 1/3rd of the way to that goal. It helps that I LOVE this workout!! It is cardio with light weights, and it has ab work and push-ups, too, which I am able to do 20 BOY push-ups!!! Feeling strong, yes indeed!! I am excited because I am going to start Zumba class again in February!

45 sit-ups in the morning, 45 in the evening – I had someone ask me why so few. WELL, the old Trisha would have done like 100 or more at the beginning and then been so stinking sore for days afterwards that I would have not been able to do any for so long, so instead, just like my running, I am going to build up to it. My eventual goal is to be able to do 100 in the morning, and 100 in the evening. So far I have not been crazy sore…just enough sore to feel that the muscles are working and have been working!

Veggies and Fruits – I can really feel the difference in how full I feel. It definitely goes to show that healthy foods are more nutritional and do their jobs properly! I had 7 servings of fruits/veggies!

Water – 120ounces and 1 cup of Oolong tea.

WHAT I ATE:
Poached egg with spices and green Tabasco – 78
Coffee – 90

Carrots – 20
Mandarin orange – 45

Grilled chicken – 110
LC Cheese – blue cheese – 35
Peas – 25
LC Cheese – sun dried tomato – 35
Spices – onion, pepper, garlic
*Both of these I put into the microwave and heated up, so the LC cheese was creamy. OMGAWSH!!!! Scrumptious!!! So tasty!

cukes- 35
Mandarin orange- 45

salad-25
homemade honey mustard dressing - 20
cod-6 ounces-lots of spices :) - 267

nuts-110
dried cherries -70
1010

I feel like next week I am going to look at how much protein and calcium I am including in my daily intake. I am also curious about vitamins. I used to take a daily one and also some extra b-12, and a fish oil pill each day, but I haven't in a long time. Need to do some research :)

Glad tomorrow is Friday!

Sometimes crying just makes it better...

2012-01-11T18:08:00.000-08:00

WOW! So, today we had Rachel's Challenge at our school. It was VERY emotional. I am in a hurry, as we are going out for date night to see War Horse--I hear I need to bring tissues--so, I promise to write more about Rachel's Challenge. IT'S SO POSITIVE, and effects all aspects of our lives!!

So, in case I don't blog again tonight...here's my stats for the day :D

Calories IN = 1070
Calories OUT = 320
Net Calories = 750

100 ounces of water
2 cups of tea- Yerba matte and Oolong!

I would say 6 servings of veggies/fruits.

The Firm –day 9! Boy, what a difference it makes to exercise in the morning!!
80 sit-ups

Cottage cheese garlic, pepper and GREEN tabasco-100
Coffee- 90

Banana-110

White albacore tuna- 100
Miracle Whip – 40
Cucumbers – 20-with green Tabasco, garlic, pepper
Celery – 20
LC Cheese- 35

Mandarin orange - 45
Carrots- 20
Sucker - 40

Footlong veggie sub on wheat – 460
Nuts - 100
Total = 1070

So, though I cried today, it was good. And, even though I will probably cry again tonight at the movie, it's still been a good day. Sometimes crying REALLY does just make it better...

Feeling proud! And, today was easily a 9!

2012-01-10T19:00:00.001-08:00

I am so proud of myself!! I still feel like I need to pinch myself for losing 10 pounds through Hallogivingmaseve!! Such a tough time of the year. Though I feel like things have been somewhat slow this past three weeks, I am happy with how things are going overall, and I have to keep reminding myself that there is a BIG picture here!!

I was thinking today that I have some things on my list that I want to accomplish by the end of April!!! Things to do by April 30th:
1)Lose 25 pounds (putting me at 174)
2)Start weightlifting - not just using the light weights with cardio.
3)Run a half-marathon – registered for the one in Wenatchee on April 21st!
4)Go to Vegas- Wanna go on Spring Break - definitely want to go to the spa again!
5)MAYBE, just maybe...join the Physique Challenge at the North Cascades Athletic Club. I have been thinking about it, and considering it as a MAJOR motivation to really kick my health into gear for three months. I have to wait until February because I am in the middle of my play. We will see. I am pretty competitive :)

Today was a solid 9 :) I had a great day!!

I ate enough calories!!
11.5 servings of fruits/veggies- I definitely feel FULLER!
168 ounces of water and 2 cups of tea!
The Firm workout this morning, equals day 8 in a row! 70 sit-ups :)

Calories IN = 1200
Calories OUT = 350
Net Calories = 850

Poached egg with Italian spices and GREEN Tabasco-80 - YUMMMMY!
Coffee- 90

Carrots - 20
Mandarin orange - 45

Organic butternut squash soup – 180 - deeeeeelish!
Cucumbers – 25 – with chili lime spices
Peas – 25
½ apple with lime- 50

Celery -20
LC Cheese – 35
Mandarin orange – 45

Tatertot casserole with a twist- hamburger meat, cream of mushroom soup, cheese, green Tabasco sauce, garlic, pepper, and potatoes o’brien (potatoes with onions, red and green peppers)- 360
Salad - 25
croutons - 30
homemade honey mustard dressing - 20

Smoothie- frozen strawberries and 1 cup of milk - 150

**So, I have also decided to add spices to everything I eat. I do love spices, but often I forget them for things like plain veggies and fruit. I love Italian seasonings, Cajun seasonings, and I love the chili lime seasoning I have. And, one of my MOST favorite flavorful addition: GREEN TABASCO sauce!! YES! I am also a HUGE fan of lime. I am allergic to lemon, so I use lime on anything and everything that people normally use lemon.

There ya have it, folks!

Yup, it was a Monday!

2012-01-09T20:03:00.001-08:00

199.8 last week.
198.8 today.
1 pound loss!!

The crazy thing is that I was having all the symptoms last week, and it was supposed to be TOM, but it still hasn't happened. SO, I don't know what's with that!

I had a good day today. Not great, just good :) I'd say a solid 8.437629 :)

GOALS-
I did The Firm this morning before school! I LOVE working out in the morning! I also did 30 sit-ups this morning, and I will do 30 more before bed. So, that will be 60 sit-ups for the day, twice my goal!!!!! Guess my goal was too little. I plan on increasing to 35 and 35 tomorrow. I will be up to 60 in the morning and 60 in the afternoon on Sunday!!

I drank 144 ounces of water today. I am having tea as I type.

I had 9.5 servings of fruits/veggies! WOO hoo :) I do feel REALLY full!!! I ate enough calories!

CALORIES IN = 1365
CALORIES OUT = 325
Net Calories = 1040

English muffin -150
Cherry jelly – 50
Coffee- 90

Carrots - 20
Mandarin orange - 45

Garden burger - 120
Peas – 25
Honey mustard -20
Celery -20
LC Cheese – 35
Mandarin orange – 45

Pear – 110
Cucumbers – 25
Carrots – 20
LC Cheese -35

Dried cherries - 65
½ Whole wheat hot dog bun -80
Smoked tequila lime chicken sausage – 190
Honey mustard – 20
½ apple – 50

Smoothie- frozen strawberries/peaches (50) and 1 cup of milk(100) - 150

I definitely had a good GOAL day :)

GOooooooooooooooooooooals!!

2012-01-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

Last week's goals:
*eat more fruits and veggies this week!-CHECK
*exercise 210 minutes a week- which is 30 minutes a day, but I realize some days might not be 30 minutes, but other days I will be able to do more, so it should all balance out! I want to have at least 15 minutes a day!!!!!!!- CHECK 270 minutes from The Firm and then 25 minutes of Denise Austin - so a total of 295!! COOL :)
*100 ounces of water a day - YES!!
*1000 calories eating a day - All days but one. And, I didn't really feel well the day I didn't.

Now, let's look at this week's goals :)
*Eat at least 4 servings of fruits/veggies a day and at least 1000 calories a day. I wanted to have a specific goal this week, not just eat more fruits and veggies, but specifically eat at least 4 servings! SO, that actually made me prep even more veggies tonight ;))
*Exercise- The Firm every day (45 min x 7) this week AND get my run in on at least one day. I wanted to run this week, and I didn't :( Even though I did meet my exercise minutes goal!
**I also want to do 25 sit-ups to start. I would like to add 5 sit-ups each day. That would make me up to 55 sit-ups by next Saturday!
*Drink at least 100 ounces of water AND at least one cup of tea a day.

There ya have it!

Feeling stronger! RAWR :)

2012-01-08T19:29:00.000-08:00

I haven't disappeared! Life was BUSY this weekend. Here's what the schedule looked like and I rated each day, too:
Friday-- 8.5 out of 10
School at 7:15 a.m.
Meeting at 7:45 a.m.
Teach until 3 p.m.
Drama rehearsal until 5:30 p.m.
A Home Depot run for materials and supplies for the play.
Deliver supplies to the school- 7 p.m.
Chaperone/run dance from 8:30-11 p.m.
HOME 11:15 p.m.

Saturday-- 8.5 out of 10
Up at 7:45 a.m.
School at 8:30 to work on set construction.
Done with set stuff at 11 a.m.
Prep the nachos and chili for concessions.
Ran a few errands to get stuff for the play.
Home- 1:45 p.m.
Aerobics and shower.
Left home at 4 p.m. to go run concessions at BIG b-ball game!
Left there at 9:15 p.m.
Over at friends for dinner and RELAXATION TIME.
Home at 2:00 a.m.

Sunday - 8 out of 10
10:30 a.m. woke up to coffee brewing :)
Housework and down time!
3 p.m. - Aerobics
5 p.m. - Store

SO, as you can see it was nutso, but good!

OK...now the health bit of things! Tomorrow I will get back to daily blogging, and including all of my calories. For today, I am just giving a summary.

All three days I:
drank enough water- 125 ounces at least each day!
ate enough calories - I ate at least 1000 calories each day (Friday - 1080, Saturday -1420, and Sunday - 1120)
EXERCISED!!! I did The Firm dvd! I didn't feel like working out yesterday, but I MADE IT HAPPEN :))) I have had a couple of really great two days of working out. Feeling really strong! I have finished The Firm workout 6 days in a row, which is actually 15 days in a row now, and I have exercised 22 of the last 23 days! That's right!! The only day I didn't work out in there was X-Mas Eve, which we actually celebrated as Christmas with our little one, and I had killer tooth pain.

There ya have it!! Three days in one :)

7.5

2012-01-05T19:42:00.000-08:00

Today was a 7.5 for me.
Not too hot, not too cold, just average, I suppose.

I did wake up at 5 a.m. and do my workout. But, I didn't do it as well, as I normally do. I think the biggest issue is that I am tired. I stayed up too late last night, and I also had a knotty muscles in my left should blade that was bugging me through the night :(

I did eat veggies and fruits today.
I did drink enough water.
I also tried out my new coffee pot and made some tea at school today! That was nice :)
I ate at my calorie quota.
And, I exercised.

Going in...
Cottage cheese 100
Coffee- 100

Boca spicy chicken -160
Egg- 78

Carrots -15
Celery-20
LC cheese- 35
Mandarin orange -45

Cheerios-PB – 1/2 cup - 73- YUP! These are DELICIOUS :)
Mandarin orange – 45
nuts - 150

Swiss cheese - 110
French fries - 240
Bbq pork sandwich – 420 - bbq sauce (50), swiss cheese (110) bun (160) pork (100)

Calories in = 1591- the most I have had in a long time! What's so funny is I remember this time last year when I would eat thousands of calories in one day!
Calories out = 310
Net calories = 1281

168 ounces of water
2-12 ounce cups of tea

Exercise- The Firm – 310-I definitely didn’t feel as energetic while doing it today!

Again I was totally happy about having my meat prepped! It makes dinner happen so much more quickly :) During this play time, it is saving me!!!!

A funny thing happened today. I had two different guys ask me about my weight loss. One said his wife wanted him to ask me what I was doing because of how good I am looking and how I have lost a lot of weight! And, the other is actually the husband of someone with whom I work. He told his wife that he saw me at Safeway this past weekend, and he was impressed with how much weight I have lost, and he didn't even know I was losing weight, so it seemed dramatic to him! My co-worker came to share that with me :))

Going to bed early tonight!!!

Double Exclamation Point Day!!

2012-01-04T19:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Hump Day, indeed!! I would say that today was a 9.267 out of 10 :)) Woulda been perfect, if I wouldn't have had to deal with a selfish person, who hurts innocent people :( I know I can't change the world, or ANYONE for that matter...I just dislike having to see the after effects. ANYHWHO...

Have you ever had one of those days where it felt like everything was going right? Today was a clicking on its cylinders. Just feeling like everything was working exactly how I had it planned, or wait, even at times better than I had planned!! Quite honestly, today was one of my all-time favorite teaching days ever!! I LOVE these kind of days!! I went from an awesome day in the classroom, to a HYSTERICAL play rehearsal--man our show is gonna kick drama bootie!!!! VERY funny :) Then home to a quick and yummy dinner. LOVING the pre-cooking I did. Can you say YES to making life easier?!?!

Okey dokey, so it started out with, yup, you guessed it, I got up at 5 a.m. and did my aerobics :)) I love it!! I do!! It's funny because I do it with the sound muted, and so all you can hear is the tapping of my shoes on the hardwood floor! TEE HEE :) I might try it with my ipod tomorrow!! I LOVE this working out in the morning!! I feel SO energetic!!!!! I also drink 72 ounces of water by the time I get to school. That's one SWEET side effect to working out in the morning.

Today I wore a new shirt I was given for Christmas. And, a super gorgeous necklace that a special person made for me. I just felt all Maria-West-Side-Story-like, yes, I felt PRETTY!! I had on a pair of black corduroys that I don't even have to unbutton to get on and off, so I think it's time to buy a new pair!! I did have MANY compliments today from both adults and students :))

Here's the skinny on what I ate today:
Cottage cheese 100
Coffee- 85- didn’t drink all of mine today. Just got busy.

Ham-4 ounces - 140
Mustard- 20
Cucumbers-10
Carrots-15

Cheerios-OMG PB - 73

Celery-20
LC cheese- 35
Cookie -90
Salad- 25
Homemade honey mustard -20
½ apple- 50
Tatertot casserole-300 - My step-daughter loves this dinner! The thing is that we try to have all of her favorites during the week that she is with us, and then we eat the stuff she doesn't enjoy as much, some of our favorites, when she is gone :)

nuts - 110

Calories IN = 1093
Calories OUT = 336 -The Firm aerobics at 5 a.m.!
Net calories = 757

Recap...
Water, yes! 175 ounces of water!!
More veggies and fruit today!!
Made calorie quota!!
Exercise, Yepperooni!!
DEFINITELY A DOUBLE EXCLAMATION DAY!!

Today was a 10!!!

2012-01-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

Tuesday. Today. Ten.

I had a blast today :) It all started out by getting up at 5:15 when I did my aerobics! I used my dumbbells, and boy I could feel a difference! Quite a bit different than my soup cans--tee hee!

SO a few observations about exercising in the morning:
YES!
I drank tons of water. I drank a total of 75 ounces before I even got to school!! A total of 200 ounces for the day!
My energy was amped up!!! And, it stayed that way ALL day--must be the afterburn everyone talks about.
I felt so much more positive and happy...thank you endorphins :)
I will be getting up at 5 a.m. every school day!!

School was fun! I love my students, so I am always excited when breaks are over. I also finished up a few projects at school, and started a couple others! Drama rehearsal ROCKED! We laughed so hard TODAY!!!!! Home was good, dinner was yummy and fun to make, and we cleaned an organized the kitchen together. I love our family dinners. We always have such interesting conversations. SO...gReAt day!!!!

Calories IN = 1055
Calories OUT = The Firm with 5 pound dumbbells- 346 (more than any other time I have done the same workout!)
Net Calories = 709

What I ate today:

cottage cheese-100
coffee- 100

hard boiled egg - 78

tomato basil tortilla-68
Laughing Cow cheese- 35
flank steak - 2 ounces- 110
lettuce - 10

chocolate covered cashews - 150

chicken enchilada -284 total- 1/2 cup shredded chicken (106), cheese (110), tomato basil tortilla (68)
sour cream - 30

cucumbers - 15
salad - 25
homemade honey mustard dressing - 20
croutons - 30

So, I ate more veggies today!
I drank enough water.
I ate enough calories.
I exercised!
I was so happy I had the pre-cooked chicken, as that made dinner prep 5 minutes, and in the oven to bake! Wahooooooooooooooo.

oOpS! I almost forgot...

2012-01-02T19:02:00.000-08:00

Weigh-in today...not so swell!

Last week 197.8.
This week 199.8.
Equals a 2 pound gain.

But, I am OK with this for a couple of reasons. First, I had fun New Year's Eve, and I wouldn't change that. Second...it IS TOM :( So, I expect next week will be a decent loss!

OH, and I guess there is a third because I STILL weigh under 200 AND I weigh considerably less than before Halloween, which means I can say that I officially survived Hallogivingmaseve :))) On November 3rd I weighed 209.2. So, I have almost lost 10 pounds since then!! During all of this craziness.

Last day of vacay!

2012-01-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

Today we did have a Girl Scouts meeting, which was a sledding party. I thought we weren't going to be able to sled, and figured we would be going for a hike, but thankfully there was enough snow, so the girls got to going sledding!! FUN :) And, my co-leader and I were able to plan out the rest of our year!! WAHOO!! We have some exciting and fun things to do in the next five months.

Goals for today:

I drank over 100 ounces of water!

I felt kinda cranky this afternoon because TOM should be here any day, and I had a terrible headache yesterday and then today I have this intense neck/shoulder knot that I always get during PMS time :(

I did get my exercise in...though it was later in the afternoon.

I didn't eat enough though :( Not hungry :(( I did eat veggies at dinner! And, I prepped veggies into snack bags, so they are ready to go for this week.

Meals are planned for the week, as is my exercise schedule! CHECK, check, CHECK!

Let's take a gander at today.

What went in...
Coffee with creamer- 30

Ham - 350
Yellow baked potato -100
Cottage cheese – 100
Fried onions- 35
Homemade honey mustard dressing – 20
Salad-25
Sour cream – 40

Calories IN = 700 calories
Calories OUT = 240
Net Calories = 460

What went out!
25 minutes of Denise Austin = Cardio Blast and Kickboxing Cardio - 240 calories - So, for this week I have 25 minutes out of 210.

I am proud of myself for exercising this afternoon because I really didn't want to! That makes two days in a row! Wooooooo hoo!

HELLO, twenty-12!

2012-01-01T21:27:00.000-08:00

OK, here we have the 1-1-12 post, ya know, the one about plans, goals, dreams, etc.

I feel responsible for some reflection, too.

2010 was a mediocre year, so 2011 was a BIG improvement, and I feel like 2012 is going to be EVEN BETTER! WAHOO!

I am proud of the things I accomplished in 2011. In particular, my health focus :) I lost 46 pounds in 2011. So, one of my goals...during this 366 days (yup, leap year) I want to lose an additional 54 pounds, for a total of 100 pounds. I am giving myself the entire year to reach this goal. And, folks, I am going to do it! This will be the year!! YUP, yup!

I want to continue my focus of eating healthy and exercising!

I want to run at least two half-marathons. One to simply finish, and a second one to improve on time! I am not making it a goal, but I am seriously considering a full marathon in December--Rock and Roll on the Strip in Vegas! We will see...that could be my second half-marathon, who knows?!

I would like to do some other exercise that I love this year, too! I would like to play racquetball, go HIKING, more bowling, swimming when summer comes around, maybe even join the gym again, which directly relates to my racquetball desires (see my earlier post)

I totally plan on continuing my food journal every day! And, I feel that my weekly goals really worked for me this last year! This makes goals so much more DOABLE!

So my weekly goals for this week are:
*eat more fruits and veggies this week!
*exercise 210 minutes a week- which is 30 minutes a day, but I realize some days might not be 30 minutes, but other days I will be able to do more, so it should all balance out! I want to have at least 15 minutes a day!!!!!!!
*100 ounces of water a day
*1000 calories eating a day

I also plan to keep my thankful blog going, too! Staying positive the past two months has really made an amazing difference in my life :) So, a year of that...I know will only make life THAT much better!

10 Random Things I WANNA Do In 2012:
1) Go to Vegas at least once for the year, maybe twice :)
2) Go white river rafting! I haven't done that in forever, and I love it! I think I found my adrenaline bug again after going ziplining in 2011, not one time, but twice!!
3) Have a booth at Vintage Faire.
4) Work on my novel.
5) Ride motorcycles to Mount Rushmore!
6) Plan out and organize a MAJOR grocery shopping trip--probably to Albertsons in Wenatchee, since they will double coupons and accept all other grocery store sales-- in which I save 80% of at least a $300 total order!
7) Empty my storage unit.
8) Organize the extra bedroom, so it can be an exercise and sewing room.
9) Have at least one yard sale!
10) Try out a new recipe a month.

As you can see, I have some plans for 2012! LOOK out, and keep reading to see what transpires, what changes, what evolves into this crazy life transformation called ME!

HUGE NSV, HUGE!

2012-01-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

As you may have read earlier, I won a $150 gift certificate, and I decided to use half of it to buy myself an expensive pair of jeans! Well, I bought a pair of Ariat jeans, size 32. I bought them one size too small, so that I would work into getting into them. WELL, for kicks and giggles, I decided to try them on last night, NOT expecting that they would be any different, since the weight loss these two weeks has been so minimal--though I did work out EVERY SINGLE DAY except for one, when I was totally sick with tooth pain, and it was our Christmas at our house--and, I was able to wear them!!!!!!!! I wore them last night to bowling!!! Yes, I even was active in them :) I could breathe, no problem!

I asked Rick if they were too tight, and he just complimented me on what they look like :))) And, our little one said, "I love your skinny jeans!" TOO SWEET :)))

Yeah! Size 32 is still bigger than I want to wear for the rest of my life, but I can say I don't know how long it has been since I was in this size!!! YEAH :))) And, I would be TOTALLY tickled to be a 29, which really isn't that far away!

Making the most of it!

2012-01-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

I had a couple of things I was hoping to accomplish during my two weeks off :) And, I didn't do too shabby!!!

1) Clean/organize our extra bedroom to set-up as an exercise and sewing room! OOPS!This one fell off the radar, but it's still something that I will need to do!!!! I don't know if it will happen in January or not with the play happening.

2) Ice skating - We had a date, but the CRAZY warm weather (50+ degrees) closed down the outdoor rink. I hope we can still go some time this year...

3) Cross-country skiing- I did go cross-country skiing, and it was a BLAST! I want to go at least one more time up in the mountains! I would love it if we had snow down here, because I would do it in our pasture. We will just have to wait and see. The biggest thing is that I also enjoy the ability to run outside, which I can only do because of the no snow.

4) Downhill skiing- See #2!!! Yup, ski hill is not open :( If it does open this next month, I DEFINITELY want to go, and take our little one :)

5) Bowling- We did go twice!!!!!!!!!! I forgot how much I love bowling :)) Definitely need to keep this going--at least once a month!

6) Volleyball- I did not play volleyball at the open gym, but I did have fun PLAYING! I love how just being active is what I want to do :)))

7) Sleigh ride- THIS is on our list of what we hoped to do next year!!!

8) Read two books- I finished two books!!! I read an outstanding biography on Benedict Arnold, and then I read The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. This does not, of course, count the kid books that I have read with our little one on our new Kindle Fires (yes, we both got one for Christmas!!!!)

9) Cook a new recipe - THIS ended up being AWESOME!!! New recipes I made over break: homemade ravioli--I LOVE MAKING MY OWN PASTA!!! Makes me want to get a pasta cutter machine!!! I also cooked swiss mushroom chicken in the crockpot, which I had never made before :) But, the big, AMAZING, splendid, WONDROUS cooking for me...is that I prepped for 15 meals! I have cooked chicken, hamburger meat, stew meat, bbq pork, ravioli in my freezer, and a big batch of hard boiled eggs in the fridge. I do want to also prep some veggies tomorrow, so I am ready for snacks when school starts.

10) Start and finish at least one craft project I have bookmarked on Pinterest!! I did not start and finish one of my projects on Pinterest, though I did do a different project for our Vintage Faire booth, as related to the barnwood we collected and a couple of signs already made! I MAY get the one project I wanted to finish from Pinterest done tomorrow. We will see...kinda a busy day tomorrow!

So, I didn't finish everything that I had on my list, but holy smokes, I did accomplish quite a bit!!!!! I had a FANTASTIC break :))

1st day of 2012

2012-01-01T18:30:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day :) We slept in, then we went to pick up more wood!! We were able to salvage enough wood to make a lean-to for my oldest step-daughter's horses!! And, that would be free, ladies and gents!! It was quite a workout, and a family affair :)

I decided to go for a run today, since I had not gone yesterday!! So, it was my first run of 2012!! I went a different route, and I ran 3 miles!! And, walked 2 miles, including back up Robinson Canyon! I had given myself a point I wanted to run to, and I did it NO PROBLEM! I am so freaking proud of myself :) I was thinking as I was running that I could remember back to the summer when I was trying to jog for a MINUTE, and it was HARD!!! Now, I can jog for over 25 minutes, no problem!!!!!! What a difference!!!! I love running/walking because I think about all sorts of things! I was thinking about how this is the LONGEST I have ever focused on my health, and now it doesn't even feel like a struggle anymore. It feels pretty natural. This year for Christmas I had a bunch of health-related items that I wanted--that's a first. One of my most favorite things that I got is a pair of earphones that are specifically made for running!! They rock my world, literally and figuratively!

I have all sorts of exercise plans for the next few months, too. With my biggest excitement being the half-marathon on April 21st! I am even considering and thinking about joining the club. I would only do that for the group exercise classes, and especially the RACQUETBALL, and I am kinda considering the physique challenge, which I would start in February, since the January flight would be crazy with my play!! But, February is much more MELLOW for me :) We will see. Still undecided about that!

Now for the daily update!
Water,YES!! 96 ounces as I am typing this, so I know I will be over 100 by the end of the night!!

Calories IN = 1267
Calories OUT = 662
Net calories = 605

What I ate...
4 cookies – they are my nemesis! LOL - 360- I had been guessing 100 calories a cookie, but did finally figure out they are 90!!
Milk – 110

HB Egg – 74

One pizza of taco pizza – small piece – 400- this is a HIGH guesstimate!
Nuts – 50
Tortilla – 68-I LOVE THESE THINGS!SOOOOO low on the calories, but they taste sooo delish :)

Carne picada-165 - 3 ounces
Sour cream - 40

EXERCISE-5 mile run/walk! It was awesome :))) I am so thankful to be able to run outside!!!

Saturday check in!

2012-01-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

I drank over 100 ounces of water!
I had planned a big run for the last day of 2011, but my path took me in an entirely different direction! I did LOTS of sweating picking and loading wood and searching for treasures!!!

Today I wasn't crazy about my calories, and the bottom line is that it is NEW YEAR'S EVE!! I am not on a diet!!

4 cookies - it will be good when they are gone! LOL
Chelan- salmon, shrimp, wasabi butter, French hoagie, chips- yummy!!

Egg nog latte 12 ounce

4 pieces of taco pizza- I had two, and then two later. That's the most pizza I have eaten since I have been focused on my healhty lifestyle!! And, guess what? I don't feel guilty :)))

Marshmallow vodka with diet root beer- OMGAWSH! I had never had marshmallow vodka before. YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY!!!
Nachos - just a few at the bowling alley. I didn't have even one full serving!

Calories in= ??? Maybe 2000?
Calories out= 300

Calories out= 300
bowling for 4 games (and kicking butt!!)- 300. I didn't wear my HRM, but I know from the last time I went over break! Also, I can feel it in my core today!
climbing up the wood pile, hauling wood, etc. - no idea how many...but, I was very active!

2011--over and out!

2012-01-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday ROCKED! I had such a fun day...however, it started off a bit rocky. Come along with me, and you shall see.

First off the night before I stayed up reading until 2 a.m.!! I haven't done that in forever, but I was reading an EXCELLENT Nicholas Sparks book-- The Lucky One. I haven't been that into a book in a LONG time! I think it was probably the connection with the US Marine, but besides that, it was just such an easy book to read! LOVE IT!!

SO, now back to yesterday. FIRST, I woke up at 8 a.m. to help our little one with her hair, as she was going off to Wenatchee for a day with her daddy :) And, I had a hair appointment at 1 p.m. Once they left, I went back to sleep! YEAH, some extra sleep. WELL, then I woke up at 11 a.m., and I had a message from my hair lady that I had missed my appointment at 10 a.m. WHAT???? Oh, I wasn't a happy camper because the main reason I stayed home and didn't go with the family to Wenatchee was because I had a hair appointment, but then here I was at home and I had missed my appointment :( Grrrr...I rescheduled, and thankfully she could still get me in to wax my eyebrows which were out of control!

After all of this, my MIL called me to ask me some advice about some wood, and if I could bring one of our trucks to help load some back. I WASN'T really in the mood to do this, but I figured I had nothing else to do, so...I grabbed a coffee and headed to the BIG barn burn pile! LET ME TELL YOU--we had a blast sifting through the remnants of this old barn. We found some of the COOLEST things ever :) We picked up some OUTSTANDING barn wood for signs and picture frames and whatnot, and a few other special treasures, too! We are going to have a booth at the Vintage Faire(my VERY good friend is one of the ladies who makes this event happen!) this year, and I am so excited about some of the things we are doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After we junked the heck out of the pile, we decided to go down to the Farm Shed in Okanogan! I love the people who own the place, and I love love love the stuff in there, and lots of it is also inspiring!!

After that we finished our little excursion with a lunch at the Breadline! One of my FAVORITE spots on the planet--yes, not just in my little home town, but rather this lovely orb we live upon--to eat! I have made myself a deal about a year ago, that I would try something new EVERY time I go there, and I keep on doing that! Yeah, me! So, I had a Chelan which is a salmon and shrimp sandwich on a French hoagie with wasabi butter. Yummy. Though, I wouldn't list it in my top 5 lunch favorites, but it would make the top 10 list :)

I went home and got ready for our evening! We went to our best friends'--the Lockwoods-- house, which we have done EVERY year since I first started visiting here (yes, even before I moved here!). We had fun!!! We always do. I think it's so awesome when both the husbands AND the wives all get along!!! We love them, they love us, and we ALWAYS have a good time together. We added bowling to the list this year, but the Lockwoods didn't go with us :(( Lorri was feeling sicky icky, so they stayed home and we headed down to the bowling alley.

WE HAD A BLAST bowling!!! It was Ricky and me, and our little one, and then Rick's oldest daughter, her hubs and two of her kiddos (one of the grandkiddos was over in Spokane), and then one extra little friend. First off, I kicked bowling butt!!!! We bowled four games, and the adults bowled against each other. I did suck for one game...didn't even get 100?!?! But, I dominated in the other three games. I had a 158, 134, 94, and a 177!!! WOO HOO on the 177 :)) The little ones all had fun bouncing between bowling, eating all-you-can-eat nachos, chowing on candy, playing games in the video room, and just dancing like maniacs. I seriously had SO much fun. I laughed a ton, and of course Ricky was a source of constant entertainment :) His bowling antics are quite silly!! We decided that we want this to be a yearly tradition. Take the grandkids, any of our kids around, and even their friends and just bowl and play and dance and ring in the new year!!

My day started off a bit rocky, but I decided to let it go, and my day was WAY better than if the original plan had stuck to itself. I tell myself all the time that you gotta go with the flow, and that EVERYTHING happens for a reason, so just roll with it :) And, the last day of 2011 certainly reminded me of this lesson! I love how the last day of this year was AWESOME--it symbolizes 2011 and the hope for an even better 2012 :) That's a big 10-40!

Eve of the Eve!

2011-12-31T11:10:00.000-08:00

HELLO!!
Yesterday was a good day :))Hard to believe it was the last Friday of 2011!!!!

I did drink over 100 ounces, and it seemed easy, cheesy! Must be because I got up early and did some exercise. Speaking of doing exercise...I didn't do as much as I should have or wanted to do, for that matter. I had all these good intentions of doing one of my videos when we got home, but...I didn't! SO, that's definitely a good reminder to me that I NEED to exercise in the morning before I get going!

I also bought some 5 pound dumbbells yesterday :) WOO HOO!! I am looking forward to sculpting my arms, and seeing some results by tank top time!

I did some more cooking, and boy oh boy, the freezer is packed, and my life will be SO MUCH simpler during January! I used to do massive monthly cooking way back when, and I know how much easier things are when I do this kind of prepping.

So here's the skinny:

Calories OUT= 106 for 15 minutes of jumping, 310 jumps
Calories IN = 1080
Net Calories = 974

Coffee – ff milk, sf peppermint – 100

Sweet potato chips – 170- I LOVE LOVE LOVE these things :)
English muffin- 140
Strawberry jelly-50

Angel Hair pasta- 100-I decided that I don't really like the consistency of Angel Hair pasta!!!
Sauce- 150
Breadstick – 110
½ apple-50

2 cookies – 100? Homemade chocolate chip cookies, and I took smaller ones :))
Milk - 110

I'm a little worried about tomorrow's weigh-in. I haven't decided for sure, but I might have a couple of drinks tonight :)) And, I know that TOM is lurking around the corner...SIGH. Gonna go for a BIG run today to end off 2011!!!!!!

GREAT quote :)

2011-12-29T22:01:00.001-08:00

Weight Watchers has a new program geared for guys...Lose Like A Man! Anyhow, there is a guy named Kevin, a coal miner, who has a GREAT commercial, and I LOVE this line in particular:

Seriously, if you lose enough weight to where you have to buy new underwear, you’ve lost weight!

LOVE it! I can relate :)))

His video is the first one under Charles Barkley's :)

Thuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuursday!

2011-12-29T21:36:00.000-08:00

Today was a GREAT day :)) LOTS accomplished!

I drank all my water! YEAH, that's two days in a row!! WOO HOO :)

I exercised TWICE today...not once, ladies and gentlemen, but TWO TIMES! Yesireee.

I was a crazy cook today. I did a bunch of prep work for meals for January, which will be a busy month for me since it's the play!! I browned 8 pounds of beef, and put it in 2 pound bags in the freezer. I made a DELISH cabbage stew in the crockpot today. I am going to crockpot a bunch of chicken tomorrow, so I have it ready for several meals :) And, I bought a ham for $10!! Plus, I have stew meat and carne asada all ready to go, too! I am going to prep veggies tomorrow (for the stew and for snacks), so I REALLY feel ready for January! OH! And, I hard boiled 3 dozen eggs. So, I will make some egg salad for sandwiches, as well as we just like to eat HB eggs as snacks.

What went in...

IN
Coffee- 12 ounces of sf/ff- 90

Tuna fish with Miracle Whip - 80
Onion bun -150
Sweet potato chips – 170- I LOVE THESE THINGS!!!!!!

Cabbage soup- pork sausage, cabbage, tomatoes, mushrooms, V8, chicken broth, onions,(250) topped with croutons(30), sour cream (40) and cheese (110) - total- 430

almond granola bar - 160

CALORIES IN = 1080
CALORIES OUT = 670
Net CALORIES = 410

Run -3.1 miles – 34 minutes – 385 --first off, I decided to run the 5K route that I did back on October 1st. This was tougher than I expected!! I did great on the beginning which is flat, and then I made it half-way up the hill, when I finally decided that I could probably walk faster than I was "jogging" at that point! So, I walked half-way up the hill. Then I was able to jog until I got to Seattle Street, which I walked up, and then I jogged the rest of the way! I ended up with just under 11 minutes a mile! My goal is to be under 30 minutes (even if it's 29.57) next October. I was still really proud of myself :))

Open Gym- 40 minutes of play - 285 - I went to open gym, and I had a blast! I did the Hula hoop. I shot baskets and dribbled, and I also hit around a tennis ball against the wall. That was fun because it reminded me of how much I LOVE racquetball!! UGH. If the gym membership wasn't so dang expensive (especially when I have access to a free gym), and if I had a reliable RB partner, I would be SO tempted to join. Maybe I will do that in February, when the play is over.

Well, today was a good day!! I am excited for tomorrow :))))

Tuesday and Wednesday!!

2011-12-28T19:45:00.001-08:00

This has been such a great break, that I have lost track of days!! I keep thinking it's a different day than it is!

I am feeling my run in my quads today, OH LORDY! I ran farther than I normally do, and more downhill than normal, so I can DEFINITELY feel it in my thighs today :)) I also bought a really cool arm band for my i-pod! I am so excited to use it tomorrow :) And, Ricky bought me some really good headphones that work well for when I am running!! They don't move!! So, I have my gadgets all set for my next run! Which...I am thinking about running the 5K course tomorrow morning! I should be able to run the whole thing, which I did not do during the race back on October 1st.

So, here's how things looked yesterday and today.

Tuesday
Coffee-20

½ sandwich-45 for meat, 35 for LC cheese, bread 110- 190
Cottage cheese- 100

Cottage cheese – 100

Homemade ravioli with sauce- 300

Berry smoothie – 150

CALORIES IN-860
CALORIES OUT- 4 miles jogging!! – 850
Net calories = 10

Wednesday

Coffee – 30
Vita top muffin -100 – yummy!! I have never had one, and I tried the banana nut one, and it was DELISH :)

½ sandwich-45 for meat, 35 for LC cheese, bread 110- 190

Ff/sf white choc sf hazelnut -75- didn’t drink it all
17 sweet potato chips-170-OMGawsh, SO YUMMY!!!!

Salmon burger - 120
LC cheese - 35
Onion bun – 150

2 candy cane Hershey kisses- 48

CALORIES IN = 927
CALORIES OUT = 297- The Firm workout :)
Net calories = 630

Today I drank enough water! Cool beans! Yesterday, I did not :( But, I am on one day in a row :) LOL!

I am pretty excited because I have planned out MANY meals for January. I did all the shopping, which OF COURSE I saved big!! I had a savings of 45%!!!! WOO HOO!!! And, I found a super cool deal!!! I ended up buying $9.99 cookie jars for 99 cents!!!! I LOVE IT WHEN CHRISTMAS is over!!! And, I even picked up a few birthday presents for our little one at KILLER deals :) (Her b-day isn't even until May!)

Geez...

2011-12-28T11:34:00.001-08:00

I just realized I didn't blog yesterday! I was totally into a book I am reading :) And, I also didn't feel so hot yesterday :( I had a weird episode when I was sleeping. Some time really early on Tuesday (I didn't look at the clock), I woke up with a racing heart. It freaked me out. I haven't been sleeping all that well, because my tooth hurts. Anyhow, I ended up sleeping in yesterday and then taking a two hour nap in the early afternoon. I did feel much better after that!!

I did go for a jog yesterday, and it was actually one of my best ever! I jogged down to Rick's job (4 miles from our house), and it was awesome, lots of downhill! It was sprinkling, and it was dark when I headed out--which I realized too late that I was wearing dark clothes...DUH! But, it was a good run. The best one yet!!

Let's see what else did I want to write about? OH YEAH...I have had a couple of people badger me about what I am doing. They truly don't believe I am just exercising and being as healthy as I can be. FOR REAL. NOTHING ELSE. NO DIET. NO TRICKS.

I haven't blogged exactly what I have eaten for a few days. I can tell you this...the ONLY reason I didn't gain weight this last week is the extra exercise!! I did eat whatever I wanted, and here is just a glimpse. THOUGH I must say that I ate whatever I wanted, but I didn't how much of whatever I wanted that I normally might have back in the day. SO, I didn't have three helpings of prime rib.

Christmas time food consumed by me:
prime rib
slice of cheesecake - skinny slice, but scrumptious!
sugar cookies - I had two a day!!! Glad they are gone :)
tiramsu- again a small slice
a fried egg and some bacon
ham

Also, during this break I ate:
some pizza from Papa Murphys
and a wee bit of some nachos went we went bowling--finished off our little one's leftovers :)

The bizarre thing to me...I went to the show twice, and I didn't want anything but water, and I didn't feel left out while my loved ones chomped down on the popcorn next to me. And, truly, if I had WANTED some, I would have eaten some.

I haven't eaten as much fruit and veggies as I should over break. And, I am struggling to drink my water quota. BUT, I am not overeating and snacking all day. I AM exercising. And, I am planning out what I will be doing this next month. I didn't have as big of a loss as I would've liked this past week, BUT I DIDN'T GAIN either! I am honest, and what you read is what you get.

I also find it amusing that people thing I am doing some quick diet scheme. HELLO...it's been six months. THAT doesn't feel quick to me. It feels nice and steady, and I WILL WIN THIS RACE!!!

Finally to close out this rant...I think it's strange when people say, "You are so pretty since you have lost weight." REALLY?!? Part of me thinks that's so lame...I am the same person I have always been, but I realize that some of me was covered up in fat. I do feel guilty that it bothers me when people say that--I have had TWO people say this to me in the last two weeks--because I catch myself saying the same thing when I watch the Biggest Loser. When you see the end results show, compared to the beginning pictures, some of those people are SMOKING HOT! But, I wouldn't have said that about them when I first saw them on the first episode. Hmmmm...

BTW, later today I will be back to posting my food :)) I actually recorded yesterday's, too!

BEAUTIFUL :)

2011-12-26T17:12:00.000-08:00

I have had one of the best Christmas holidays ever! The ONLY thing to have made it better...if Cody and his wife would have been home. But, I will be seeing them in April!!

So far I have worked out every single day this break EXCEPT Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve was actually our Christmas. Anywho, I had planned on either dancing to our new Wii game, or doing some other sort of exercise, but my tooth pain was OUT OF CONTROL. So, once the little one was dropped off, I slept.

But, I did work out yesterday and today! I am really proud of my exercise this break :))) I have also been eating well, though indulging some...sugar cookies :))

I did lose .2 this week.
So last week, 198.
This week 197.8.
Not a huge drop, but a drop nonetheless!!! And, I can't explain it, but I feel smaller. I feel stronger!

So, I am half-way through my break. We go back to school a week from tomorrow! Here's my list so far:
I have two weeks off, and I have some stuff I wanna do :))

1) Clean/organize our extra bedroom to set-up as an exercise and sewing room!(Still gotta do this one...this week!)I have several exercise goals!!

2) Ice skating - we have a date already with a group of friends! (Going this Friday!! WOO HOO)
3) Cross-country skiing- going tomorrow! This means so much to me :) I used to go ALL the time, and I have only gone once since I have lived here :( I am going with a big group of friends tomorrow, and I have my own stuff!! So glad I could find it all!I DID GO once already!! Gonna try and squeeze in one more!
4) Downhill skiing- I used to do this all the time, too. I am going to take our little one for a lesson, and to see if she likes it!! This one is not looking so promising because of the lack of snow!
5) Bowling- at least twice...we have two different bowling dates already set-up! We went bowlling on Thursday, and we are going later this week :) FUN!
6) Volleyball- We have a date set-up to have an open gym, and we are going to have a volleyball game as part of the activities!!

7) Sleigh ride- I REALLY want to go for a sleigh ride in Leavenworth! We used to do this every year back in the days that I lived there! NOT sure if this is going to happen...

8) Read two books- I have 6 next to my bed, and a gazillion on my Kindle! Finished one, half-way through another :)

9) Cook a new recipe - I could technically count making homemade ravioli!!!! But, I will try out a different new recipe :) GOTTA bunch of cooking planned for this week!

10) Start and finish at least one craft project I have bookmarked on Pinterest!! STILL need to get this going...I do have a plan!

Friday!! YIPPIE :)

2011-12-23T15:16:00.000-08:00

It's our Christmas Eve, and tomorrow is our Christmas morning because then our little one has to go to her other house. We have had a really fun week with her!! I love vacations :)))

I am VERY proud of me for working out every single day of this break so far!! I am not sure how tomorrow will go...I take that back, I am guessing I will be doing some Wii dancing!! Tee hee! Since someone will be getting a new country dancing Wii game :)

I did have TWO compliments today :) Two different people mentioned to me how small I was looking. And, in particular that my legs were looking so much smaller :)))) YES!!!

Next week I plan to amp up my exercise even a bit more! Stay tuned!

Goals for today...
Water I am at 60 ounces so far, but it's only 3 p.m.
Exercise--just finished the DCC video that I LOVE!! And, I burned 250 calories :)Have I mentioned that I exercise in 80 DEGREES??!??!

Calories in = I will report later...
Calories out = 250
Net Calories =

What I have eaten so far today:
16 ounce ff, sf white choc, sf gingerbread – 100

Pure Organic Cheery cashew bar – 200 – ON SALE at Safeway!!OH MY GAWSH I love these bars :)))

Mandarin orange- 45

2 sugar cookies – 200- These things are so yummy, and I will be glad when they are gone! They are the most sugar I have eaten in months!!

We are having a ham dinner tonight. We will have our Christmas breakfast --bacon, eggs, waffles, homemade cinnamon rolls-- tomorrow. Then we will have ham dinner leftovers tomorrow, and then on Christmas we are going to down to Rick's cousin's house and having a prime rib dinner!! ZOIKS!! Gotta keep myself on track!

I am also excited that we are going to be physical on New Year's Eve this year :)) YEAH! Lots of plans for next week! I will blog away later. LOVE TO YOU ALL <3

Thursday- a good day, indeed!

2011-12-22T18:40:00.000-08:00

Water- CHECK!
Exercise- CHECK! Another 40 minutes :)
Calories - UM, a little under...but, to be fair, my tooth is very sore, and I don't really feel like eating much at all.

Today was a FUN day :) We made homemade sugar cookies- gingerbread men, Christmas trees and snowflakes! Then we got ready and went with our friends bowling and then to see the new Chipmunk movie! FUN day for sure!!

My moving today...
I did The Firm video, which I did burn a few more calories than when I did it two days ago. I did try harder today :)) I increased my intensity by adding in the hops! Plus, I do workout in 80 degree weather, inside my house...343 calories.

I also wore my HRM when we went bowling. First, I bowled a 138 and a 147, not too shabby for the fact that I haven't bowled in forever!! Altogether, I burned 298 calories in one hour of bowling. NOT TOO BAD :)

Calories IN = 885
Calories OUT = 641
Net Calories = 244

What did I eat today?

coffee with creamer - 30
mandarin orange - 45

shrimp - 110

2 sugar cookies- YUP! Not one, but TWO :)))- 200

Nachos - I had a couple bites at the bowling alley.- 150

1 piece of leftover pizza - 350

Starvation Mode?

2011-12-21T15:10:00.000-08:00

I have been VERY interested in the right amount of calories to eat. Part of my problem is that often I am not hungry, and I will have a hard time eating 1000 calories a day, much less 1200, which seems to be the magical number. And, I don't want to eat just to eat so many calories a day. I have been trying to listen to my body and eat when I am hungry or eat because I need energy and nourishment.

I do try to eat healthy, though I will snack on things I want, too. But, for the most part, I eat lots of fruits and veggies were fill you up, and protein, same thing!

I have found some REALLY fascinating studies regarding the whole starvation mode. And, one thing they reminded me is that my doctor did say I needed to be taking a multi-vitamin, so I need to get on that!!

I liked this article because of all of its external links to research. FASCINATING stuff, I tell ya! I also found this article interesting, though the writer obviously has some different circumstances than I do. So, what is your take on this?

Do you ever have one of those days??

2011-12-21T15:02:00.000-08:00

For some reason I kept thinking all day today that it was Thursday! I guess my time is all whack-o!

Anyhoot...today started out with some suspense. I had figured out the answer to a radio contest, and I was hoping to win the trip to Hawaii, but in the end, someone else called in before me,though I did have the correct answer :( Dang it all!! That would have been cool.

I did have a massage this morning. HEAVENLY. My massage therapist hadn't seen me in over a month, and she gushed about how good I look :))) YEAH!!! Then I also finished up shopping--just have one more thing to get. So, that's done!

I decided ZUMBA was calling my name this morning, so I did my Zumba early :) Yahoo!!
It was just as much fun as I remember!!

Water - yes! FINALLY!!
Exercise - another 45 minutes today!!
Calories- close...

Calories IN = 935.8
Calories OUT = 338
NET calories = 597.8

Today's menu:

coffee with creamer - 30

egg nog latte- 12 ounces- 200

leftover swiss chicken-150

1 slice of Cowboy pizza from Papa Murphy's - 336.8
2 slices of cheesy bread- 219

My tooth is really bothering me :( My dentist called in a prescription though, so hopefully that will hold me over until I can get in. Since the tooth is a back molar, I have to go to a specialist in Wenatchee, and he can't get me in until almost the end of January :( BUT, my dentist said that the medicine should help substantially! HOPE SO! It's making me not want to eat!

Tuesday!

2011-12-21T09:06:00.000-08:00

I had a great TUESDAY :)))

Water- 80 ounces.I find it so hard to drink more water when I am home all the time. I don't know what the deal is. Plus, it probably doesn't help that I have to get a root canal, so I have a SUPER sensitive tooth right now :(

Exercise- I have been averaging 45 minutes of exercise a day over my break! WOO hoo :)))

Calories- YUP!

Calories in = 1480 with guessing on the sandwich at lunch
Calories out = 327 - 40 minutes of The Firm! That's a kick butt video!!
Net calories = 1153

What I ate...
coffee with creamer - 30
pretzel thins-110
chipotle ranch dip - 100

The Oroville - a yummy veggie sandwich on a French roll at the Breadline. I did eat the homemade potato chips, too! *Not sure on the calories?? 400?
FF mocha- 200

shrimp- our little one LOVES shrimp!- 200
sushi- 6 pieces- 240
sweet potato fries - 200

We had a fun day of girl time! Lunch and shopping :) Presents are wrapped! And, we played tons of Wii! GOOD day indeed.

HOLY mack-a-dack!!

2011-12-20T12:01:00.000-08:00

I decided to take measurements today :))

So, here's what they look like:
Hips- 45
Waist – 36
Chest – 43
Thighs – 22
Calves- 14.5- Really liking how these are looking right now! I have not taken these before, but MAN OH MAN, I can see such a difference with all the running :)
Arms- 13

Let's compare to back in July...
Hips- 52 inches
Waist- 46 inches
Chest- 49 inches
Thighs-24 inches

WOW!
Now a little math :)
Loss of inches =
Hips- 7 inches
Waist - 10 inches?!?!?! WHOA!
Chest- 6 inches
Thighs- 2 inches
Arms are the same since my first measurement of them in August, BUT, they are more defined!

For a grand total of 25 inches off my body :))))))) Talk about feeling a little extra pep in my step today!

Roller coaster day.................

2011-12-19T18:32:00.000-08:00

Today-
Water- yes! Easy to do with the cross-country adventure!
Food- no...just not hungry :(
Exercise- 2 hours today!!! 120 minutes, WOO HOO!

2 things checked off the list of Trisha's Targets today!
1) Cross-country skiing
2) new recipe- OH MY GAWSH!! I made swiss chicken in the crockpot, and it was to die for YUMMY!!!

Calories in = 893
Calories out = 989
Net calories = -96

coffee with creamer - 30
poached egg with green tabasco -WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT MY HOT SAUCE?!? I love green, red, and even chipotle! - 71

I have found a new fruit bar that I love even more than the Orchard Fruit Bars with which I was all obsessed. SO yummy, organic, and I can't wait to try the brownie one!!
PURE bar- apple cinnamon bar - 200

ff, sf white choc, pumpkin 12 ounce latte- 120
chocolate covered espresso bean - 7

carrots - 15
1/2 apple - 40
swiss chicken (chicken breast, cream of mushroom soup, slice of swiss cheese, stuffing) - 380
peppermint patty - 30

It was a good day as far as my health goes :)

BUT, a sad day for my heart :(( When I returned from cross-country skiing, I came home to find out that we were putting our dog down :(( It was so sad. She definitely was suffering, and it was her time, but it doesn't make it easier. Telling our little one SUCKED :( She just wanted me to rock and rock and rock her. Then we got our pictures out, and told funny stories, and it was much better. The other three dogs are acting weird. They miss her, too. I know it's all the circle of life, but it's tough. Seeing my honey cry, that was so sad. He's such a strong man...I love him so much. GOOD-BYE Suzie Q. You were an INCREDIBLE dog, and we will miss you :(

A love I had forgotten...

2011-12-19T18:20:00.001-08:00

989 calories burned today when I went CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING!!! It was so beautiful up on the Loup; the sun was shining, there was no wind, and it was sparkly and quiet :)) I forgot how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE cross-country skiing! It smelled clean and pine-like. It was crazy that it was so gorgeous up there, because down in town it was all fogged in and gloomy looking.

I KNOW I am going to be feeling it tomorrow!! My quads, biceps, triceps, and shoulders!! Altogether we skied 5.4 miles :) It was warm, so I was just in a couple of layers of clothing. And, boy I was sweating!!

I was surprised at how easy it was to get back into the swing of things! It has been so long since I had gone. I wasn't gung-ho about the trail because even though it was groomed, it didn't have the tracks that make it so much easier to ski. That will come when more snow does! The good news...I didn't fall! Everyone else that went had a tumble, but I managed to keep up, though I had a couple of close calls.

I am so glad that I went today :) Not only is it killer calorie burner, but I LOVE it!! Can't wait to go again :) Maybe I will try one more time this break...

Incredible shrinking woman!!!!

2011-12-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

Last week:199.2
Today: 198
That's a 1.2 loss! AND, that's with two parties and a dinner with friends!!!!
I still smile that the scale does not say 200 anymore :)))
That's 46 pounds on this journey. I would LOVE to lose 4 pounds (I just lost 4.8 this past two weeks) by the end of the year...making it a nice 50 for 2011!!! Got some motivation!!!

I am so proud of myself for losing weight during this crazy time of the year! Truly it cements that this is a life change. It's all about eating what I want, when I want, but not being OUT OF CONTROL and keeping up the exercise and water consumption.

Trisha's Top Ten Targets!

2011-12-18T23:20:00.001-08:00

I have two weeks off, and I have some stuff I wanna do :))

1) Clean/organize our extra bedroom to set-up as an exercise and sewing room!

I have several exercise goals!!

2) Ice skating - we have a date already with a group of friends!
3) Cross-country skiing- going tomorrow! This means so much to me :) I used to go ALL the time, and I have only gone once since I have lived here :( I am going with a big group of friends tomorrow, and I have my own stuff!! So glad I could find it all!
4) Downhill skiing- I used to do this all the time, too. I am going to take our little one for a lesson, and to see if she likes it!!
5) Bowling- at least twice...we have two different bowling dates already set-up!
6) Volleyball- We have a date set-up to have an open gym, and we are going to have a volleyball game as part of the activities!!

7) Sleigh ride- I REALLY want to go for a sleigh ride in Leavenworth! We used to do this every year back in the days that I lived there!

8) Read two books- I have 6 next to my bed, and a gazillion on my Kindle!
9) Cook a new recipe - I could technically count making homemade ravioli!!!! But, I will try out a different new recipe :)
10) Start and finish at least one craft project I have bookmarked on Pinterest!!

BEST RUN

2011-12-18T23:08:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about doing my The Firm dvd again today (I am TOTALLY sore today!!), but in the end I did go for a run/jog/walk instead. The sunshine was calling me!!!

SO, up on the flats it was windy :( Cold and windy. I played around with turning around and going back home to exercise inside. In the end, I decided to stick it out.

A couple of observations:

I do much better if I am chewing gum!!

I need to buy smaller exercise pants, and pants that can tie at the waist!

I need to NOT wear a cotton shirt. I sweat like crazy, and it was COLD on the last bit on the way home.

I LOVE my i-pod and my HRM.

I need to wear sunglasses on a day like today! HOLY smokes it was so bright!!! And, the glare of the sun on the wet road...zoiks!

So, as I got going, I decided that rather than jog for a long time, I would go for speed and time. I jogged/ran 2 straight miles in 21 minutes or 10 minutes 30 seconds each mile!! THAT's the best I have ever done :))) Then, I decided to walk as fast as I could up Robinson Canyon. It normally takes me 10 minutes, but today I did it in 8 minutes and 3o seconds!!! Freaking amazing!!! I am so proud of myself. I burned 636 calories!! WHAT a workout :)) This has become my Sunday ritual, and I LOVE it! I don't know what I'm going to do when the weather doesn't cooperate anymore??!! At least if winter does show up, it won't be for long!

I am so stoked that I didn't decide to not run or give up and turn around. Instead I rocked it!!!

READY for this break!

2011-12-18T23:06:00.000-08:00

OK, so I didn't meet my exercise goals for this last week. I am TOTALLY all over that this next two weeks :))

Here are my health goals for the week:
1) Drink at least 100 ounces of water.
2) Eat at least 1000 calories.
3) Exercise EVERY day!!
4) Run/Jog/Walk at least 5 miles.

A post or two or three wrapped up in one!

2011-12-18T22:49:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy but FUN weekend!! So, I have three days worth of blogging to catch up! I survived a dinner with friends, and two other parties!!! CRAZY, but fun :)))

Goals:
Fri -
Water - yes!
Calories-guessing 1000, at least
Exercise - nope

Sat
Water - yes!
Calories - again, guessing 1000, at least
Exercise - 45 minutes of an awesome aerobics dvd. It mixed aerobics and strength training and even kickboxing! I used soup cans for my weights during the weight training segments. So, that makes 80 of 180 minutes.

Sun
Water- yes!
Calories- nope, not 1000
Exercise - My 5-mile walk/run and stretching - 70 minutes- 150 of 180 minutes. SO, I didn't make my goal for the week.

OK, so what I ate:
Friday- It was an EGGCELLENT day!
Poached egg - 71
Small- couple o f bits of egg/sausage breakfast - our annual Christmas breakfast at school!
Egg nog latte-12 ounce - 350

Chocolate chip cookie-homemade! OMGAWSH to die for homemade!! I ate one, and I gave the other one away because I knew FOR sure I would
Veggie burger - 90

Spaghetti/sauce
1 piece of garlic bread
1 blueberry beer

Saturday -
Coffee with creamer – 30

6 cracked pepper crackers – 120
1 ounce of cheese – 110
1 small piece of homemade sausage- ?

fruit
pretzel thins
chipotle ranch
3 chicken wings
Puppy chow
2 apricot ale beers

Sunday -
Coffee with creamer – 40

egg nog latte-12 ounces - 350
Pummelo - maybe a fourth of one. YUMMY :) - 72
1 hershey kiss candy cane – 24

3 homemade ravioli (ground beef with spinach) with homemade spaghetti sauce- to die for delicious!!!!

Only one more wake-up, and I am on BREAK!!!

2011-12-15T19:53:00.000-08:00

It's been another awesome day! I started it off reading my students' projects. WOW! I have such talented and creative kids!!!! I was bawling, as I was reading the writings of their hearts. I AM SO LUCKY to have the best job on the planet. I truly love my students!!

They were also giving me all sorts of little gifts today :) So sweet! And, we got to wear PJs at school today! SO COMFY :)) I even bought a new pair of super cute blue winter PJs with penguins on them. LOVIN' it!

Here we go!

Goals:

Water- over 140 ounces!

Exercise- 15 minute walk. That makes 35 of 180 minutes! Gonna be a lot of working out this weekend :))

Calories - 713 calories - not 1000. I don't know what to do. I am just hungry, and it feels like I have to force myself to eat to get to 1000. Need to talk to a friend of mine who is a nutritionist...maybe I will eat a bigger breakfast! And, the thing is that I could eat something extra or like dessert or something, but I just don't want anything.

Calories in- 713

Calories out-125

Net Calories- 588

What I ate today...

egg- poached in the microwave with green Tabasco! I love my little, cheap, quick microwave poacher! - 71

coffee-70
chocolate covered espresso bean - 7

coffee (extra at school)-100

veggie burger-70
carrots-15
laughing cow cheese- 35
mandarin orange - 45

cheeseburger pie- 250
chocolate covered cashews - 50

713

2-for-1

2011-12-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

I am blogging for two days right now! I didn't blog yesterday. I was busy grading papers and making a tutu!!! I need to make another tutu tomorrow! It's a week of tutus!!! Tee hee :))

Good things are happening, and I feel like it's all the positive energy I have been sending out into the universe :) You can check out what has happened lately on my thankful blog!

So goals first:
Over 100 ounces of water both yesterday and today!
NO working out yesterday or today. So, I have 20/180 for the week.
At least 1000 calories on both days! YEAH

Food on Monday
Pumpkin smoothie- I figured out how to make it even better by freezing my pumpkin, and then I didn't have to use any ice! 85
coffee- 70

tuna- 70
2 rice cakes- 70
Laughing Cow cheese- 35
carrots - 15
chex mix - 100 - small snack bag

stuffed green pepper - 400
fruit salad - 200

TOTAL -1045

Food on Tuesday--
egg - poached in the microwave- with green tabasco sauce- 71 YUMMY!!!!!!
coffee- 70
chocolate espresso bean - 7

tuna- 70
carrots - 15
Laughing Cow cheese - 35

peppermint patty - 30

veggie delight from Subway - 460
fruit salad - 200
chex mix - 100

TOTAL = 1058

Mooooooooooonday!

2011-12-12T21:18:00.001-08:00

Today was a good day :) It's going to be a fast and fun week! We start with dress-ups tomorrow!!!

Goals
120 ounces of water
20 minute walk in the beautiful, crisp sunshine this afternoon---so that's 20 of 180 minutes for the week.
not 1000 calories :( ---- geez, back in the day, I couldn't imagine eating less than 1000 calories. Now some days, it's truly a struggle to get them in. I am not hungry, and I am not feeling like I am missing out on anything.

Calories in -
pumpkin smoothie - 95
coffee- 70

extra coffee - 70 - a surprise from one of my former students :))

mandarin orange - 35
turkey - 45
string cheese - 60
carrots - 15
pretzel thins - 50
L.C. cheese - 35

bean soup - 350- just a guess...
cheese - 110

Calories in - 935
Calories out - 150
Net - 785

There ya have it!

Today's weigh-in!! THE 6TH MONTH MARK!!!!

2011-12-12T18:27:00.000-08:00

Mid-June 244.
Last week 202.8.
Today...199.2!!!!
That's 3.6 pounds this week :)))))
Or 44.8 pounds since Mid-June, which happens to be 18.36% WOW :))))

This week's GOALS!

2011-12-11T19:21:00.000-08:00

My goals this week:
1) Eat at least 1000 calories a day!
2) Drink at least 100 ounces of water a day!
3) Exercise 180 minutes for the week (3 hours total) that seems doable!

WHAT A WONDROUS WEEKEND, WAHOO!

2011-12-11T15:53:00.000-08:00

Let me first start by saying...that I now weigh under 200 pounds. I will NEVER again be in the 200s. NEVER. I can't remember when it was that I was under 200 pounds. I think it was when I first met Rick, so that would be 8 years ago this month!! This is such a huge deal to me. I can't believe that in mid-June I almost weight 250 pounds!!! WOW. No gimmicks, no drops, no dieting...just being healthy :))

I have so much to talk about today...

I had THE best run I have ever had :) I jogged/ran 3 straight miles before stopping to walk, and basically that was just stopping to walk up the KILLER HILL up Robinson Canyon. I ran 3 miles in 32 minutes!! That is the best I have ever done :) That's 10:39 per mile!!! It was awesome :)))

I almost didn't go running because it was so cold--right at 30 degrees. But, I read a great blog , which also had a great link to the Runner's World "What Should I Wear Tool":) I wore what it told me, and I WAS PERFECT on the entire walk/jog/run :)) And, once again I can say that I run much better when I have gum in my mouth! I also LOVE my i-pod, and it makes running so much easier. I am going to look into downloading a running play list. Of course, the other thing I love is my HRM!

OK, so a quick recap on Saturday and today:

Goals first!

Saturday...
Water - I only drank 60 ounces, so NO :(
Exercise - 30 minutes of walking!
Calories - Not totally sure because I don't know exactly how much crab I ate.

Calories in-??? Maybe 1000?
16 ounce coffee- 90
Veggies and fruit – carrots, cauliflower, honey dew melon at the Princess Party-200 calories?
CRAB-3 ounces = 94 calories- who knows how much. It really is hard to guess because you work and work and work and usually get only a little bit, LOL! Seriously, I did have some huge chunks of fresh crab, YUMMY! NO butter whatsoever.
1 cup of baked beans
1 slice of garlic bread
Hard cherry cider- 8 ounces - YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!

Calories out - 150 calories. PLUS, this does not count 5 hours of the Princess Party getting ready and running it :)) That HAD to be some serious calorie burning!!
Net Calories - Guessing around 850.

Sunday...
Water - YUP, I have already drank 100 ounces!
Exercise - KICKED BUTT!
Calories - Not sure if I will make it to 1000 today.

CALORIES IN- maybe 800?
Starbucks 16 ounce, FF, SF choc, SF Hazelnut - 90
handful of nuts - 100
Gonna have Ricky's soup tonight for dinner ;))) Not sure on the calories!

CALORIES OUT-
670 - from my walk/jog/run today!! WOO hoo :))

NET Calories - around 130 or so.

I am excited for my official weigh-in tomorrow! There ya have it!!!!!!!!!! Hope your weekend was AMAZING :))

Friday!

2011-12-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day :) I love Fridays!!!! Yes, I do.

After school today I decided to do a lot of walking to gather signatures for the Get Lit passport in Okanogan. It was fun seeing lots of friends and checking out some places I have never been before. It was cold, but that just made me walk faster :) Maybe I will win a prize--there are three, and several of the people told me that I was the only person for whom they have signed a passport! That could be good news come Monday!! We will see. What a fun way to exercise, though! I also stopped at several places and dropped off my little coupons for the free ham drawing!! FEELING LUCKY!!!

Busy weekend ahead, and I am super excited for the Princess Party tomorrow, and after that we are going to the all-you-can-eat crab feed, with an auction following. It's cool because it's a fundraiser for the fair, AND, we are going with our best friends! GOOD TIMES!

GOALS-
Water = 140 ounces!
Exercise- YUP!
Calories -YUP YUP!

Calories out- not sure...I walked for about 30 minutes total.
Calories in- 1182
Net?

Cottage cheese – 100
Coffee – 70

Pumpkin latte – 150
Tortilla – 50
Meat – 50
Cheese -50
Tomatoes, cabbage – 25
1 mandarin orange - 37
Peas – 25
L.C. cheese – 35

Chocolate covered cashews – 50

Rice, broccoli, meat – 350

Chips – 150
Salsa – 40

1182

And, there ya have it :)

Thursday already?! ZOIKS!!

2011-12-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

I started the day off with a headache. Pretty sure it was sinus, or maybe allergy-related. I was reading an article about how allergies can be terrible in the winter, and all sorts of reasons why!

I did two nice things for me today :) I just painted my toenails bright blue, and they look so pretty!! I also purchased a new duvet cover for our down comforter, and it came today. I got a KILLER deal, and it's on our bed right now, SO pretty, but still manly, too. I love my princess bed, and it's nice that it is western looking, too, because it fits Ricky, too!

Today I drove my mother-in-law to Wenatchee for a medical procedure. We had a great drive! We talked the whole way, and we are working hard on a cool project for in the spring :) I CAN'T WAIT!!!

I was really proud of myself because I brought all sorts of healthy snacks, and lots of water for the trip. She didn't feel well afterwards, so there was not temptation to go eat somewhere that wasn't good for us. I had already determined that I would make healthy choices, but in the end, I didn't even have to make a choice!

It was a good day, and a change of pace. I accomplished several things I needed to do, while I was waiting for her.

GOALS:
143 ounces of water
15 minutes of walking
Ate enough calories!

Calories IN- 1221
Calories OUT = 132
Net calories = 1089

Banana 110
Coffee , ff, sf choc /sf gingerbread- 70

Grapes 110
Peas – 35

Fruit bar-190

Chips (18) – 225
Salsa – 20
2 small tortillas-100
Cabbage- 20
Cheese- ¼ cup – 110
3 ounces ground beef - 231

So, today was a GOOD day :)) I hope your day was, too! And, even better...tomorrow is FRIDAY!!

It never gets old!

2011-12-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

So, today I had a person tell me for the first time what a great job I am doing, and how good I look! It was awesome, and totally unexpected :)) When I walked away, I seriously felt like I had a little pep in my step!

Today was the second PSYCHO day this week!!! I had a meeting that started at 7 a.m.! I love being organized, and I had several people comment about how much they appreciated how organized I am. YEAH :)

So, after that I taught for the day, had to prepare for sub plans for tomorrow, ran drama rehearsal--MAN, those kids are awesome, then scooted home, made dinner, and then back to school to work on preparing for the Princess Party. EGADS!Running, running, running...so, I am exhausted right now.

Tomorrow I have to go to Wenatchee. I am going to pack lots of healthy snacks :)

Here's my take for the day...

140 ounces of water!
20 minute walk with my step-daughter after school before drama rehearsal started, and I carried a moderately heavy box to the post office to mail!
I didn't eat enough calories :(

Calories-
oatmeal with brown sugar - 90
coffee- ff, sf choc, sf gingerbread - 70

veggie burger - different brand-100
L.C. cheese- 35
carrots - 20
Mandarin oranges x 2- 74

cookie - 200
4 chocolate covered cashews- 50

I tried a new "slim pasta" made out of tofu, it was OK. - 40 calories (for the entire bag)
spaghetti sauce - 50
meat - 100

double hot chocolate and mint whip cream- 60

Calories IN -889
Calories OUT- 132
Net calories = 757

Feeling tired right now...

2011-12-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

Must be the side effects of the busy yesterday, but I feel tired right now!

Anyhoot, I had a GREAT day! Lots of fun stuff happening :)

CALORIES in= 1000
Calories out =0 - That's right, I didn't exercise today :(
Net calories = 1000

GOALS
1) 140 ounces of water, check
2) calories, right on the dot, check
3) no exercise today...not even 15 minutes! It's OK.

What I ate:

1/4 cup oatmeal- 75
1 tsp of brown sugar - 15
12 ounces - FF milk, SF white choc, SF gingerbread- 70

veggie burger- 90
celery- 10
L.C. Cheese- 35
2 small Mandarin oranges - 74

carrots - 10
applesauce - 50

shrimp(12 ounces)- 336
sweet potato fries - 160
BBQ sauce- 40

hot chocolate-20
mint whip cream - 15

NEW...to me :)

2011-12-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

I have this weird thing that has been happening to me lately...
It's that time of the year, where treats are around.

What's interesting to me is that I haven't wanted any of it and that is kind of surprising to me. I am normally a sweet girl. Is this how healthy people feel? I mean I did have a bite of a brownie yesterday, but I have been offered tons of stuff, lots of homemade stuff, and I have easily said no, and not felt like I was missing out. It doesn't even feel like willpower, as much of that I just don't want it.

I hope I am not going to jinx it, but I am super happy that it feels this easy :))

Another pound closer...

2011-12-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

Last week 204.
This week 202.8!
So, that's 1.2 pounds this week :) AND, that includes TOM!!!

I love weighing in on Mondays! It keeps me super focused!!! And, it starts my week off on the right foot.

I KNOW that I will be under 200 before 2011 is over!! HOW COOL IS THAT?

Today was like a perfect storm, as far as BUSY goes, but it was fun! After school, we had drama rehearsal, 4-H, Girl Scouts, and the family reading night at the elementary school. BOY howdy! It feels good to be relaxing right now.

On a MAJOR upside...I had a two people comment on my jeans today, YEAH! Then at the Reading Night I saw several parents I have not seen in some time, and so I had three different people ask me about how much weight I have lost!!! Woo hoo!

A couple of things to share...
I had a doctor's visit last month, a much needed one. Well, in addition to having my thyroid checked (normal for me a couple of times a year because I have to take medicine for it, and they need to keep it regulated.), my doctor decided to check some other things, too. EVERYTHING looked great, but what was REALLY cool was seeing the difference between the tests in 2008 and now in 2011 (I hadn't had all those other functions--liver, calcium, glucose, etc. checked in 3 years)! Talk about what being healthy can do for you...I LOVE looking at the numbers!

Also, I discovered the Ziploc XS bowl,which is perfect for 100 calorie snacks! I love it...easy portion control :) It even gives you a list of healthy eating ideas! It's one of my new favorite things, and, OF COURSE, I bought them with a coupon, and they were on sale!

I really do love using these and Ziploc snack bags for portion control. I am able to get my veggies and other things all ready and in the fridge, EASY to grab :)

Calories IN today =
1/4 cup oatmeal with 1 tsp of brown sugar - 90
12 ounces ff milk, sf white choc, pumpkin - 70

veggie burger- 90
carrots-15
celery-10
LC cheese -35
2 small mandarin - 74
1 small pasta salad (using my xs Ziploc storage container)- 100

bite of brownie - ? guessing 45, it was a very small bite, so it was most likely less
mini-rice krispy treat - 45 (like a bite-size)

pork chop- 3 ounces - 181
potato - 75
BBQ sauce - 40
pasta salad - 200

CALORIES IN = 1070
CALORIES OUT = 125
NET CALORIES = 945

Calories OUT = 15 minute walk today. That was ALL I had time for. And, I did try to get up early again, and again my phone turned itself off :( I am going to have to use the regular alarm clock to make sure that I get up! I didn't wear my HRM when I walked, but I am going to guess it was about 125 calories.

Gonna keep my goals the same this week:
1) Drink 100 ounces of water a day.
2) 15 minutes of some sort of exercise.
3) Eat at least 1000 calories a day!
4) Get a jog/walk in and reach 3 consecutive miles jogging.

So, with those in mind for the week, I can check off 1-3 for today!! Even this busy day!

Catch up time! MEGA blog

2011-12-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

I had a FABULOUS weekend :)))) Filled with family, friends, and FUN!!

I didn't blog this weekend, so I am doing a mega blog right here.

THE BIGGEST HIGHLIGHT BY FAR FOR ME???? I just about started bawling in the dressing room at Wal*Mart. Why? Because I tried on size 17 and size 15 jeans from the Juniors section. OMGAWSH! They totally fit, and I even wore them!! I also bought size 16 jeans in the normal section...you know where they have size 2,4,6,8,10,12,14. YUP, and it only goes to 16--no 18 or 20. I can't wear the 16W that you find over in the bigger lady section anymore because they are too big. WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I am so happy :)))

Friday update:
120 ounces of water
Made the calories
Didn’t exercise :( I had planned on getting up early in the morning, but then my phone turned itself off...this is NOT the first time it has done that, GRRRR. But, maybe the universe felt I needed more sleep!

Oatmeal-70 brown sugar – 20- 90
Coffee-75

Veggie burger-90
Celery-10
Laughing cow cheese- 35
Grapes – 100
Banana - 110
Coffee - 75
Chocolate covered cashews-50

Pizza – 500- bbq chicken - YUMMY! I haven't had pizza in so long. I did look around for quite some time in the frozen section. I wanted to make a semi-good decision. I knew that I could eat HALF of the pizza I bought for 500 calories.

Total Calories IN =1135

SAT UPDATE:
Saturday started a little lazy, which was AWESOME! But, it also started with TOM and nasty, yucky cramps :((( that woke me up REALLY early. Once I got those under control, I just couldn't go back to sleep, so I had some really nice quiet alone time, and I decided to look at things on the bright side, and I also accomplished a lot with my yearbook--so cool that it's all online! After the mellow morning, then it went into busy mode! LOL! But, we got lots of Christmas stuff done, and we had a lovely dinner at our friends' home, and played lots of games!! The priceless moment for me...watching these big men playing Slap Jack with our little one!! FUNNY stuff :) We had fun playing Yahtzee, 31, War and Slap Jack!

IN...
Coffee with creamer- 40
Starbucks 12 ounce ff peppermint mocha – 100
Fruit bar- 200
Egg nog milkshake- 12 ounce – 420, 1 ounce = 45 not sure if this calorie count includes whip cream or not, as it didn't say online, and I chose no whip cream, and I didn’t like it, gave it to Ricky

We went to dinner at our friends' house, and I didn't write down and figure out the calories, but I did write down everything I ate!
Pre-dinner I had 385 calories

Chips and homemade salsa
Pasta salad- 2 bowls!!! veggie pasta, ff Italian dressing, carrots, pickles, onions, olives.
Hamburger
slice of cheese
sandwich thin
Lettuce, tomato, onion,

Some sort of frozen fruit dessert- yummy :)

I did NOT exercise on Saturday (that's two days in a row):(( Unless you count LOTS of shopping and all that includes! We did lots of walking downtown and uptown, too!

Calories- guessing over 1000!
Water - CHECK! 120 ounces
Exercise - Shopping? Otherwise, NOPE :(

Sunday UPDATE:
Water-100 ounces
Exercise - YES!
1000 calories -YUP :)

coffee with creamer - 40
pasta salad- 1 bowl - not sure on the calories...250?

chocolate milk - 150- recoup from my run!

almonds- 100

pot roast- 286 - 6 ounces
BBQ sauce - 30
potatoes - 68
carrots- 15
piece of garlic toast - 130

CALORIES IN= 1069
CALORIES OUT = 631!!!!!!!!! I LOVE my heart rate monitor!!! AND, I had THE best workout ever today :)
NET CALORIES = 438

Awesome walk/jog! I jogged 2.3 miles in a row, and I averaged 11 minutes 30 seconds for that! I walked a bit, and then jogged another .2, so that I jogged a total of 2.5. I finished with a walk up Robinson Canyon. In the end, my total was 5 miles in 1 hour and 10 minutes. IT WAS AWESOME AND BEAUTIFUL outside, and I rocked the jog!!! I am getting so much better :))) After my jog/walk, I truly FELT SO ALIVE!!!!

There ya have it folks, and despite TOM, I am still excited to weigh-in tomorrow! And, for any ~~negative person out there~~ HATER, who wants to pick at me, and say that I am dieting and this won't last, you OBVIOUSLY don't read and understand my blog!! Or, anyone who is annoyed with my positive energy and CHOICE to be thankful and to look for the good in every single situation,even the ones that are not perfect...well, my results speak for themselves! I am living LIFE :))) Better yet, I AM LOVING LIFE,and it's loving me back!!!

Twice-a-day :)

2011-12-01T19:41:00.000-08:00

Goals for today, REACHED!
Exercise- twice for a total of 27 minutes.
Water- hold on to your seat, 160 ounces!
1000- almost...Maybe I will eat an apple before bed, and then I would be there.

I started this morning off with exercise! WAHOO! It wasn't very long, but it was fun :) I did the Denise Austin 12 minute cardio workout. She has a dvd set up with six different 12-minute workouts, and you do a different one each day. I burned 102 calories in the workout, so that was awesome :) And, I just had tons of energy for the day!

I just finished the day with a 15 minutes of jumproping!
Another 125 calories burned.

Calories out = 227
Calories in= 966
NET Calories = 739

Breakfast bar-90
coffee- ff, sf white choc, sf gingerbread-70
4 chocolate covered cashews - 25

tortilla- 68
honey mustard- 20
lunch meat- 60
carrots-25
celery - 10
Laughing Cow French onion- 35

2 tortillas - 136
cheese- 100
ground spicy pork-3 ounces - 252
cabbage- 25

hot chocolate - 20
gingerbread marshmallows - 30

Well, HELLO, Wednesday!

2011-11-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

The day started out well :)
Then things kept going awry after school, but I just decided I wasn't going to let it get to me, and so I let it go! And, boy that feels good :) And, now I feel way better, and I can see all sorts of great things from today.

A couple of smiley faces...
1) Did you know Pumphouse has SF gingerbread and SF pumpkin?! Yeah, zero calories! Thank you very much :)
2) This morning a co-worker brought me some cool exercise videos, one with Denise Austin, who I LOVE!! She is so inpsiring, so I am looking forward to trying it out, and I decided that I would start it tomorrow morning!! So, I have my workout clothes all ready, and the alarm set.
3) Tonight I wasn't sure if I was going to have time to workout. But, in the end, I made the time, while we were watching tv! I grabbed my exercise mat and balls, and worked my butt off for 20 minutes, and 200 calories :) I feel better, too.

Calories IN = 1100
Calories OUT = 200
Net calories = 900

What I ate today...
orchard fruit bar- 200
coffee-12 ounces, ff, sf coconut, sf white choc- 70

pretzel crisps - garlic parmesan- 110
soup - 175
5 chocolate cashews- 50

sweet potato fries - 190
French dip- 220 bun, 60 meat, 25 aus jus

***
132 ounces of water!
20 minutes of working out :)
Perfect on calories!

:)

The power of positive thoughts!

2011-11-30T05:27:00.000-08:00

On October 31st I weighed 207.8
November 30th I weigh 203.8
Some might think that’s only a loss of 4 pounds, but in the world of what I am doing--which allow me to emphasize is NOT DIETING, that is an average of a pound a week, and that was through Halloween and Thanksgiving!!! And, it’s a total of 45 pounds since mid-June (5 ½ months ago). Definitely I am so proud of what I have accomplished and that this is a way of life.

I am pretty excited! Why? Because I had a personal goal at the beginning of November to try and keep things positive. And, you know what? I truly believe that the energy we send out into this world, comes back to us times a gazillion! October had so many ups and downs, and Halloween week was an especially stressful and blah time. So, here we are, wrapping up another month, and I am a proud of finding the good. I can definitely say it makes me appreciate everything a little more! It reminds me lots of Oprah’s grateful journal. And, though I know not all the days and weeks and months and years will be this way, I sure am glad that 2011, and especially NOVEMBER have been what my heart needed! It feels so good to feel good!

I decided to look at all my titles of my blog entries for the past two months, and definitely I can see the difference in my attitude!

NOVEMBER titlesMarvelous Monday, yes indeedy
GOALS 4 the week
A couple of days...
UPDATED an old, but not forgotten blog
A closed door isn't always the end!
FANTABULOUS Friday for me:)
Turkey Day
YES!!!
:)
Start of a FANTABULOUS week :)
Why today was a good day!
Okey Dokey Artichokey!
Wonderful WEEKEND :)
Rock and ROLL
Howdy!
Yeah for the snow!
Yes!
A big loss!!
HOLY buckets!
Lovely weekend :)
Another good one for the books!
MUCH better week :)
My real Friday!!
It's my Friday!
Yeah for Wednesday!!
Taking care of me :)
LOOOOOOOOOOOOng weekend!
Back on track!! Yahoo :)
:) :(
TODAY :)))
Yesterday is gone!

OCTOBER titles
WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHoooooo!
Checked in lately?
I think I found it!
Sunday stroll, storage, and stew
Feeling strong and focused!
Super Saturday!!!
Goal for this week...5 sticky notes!
Friday!!!
Fishy day!
Better day!
blah, blah
Today was a LONG day!
Living LIFE and loving it!! This ain't no diet for...
A fantabulous weekend!!!!
Compliments keep coming !!
Long day!
CRAZY article!
Oh, Tuesday, HOW I LOVE YOU!!
Another loss!!
I love that I can see a difference :)))
Jumproping KICKED my butt!
:)
THURSDAY!
WILD Wednesday!!
Terrific TUESDAY :))
Just another manic Monday...
I LOVE Sundays like this :)
Friday and Saturday!
Thursday! Holy smokes!! Where did this week go?
Cool article :)
Hi-Ho!
Today: Monday.OK.Tired.
Food for the weekend...
FINISHER!
HUGE!!! Or, should I say smaller?
EIA

It has also been a hoot to read back through the years, as I did start this blog in February of 2006. Not all of my blog entries are there from the beginning because I was originally content in our local newspaper, so when I switched to Blogger, I only was able to transfer some of those earliest blogs. It's fun to read the ups and downs. What a journey it has been!

I AM SO APPRECIATIVE that I have not given up and that I have this record to see just how far I have come.

It's been a good month, and I am looking forward to ending out this year on a good NOTE!! If I average one pound a week, I will be under 200 by the end of 2011!!! HOW COOL ~~WOULD~~ WILL THAT BE?!?

Ouch!

2011-11-29T18:14:00.001-08:00

Today started off rocky with an ugly headache, borderline sinus infection feeling :( But, by early afternoon it did go away, so my day was much better :))

When I returned home, I decided that I needed to exercise!! So, I played Wii for 40 minutes. I danced a whole bunch of different songs on Just Dance. It was fun, and it went by really fast! It was not crazy intensity, but I did work up a sweat, and it didn't feel like exercise.

Food for today:
1/4 cup oatmeal - 75
1 tsp brown sugar - 15
12-ounces - FF, SF gingerbread latte- 75

fruit bar - 220

apple sauce- 50
string cheese- 50
veggie burger - 90

peppermint patty - 30
ham- 160

potato - 278
salsa - 20
cheese - 50
1/2 cup refried beans - 50

Calories in = 1163
Calories out = 215
Net calories = 948

Drank over 100 ounces of water today!
Exercised for 40 minutes.
I ate enough.

Marvelous Monday, yes indeedy

2011-11-28T18:18:00.000-08:00

Last week 205.2
This week 204
So that's down 1.2!!! THAT'S WITH TWO full turkey dinners:)) I am so glad and proud of me!!!

OH MY GAWSH, I can't wait to lose these freaking 4 pounds!!!

Today I drank TONS of water!! I met my water goal :)
I ate at least 1000 calories.
I worked out for 18 minutes.

Calories in=
1/4 cup oatmeal-75
1 tsp of brown sugar- 15
16 ounces coffee- SF,FF white chocolate/pumpkin - 150

green beans with onions,mushrooms, bacon bits- 1/2 cup -70
fruit salad- 1 cup - 120
tangerine - 35
apple- 85
ham -75

turkey noodle soup- turkey, noodles, broth, tomatoes, celery, croutons, cheese - 400

TOTAL IN =1025
TOTAL OUT = 125
Net = 900

I jumped rope for 18 minutes.
406 jumps with 65 jumps in a row, as the longest :)
125 calories burned!

GOALS 4 the week

2011-11-27T18:50:00.000-08:00

I need to focus on my water intake!

I want to workout at least 15 minutes every day. I know I can do this, and the jumproping is totally helping and something I can squeeze in easily!

And, I want to eat at least 1000 calories a day!

A couple of days...

2011-11-27T18:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was filled with family time! This has been such a happy four days off.

Quick recap:
Calories out -

I jump roped yesterday, in the midst of cooking a big turkey dinner :)
I squeezed in 16 minutes.
I jumped 360 times, with my longest being 59 in a row.
My average heart rate was 132, with my max at 179.
And, it registered 150 calories burned. Not bad for 16 minutes!!

Calories in - 920
coffee with gingerbread creamer - 40

turkey - 270- 1 cup
fruit salad - 120 for 3/4 cup
gravy- 20- 1/4 cup
corn - 1/2 cup - 70
stuffing - 1/2 cup - 150
green beans- 70 - 1/2 cup
cheesecake- 180

CALORIES IN = 920
CALORIES OUT = 150
Net calories = 770

Today
coffee with gingerbread creamer - 40
turkey sandwich- 270, bread- 140, miracle whip- 40,= 450

ham-170
fruit salad- 120
green beans- 70
gravy- 20- 1/4 cup
corn - 1/2 cup - 70
stuffing - 1/2 cup - 150

Workout-
367 jumps
15 minutes of jumping rope!
150 calories burned
average heart rate 117 / max 160

Exercise ball exercises - 10 minutes- 70 calories

CALORIES IN = 1090
CALORIES OUT = 220
NET CALORIES = 870

There ya have it!! I am excited for my weigh-in tomorrow, and I am glad that my legs aren't as sore as they were!!!

UPDATED an old, but not forgotten blog

2011-11-27T10:21:00.000-08:00

That's right...it's not dead!!

Check out the new direction for one of my old blogs!

A closed door isn't always the end!

2011-11-25T21:35:00.000-08:00

Mildly disappointed, but it's just a revise on the plan.

So, I am not going to run the strip at Vegas next weekend :( A bunch of different reasons have affected the final decision for this. So, the plan is that NEXT YEAR I AM GOING TO RUN MY FIRST MARATHON in December 2012 in Vegas!! I am hoping we can make another trip down maybe a couple of weeks later in December, or else I am for sure going on Spring Break!! I miss my family so much :(

I have been searching out an alternative, as I am definitely wanting to finish a half-marathon sooner than later. I found one!! I am going to run the half-marathon in Wenatchee on April 21st!! So, I am pretty stoked, plus it's sponsored by a foundation created after the passing of an incredible runner in Wenatchee, who actually knew. SUPER cool that the registration goes towards that!!

I am going to register on pay day next week, and it's going to be my Christmas present to me. I am very excited about it!! As well, it does give me more time to train, which will be nice. I want to be able to jog the entire bit, or the majority of it! My goal is to finish it in less than 3 hours and 30 minutes! That's an average of a 16 minute mile, which normally I can walk easily a 15 minute mile. So, if I can jog at least half of it...

FANTABULOUS Friday for me:)

2011-11-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

Today was so beautiful!! It was like a spring day, and the sun and warm weather (52 degrees) beckoned me to be outside!

So, eating-wise, I wasn't hungry, probably some weird after-symptom of eating yesterday.

Calories in=
coffee with gingerbread creamer - 40

baked ham with honey mustard to dip it - 186 calories (166 calories for 4 ounces of ham)

ham with honey mustard to dip it - 186 calories

apple with Laughing Cow lite French onion cheese- 135

Total = 547

WORKING OUT- Well, as I said earlier, I was all about being outside and just doing the walk thing. My original plan was to walk up and down Robinson Canyon. But, in the end, I just felt all motivated to start jogging, and I ended up jogging 1.5 miles, and add to that walking for 3.5 miles, well, I made the loop back up Duck Lake Road for a total of 5 miles. I was so into jogging, and so in a groove. I truly can't remember the last time I jogged outside (been using the treadmill because of the weather), and I was just in a zone. It was AWESOME! I stopped to tie my shoe, and I ended up walking after that. It was seriously THE BEST walk/jog I have ever had :))))

I wore my HRM, and it recorded that I burned 656 calories!!! WAHOO :) My average heart rate was 135,with the max being at 185. My I-pod registered 10, 357 steps, but I don't know how accurate that was because it was inside my hoody pocket.

Total out= 656
Total in = 547
Net = -109

WHOA...I have never had a negative calorie intake. GEEZ>>>I know I need to start eating 1000 to 1200 calories a day at a minimum, so that my body doesn't think I am trying to starve, which I am not trying to do by any means. Today I just didn't feel hungry! And, I had an AWESOMELY AMAZING!

Turkey Day

2011-11-25T14:35:00.001-08:00

I survived my first Turkey Day :)) I have another one tomorrow!

THE best part of yesterday was when Jordie saw me for the first time, since he left for college, and he RAVED about how good I look, and how proud he is of me!! YES :)

We had a blast with family and we love playing Liverpool Rummy! I tied for first place, gotta love i t!

So, what did I eat?
Here's the skinny:
coffee with gingerbread creamer - 40

At dinner I ate two plates, which really wasn't crazy except that I did eat it all at one sitting, and that was nuts! I haven't eaten that much at one time in forever, so my tummy was FULL. Truly I was miserable :(

I decided that my eating was like this...
1st plate = breakfast/lunch
2nd plate= dinner
I didn't eat anything else for the day.

I did not track calories, but here is what was on each plate:
Plate #1 - ham--which by the way, is the best ever. Rick is an amazing cook! He makes THE best ham ever!! I had some turkey, but only a tiny bit. As well, mashed potatoes and mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, a tiny bit of gravy. Each serving was about 1/2 cup.

Plate #2- ham (hello, didn't I mentioned how YUMMY it is?), mashed sweet potatoes, cranberries, and an itty bitty slice of pumpkin pie (seriously I could have put it all in a 1/2 cup or smaller) and an itty bitty slice (same size) of cheesecake.

As you can see, I ate what I wanted. My portions were small. I consider it a BALANCE :)) Having what I wanted, but not going overboard.

OK, but how about the exercising?!?!
First, I did a mini-jumprope workout in the morning. I jumped rope for 16 minute s in 88 degrees--our house is always toasty warm :)

My HRM recorded 124 calories burned. I jumped 291 times, with 60 in a row being the longest. I will get to 100 in a row! I will do it!! I am getting better, and I LOVE the workout!

Then after dinner when we got home, I decided to bust out the Wii. I was feeling icky from eating too much at one time. So, I knew I needed to sweat! I played tennis and boxing, and I also love to do the training mode, where I try to do just one better each time :) I played for 35 minutes, and I wore my HRM, but somehow I didn't have it set, so I don't have info. But, I can tell you I was sweating, and today I have Wii arm!!! I am sore for sure. I felt tons better after playing Wii!! I kinda want the Wii Fit now, maybe.

All in all, I am happy with how I handled Thanksgiving. I didn't feel like I was on restriction, and it was nice that I felt like I NEEDED exercise!

YES!!!

2011-11-23T19:18:00.001-08:00

Some exciting news!! I added a tab to this blog :)) Up at the top, you can see the RECIPES tab! I won't be going all crazy on it, but I will be adding some of our favorite family recipes as I go. In particular, now that I am writing everything down that I am eating, I am also interested in figuring out calories per serving for each of the meals that I eat!! Cool, huh??

Today was another SPECTACULAR day!!

I know I have said it before, but I have to say again, I LOVE MY JOB :) I truly feel so appreciative that I go to work every day, loving my job, and being paid for it! My kiddos made amazing Thanksgiving placemats, and those along with the cool cards that my Girl Scout troop made, I headed to the retirement home in Okanogan and Omak after school to make special deliveries!!!! COOL! Awesome way to start my Thanksgiving break.

So, here is what I ate today...

Cottage cheese- 100
Coffee-70
Bean-7

Mandarin orange- 45
Veggies – tiny tomatoes, carrots, peas, broccoli – 50?

Coffee-70
Bean- 7

I decided to wait for lunch until I returned home, and I made my nifty little sandwiches I can make now!!! I love them because truly they are PORTION control all the way! I know the picture is blurry, but you get the idea!

Bread – 70
Tuna with lite miracle whip- 25- 16.5 ounces for the tuna- 1 tablespoon and the Miracle Whip
X 2 sandwiches- 190 calories total

Cucumbers in vinegar with garlic -16
Cottage cheese-100
Lasagna-505- You can see the recipe on the other page!! I ate more than a serving, so that's why I have more calories :)

IN =1160
OUT = 200
NET = 960

I watched The Biggest Loser and worked out at the same time!

Jump rope
My heart rate monitor recorded:

Hi – 2:33
L – 14:11
In-11:09
27:53 – 200 calories
I had a total of 416 jumps – 50 in a row was my longest run.

Jump roping kicks my butt, and I am always sooooo sore after!

:)

2011-11-22T20:40:00.001-08:00

Today ROCKED! Again. So, many super days in a row :) I like it! I love it! I want some more of it!

My students are working on Thanksgiving placemats, which we are going to donate again this year to the retirement homes in Okanogan and Omak. I always am so touched by what the kids write about the things in their lives for which they are thankful. I have THE BEST JOB ON THE PLANET!!!

Things are really coming together with our yearbook at school, and that is SUPER exciting!!! I met with our publisher rep, who happens to be my friend, too, so that is always fun when he is in town.

I finished on our cheer movie (over 250 pictures in it), and I am so proud of the final product! The kids and parents totally loved it! Tonight we had our cheer banquet, which was VERY emotional. It has truly been our best year, and so seeing it end is always tough. And, I have a few kiddos who are seniors, so HOLY cow, turn the tear faucet on!!!

Calories in =
Oatmeal- ¼ cup- 75
Lite syrup-25
Coffee-70
Bean-7

Tortilla-60
l.c.cheese-35
turkey- 30
coffee-100
mandarin orange - 45

pork chop- 3 ounces - 410
acorn squash – 115
brown sugar- 30

TOTAL calories in =987+

And, the + is:
Cheer banquet...lots of stuff, and really I didn't want anything,since I had such a great dinner :) But, I did have a special treat!!
chocolate cupcake with pb cup...not sure on the calories, and I don't really care!
and, I also ate some veggies

Start of a FANTABULOUS week :)

2011-11-21T20:33:00.001-08:00

I had a great day, as you can read in the post below this one!

So, I got this super cool sandwich crimper from Pampered Chef! I LOVE IT!! We had to try it out this afternoon :) I can now officially make my own uncrustables. YEAH me! We made tuna sandwiches for a snack, and to try it out. FUN, FUN, FUN!! I get to make pocket sandwiches now :) And, there are even recipes for pastries and tarts!

Total calories in-

Cottage cheese-100
Coffee-70
Espresso bean – 7

Smoked string cheese – 50
Mandarin orange – 45
Apple/chicken sausage – 180

Tuna sandwich- 130

Potato- sour cream- 100
Steak – 6 ounces- 272- tender chuck steak
BBQ sauce - 20

TOTAL Calories IN- 974

Why today was a good day!

2011-11-21T16:11:00.000-08:00

No, make that a great day!
It started out with wearing my super cool smiley shirt that I designed :) There are 10 of us gals at school that are wearing them today! The kids LOVED it! I will have to take a pic and post it!

Then during my prep I decided to have some chocolate yerba mate tea, and let me tell ya, YUMMY!!!

I had a pay-it-forward-moment that seriously brought me to joyous tears.

I wrote a recommendation for one of my students today. I simply cannot believe she is a senior! I love writing recommendations when it is 100% from the heart!!! Great kid!

I have been organizing some things that I have been invovled with before, and I am receiving awesome feedback :) IT ALWAYS feels great to be appreciated!!

I loved the comments today about how much weight I have lost...that feels good!!

I started a new book today-- Nicholas Sparks- Lucky Charm. I love his books, and I am just cruising through this one. I also just finished a great book: Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs - sequel to Shakespeare bats clean-up Ron Koertge.

We have been reading Choose Your Adventure books! They are so much fun and bring back the days when I was a wee little one.

Tonight we have Girl Scouts, which I LOVE, love, LOVE!!! Plus now that the girls are older, they are responsible for homework as related to their patches, so I am excited to see some of the things they bring tonight.

And, finally, my honey is making dinner tonight! He is BBQing steaks :)))

Yup, LIFE IS GOOD!

Okey Dokey Artichokey!

2011-11-20T18:30:00.000-08:00

206.2 last week
205.2 this week
So, a loss of 1 pound.

Only down a pound, which surprised me because I thought it would be more, dang it! My goal for this next week with two turkey dinners is to lose a pound, so I was hoping that the loss this week would have been at least two pounds. I want that under 200 so bad!!!!

My goal was by the end of the year, though I was hoping for the first weekend of December, with the end of the year as the true goal. I know the 199 will come, and I can see the light, but dang it...I want it now! LOL! I know that I need to amp up my exercise.

What's so funny is that I was disappointed for a moment, but I had to remind myself that a loss is a loss no matter how small!! It's still a loss, still moving in the right direction. And, what a difference from the beginning of summer!!!! Next week I will be at the 40 pound mark!!! I weighed 244, and now I am 205!!! That's freaking amazing, and it's all been done right :)

I am so ridiculously sore today from my jumprope workout yesterday, holy smokes, talk about a core workout, ZOIKS!

Wonderful WEEKEND :)

2011-11-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

I love it when I have a weekend like this! It was fun and mellow, and much was accomplished!!!

We gathered up more clothes that need to go to storage for next year's yard sale. We had our hair cut and mine colored. We did deep cleaning! Shopped and planned out or meals for the next 10 days, including what we are taking to Thanksgiving, oh and I decided since I earned a second free turkey, that we are going to have a second Thanksgiving dinner at our house on either Saturday or Sunday because we want the leftovers :)))

I am planning out my plan of attack for both Thanksgiving dinners and what I will do as far as exercise goes!

Saturday's calories...
Coffee with pumpkin pie creamer – 40
½ grilled turkey and cheese sandwich – 1 piece of multi-grain bread – 110- 1 wedge of laughing cow lite French onion cheese – 35 – 3 slices of turkey lunchmeat – 30 – I can’t believe it’s not butter – 25 – total = 200

*I just LOVE Laughing Cow cheese! I am hooked on grilled cheese sandwiches right now :)

Starbucks – 12 ounce egg nog latter-370-THIS was my big splurge!! I have wanted one, so they were having a BOGO free deal for the weekend and from 2 to 5 p.m., and I happened to be there right after 2 p.m., so I felt like it was meant to be, which also meant that Ricky got a drink, too, YEAH!

Chuckroast-4 ounces- 207 ***Gotta love leftovers!!
Carrots-10
Potato-25
BBQ sauce-40
Zone bar- 210
1102
NO CALORIES OUT :( I just couldn't get it going to exercise because I was do tons of other stuff instead. I did read a GREAT quote: You can be sore tomorrow or sorry, you choose! I am all over that!!

Sunday
CALORIES IN:
Coffee with gingerbread creamer and mint whip cream – 50
Celery -9
Laughing cow lite chipotle cheese- 35
Sesame pretzel crisps- 110
Cashews- 150
Salad- 25 Honey mustard- 20 Croutons – 25 = 70
Tatertot casserole – tatertots- 160, garlic cream of mushroom soup-35, ground beef- 213, cheese- 25= 433
TOTAL IN = 857

TOTAL OUT = 250
Workout = jump rope 25 minutes – 250 calories – in 81 degrees! Yeah, this was an awesome workout that I did while watching The Biggest Loser on my dvr! Talk about motivation :) It was very hot in the house (our pellet stove), so I felt like it was like HOT YOGA, only HOT CARDIO instead!

NET CALORIES = 607

Rock and ROLL

2011-11-18T21:31:00.000-08:00

This morning started with a mild earthquake! The epicenter was less than 5 miles from where we live! And, it was a 4.6 magnitude. It woke me up, and I woke up Ricky. Our little one and the animals all slept through it! For me, it wasn't that big of a deal because I have been through MUCH LARGER earthquakes from back in the day when I lived in California. As a matter of fact, when I was in the 7th grade, we had an earthquake that was so big that I was on gymnastic mats during PE, and it moved me and my friend from one side of the gym, clear over to the other. CRAZY!

So, today started out with a little excitement :) And, it is FRIDAY!!! I have my new Friday shirt on :) YEAH! Today was just fun and right. You know what I mean? One of those days that everything goes exactly the way it is supposed to go.

One of my favorite time of the day was today when the huge, fluffy snowflakes were coming down. LOVELY.

After school today, we decided to do our grocery shopping. Normally I do it on Sunday, but this week we decided to get it done right after school :) YEAH! It's all done!! So, again, I used massive coupons, and I saved $95!!! I love love love that!

We came home and put everything away, and then ate a yummy crockpot dinner of a chuck roast. Perfect for today, and so nice that dinner was all cooked and ready to go. And, we had a surprise visitor, Rick's nephew. He was just stopping by for an hour, and then had to go, but it was exciting to see him.

Once our visitor left, we did some cleaning, and some organizing. I have another tub to haul to storage that it for the yard sale next summer. WOO hoo! One tub less of stuff in the house.

I am looking forward to this weekend and exercising! I plan to exercise both days :)

So, my calories in today...

cottage cheese-100
coffee-12 ounces-ff milk, sf white choc, sf gingerbread - 70
no coffee bean today :(
I did have a tiny bit of the pumpkin latte that was delivered today at school-25
1/2 honeycrisp apple- 50

light chicken gumbo soup- 175
laughing cow lite blue cheese-35
celery - 7

breadstick - 110
spaghetti sauce - 25
potato- 108
carrots-27
chuck roast - 8 0unces- 413

TOTAL = 928

By the way...I am so happy that I found my scale! Now I am able to be way more accurate with my servings, though I did guess before I weighed it, and I was glad that it was right on!

Howdy!

2011-11-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

So excited that tomorrow is already Friday :)

I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving, which happens to be my FAVORITE holiday of the year!! I love spending time with family, and we will have LOTS around this year, YEAH!! I am also trying some new recipes this year, and I have a plan for working out.

I love squash. That's right, we are definitely squash people. A guy that my husband works with gave us an entire box of butternut and acorn squash for free, and apparently he has several more if we want them. I could seriously eat squash EVERY day. I am even going to try to make a soup!

I haven't worked out since Tuesday, and I NEED TO!!!

Calories in=
eggs- the liquid kind in the little carton - 1/2 cup - 60
green tabasco sauce
coffee- 12 ounces- FF, SF white choc, SF gingerbread-70
chocolate covered espresso bean - 7

celery -9
laughing cow lite blue cheese- 35
1/2 honey crisp apple - 50
tortilla - 68 with turkey - 30- honey mustard - 10, cabbage - 20= 128

spaghetti- 210
sauce- 50
ground turkey - 100

broccoli slaw with light miracle whip - 50

Total IN = 769

There ya be!

Yeah for the snow!

2011-11-16T19:44:00.000-08:00

I am excited to cross-country ski this year, and try some other winter exercise :)) So, I am cool with the white stuff!

Calories in...
oatmeal with pumpkin spice marshmallows- 100
coffee- 12 ounces - ff milk, sf white chocolate, sf gingerbread - 70
chocolate covered espresso bean- 7

celery-9
laughing cow lite blue cheese - 35
applesauce - 50
Mandarin orange - 45

sour cream - 20
salsa - 20
2 tortillas- 136 for both-I found these super yummy tomato basil tortillas that are only 68 calories!! HOW COOL IS THAT?
4 ounces of carne asada - 225
cabbage- 10
avocado - 100
cheese- 50

2 slices of honeycrisp apple - 40

Calories in - 917
Calories out- nothing extra
Net=917

Yes!

2011-11-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

So, today I went to the doctor, and I had a FABULOUS visit! The really cool thing is that I had lost a LOT of weight since the last time I had a doctor's appointment. My doctor was all proud of me!! She said,and I quote:

"What you have done in the past six months, is more than I could do for you
in the next 20 years! You are the anti-drug!"

How cool is that? It's so true! My blood pressure is TOTALLY perfect and right where it needs to be! Yup, 114/76. Awesome.

It was just really fun to have someone be so positive and so enthusiastic about my health! YEAH!

I had a HUGE list of things to talk to her about, and I am so appreciative that I have such an attentive doctor!! I was there for almost 2 hours! She did prescribe me an inhaler for the possibility that I have exercise-induced asthma, but we had a great conversation about allergies, too. I have noticed that my wheezing definitely happens more when I jog outside. So, we will see...

We talked about all sorts of things that I did need to deal with physically, and I am just GLAD that I finally made the appointment.

I was somewhat short on time, and I almost considered not going in to run, but I figured I could go with 20 minutes, if that was all I had. So, I drove down to the school, jogged 20 minutes, and headed home to get ready and return back to school to do conferences.

My exercise for today:
Treadmill for 1.6 miles - 20 minutes.
I warmed up 5 minutes.
I jogged 10 minutes- 1 mile.
I did a cool down for 5 minutes.

Calories out = 174
Other good news for me, my HRM told me that my average was 130, and that the max was 174. This was an improvement from all the other days that I have jogged a mile in 10 minutes!!

I also had to change my dinner plans because we had my step-daughter's conference, so since I only had 30 minutes for my dinner tonight, I decided to go for a walk, which by the way was VERY cold!! I walked 1.8 miles in 25 minutes, burning 208 calories.

TOTAL CALORIES OUT = 382
Calories in =1124
NET CALORIES = 742

What I ate today:
cottage cheese - 100
coffee-ff, sf white chocolate, sf coconut -16 ounces - 90
coffee bean -7

celery - 9
laughing cow lite blue cheese-35

turkey-30
rice cake- 30
laughing cow lite sundried tomato-35

steak(12 ounces)- 544
butternut squash - 2 cups - 164
light brown sugar - 30
bbq sauce - 50

total - 1124

And, there ya have it!

A big loss!!

2011-11-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

Yeah, today I weighed 206.2, which is a 3 pound loss from last week!!! Of course, last week was rough, as it was a 1.4 pound gain, but what this has shown me is that you can have one rough week, and you truly can bounce back!! Just like that :)

If you read my blog from this past weekend, you see that I had two LOVELY dinners out :) I ate and drank what I wanted. But, I also worked hard with my exercise, and so once again it pays off.

Today was kind of a backwards day. I was able to sleep in, which was cool! Then I did ZUMBA, yeah! 45 minutes, and 485 calories later :)) Then I had conferences, which I met with 31 families!! ZOIKS! I am tired, for sure.

Calories IN = 641.75
Calories OUT = 485
NET CALORIES = 156.75

Food for me...
Mandarin Orange- 45
Coffee- FF, SF white chocolate, SF gingerbread - 70
chocolate covered espresso bean - 7

celery- 10
Laughing Cow Cheese- blue cheese- 35

yogurt with fruit- 200
decaf ff milk, SF hazelnut - 60

chicken noodle soup - 1 1/4 cups- 214.75

TOTAL = 641.75

HOLY buckets!

2011-11-13T18:44:00.000-08:00

Now, that I have been bawling my eyes out...

READ THIS BLOG!!

Read all the comments! I did comment :) I am going to go buy two $50 gift cards and make sure they get to two families that I know are struggling, and that Thanksgiving dinner may not happen otherwise.

Wowser!

Lovely weekend :)

2011-11-13T17:38:00.001-08:00

To update last night, I ate the Ahi tuna steak at Breadline, with wasabi butter. YUMMY :))) I also had stir fry veggies which consisted of bean sprouts, the stalks of broccoli (cut all skinny), and red peppers. As well, there was probably 1 1/2 cups of jasmine rice. AND, what I consider to be my dessert...TWO--not one--chocolate martinis! OMGAWSH they were delightful! I had never had a chocolate martini before.

We had a wonderful dinner, and then we dropped off Rick and went back to Laura's hotel room and laughed and chatted and just had some quality girl time. Laura is the kind of friend, who I can not see for years, and the moment we are together, we feel like it was just last weekend that we hung out :) Cool! It was really nice!

Today was a great day, too! First I headed off to work out :) I strapped on my HRM, and hit the elliptical trainer. According to my HRM, it said that I burned 108 calories, and went 1.6 miles. I did this in 25 minutes. The cool thing is that since I had my chest strap on, it then synced with the elliptical trainer, even though I wasn't holding the heart rate monitor handles on the machine. It was totally cool!!

Next up, I jumped on the treadmill! I jogged 1.25 miles in 15 minutes. I jogged for 10 minutes, 1 mile, on 6 mph! It was harder this time than the other day. I had hoped to try and jog this pace for 1.5 miles, but that didn't happen. I don't know if that was because I had already worked out on the elliptical for 25 minutes. IDK! It registered on my HRM as 232 calories.

Finally I ended my workout with a mini-weights workout. I did 3 sets of 15 reps of the bench press, triceps push, and bicep curl. Working out for 15 minutes with the weights.

So, in the end I worked out for a total of 55 minutes. And, according to my HRM I burned a total of 492 calories!! My average HR was 150, with a max at 188.

Calories out = 492
Calories in = 784.5
NET calories =292.50

I didn't realize this was so low, so I might have a cup of hot chocolate with mint whip cream and pumpkin spice marshmallows at 60 calories :)

What I ate today...
Coffee with creamer- 30
Pineapple coconut fruit bar- 200

chicken noodle soup - homemade! MY FAVORITE :) My family's favorite!! - not sure on the calories for this. 429.5

1/2 acorn squash (with 1 tbsp of whipped veggie spread, 1 tbsp of brown sugar) 125

Total = 784.50

That's something I would like to do...figure out what all my recipes are for their calorie content!

Gonna do it for my homemade chicken noodle soup...
1/2 cup of the noodles-170- I use the frozen Reames egg noodles!! They are amazing :)
1/2 cup of cream of chicken soup - 120
1/2 cup chicken - 105
1/2 carrots - 25
1/2 cup celery - 9.5

special spices :))

429.5 calories 2 1/2 cups of soup

OK, so the other thing I wanted to mention that I am super proud of for today...I have been using and organizing coupons lately. So, today I went to do my grocery shopping, and I bought over $300 in groceries for just over $200. All told, I saved $136 with about $30 from coupons, and the rest from card savings. I got a free turkey worth $25, and free chuck roast for $25. It was awesome :)))

I buy the Seattle Times at the $1 store, because you can get it there for only $1, duh! I am no extreme coupon queen, by any means, but whatever I can save my family...that's all that matters to me :) I don't do any online coupon stuff, yet. And, I did have someone ask how long I spend with dealing with coupons, and really it's only about 15 minutes a week, just for the cutting and organizing (I organize by each aisle in the store.).

Another good one for the books!

2011-11-12T16:40:00.000-08:00

Today we went for a drive up to Conconully because we wanted to see the snow :) LOVE IT! I just love going for drives anyhow, brings back such sweet memories of being a little girl because my daddy would take us on drives almost every weekend!

I have been doing really well on getting all of my water in.

Calories in =
coffee, no milk, with gingerbread creamer AND mint whip cream (OMGawsh...the mint whip cream is DELICIOUS)- 60

1/2 a grilled cheese/turkey sandwich- 225 SOOOOOOO yummy!

Total before going out to dinner= 285

I didn't do any extra exercise today. I am definitely feeling my run/jog/walk yesterday!! My thighs are sore, indeed.

Tonight I am so excited because Rick and I are going out to dinner (I KNOW...two nights in a row) with my VERY good friend from ~~way back when~~ junior high!! After dinner we are going to ~~ditch~~ drop Ricky off at home and hang out for some girls' time at Laura's hotel. She even brought notes from when we were in junior high!!! OMGawsh that will be ~~funny~~ entertaining :)

I will blog what I eat for dinner, and what I have to drink.

Tomorrow I am back to the gym for the treadmill!! I am going to try and jog 1.5 miles straight. As well, I want to do something else, maybe the elliptical or strength training--weights-- or, I dunno. I will see what tomorrow brings.

MUCH better week :)

2011-11-12T11:10:00.000-08:00

This week has been so much better than my Halloween week!

It really shows me that we can have a bad week, but still bounce back :))))

My real Friday!!

2011-11-12T10:29:00.001-08:00

Friday was a great day!!! I am so appreciative of the past, present and future veterans who have served our country including my son and my daddy :)

I did a lot of things around the house, a continuation from Thursday night! YEAH!

Then I went and bought a heart rate monitor! Yippie! I went to Big 5 and bought a Bowflex HRM.

It is normally $129, but it was on sale for $45!! I did find it online at Amazon for $65, too, but it was awesome to pick it up yesterday in person! Plus, I was given a free knife for being one of the first 100 people in the store yesterday morning. COOL!

Anyhoot, it is cool because you can use it with or without the chest strap. It only took me about 15 minutes to get everything set up with all my personal info.

Then I hopped on the treadmill. I went a total of 2 miles. I warmed up by walking a half of a mile in 8 minutes. Then I amped it up, and I ran a mile in 10 minutes!!!!! I just kept telling myself that I could do anything for just 10 minutes, and I did. Actually I was surprised at how easy it was. I kind of just got a groove going, and it felt good. Then I spent another 7 minutes cooling down and walking a half mile.

SO, my HRM told me that I averaged 145, which is EXACTLY in my target zone!! I burned 234 calories for 25 minutes of walking/jogging. My max was 185, which is 5 over what should be my max. I am guessing that happened when I ran 10 mph for 30 seconds. THAT was scary, and I really didn't like it. The HRM also broke the workout into HIGH, LOW, and IN. So, you know what your balance is throughout.

Now for what I ate:
coffee latte- ff, sf white choc, sf coconut - 16 ounces - 90

I made the yummiest grilled cheese and turkey sandwich for me for lunch and a grilled cheese and ham sandwich for Ricky for lunch. I love eating lunch with him :) Wish we could do it every day!!

bread - 240
chili garlic cheese - 2 slices - 160
turkey- 60
whipped veg. spread (like butter) - 30
Total for sandwich = 490 - which is a lot, but it was kind of a brunch, since I didn't eat breakfast.

Up to this point I ate 580 calories.
Calories for exercise = 234
SO, net = 346

We had date night last night!! So, we went out to eat dinner, which was such a treat on a Friday night because normally I am at football on Friday night! We went to Rancho Chico, and I ordered a veggie quesadilla. It was delicious! I loved the spinach in it. I could only eat half of it, and I didn't feel obligated to eat the entire thing, not to waste it, or whatever. I also ate some chips (didn't count how many) with salsa. And, the big treat for me...I had a small coconut margarita! It was so yummy :)) Finally when dessert came, the little chip with a dab of whip cream, strawberry ice cream and syrup. And, I did eat it!! I also drank 3 glasses of water with dinner. In the end, I don't know my total calorie intake for dinner, but even if it was 1000 calories, it would put me at 1346.

Then we went to the movies :) I was so full that I didn't even want anything. I had figured I would maybe I would have a small unbuttered popcorn, but in the end I was feeling stuffed!! So, I had a HUGE water instead :) Even Rick just had a pop. Makes me think we should eat dinner right before the movies, since it will keep the price down, too!

I also bought some new exercise clothes, and a couple of new shirts, all as XL instead of XXL. That feels super!! I can't wait until I am buying them all in L!! I also packed up all of my 20s of everything to give to a friend because I will NEVER wear them again. I am close to doing the same with my 18s.

Good day for sure :))

It's my Friday!

2011-11-10T19:09:00.001-08:00

Today was another perfectly awesome day! I would rate it right around a 9.

We had a fantastic Veterans Day assembly :) It is always so emotional for me. But, this year my students invited veterans, and we had veterans show up, so it was amazing to honor REAL people in our audience. It meant a lot to the kids that they were there.

Today is also the USMC birthday, so that makes me think of Cody even more!!

I also posted my cast for the upcoming play, and I have a GREAT group. It's going to be fun, and how cool that I already have auditions completed. I actually have all of the rest of November off, except for one rehearsal, so that will be a nice little break!

We came home to night and went on a cleaning frenzy, and the little one's room is MUCH improved :) YEAH! I got lots of love and accolades for helping; it always feels good to be appreciated.

Tomorrow I get to sleep in! YAHOO!!! I bought a coffee this afternoon, and normally I NEVER ever drink caffeine after 3 p.m. because I am a bit sensitive, so hopefully I won't be up all night!!

I have a lot of things I want to accomplish tomorrow. I am excited to have an extra day off. And, this is going to be a fun weekend. Date night tomorrow night, and then girls' night on Saturday.

Today was so busy that I wasn't able to eat lunch like normal. I did finally have some time to snack this afternoon right as school was getting out.

So, here's the grub report:

Oatmeal ¼ cup- 75

Coffee-12 ounces, ff, sf white choc, sf gingerbread - 70
Chocolate coffee bean - 7

Cheese- 60
Grapes -110

Pretzel thins- 110
Sour cream-40

Coffee-12 ounces, ff, sf white choc, sf gingerbread – 70

Chicken nuggets- 240
Tatertots - 270
BBQ sauce-40

CALORIES IN =1092
CALORIES OUT= nothing extra

I am hoping to get a run in tomorrow!! I need one :)

Yeah for Wednesday!!

2011-11-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

Today was ~~great~~ absolutely fantabulous! I had such a ~~good~~ WONDROUSLY happy and POSITIVE day :)))) Happy to rate it at a 9.234567 :)

Lots going on as usual! Wrapping up cheer, starting up drama, preparing for conferences next week, and overseeing all of our incredible Veterans Day projects that all my 8th graders have created :) Add in there the coat/hoody/shoe drive, and the new program we started to feed our hungry kids over the breaks like Thanksgiving, and boy howdy my room looks like a tornado has come and gone at least three times!

Oh, and then there is the union work. Did I mention that I am the President and negotiator? LOL! We had an early union meeting this morning that started at 7:00 a.m.. SO, busy day, and I truly felt like I hit the road running from the get go. BUT, so much accomplished, and it all fills up my heart and makes me proud of teaching where I do!

I have been really tired this week, but honestly I think it's more from recovering from my ~~nutso~~ surprisingly fun weekend, and then from DST!! Of course, Monday was hectic right off the bat with 4-H and Girl Scouts, so I kinda knew this week would be yet another whirlwind.

I am excited for this weekend though :) The honey and I have a date night on Friday! Football season is over, and since that CONSUMED my Friday nights, well, it's fun to be able to spend it with my man! And, then on Saturday my bestest friend in the entire world will be in town for a few days (she is working on a super cool project that I hope comes to fruition--hint: a reality show of a LOCAL agency). I can't wait to spend girl time with her :))) We are going to have dinner, and then just hang out and ready for this?? She still has all the notes we wrote to each other back in junior and high school!!! WHAT A HOOT :))) So, don't despair, all of my faithful readers, I do unwind and relax and take care of myself.

Today I had two people mention my weight loss. That's always so motivating :)))))))))))

Here's the dish on the calories:
cottage cheese-100
coffee - 70
coffee bean -7
1/2 of the pumpkin latte- 100
egg - 78
apple- 95
cheese- 60
caramel rice cake-40
salad, croutons, mustard - 75
cornbread- 120
shepherd's pie (turkey- 150 , mashed potatoes-110 , green beans- 40 , tomatoes- 20 )- 320 Total

CALORIES in = 1065 Calories out= nothing extra

I definitely want to amp up my exercise! Also, I am struggling to get enough water. I definitely feel it!!

Taking care of me :)

2011-11-08T17:56:00.000-08:00

I am excited because I have a doctor's appointment for next Tuesday! I needed to have one this past summer, but you know how life gets away from ya...

Well, anyhow, I am glad to finally have one, and I have a huge things to discuss with my doctor. One in particular is the battle I have with TOM. I have terrible cramps, headaches, and MASSIVE swelling, even to the point of pitting edema! Hopefully we can find some relief, as I haven't been a person to have bad any of that! Really my TOM has always been rather mild, with the exception of this past few years, so I am guessing it's an age thing.

It will be nice that my weigh-in will be less than the last time I went :)

This last week was probably the toughest for me as far as cravings and just feeling off. It was seriously like I had PMS for an entire week :((( One thing for sure, I am glad that last week is over, and that I have bounced back!

LOOOOOOOOOOOOng weekend!

2011-11-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

So much to catch up on! My goodness what a week it has been!!

First, I gained 1.4 pounds this week, though I was not surprised or upset. I weigh 209.2. I started TOM the day before the weigh-in, and I had Halloween in there, too!

We had a football game on Friday in Freeman! That was quite a long bus ride, and a freezing game. I was truly worried about my poor little toes. I didn't eat any pizza that our boosters bought for the kids, and I was only mildly tempted by the smell :) I did have a chicken whole wheat pizza at Jack in the Box for dinner for 320 calories. I love that the fast food restaurants offer their nutritional info, so that I can decide what I want and should eat.

So, Friday I ate 1050 calories. I didn't have any extra working out, though it would be nice if shivering counted :) We got home after 2 a.m., and by the time I got home it was after 2:30. I had to get up at 7:30 and head back to Chelan for a union retreat. CRAZY!

I made really good choices for eating on Saturday and Sunday, and thankfully Campbell's does offer healthy choices, which for me included LOTS of veggies and fruits. I did have one drink at the auction, which was yummy! I am not sure on my calories for Sat or Sun, but I know that it was in the 1000 calorie range!

So, now we have yesterday and today. I have all of that!
Monday-
Cottage cheese – 100
Coffee-12 ounces, ff, sf white choc, sf coconut - 70
Chocolate coffee bean - 7
Chicken burger-80
Peppermint patty -30
Cheese- 60
Grapes -110
Pretzel thins- 110
Salad- 25
Honey mustard – 20
Croutons - 30
Hamburger(164)/tatertot(160)/cream of mushroom soup (70)- 394
Total = 1036
No exercise!

Tuesday
Zumba – 500 calories!

¼ cup of oatmeal -75
Coffee-70
Chocolate Coffee bean -7
Turkey burger- 90
Carrots
Cheese-60
Fruit bar-200
Pretzel thins- 110
Salad, croutons, honey mustard – 75
Pork chop- 6 ounces – 356

Calories in – 1043
Calories out – 500
Net calories = 543

Oh, boy, I do LOVE ZUMBA :)))

I have been drinking right close to 80 ounces a day, but I need to improve that to 100. I feel thirsty!

I had a great weekend, but between the late night and early morning and Daylight Savings Time, I have felt pretty tired! Last night I crashed before 8 p.m.!!

Back on track!! Yahoo :)

2011-11-03T19:31:00.001-07:00

Today I had three, YES THREE, people tell me that I looked really pretty :) Yeah! I felt that way, and I almost even twittered exactly that this morning before I even heard from anybody else :)

I also left my first Operation Beautiful sticky note!! My phone battery was dead, so I didn't take a pic, but it just felt great:) I also made up other ones to leave in random places. I will be out of town to a couple of different places this weekend, so I plan on leaving some notes around. Cool!

I went back to Rawsons and bought a few more smaller pairs of pants for under $7 each!! YEAH, normally $60, which I wouldn't have bought for myself. So, I feel pretty awesome about my new jeans, and I can't wait until I fit into them :))))

Also, I am excited because I had a friend, who is a personal trainer and registered dietician, look over my blog, specifically checking out my food journaling. She told me that I eat a lot of natural foods, and that I have a good balance of veggies, fruits, and proteins. And, she really liked how I do eat treats here and there! Basically I got a GIANT A+ for how I have been doing on my food, which she said, and I totally agree that how I eat is how I can eat forever. That this is not a diet, but me just being in control and aware of what I am eating. It's so nice to feel validated :)) This was perfect today, especially after I had such an up-and-down day yesterday!

Cottage cheese – 100
FF, SF white choc, SF almond roca Coffee- 70
Chocolate covered espresso -7

Gardenburger-chicken-80
Peppermint patty – 30
2 tangerines-100

Homemade French dip:
Bun-220
1 slice of mozzarella-60
Roast beef-60
Au jus- 20
Bbq sauce – 40

Chipotle sweet potato fries – 130
Milk- 80

CALORIES IN = 1004
CALORIES OUT= nothing extra today!

80 ounces of water!

:) :(

2011-11-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

I feel like it was a roller coaster day. I am pretty sure I am full of PMS :(

:( First, I was all packed and ready to go for 5:30 this morning to go work out, and SOMEHOW my phone turned itself off. It was on, when I went to bed, but when I woke up, it was 6, and my phone was off :(

:)Had a nice lunch (salad!!) with two of my good friends!!

:)It is the end of first quarter! I finished and posted all my grades!

:( I felt out of whack on my eating today, and I ate junk I wouldn't normally eat, and I didn't eat breakfast today, maybe that's what caused the crazy cravings...

:)Bought a pair of size 16 jeans at Rawsons for less than $7 on clearance! I figured I would put them away until they fit, BUT, I can wear them now!!! I am totally going back tomorrow and picking up size 14 jeans, and maybe even size 12, too!!!!

:)Practice rocked tonight! I have such a strong and talented squad :))

:( I didn't write anything down that I ate today. But, I will tomorrow! I just decided to take the day off. I could probably even write down everything if I really concentrate, but blah.

:) Bought my favorite teas: pumpkin, gingerbread, and egg nog!

:)Finished this day with a much needed massage!

:)Ricky had dinner ready when I got home!!

TODAY :)))

2011-11-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

A busy and fruitful day :))

Calories in...
cottage cheese only 1/4 cup-50
apple-95
coffee-70
chocolate espresso bean - 7

chicken garden burger-80
deer jerky -125

ff decaf latte with sf hazelnut- 60

salad:
cheese- 50
lettuce- 50
dressing - 30
bacon- 25
pear-81

CALORIES IN = 723

CALORIES OUT= 560ZUMBA!! And, I went HARD TODAY!!!

NET CALORIES = 163

I realize that the calories were low today, but honestly I wasn't hungry (probably all the crap yesterday!). And, I was also trying to counter balance yesterday :)

I did drink 100 ounces of water :))

Excited to work out tomorrow in the morning!!