Take THAT Mr. Scale! And THAT!

Last night I went for weigh-in and the fire department is renovating the bathrooms. Correction. The have currently torne out the downstairs bathrooms. NOOOOOOO!!!!

I complained to Mrs. Weigher-Inner how I drank water right up until the time I left work and really needed to use the washroom. Apparently there are washrooms upstairs and down this hall, around that corner. I decided to weigh and wait. 156 - UP 2lbs!!! "Are you sure you don't want to go to the washroom. I'll just set your stuff aside." Very sweet of her - and YES!

When I got back 154.4 - Up 0.4. MUCH better. UP, but better. I'll take it. Take THAT!

So, it was still a gain and I was trying to think what may have caused it. Fatty dinner on Saturday SHOULD have still been OK, but maybe those 2 extra chicken balls... Or maybe the canned soup Tuesday night - high in sodium, but couldn't be helped... It's 0.4lbs, no sense popping a vein over it.

BUT, Friday (tomorrow) is measurement day. I took a sneak peak this morning - forgetting my bicep - will get it tomorrow. Ahem - Take THAT! I feel better now.

Not ready to post pictures yet.

Swizz asked if I was going to post progress pictures of my PnP progress. I will - someday. I didn't take any when I started the end of November, but did take a few for the beginning of Blast the Fat Challenge. We will take more after the challenge and, depending on if I can see differences, I may post them both. This is huge, because of the way I have 'shrunk'. My tummy is still 'out there'. Head on - great. I can look in the mirror from the back side and say, "Not Bad". Then turn slightly and...ooooh, there it is. And, the progress pics are in workout shorts and a sports bra, so not much hiding behind clothes there.


Funny, in my July picture, it really isn't so bad (except the hair - what's up with that?), but I know that when I turned sideways my belly and butt were huge. I remember walking by windows, getting a glimpse and thinking, "I look like I swallowed a beach ball - an oblong beach ball.". Well, I guess I still feel that way about my front and, while I can put it down in words, I can't share the photos just yet - although I did send them to Corinne. I am hopeful that some sculpting will help carve some of that off. I know that after Ci was borne, my belly went back to normal (the bulge went back to below the belly button zone), but after J it decided to stay up high - it's also lop-sided, so I'm not sure what she was doing in there. I hoped that dropping weight would be enough, but it just wasn't.

To further emphathize, when I calculated my body fat index, it read around 30 (not so good)when I just put my core measurements in. Then dropped to less than 25 (healthy, thank you) after my arm and wrist were entered. I know I can make this work, and have found something that I have been able to stick with for 2 months now. That's impressive given my track record.


I will report monthly inches lost. Friday is measurement day, so I'll get those out soon. And seriously, we're just starting week 3 of the 12 week challenge, if there is a nice change, I will definately post my before AND after pictures. Hopefully my hair will have grown out some by then - I hate the in-between stages.


Oh, and I'll only be doing what I can for that abs routine, Swizz. I tend to not complete most of Corinne's non-strenght training workouts as written because I am a beginner and they would seriously kill me. So try it out and let me know what you think. I'm gonna have a go at it Wednesday evening. My tummy still hurts from another of her ab torture supersets I did on Sunday night. It seriously got my hear rate up and I was popping a sweat. I went to bed right after and couldn't get under the covers I was so heated up. I could only do 80% of the MINIMUM for that one.

Weekend and Cardio with 'The Man'

The weekend ended off in more of a weak-end, if you know what I mean. It was really just one splurge night, but the thing that gets me is that, when the event popped up last minute I quickly developed a loose 'plan'. I should have written it down. I'm not even going to calculate the points for a high-fat Chinese food and chicken wing dinner. I didn't go wayyyy overboard, just more than I am comfortable with. Also, skipped out on anymore cardio for the week Mon-Sun. Ended the week having done 2 Strength sessions and 1 cardio + a quick walk after Saturdays ST session. It was freezing out and even Baloo was contesting the walk.

So, Sunday night I did a kick-ass abs session. My gut is still burning today. Corinne challenged all Blast The Fat challengers to complete an insane abs session before the week is over. I took a look at it and will attempt it, but I can't promise my core will complete the quantity outlined. Check it out, give it a go, and let me know how YOU did.

Last night I convinced hubby, who does seasonal physical work, to join me in a cardio session. This is one of the cardio no-equipment routines Corinne developed for upper body. We decided that, on the 2 minute stairs parts, that he would take the high road (go upstairs) and I'd take the low road (to basement). He was DIEing. After less than 1.5 minutes of jumping jacks he was thinking I was crazy. Everytime we switched he tried to sit down and I'd call out, 1 minute dips or what-have-you. I found it hard, too, but not as bad as he did, lol. I think he convinced himself to start doing something or he's going to be in a world of pain when work starts up again. I told him we'd do the ab challenge (above) together tomorrow night.

Missing Cardio

So, if you're going to blow off an exercise session during the week, it's always best to make sure it's cardio. Never compromise strength training - EVER. All this week though, I have just felt like saying to heck with cardio. I had originally planned on a Monday night session, but was too tired. Fine, it's the start of the week. Then on Tuesday was my scheduled ST - and I kicked it.

Wednesday was a scheduled day off, but I promised myself I'd get that pesky cardio in. After WW meeting and getting thekids in bed it didn't happen. Then last night was my dance/yoga class and I skipped it. Why? I decided to get that shopping in.

I bought a few much-needed items. I bought a new 2qt. slow cooker since my other one got left on the stove-top last month. I also bought some workout gloves because I got a blister last week. I picked up a resistance band and was super happy with that. I also bought a Firm Dance cardio DVD. Believe this: I got up and did it this morning. I suspect once I'm used to the moves it'll be a good cardio session.

I think I'll put in a second cardio tonight to 'catch up'. Maybe the 9yo will do the video with me or maybe we'll dig out Twister Dance DVD.

Oh, and if you're ever wondering if you DO have a choice with food while you're out - the answer is a definative YES. Some of you may know that I've been packing a cooler since the start of WW last spring. Sometimes this gets a little old, but I think it has greatly contributed to my weight loss efforts. I have added a few things to my cooler the past couple of months, like my food slider (now it's always with me), a few Simple Pleasures lemon cookies (2 for 1pt), splenda packets, plastic utensils, copy of my food plan. So, while at Wally-World and feeling peckish as it was getting on after dinnertime already, I picked up some Source yogurt. Using my handy-dandy plastic spoon from my cooler I was able to suffice until I got home 45 minutes later. Oh, I won't tell you that I also had a 1pt WW chocolate coconut - well, OK I did. The rest of those nasty little devils have found their way to the back of my freezer until I reach lifetime and finish my latest challenge, Blast the Fat, where I'm working on building muscle and dropping fat.

WI at S/S

So, a 'Stay the Same' week for me - again. I'm not down about it though, oddly enough. I began working on a new 'toid' this week. For those who don't know what a 'toid' is, I got the term here and now can't get it out of my head. So, my new 'toid' is actually my shoulders and quads (oooh, real musculy names) as I've introduced the lateral arm raise last week. Judging my how I feel, something getting worked now wasn't in my previous program. So, I expect some water retention is happening.

Food wise, I've been planning what I eat and eating close to what I plan. Last night was supposed to be chicken night with the family, but the kids really wanted left-over bean burritos, so I had some salmon and we'll do either chicken or pork tonight. One or the other will have to make a trip to the freezer today though.

So dang if todays lunch wasn't supposed to be chicken left-overs. Good thing I cooked an extra salmon. Unfortunately I froze all of the rice last night and stupidly didn't break it up into serving sizes, so I guess just salmon and veggies at lunch - maybe a piece of toast. I want to make some soup this weekend, so I'll likely toss the rice in that.

Hmmm, what else? I called a local gym yesterday and found out they have passes of 10 or 20 for their classes for sale to non-members. They also have day passes, but I don't know if that'll get you into classes or not. I'm seriously thinking about doing something short of getting a membership. I've boughten 2 memberships in my day and find that intro fee such a rip off. If your product is that good you shouldn't have to force people into a big downpayment, IMHO. I lost out on my first when I moved across the country, and the second when I couldn't stand going to Curves any more. I actually don't have a problem getting my ST in at home, but would love any at-home cardio suggestions. I have NO equipment and NO videos, but if you have some good video suggestions I can pick them up when I go to buy my 12 pound weights next week.

Menu Plan

Why didn't someone tell me how extremely EASY it is to plan your menu for the week. Why haven't I been doing this since the beginning? I've heard of the 'planning' thing, but it always seemed like a chore, and things always came up and the 'plan' went out the window. I did attempt daily plans, but it was kind of like an invitation to break those plans and I always ended up scratching stuff out and it ended up being more work in the end.

New philosophy: Plan, but be flexible. Substitutions with comparable products are FINE. Don't want chicken, have pork, steak, whatever. Don't want rice, have potatoe, pasta, whatever. Don't want leafy salad, have cooked veggies. You get it. If you have a dairy or oil there, make sure there still is one.

I can't get the spreadsheet uploaded, so I'll do a couple of days so you can see the template. I print off the week and put it on the fridge. Hubby is finding it helpful as well since we also decide the family meals for the week as well. He tends to do the dinners and we also build our grocery list around this template - so we're never scrambling for 'what is in the house for supper'. If it's on the spreadsheet, it's in the house. For the family, I put 'Same' or list what they will eat if they don't want what I'm having or vice versa. I also include a line at the bottom telling me my planned exercise times so the family is prepared (and so am I - no excuses).

One side, I do NOT eat protein bars every day. We, ahem, ran out of almonds so I switched my Tuesday snack since the bars were in the freezer. Hubby is making a trip to the grocery today to ensure the rest of the week goes off without a hitch.

I'm tired of the cheap kitchen scale!!!

Check out Roni’s new contest! I can win a Nutrition Smart Scale from Eat Smart and so can you! Click here for details!

Race? What Race?

OK, I originally thought I'd be at goal by December 12th weigh-in. In the summer that seemed to be my target spot. Sweet! Maintain over Christmas and stop paying mid-January. I had it all worked out.

Some things happened along the way.

I could wine about plateaus, my lack of focus during certain time periods, inability to embrase exercise through the summer and fall. Instead we'll chalk it up to learning a new lifestyle. To making changes at a pace I can live with. I never took my eye off the prize - and don't intend to even yet, but I learned something about myself at every stage. Every month I got closer and closer to who I wanted to be. In early October I was 160.4lbs and before Christmas I was still 158. So, in almost 3 months I had only moved 2.4lbs. So much more happened during that time.

I developed a holiday eating plan, I learned that not journaling contributes to BLTs (for me), I learned to change my definition of exercise.

Pre-October defintion: Exer-Cise. Two 4-letter words that should never be said together. Can be replaced by Activity which includes leisurely walks or fun things that require mild exertion.

New definition: X-or-Size. "X" as in X-tra large fries and X-tra large T-shirt "or" "Size" as in the size you want/deserve to be. This involves embrassing the benefits of sore muscles and a bit of sweat. It also involves abdominal moves to get rid of a bulge (described earlier this week)

All of this actually reaped some benefit on the digital devil in the past few weeks and I finally broke the plateau. It wasn't the first plateau I experienced, just the longest. I'm hopeful that, with my new-found knowledge and exercise regime I won't experience another plateau at least until I reach goal, because I'm starting to get tired of paying for meetings...

So, the bottom line. We're not in a race. I'm not going to win any prize for getting to the finish line first. Enjoy the journey - there's more to it than lower numbers on the scale. There's great recipes, great company, and a lot of stuff to learn. And where is the finish line? I am having the distinct impression there isn't one. So, unlike exercise, you oughta take some time and enjoy the journey, with a mild exertion that can be maintained for the long haul.

One of THOSE Days, and WI results

You ever have one of THOSE days where you just don't give a hoot? You want to do what you want to do and to heck with everything else. Of course you have, and I'm having one today.

But what do you do when, on those days, you're forced to do what you don't want to do? I'd love to have called in sick today, curl up for a few hours and read a book. I'm not sick, just sick of 'doing' and want a break. After sleep I'd love to have a good go at the weights, but I won't be visited them until Saturday (or Sunday, depending on weather). If it's nice Saturday I will take advantage of clear roads and go for a walk/jog with Baloo. I'll really need to post a picture of my walking partner soon - she's such a bear.

Anyway, for today I'll just put my head down and 'do' what needs to be done. I'm so looking forward to dance/yoga tonight - I really need a good stretch as I'm still feeling Tuesday's ST session in that spot behind your shoulders. One of these days I'll learn all the right muscle names.

Almost forgot - 1lb down on the WI last night. Met my last mini-goal before the big WW goal. Woot, Woot!

Challenges Past and Present

More of the ongoing saga aptly named 'Journey to Thin'. Blah, blah inches down from diet alone and I feel great. More energy than I thought I'd ever have again, but why is this beach ball still in my tummy. Somewhere along the lines my tummy decided to move up from the area where it had been housed forever into the 'pregnant-only' zone under my chest. Unfortunately my chest decided to drop at the same time to join the belly in an oh-so-confusing mish-mash of what's what. So, not much I can do about the chest without surgery, so I invested in some good bras - stay up, damn you.

But the belly...

Well, as it has shrunk there has been a wee bit of downward movement. Not as much as I'd like though. So, even though I'm still working on WW goal I feel that my rib cage, waist and abdominal measurements really need a good kick in the butt.

I began strength training in late November and am really enjoying it. The cardio aspect of exercise almost seems like a punishment though. Last night was strength, but I just couldn't bring myself to jog in place or walk the stairs for 20 minutes of cardio afterwards, regardless of benefit - apparently your hemoglobins are spent from ST and this forces the cardio to burn fat instead of muscle.

So, onto the competitions. It seems all of the competitions I join are tied into trying to make exercise a regular part of my life. Why should the latest one be any different.

Octoberbest: a 12-week challenge proposed by Kim in July. This was housed in Sparks and I constantly tried to get in 150 hours per week of activity. I didn't always succeed, but I did enjoy several noon-time walks and began the C25K, but cold weather hit and that was that.

New Years Best: Following Octoberbest, some of the Sparks girls continued the tradition of weekly weigh-ins and support into the new year. I continued to report my weight, but didn't utilize the group as I had done in Octoberbest. Still, Sparks is a great resource and this challenge kept me connected.

Christmas Challenge: Simultaneous with New Years Best I joined a blogging challenge that Carolyn proposed. The Christmas challenge was to keep us all on track during the most challenging eating months of the year. These included Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas. She and Randi headed up a blogsphere support system and, with the 2 of them focusing on the gym I really spent a lot of time figuring out what I wanted to do in the arena of exercise. Tese two ladies really motivate me.

PnP: Not a challenge, but an on-line personal trainer. I joined PnP in November and focused on strength training. There was a challenge going on at the time, but being new I focused on my beginner routine and struggled with getting the cardio in. Now, there is a new challenge. Very simply, members pick a program and go to it. Report each week your compliance with food and exercise. So, since I don't want to report a non-compliance I need to do the right things. Oh, and as proof of our compliance, we sent pictures and measurements into Corrine and will re-take more at the end of the challenge. Pictures of front, back and side while dressed in shorts and a sports bra are always an eye opener. I just know I'm not ready to post them here yet. I'm hoping to receive as a reward for this competition a smaller waist, smaller bum, and bigger guns. Check out Dawn from the last challenge. Isn't this awesome! Crazy what 12 weeks will do.

Cardio completed

Last night I did about half hour of abs and lower body cardio. I was a sweaty mess and thought my legs would give out a couple of times. Abs - can you say ow. I didn't finish the whole abs session, but did around 65% of it before switching up to the lower body workout.

Lwr body is actually quite simple, starting with some jumping jacks and mixing up marching and walking the stairs with a few minutes of other leg activities thrown in periodically, but not sporadically. Alternating lunges are not so bad, but do them when you're already half taxed and try to stay vertical. Afterwards I downed my new evening snack, a loverly protein shake. It wasn't so tasty the one I made last night. Soy protein powder mixed with water. On Strength days I'll add milk as a reward, but think I'll toss in a packet of splenda next time it's water-only.

Menu prep

Does it feel good? Yup!

Yesterday I created my diet for the next 7 days. Monday - Sunday is all laid out ahead of me. I can sub, but only with comparable meals. My days will go like so:

Monday: 25pts, Cardio in pm
Tuesday: 26pts, ST in pm
Wednesday: 24pts, Day of rest and WW WI
Thursday: 25pts, Dance/Yoga
Friday: 24pts, Day of rest
Saturday: 30 pts, ST in am
Sunday: 24pts, Cardio in am

Total weekly points: 178
Daily pts: 20*7 = 140
Weekly flex pts: 35
Activity pts used: 3

Tonight I'm going to have pasta. I haven't had pasta in quite a while and am looking forward to it. At bedtime I'll have a protein shake and some watermellon. Water, water everywhere, I'm gonna float away. I am just finishing up my 10th cup of water today and am sceduled for another 2C with supper.

Cheers,

Studies

For those who care, there are 3 designations one can pursue in Canada for accounting designations. It's never simple, but the basics have historically been CA for financial accounting, CMA for management accounting and CGA who tries to cover it all - the CAs and CMAs will often say without much success. Well, now the CA and CMA associations have recognized the need to diversify and public accounting isn't just for CAs (at least not in most of the country).

Anonymous(?? - Whooooo are you? Are you? Are you? - yup I'm a CSI fan when I can catch it) asked what designation I was studying for. I am studying for the CGA and am currently taking PACE level MU1. I also still need to complete what CGA has decided to make level 4, FA4. Then onto the final 2 courses next year.

I hate studying. I hate having to leave my kids and lock myself away for upwards of 20+ hours a week on top of the 42.5+ I put into my job. It sucks. It is a balancing act. I only take 2 courses per year because I don't think it's fair to take more time away from the kids and husband than that. As for losing weight and beginning a healthy lifestyle, I only see that adding to all other aspects of my life. The added energy is just what I need so that I can make all of the little ends meet and not feeling like I'm burning the candle at both ends.

One of the things I do so I have more time with my kids is that I have chosen to workout from home. This allows me to do my workout while they are playing or watching a movie and cuts down on travel time to/from the gym. They are always wanting to work out with me, so I bought the 9yo some 1lb weights and the 4yo some 0.5lb weights. They were both excited at their gifts. They will never work through a full 40 minutes with me, but it does make them feel more a part of that aspect of my life.

Weigh-In Results

So, I can't remember what I wore last week, and the weights of clothing may have been off some. My weigh-in outfits have begun to fluctuate weekly now that hubby is in charge of laundry - we won't go there.

Anyway, I'm in at 155 even, which puts me 0.5 from my next personal goal and 5 from WW goal. I'm really getting tired of paying every week, so I chatted with them about if I missed a couple of weeks here and there. No, you have to pay for them. But, didn't you get a missed meeting coupon for every 8 consecutive weeks???? Um, that's the first I've hear of THAT.

Maybe they didn't give them to me because I don't always go to THAT meeting, I asked. But I never missed a WI until just before Christmas. So, I got 3 coupons. Sweet.

I admitted that I will likely abuse them in the next few weeks of shedding this last 5 lbs. Maybe not though. I know I could just set my goal here, but it's the principle of the thing, you know.

So, no activity last night unless you count lying in bed reading. I'm so tired today.

Oh, got my mark back for first assignment. Better than I thought for not having completed it. I'm gonna work on assignment #2 this weekend so I can get it finished before the deadline.

Wednesday stress day?

OK, usually my Wednesday post is filled with all the bad stuff I have done during the week and stressing out about the scale tonight at weigh-in. Sorry to disappoint you this week, but instead I'm gonna tell you about the awesome workout I had last night.

Hubby took Ci down to dance class and then visited a friend. He arrived home much later just in time to catch a snack before going to pick Ci up again. J and I made good use of our time.

First I hauled out the weights, my ST schedule and my yoga matt. At the yoga matt J got very excited and required me to also get the broom ( I use the broom to hold behind the neck for some squats for form and she likes to hold it and jump up and down ). J decided to put 'her' yoga matt in the kitchen, so I made her promise that I could use it for push-ups.

We decided to put some music on and I chose Van Morrison. Well, she cried and cried 'till I put on some pylo hard rock crap of Mark's. Dang! So, she rocked out then crawled up on the couch and fell asleep while I worked out. I've never seen anything like that - being able to sleep to that - I turned it off as soon as she was good and asleep.

I pushed the weights, going with 10 punders, but needed to switch down to the 8's for a couple of arm-only moves. I feel that I could go for 12s or more on a couple of the moves, but don't have them yet. It was a good sweat. Then I did some jumping jacks and hiked the stairs before the monkey woke up crying and crying. Don't know what I did, but she was m-a-d at me. Luckily the man came home and took her with him to get Ci. Me? - I fell asleep.

Weekends, Friends and *ugh* Work

Saturday was awesome. We did...nothing. As my big bro says, "That's life in the slow lane." Some groceries, some tidying and some tree untrimming. It's ALL good.

I also got a good strength training session in on Saturday morning, a walk in the snow with Baloo and ate mini-meals all day. 27 pts and I picked at healthy options constantly. I won't list the details, but one of my favourity new breakfasts includes cottage cheese and frozen fruit or berries mixed together. I had moved from putting it on waffles to WW toast to just enjoying it on its own. Including Saturday I've had c.c with mixed field berries, then LF peach jam, and this morning with thawed pineapples. Soooo good.

On Sunday I picked up some 10lb weights as I'm more than ready to kick it up a notch on several exercises in my schedule. We'll be switching the routine up next week as well. I'm currently doing 4 supersets of 3 exercises with 3 reps of 10 with around 30 second breaks between sets and 60 between the supersets. I should probably have even heavier weights for some of the leg moves but I'm still toying with the gym membership idea, at least for the winter. I have trouble getting in my cardio sessions and really think this will help until I can get a treadmill at home.

I got together with some girlfriends I haven't seen in a couple of years and it was so nice. We went out to eat and, well, I won't blog about the food but to say I really, really enjoyed it and hope my estimate is high. I met the girls when I moved in with my brother and his wife in 1987. I only lived in the city a few months and it's amazing to me that this friendship we share has lasted 2 decades. To explain, I don't keep in touch with anyone that I graduated with in 1989, with no one I went to university with, or any of my friends from various times in my life. I was a base brat to a large extent (not really since I was 9 when Dad got out of the forces, but there was still that mentality in my family and, especially, me) and I would move, meet people, move, keeping in touch for a while but it always pettered. Anyway, with these 2 it's always like home to me - like we could see each other everyday or once a year or less and that's OK. The only other people that are like that for me are my family. So, after all that, it was really nice to catch up with them, see Ps new house and pictures of Hs children.

Then I headed in to the office to catch up on some stuff. Still here tonight (Monday) and thought I'd take a moment to post. I hope everyone had a great weekend and have a plan for the week ahead. For me, Tuesday is going to be food prep while Ci is at dance class, so I'm looking forward to that.

New Post, New Year, New Ticker

I decided that my new goals deserved some space here, and I picked a new ticker that would reflect that.

Over the past few months I have been rather slack in journaling. I have bouts of good journaling here and there, but I realize my biggest success is going to come through the use of a pencil. Both in planning my meals and workouts ahead of time and in recording them to stay accountable.

Secondly, I began to strength train and have fully completed 5 weeks of free weights twice a week. I am also averaging 2 low to medium cardio sessions a week. I'd like to say it was 3, but I can't. I keep working on it, but know that getting out of bed in the morning is going to be the challenge. This morning I did sneak in a quite intense 16-minute cardio session involving jumping jacks, quad jumps, pop squats and lunges mixed in amongst stair climbings and marching. Basically, these workouts are the other portion that will keep me moving in the right direction, build muscle so I can eat more, and add definition to my shrinking frame.

• I am planning to reach my WW goal of 150 by mid-March at the latest. Any earlier is gravy (turns out canned gravy is fairly decent point-wise).
• I am planning to continue the intensity of my workouts or add to them each week.
• When the weather warms up, I would like to maybe re-start the C25K training. I did enjoy that.
• I have a goal of size 10 dress pants, but really have no idea how long that will take. I'm not even sure if I could go below that due to bone structure, but it'll be fun seeing.
• I am thinking that a 'real' 2-piece bathing suite may be doable this summer. As you may recall, my fatty bathing suite was actually 3-pieces turned 2 last summer when I ditched the shorts. It involved a top that flowingly met the bottoms and the bottoms provided lots of coverage. I'm excited to find out if I can sculpt my core enough to actually do that.
• As always, I want to get down to my pre-pregnancy weight - that weight that seemed so easy in my 20s to maintain - 140. No deadline, but getting there by the end of June would be great. Hard to believe I once effortlessly was 135 and ate like a man **sigh**
• I will be keeping my eye out for treadmill sales in a couple of months. Surely some people will realize that they can buy a clothes rack at WalMart for $20 and pocket the difference.
• I will also need to schedule lots of study time to successfully complete my current course. Last time I took it I deferred the exam due to a job change that was time-intensive and then didn't study enough 3 months later and missed passing by 3pts. Never put off next session what you can do better this session.
• Finally, I am going to get on that 'save for a summer holiday' plan that I said I was going to start last September. My kids, and I, deserve something awesome this summer. I may even need to buy a 1-piece suite for water-slides and such ;0

The New Year Weigh-In Results

OK, was it very immature of me to do a little victory dance and sing "I lo-ost, I lo-ost" as most other members arrived to record gains? Be honest - I think it was. I say good for them for showing up and starting the New Year right - seriously, they are ready to get back to work. I say, WOOHOO and YEEHAW to me for finishing off the old year in a KICK ASS fashion.

Can I say it again? NASTAYYYYYY! A 2.2 loss over the past 2 weeks AND my 30lb sticker finally received. F-N-A!

Post Holiday Weigh-In Fretting Post

OK, does that make any sense? Thought not. Don't worry, Be happy, lol.

I did enjoy my New Years Eve. I think I was good, from a non-tracking point-of-view. Without proof, I think I did OK, but maybe not as good as I could have - definately not as bad as I would have in previous years. I kind of let my hair down for a few days, but in a controlled fashion. For instance, I did watch what I ate through the day on both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, so I could relax and enjoy food that evening. I did eat healthier on days nothing was going on and asked hubby to remove certain temptations from site.

Unfortunately, someone brought a box of, presumably unwanted, truffles into work today. These, dear friends, are my weakness - but I will not give in today. I do have weigh-in tonight, and would really like to see a no change at worst (yeah, I'm not even thinking loss). Wish me luck.