Whoops!! I haven't posted in 2 weeks and now Week 13 & Week 14 are both over.
Week 13 results:
Weight Loss or Gain: -0 lbs
Total Weight Loss (since beginning): -17.5lbs
Week 14 results:
Weight Loss or Gain: +1.5lbs
Total Weight Loss (since beginning): -16lbs
I knew that I would have a gain at the end of Week 14. This week was the hardest by far and included Christmas Eve (lots of munching and drinking), Christmas Day (lots of munching and drinking), and then another family party two days later that included lots of food.
No one ever wants to see a gain on the scale when they are trying to lose a substantial amount of weight BUT I am fine with it. I expected it and I deserved it. I over indulged (more on the wine then anything else), I ate well, I sampled some chocolates (yummy smooth chocolate balls with milky peanut butter), I had some baked goods and I didn't exercise at all. See? I deserved the 1.5lb gain.
I should be back on track now. The only issue will be with New Year's Eve (in 2 days) which will probably include a bunch of wine. I will still stay on track the rest of the time so let's just hope that the scale next week is much nicer to me!!
I probably won't post anything in this blog for the remainder of 2011 so I'll speak to you in 2012.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Week 12 Results
Week 12 is officially over!
Week 12 results:
Weight Loss or Gain: -1.5 lb
Total Weight Loss (since beginning): -17.5 lbs
Yahoo!! Woohoo!! Yipppeeeee!!! To say I am excited by that number is an understatement.
This week has had MANY challenges:
Challenge # 1: Two of my December functions happened in Week 12. Actually 3 functions were supposed to take place this week but one had to get cancelled. In any case, of the other two, one was not so hard to stay within my daily point range, the other seemed to be super hard. The easier of the two was at my chidren's childcare Christmas party. It was a buffet dinner filled with tonnes of food but I was very careful when I went up to fill my plate. I stuck to the veggies, fruit and a few small sandwich things that I had brought. The second function was the more difficult one. It was a work Christmas lunch at one of my favourite Italian restaurants in Ottawa. I have been to this restaurant numerous times and one of my favourite dishes is a Pasta Primavera with homemade fettucine noodles, broccoli, sundried tomatoes and a pesto cream sauce. The pesto cream sauce is what had me a little worried. I can't even imagine how much fat and calories are in that sauce. Anyway, my friend convinced me that I should have it anyway. She reminded me that it is one of my favourite dishes and if there was one Christmas function that I didn't have to be super careful was this one because they actually had a dish that I already know that I really enjoyed. And she was right (thanks KW)!! :) So, in order to offset the calorie intake I was about to consume with the pasta, I chose not to have any wine at that meal and I didn't touch any of their fresh bread. I started off with a minestrone soup (another dish of theirs that I absolutely love) and then had my delicious pasta. You know what? It was SO worth it. If I am ever to go over on my calorie intake for a day, this is the type of meal that I want to do it with. It was well worth it. After the meal was over, a friend and I decided to walk back to work to burn off some of the calories. It was about a 15-minute walk which I would like to think burned a few calories!!!
Challenge # 2: Pizza. I wanted to get my kids pizza one night as a treat and because I just didn't feel like making dinner. Sometimes we make our own but this time I decided on ordering a delivery pizza. I knew that I had been pretty good during the day so I could treat myself to a couple of slices. I ended up having quite a bit of salad on the side and two really yummy pieces of cheese pizza! Mmmmmmm.
Challenge # 3: Christmas cookies! It is a tradition at Christmas time to bake sugar cookies with my girls. They love to cut them with the Christmas cookie cutters and decorate them with sprinkles. Even though I am not a huge cookie eater, I did have to sample one (or two, or three) over the past few days.
Challenge # 4: M & M's. I am planning on making a different type of cookie over the the weekend to bring to my girls' school for a cookie sale. These ones are a little like sugar cookies but they also include red and green M&Ms. I went to Bulk Barn over the weekend to buy enough for the recipe but I obviously bought too much because the bag was $15. Eeeek. This super expensive bag of M&Ms has been sitting in my cupboard for about 5 days now and the amount that I brought home is no longer the amount I have in my cupboard now!! Yes, I have snuck in there on a few occasions and grabbed a small handful.
Even with all these challenges, I have tracked all of my eating (even the little handfuls of red and green M&Ms) every single day. Even if I wasn't very happy with the number of points I had eaten for a particular meal (i.e. the yummy pasta with pesto cream sauce), I had to be honest with myself and put it in my spreadsheet. I think that is one of the main reasons why I still lost weight. I tracked every.single.thing that I ate. By watching what I ate at other meals in the day, I was able to stay within my calories/points range most days (even the pizza day). The only day I actually went over was the day I had the pasta with pesto cream sauce. I'll tell you though, it was well worth it.
So, now onto Week #13 which will have a few more challenges. I'll just take each meal and each day at a time and plan accordingly.
Week 12 results:
Weight Loss or Gain: -1.5 lb
Total Weight Loss (since beginning): -17.5 lbs
Yahoo!! Woohoo!! Yipppeeeee!!! To say I am excited by that number is an understatement.
This week has had MANY challenges:
Challenge # 1: Two of my December functions happened in Week 12. Actually 3 functions were supposed to take place this week but one had to get cancelled. In any case, of the other two, one was not so hard to stay within my daily point range, the other seemed to be super hard. The easier of the two was at my chidren's childcare Christmas party. It was a buffet dinner filled with tonnes of food but I was very careful when I went up to fill my plate. I stuck to the veggies, fruit and a few small sandwich things that I had brought. The second function was the more difficult one. It was a work Christmas lunch at one of my favourite Italian restaurants in Ottawa. I have been to this restaurant numerous times and one of my favourite dishes is a Pasta Primavera with homemade fettucine noodles, broccoli, sundried tomatoes and a pesto cream sauce. The pesto cream sauce is what had me a little worried. I can't even imagine how much fat and calories are in that sauce. Anyway, my friend convinced me that I should have it anyway. She reminded me that it is one of my favourite dishes and if there was one Christmas function that I didn't have to be super careful was this one because they actually had a dish that I already know that I really enjoyed. And she was right (thanks KW)!! :) So, in order to offset the calorie intake I was about to consume with the pasta, I chose not to have any wine at that meal and I didn't touch any of their fresh bread. I started off with a minestrone soup (another dish of theirs that I absolutely love) and then had my delicious pasta. You know what? It was SO worth it. If I am ever to go over on my calorie intake for a day, this is the type of meal that I want to do it with. It was well worth it. After the meal was over, a friend and I decided to walk back to work to burn off some of the calories. It was about a 15-minute walk which I would like to think burned a few calories!!!
Challenge # 2: Pizza. I wanted to get my kids pizza one night as a treat and because I just didn't feel like making dinner. Sometimes we make our own but this time I decided on ordering a delivery pizza. I knew that I had been pretty good during the day so I could treat myself to a couple of slices. I ended up having quite a bit of salad on the side and two really yummy pieces of cheese pizza! Mmmmmmm.
Challenge # 3: Christmas cookies! It is a tradition at Christmas time to bake sugar cookies with my girls. They love to cut them with the Christmas cookie cutters and decorate them with sprinkles. Even though I am not a huge cookie eater, I did have to sample one (or two, or three) over the past few days.
Challenge # 4: M & M's. I am planning on making a different type of cookie over the the weekend to bring to my girls' school for a cookie sale. These ones are a little like sugar cookies but they also include red and green M&Ms. I went to Bulk Barn over the weekend to buy enough for the recipe but I obviously bought too much because the bag was $15. Eeeek. This super expensive bag of M&Ms has been sitting in my cupboard for about 5 days now and the amount that I brought home is no longer the amount I have in my cupboard now!! Yes, I have snuck in there on a few occasions and grabbed a small handful.
Even with all these challenges, I have tracked all of my eating (even the little handfuls of red and green M&Ms) every single day. Even if I wasn't very happy with the number of points I had eaten for a particular meal (i.e. the yummy pasta with pesto cream sauce), I had to be honest with myself and put it in my spreadsheet. I think that is one of the main reasons why I still lost weight. I tracked every.single.thing that I ate. By watching what I ate at other meals in the day, I was able to stay within my calories/points range most days (even the pizza day). The only day I actually went over was the day I had the pasta with pesto cream sauce. I'll tell you though, it was well worth it.
So, now onto Week #13 which will have a few more challenges. I'll just take each meal and each day at a time and plan accordingly.
Monday, December 12, 2011
A Broken Hip Means Fewer Calories
As you know, I have a lot of parties/functions/get togethers to go to in the month of December (as most of you probably do). There are so many that I am really worried about how it will impact the numbers on the scale. Too much food and too much wine makes for a tough time trying to lose weight. Too much gain makes for a very unhappy me.
One of the functions that I had scheduled was last Friday, December 9th. I was invited to a girlfriend's house along with 5 other fabulous ladies. It was a potluck so we were each asked to bring a dish (either an appetizer or a dessert). If it was anything like it was last year, there was going to be a lot of yummy food and a decent amount of alcohol. One good thing was that I was going to have to drive home afterwards so I would have to limit the amount of alcohol I consumed (an excellent way to save some calories).
Unfortunately, I didn't end up going to the get together at all. My father fell and broke his hip (again) and was waiting to get operated on. My Mom & Dad were supposed to be my babysitters that night. Instead, my Mom had to spend some of the time at the hospital with my Dad and then when she finally got to my house, she was too exhausted, frustrated, stressed and mentally drained to be on her own. She didn't ask me to stay but I knew she needed the company. My Mom has been through a lot in the past 2 years and that is just what good daughters do.
So, I ended up missing the lovely evening with friends. I still brought my friend, the hostess, the spinach & artichoke dip that I made, the French loaf that I bought and the wine that I had for her. I apologized for having to miss her party but explained that I had to be with my Mom when she returned from the hospital.
As much as I was disappointed that I couldn't attend the girls' night, there was one silver lining...I didn’t consume too many calories/points on Friday night.
Well, there's one event down, a gazillion more to go.
One of the functions that I had scheduled was last Friday, December 9th. I was invited to a girlfriend's house along with 5 other fabulous ladies. It was a potluck so we were each asked to bring a dish (either an appetizer or a dessert). If it was anything like it was last year, there was going to be a lot of yummy food and a decent amount of alcohol. One good thing was that I was going to have to drive home afterwards so I would have to limit the amount of alcohol I consumed (an excellent way to save some calories).
Unfortunately, I didn't end up going to the get together at all. My father fell and broke his hip (again) and was waiting to get operated on. My Mom & Dad were supposed to be my babysitters that night. Instead, my Mom had to spend some of the time at the hospital with my Dad and then when she finally got to my house, she was too exhausted, frustrated, stressed and mentally drained to be on her own. She didn't ask me to stay but I knew she needed the company. My Mom has been through a lot in the past 2 years and that is just what good daughters do.
So, I ended up missing the lovely evening with friends. I still brought my friend, the hostess, the spinach & artichoke dip that I made, the French loaf that I bought and the wine that I had for her. I apologized for having to miss her party but explained that I had to be with my Mom when she returned from the hospital.
As much as I was disappointed that I couldn't attend the girls' night, there was one silver lining...I didn’t consume too many calories/points on Friday night.
Well, there's one event down, a gazillion more to go.
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Week 11 Results
Week 11 is officially over!
Week 11 results:
Weight loss or gain: -1 lb
Total Weight Loss (since beginning): -16 lbs
Yay!! I am extremely happy with another pound down. I am feeling super bloated today and assumed I would step on the scale and see a gain. Actually I weighed myself about 30 minutes ago and I am feeling even more bloated at this very minute so I bet you that if I went on that scale right now, I'd be up the pound. Damn you time of the month!!!
Tomorrow marks the beginning of the numerous eating and/or drinking functions that I am going to over the next few weeks. I just hope the scale is good to me throughout these celebrations. I am going to try to be good and I usually have quite a bit of will power but 2-3 functions per week is a bit much, don't you think?! Oh well, time will tell, right?!
Week 11 results:
Weight loss or gain: -1 lb
Total Weight Loss (since beginning): -16 lbs
Yay!! I am extremely happy with another pound down. I am feeling super bloated today and assumed I would step on the scale and see a gain. Actually I weighed myself about 30 minutes ago and I am feeling even more bloated at this very minute so I bet you that if I went on that scale right now, I'd be up the pound. Damn you time of the month!!!
Tomorrow marks the beginning of the numerous eating and/or drinking functions that I am going to over the next few weeks. I just hope the scale is good to me throughout these celebrations. I am going to try to be good and I usually have quite a bit of will power but 2-3 functions per week is a bit much, don't you think?! Oh well, time will tell, right?!
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Parties and Potlucks and Wine, Oh My!!
I got woken up shortly before 4am by one of my darling daughters and then I couldn't get back to sleep. I laid there for about 30 minutes and finally decided that I should just get out of bed. It isn't even 5:30 and I have showered, put in a load of laundry, checked emails, finished packing lunches and did a few other odd little jobs around the house.
Now I am sitting here enjoying a cup of tea thinking about everything that I have coming up in December. I have to admit, I am really nervous. I have lost 15 pounds so far and I want to continue to lose weight but the next 3 weeks are really going to be difficult. I'll be lucky if I just stay the same and not gain anything in the next 3 weeks. I know that sounds very negative but look at this crazy schedule:
Thursday, December 8th - party at my children's childcare which includes a huge buffet of food (appetizers, main dishes and tonnes of desserts)
Friday, December 9th - potluck at my friends' place which will include tonnes of food and wine. The good thing is that I will have to limit the amount of alcohol I consume because I have to drive home.
Tuesday, December 13th - office Christmas party at lunch. I may choose not to have wine at this function but the party is being held at an Italian restaurant and the vegetarian items on our group menu are pretty high in calories. Eeek!
Thursday, December 15th - Christmas lunch with friends from work at Milestone's. I think there is a nice vegetarian sandwich that I can have that isn't too bad.
Friday, December 16th - Christmas "shindig" (as my sister calls it) at her place. Lots of food and wine. The good thing is that I will have to limit the amount of alcohol I consume because I have to drive home.
Saturday, December 17th - dinner out at a pub with my immediate family (kids, parents, sister). Not sure what's on the menu but I am sure I'll be having a glass of wine to celebrate the season.
Tuesday, December 20th - Christmas party/potluck at my office.
Friday, December 23rd - get together at my friend's place. If it is anything like last year, we'll end up consuming LOTS of wine and quite a bit of food.
Saturday, December 24th - Christmas Eve (as you all know) - our immediate family always has a few glasses of wine to celebrate but I think this year we are going to be careful with the food that we eat. In previous years it was usually crappy munchy food (i.e. M&M) which is full of fat, calories and sodium.
Then there is Christmas day and then another family party a few days after Christmas....Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh.....
So, those are the dates that are already set in stone. God only knows what else may pop up between now and Christmas.
Here are a few ways that I think may help me in not gaining weight this month:
1. Continue at the gym every week. Increase the 2 days a week to 3 days a week (if possible).
2. On the days where I have an evening function, I will be very careful in what I eat during the day - probably just a lot of fruit and veggies.
3. On the nights where I am consuming alcohol at someone's house, I will bring some diet sprite or 7Up. My sister introduced to me what she calls the "Cheap Man's Sangria". It is half red wine and half Sprite or 7Up. So, if I bring the diet stuff then I can lower the calories that I am consuming in my alcohol.
4. Of course, the obvious is to stick to the healthier dishes like veggies and fruit at all these potlucks but I have to be serious with myself. I am going to want to sample some of those other yummy looking appetizers.
5. I don't think desserts are going to be too big of a problem. At this time of year, I actually prefer the appetizers over the desserts. Don't get me wrong, some desserts are quite tempting and I may have a sample (or two) but I don't think I will overindulge.
6. LOTS of water. I will continue to drink LOTS of water this month to help flush out a lot of the stuff I'll be putting in my body.
If anyone else has any other suggestions to help me out this month, please feel free to comment.
Wishing us all luck over the next few weeks!! :)
Now I am sitting here enjoying a cup of tea thinking about everything that I have coming up in December. I have to admit, I am really nervous. I have lost 15 pounds so far and I want to continue to lose weight but the next 3 weeks are really going to be difficult. I'll be lucky if I just stay the same and not gain anything in the next 3 weeks. I know that sounds very negative but look at this crazy schedule:
Thursday, December 8th - party at my children's childcare which includes a huge buffet of food (appetizers, main dishes and tonnes of desserts)
Friday, December 9th - potluck at my friends' place which will include tonnes of food and wine. The good thing is that I will have to limit the amount of alcohol I consume because I have to drive home.
Tuesday, December 13th - office Christmas party at lunch. I may choose not to have wine at this function but the party is being held at an Italian restaurant and the vegetarian items on our group menu are pretty high in calories. Eeek!
Thursday, December 15th - Christmas lunch with friends from work at Milestone's. I think there is a nice vegetarian sandwich that I can have that isn't too bad.
Friday, December 16th - Christmas "shindig" (as my sister calls it) at her place. Lots of food and wine. The good thing is that I will have to limit the amount of alcohol I consume because I have to drive home.
Saturday, December 17th - dinner out at a pub with my immediate family (kids, parents, sister). Not sure what's on the menu but I am sure I'll be having a glass of wine to celebrate the season.
Tuesday, December 20th - Christmas party/potluck at my office.
Friday, December 23rd - get together at my friend's place. If it is anything like last year, we'll end up consuming LOTS of wine and quite a bit of food.
Saturday, December 24th - Christmas Eve (as you all know) - our immediate family always has a few glasses of wine to celebrate but I think this year we are going to be careful with the food that we eat. In previous years it was usually crappy munchy food (i.e. M&M) which is full of fat, calories and sodium.
Then there is Christmas day and then another family party a few days after Christmas....Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh.....
So, those are the dates that are already set in stone. God only knows what else may pop up between now and Christmas.
Here are a few ways that I think may help me in not gaining weight this month:
1. Continue at the gym every week. Increase the 2 days a week to 3 days a week (if possible).
2. On the days where I have an evening function, I will be very careful in what I eat during the day - probably just a lot of fruit and veggies.
3. On the nights where I am consuming alcohol at someone's house, I will bring some diet sprite or 7Up. My sister introduced to me what she calls the "Cheap Man's Sangria". It is half red wine and half Sprite or 7Up. So, if I bring the diet stuff then I can lower the calories that I am consuming in my alcohol.
4. Of course, the obvious is to stick to the healthier dishes like veggies and fruit at all these potlucks but I have to be serious with myself. I am going to want to sample some of those other yummy looking appetizers.
5. I don't think desserts are going to be too big of a problem. At this time of year, I actually prefer the appetizers over the desserts. Don't get me wrong, some desserts are quite tempting and I may have a sample (or two) but I don't think I will overindulge.
6. LOTS of water. I will continue to drink LOTS of water this month to help flush out a lot of the stuff I'll be putting in my body.
If anyone else has any other suggestions to help me out this month, please feel free to comment.
Wishing us all luck over the next few weeks!! :)
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Week 10 Results
I have changed my weigh-in day. I will now be weighing in on Thursday mornings (that extra day to work off any weekend festivities makes me feel better)!! It is all about me, right?! :)
So, Week 10 is officially over!
Week 10 results:
Weight loss or gain: -1 lb
Total Weight Loss (since beginning): -15 lbs
Woohoo! I am very excited for that loss. I haven't been too bad this week but I have been doing a lot of "late evening nibbling" which is not a good habit. I haven't been going over my points/calories but it still isn't wise to nibble late in the evening. And when I say "late", I mean about 45min-1hour before going to bed.
I am also very happy with that number 15. I don't know why but every 5lbs feels like a milestone. Now getting to the next milestone of 20lbs is going to be a challenge. I would like to do it by the end of December BUT I have way too many functions coming up that involve eating and drinking. I am not even talking about Christmas itself - I am referring to the other 6-7 social events that I have booked. Eeek. That is another post for another day.
So, Week 10 is officially over!
Week 10 results:
Weight loss or gain: -1 lb
Total Weight Loss (since beginning): -15 lbs
Woohoo! I am very excited for that loss. I haven't been too bad this week but I have been doing a lot of "late evening nibbling" which is not a good habit. I haven't been going over my points/calories but it still isn't wise to nibble late in the evening. And when I say "late", I mean about 45min-1hour before going to bed.
I am also very happy with that number 15. I don't know why but every 5lbs feels like a milestone. Now getting to the next milestone of 20lbs is going to be a challenge. I would like to do it by the end of December BUT I have way too many functions coming up that involve eating and drinking. I am not even talking about Christmas itself - I am referring to the other 6-7 social events that I have booked. Eeek. That is another post for another day.
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