Snack Attack - Energy Bar

I forgot that I grabbed a couple of new energy bars while I was wandering through the organic section to pick up my yogurt... so I just tried one as my "lunch"....and I thought I should just warn you all to save your money.

It is the thinkOrganic fruit & nut energy bar in Chocolate Coconut. Looks good, tastes OK, but for the price I'll stick with LaraBars or LunaBars, thanks.

I picked it up because the calorie count wasn't too bad (the fat is kind of high, but it's from all natural ingredients) and it had a good amount of fibre (3gr) and protein (gr). Although I do see that the nutrional information on their website is totally different....they list the calories and fat much lower. Odd. It is all organic and doesn't have any filler, so that is a plus...but the same goes for the Laras and Lunas.

I did enjoy the coconut, but the chocolate was more cocoa tasting and kind of bland. Totally unsweetened...which I sometimes don't mind, but it left me feeling disappointed this time. I paid $2.49 for this tiny little thing so I at least want it to taste good. Boring is no good. That's why I like the Lunas...the lemon zest one tastes like lemon icing...much more fun! :)

Off and On

Yup, so yesterday I ended up falling off track... I let DBF convince me that we should order Chinese for dinner. He had an early day, and an afternoon of beer in the sun with the boys, so he was determined. I could have just stuck with my turkey burger, but I did a mental calculation and the points difference wasn't all that bad so I went for it. I had one egg roll, and three chicken balls, but other than that I stuck with mostly veggies...mmmmm, Gai Ding!

I sure felt the sodium this morning though!

So I got up and dragged my salt-loaded, tired behind to the gym. I did a full hour of sweaty, heart pumping cardio...and although I was wicked tired, I felt great and was very proud of myself for getting it done.

I did:

Treadmill: on random, level 10, varying speeds (20 mins, + 1 min cooldown)

Elliptical Crossramp: on intervals, level 4 resistance 10 and level 10 resistance 5 (20 mins, + 1 min cooldown)

Recumbant Bike: random hills, level 8, moderate speed (15 mins, + 3 min cooldown)

The best part was that I got to add 10.9km to my June personal challenge. I am so gonna make it to my goal!!

Honestly, I don't really have a menu plan today. That is unusual for me, but I've had a rough few days and I just need to not think about it. So far I gave in to a Starbucks apple cinnamon bun, but it actually really filled me up so I think it will work out OK. I also had my yummy new fave bevvie...a grande SB vanilla DoubleShot on Ice. But I stopped at the store on the way home for LOTS of fruit and more of that Liberte yogurt that I'm addicted to. So I'll fill my afternoon out with cherries, plums, apricots and lots of water....because we all know it will be leftover Chinese for din-din. :)

Can I just say TGIF?!! Hope you all have good plans for the weekend. We are hoping the sun comes back tomorrow cuz we're going to do a lazy roadtrip day and check out some potential camping spots. It's about time we started exploring our new surroundings. :)

Today's Doggy Walk

Good Morning!

After last night's late and intense workout, I wasn't about to hit the gym first thing this morning but I still got up early and drove DBF to work. It's sooo nice outside that I just couldn't see staying in bed and wasting the time. So after I dropped him off I came home and made a pot of coffee (did you know that our Starbucks isn't open at 7:15?!) and then grabbed the dog and went for a walk around the neighborhood. Such a nice morning! After he finished pulling my arm off, I actually came back and dropped him off and walked another 5 minutes up to our mailbox and back. Which was great, because my new Self magazine was in there so I had something fun to read while I enjoyed my second cup of coffee out on the deck. Now I am ready to start my day...15 minutes early and totally awake and refreshed. :)

Once I get some work done I'm going to take some time to go back through my blogs for March and look at my menus and routines. I had over 20 OP days in March (& lost 4 lbs in two weeks), so I was definitely doing something right and I need to go back and see what it was. Time to get serious. I'm curious to see what it was, if anything, that kept me on track so diligently.

Until then, today's plan is...

- coffeeeeeeeeeeeeee
- homemade protein bar
- Liberte Muesli yogurt cup mixed with crushed pineapple
- PC BM bagel with light Laughing Cow & sliced tomato, served with cucumber salad
- grapes
- Coke Zero with fresh lemon wedges (I had forgotten how much I love this!)
- my famous turkey burgers (OK fine, they are Rachel Ray's burgers, but I've adopted them!) served with tossed salad
- homemade protein bar
- peppermint tea

approx 24 points out of 22 + 2APs

Personal Trainer Recap #5

My final session with my trainer was tonight. (Having said that I'll probably sign up for another set with her in September...but I'm gonna do the Summer on my own now that I have two full strength training routines to work with.)

I actually hate evening workouts, but our schedules never jive in the mornings. Tonight's ended up being really great though, so that's awesome!! I needed the good sweat, and she got me to do a couple of things I wouldn't normally do, plus it kept me busy during my prime-time snacking hour!

We always start with some hard-core cardio. Cardio before strength training is a must. No matter how hard you work out, you need to get your heart pumping and your muscles loosened up before you start with the strength stuff. Rule #1 - very important!!! So, usually it's sprints on the cross-trainer or sometimes the elliptical. She likes to mix it up, which is great because I get bored easily. haha. So tonight she says "how about the recumbant bike?". Love it!!! I always use the recumbant bike as my cooldown cardio, but I've never used it for HIIT.

She had me pick a level that I find challenging...so I chose 10 (I usually ride at level 7 or 8.... 6 if I'm being lazy). She was impressed and thought that 10 might actually be too high. So I did the five minute warm-up ride, trying to keep my RPMs at a consistent moderately fast rate. Then we did 1 minute resistance intervals by raising the level to 15! One minute at 15, one minute at 10, until I'd completed 15 minutes. My legs were like jello!! But the good, hardcore, shaky jello. My five minute cooldown ride was pretty funny...I had to keep reminding my legs to keep pedaling. 5 miles by the time I was done.

I don't know if I could push myself to do that on my own, but I'm sure going to try to throw that in there at least once a week. It was crazy hard and I really needed her motivation....it will be a personal challenge to do it without her for sure.

Then we went through my new strength training routine to make sure I'm doing everything correctly and to adjust some of my weights, etc. She upped my weight on two of my exercises, so that's good. Tone, tone, tone! For my fast step-ups on the bozu ball (which I love for some reason) she kept saying how fast I was. I don't know if that's just her way to motivate me, or if she really thought I was fast...but I'll take it. I love to get compliments on this stuff!! Plus, yesterday she had corrected my stance for my planks so today's were a breeze to get through...yaaiieeee.

At the end, she showed me a new piece of equipment that the gym just got. I had seen it show up last week, and it looks relatively easy to use, but I hadn't tried it yet. It's the one where you grasp on with your hands and brace with your forearms, while your legs hang...then you pull your knees up (or pull your legs up straight out if you're superwoman). Well, it is easy to use, but it seems to be built for shorter people so I found it a bit awkward. It's a total core/ab/oblique workout so my problematic lower back didn't really like it....but I'll give it a go a few times and see what happens. My trainer said to maybe start with three sets of five (instead of fifteen) and work up from there. Sounds good to me.

And to top it all off, after she left to meet her next client, I decided that I had nowhere to be, so went for a 10 minute cooldown random incline walk on the treadmill....and then had the longest stretch session ever. It felt great!

(hehe, and by the time I got home, watered the planters and garden, had my shower and now typed this...it's too late to go to the kitchen and snack. I had my planned cottage cheese and yogurt and I'm all good! and OP! yaieeeee!)

A for effort...

Ya, yesterday went pretty good, but not as perfect as planned. I'm not beating myself up though because it certainly an improvement and a step in the right direction.

It was all pretty much OP until I decided to make protein bars last night. And then had to taste test them....three of them. :) Very good, but too much like a cookie so I don't think I'll be making them too often...especially since they have raisins in them so DBF won't help eat them.

So in the end, I wound up about 10 points over for the day. Meh.

Today will be easier because I have a trainer session tonight at 7:00, so I won't want to eat a bunch of junk when I get home. I'm planning a larger lunch, so I'm not in need of dinner before I go... and I can eat my usual breakfast/lunch items when I get home.

Here's the idea....

- homemade protein bar
- coffee
- OJ
- grapes & cheese string
- tuna noodle casserole, tossed salad with real old white cheddar
- apple & light Laughing Cow
- another protein bar before gym
- 1% cottage cheese mixed with crushed pineapple on Fibre Eggo
- Liberte Muesli yogurt

approx 27 out of 22 + APs

Let's try this again!

Yesterday was a total bust. Like, a bomb. Big time. Rollover from the weekend I guess, but I really have no excuse. I didn't go to the gym. I didn't walk the dog. I definitely didn't stick to the menu plan. In fact, I ate ALL of the treats at the movies (I bought two boxes of candy for me and DBF...but he didn't want his so I ate it) plus we shared a huge-ass root beer. And then....to top that....I ate like half a bag of chips when we got home. For no apparent reason, other than they were there and I was somewhat bored.

I HATE THAT.

So, today is a new day, right??

At least I chose to get up early and drive DBF to work. I haven't had the opportunity to do that much lately so I was all over it this time. At the gym by 7:20...woooooooooooooo!! Got in a good sweaty set of sprint intervals on the treadmill and an extra sweaty strength training session (and even got a couple of pointers from my trainer who just happened to be there). So now, I just need to hold on to this motivation and stay on my menu plan for today. DBF is working tonight so I'll have to find something to keep me busy and keep my mind off snacking and watching too much TV tonight. Hopefully the weather clears up, cuz it's wet and dismal right now.

The menu plan that I will stick to today:

- pre-gym: 1/2 Fibre Source granola bar
- post-gym: other 1/2
- coffee (NSV...stopped at Starbucks and ordered just a regular coffee...no latte!)
- 1% cottage cheese mixed with crushed pineapple
- leftover tossed salad with Newman's Italian dressing
- PC BM bagel with light Laughing Cow wedge & sliced tomato
- nectarine
- cheese string & baked Ritz crisps
- Coke Zero if I start to crave sweets
- 1 Greek chicken kabob, steamed baby carrots, cucumber salad (sliced mini cukes & red onions with light mayo, s&p)
- grapes
- either SmartPop or 100 cal pack organic cookies
- peppermint tea

approx 22 points out of 22 (not eating APs today to try to help make up for last night...)

A funny little something...

Since I haven't made it to the treadmill today, I thought we should at least support these kitties in their efforts! Enjoy! :)

Back to our regularly scheduled health programming...

What a good night! and a lovely day yesterday! But booooo to the water retention this morning! I saw 155.8 on the scale, which is up 1.2 lbs from last week....not exactly the direction I want to go....but not exactly a surprise either. A whole lotta meaty, cheesy goodness....and not enough veggies and water. Obviously today is the beginning of a week of picking up the pieces. :)

Our Eight Week Summer Challenge has now ended. What are we doing now?? I didn't make my gym goal...I got in 13 of the 20 days I needed in the last 28 days. For Summer I can't confine myself to indoor activity....although I think that 3 days per week is what still needs to happen. I did however bust through my 50km goal so I'm pretty happy about that! I think some sort of LuluLemon giftie to myself might still be in order for that. haha. :) I still want to get in another 20km before the end of June as my personal challenge, but that shouldn't be a problem at all.

I'll be heading off to the gym later this morning, and stopping at the store for a few items to help with today's recovery plans. We are in need of yogurt and veggies big time.

Todays' big plan....

- water, water, water
- vitamins
- coffeeeeeeee
- All Bran bar
- cherries & nectarine
- skim milk
- GYM
- yogurt, cottage cheese, pineapple
- PC BM bagel with light Laughing Cow & sliced tomatoes
- baby carrots & celery
- dinner: grilled asparagus, salad, chicken breasts with havarti & salami
- WALK THE DOG
- grapes
- 100 cal pack organic cookies
- peppermint tea

approx 24 points out of 22+AP

Summer Saturday

The White Russian was yummy, but we opted to skip the pizza because $46 for two pizzas just pisses me off. LOL. Instead we decided to just head over to one of the local chain restaurants....so we chose East Side Marios. Cheaper and I got leftovers. :)

Today I got up early, packed my gym bag, grabbed my grocery list and headed out. I got in a good workout of sprint intervals on the treadmill, plus my extended strength training routine....excellent and sweaty!

I then stopped at Starbucks for my new favorite drink...grande DoubleShot on ice with vanilla...soooooo yum!! And I'm such a good girl, I passed up all the treats and just waited til I got home to eat. Which was a challenge because I had to stop at the grocery store for all of the eats for tonight's get together. I rocked it!! Came home for a tasty Liberte yogurt with muesli and some fresh cherries!

The rest of today will be spent tidying, cleaning, organizing and prepping food for tonight. Thankfully we are having a late start of 8:00 or so....so lots of time to get ready!! I plan to take it easy on the eating all day so I can really enjoy tonight's food. I am making sangria for the first time in ages, plus lots of cheeses, meats, snacks and yummy goodness.

It should be a good time!
Happy Summer everyone!!

Honey is Home!

Extremely tired, and seriously bruised from a fall at sea, but he's here!!

So there will be no menu plan per se today. Pizza is on the agenda as neither of us wants to waste time cooking, and since the sun is out and he has a duty-free bottle of Kaluha I feel a White Russian coming on. :)

I'm sure he will end up crashing later this afternoon, so if that happens I will walk the happy puppy...but if he doesn't, then the dog will be content that Daddy is home.

Keeping it together...

...so far, so good. In fact, I haven't even eaten my veggie snack yet so that is good. I can always use it if I get the munchies tonight. Work is keeping me busy so I haven't been out with the dog yet, but the weather has cleared up today so an evening jaunt may be in order. If he's lucky, and I finish finally organizing that camping gear, I'll take him to the local trail for a while. :)

Sometimes you have to plan ahead...

I'm sitting down to write out tomorrow's menu now because I let today get away from me and made some not-so-great choices. Can you say carbfest?! For some reason I bought Teddy Grahams today, and ate like 2/3 of the bag. I have never bought Teddy Grahams before and they weren't even all that good. Why do we do these things? (hello, bored and lonely cuz DBF is away...or at least that's today's excuse...)

Anyway, I also bought a ton of salad fixings, more yummy yogurt, cheese strings, and another big bag of cherries! So I am plenty prepared, and ready to cleanse my system in prepartion for DBF's return on Friday and the inevitable pizza or dinner out...and wine! :) I already prepped some of the salad fixings and pitted and chopped cherries and a nectarine. I'm in it to win it!

THURSDAY'S BIG PLAN:

- first things first....huge mothering mug of water! and my multivitamin!
- then I'm allowed to make coffee :)
- 1/2 banana while I'm waiting for the coffee
- chopped cherries & nectarine mixed with my Liberte yogurt and muesli cup
- no mid-morning snack...just more water, and apple juice if I think I'm hungry
- before I can have lunch, I have to WALK THE DOG (this will make day 3 this week, which is what I promised him)
- leftover beans & weinies! no toast.
- baby carrots & celery stix & hummus
- more water cuz those beans are salty!
- afternoon snacks I can have a cheese string and a kiwi
- dinner is going to be a MASSIVE salad with TONS of chopped veggies, teriwacky chicken, and light creamy caesar dressing
- water, water, water
- saved enough points for small bowl of cereal for evening snack (Kashi Crunch or Special K Satisfaction)

And there you have it. So it is said, so it shall be done (a la Mrs. Furious).

Wet Wednesday

Well, let's see what we can wrangle up for today's meals. I should probably make a run to the store for some sort of dinner veggie, but other than that I think I can make it through the rest of the day. It's not very nice outside today, so I think a "comfort" dinner is in order.

- coffeeeeee of course
- All Bran Bar
- another Liberte yogurt cup (today with cranberry muesli)
- cherries
- spinach salad topped with leftover Teriwacky chicken
- baked Ritz crackers with hummus
- nectarine
- beans & weinies on toast (hehe....childhood food! Heinz beans with chopped turkey dog on a toasted BM bagel) served with steamed green veggie of some sort
- sliced banana with skim milk & sprinkle of sugar

I'm off the gym sometime soon, for a good treadmill HIIT session and strength training. Not sure about walking the dog, as the weather has turned wet and cold, but we shall see. I still have a million things on my to-do list around the house, so that might take precendence over walking in the rain...mainly because we're having friends over on Saturday and I need to get my "organizing" put away!

Snack Attack - Liberte Yogurts

I've been mentioning Liberte Yogurt in my menu plan for a few weeks now. OMG...seriously the best yogurt I've ever had. Honest.

For some reason they don't list their Svelte products on their website, but let me tell you...you would never know this stuff is fat-free. It's thick, smooth, creamy and lovely! I especially love the vanilla flavor (as I am a vanilla freak!). I found the Moka flavor to be a bit too bitter for my taste in yogurt, but it was still good. It is higher in calories than most standard no-fat yogurts, but for the consistency, taste and enjoyment factor I'm totally willing to go for it.

This week the grocery store had the individual sized Muesli cups on sale, so I thought I would try those. They are small containers of 2% vanilla yogurt that come with little portions of organic muesli....today I had chocolate crunch and it was fab, but yesterdays was apple & raisin and it was tasty too. 220 cals for each portion, but eating it with a side of fruit seems to keep me full just long enough...so again, I'm willing to go for it.

I'll keep trying different Liberte products from now on. Because it's organic it is more expensive (the good things always are!) but sales seem fairly frequent, and sometimes you just have to pay for the stuff you love.

If it ain't broke...

...don't fix it. Today will look a lot like yesterday, with the exception of a different kind of workout.

My menu worked just right yesterday, so let's do it again...

- coffeeeeee
- All Bran bar
- Liberte yogurt cup (today it has chocolatey granola bits)
- cherries
- PC BM multigrain bagel with natural PB & banana
- raspberries
- baby carrots & celery with hummus (I never ate this yesterday)
- more yummy Asian slaw with grilled Teriwacky chicken skewers
- carrot/pineapple cupcakes
- maybe some tea

Definitely a lunchtime walk with the doggy, he'll be so confused...two days in a row, oh my!! Maybe some evening cardio at the gym...depending on how my chores go today.

You go girl!

I walked the dog at lunch today....just as I used to do for a whole year, almost every day....and haven't done for like two months. Poor dog. I can't believe he hasn't mutinied on us yet. I mean, he's a house dog...but he loves walks and I basically cut him off cold turkey once I got into my gym groove. No more. I promise to take him out at least 3 times a week. It's good for him and it's good for me to get more exercise outside of the gym anyway. Doggy-walking love has returned!

My gym time ended up being really late today. I slept in this morning (of course) because I stayed up too late (well, and because I hate mornings). Work was too busy to sneak off for two hours. So evening came and I decided that rather than do the yard work, I'd better get my butt to the gym. All the way there I kept telling myself that evening workouts suck...which of course it would have had I continued to tell myself that...so I snapped out of it, and told myself to get in there and run like it was morning!! It worked!!

25 minutes of the highest intensity I could pull off on the cross-trainer....followed by 20 minutes of hill training on the treadmill at the highest speed I could maintain. Add to that my full strength training routine, and you have one poopered girl! But a good poopered.

The best part was that I was smart enough to prep my dinner before I left, so I had something to look forward to after my workout. Proteiny chicken goodness and crunchy, fresh slaw. Yum!!

Oh, and I broke my goal of 50km travelled during the Summer Challenge. 53.3km as of today!!

Monday, meh.

Booooooo. I want my weekend back!! I have many more projects to do in and around our house, and although they are lots of work, they are definitely more fun and fulfilling than actual work. Meh.

Ah well, at least weigh in went in the right direction this morning (even after giving in to the movie popcorn last night!!)...down 1.4, to put me back at 154.6lbs. I'll take it, and hope for something similar to happen this week. :)

Today's eating plan...

- coffeeeeeee
- All Bran bar
- Liberte yogurt cup....with granola bits n stuff (4 points, but I bet totally worth it!)
- raspberries
- PC BM multigrain flax bagel w/ natural PB & banana
- cherries
- baby carrots, celery stix, hummus
- chicken skewers (marinated in Teriwacky sauce...from ESBM), grilled and served with Asian slaw
- carrot/pineapple cupcakes & peppermint tea

Gym today: 40 minutes cardio, strength training. maybe a walk this evening.

Cake Idea

Yet another modified carrot cake recipe....

I mixed one box of carrot cake mix, with I can of crushed pineapple and a bit of water. Made 16 cupcakes, cooked pretty much according to package directions. Let cool completely.

Voila!

(the tops are a bit sticky, but otherwise they turn out great!)

Go with the Flow

Some days you just have to, you know?

I woke up this morning (early, due to someone banging on my door...I didn't answer) with unexpected energy and the itch to do something productive (like yesterday wasn't totally crazy productive, but whatever). So I decided just to go for it. No plan, nothing...just go.

So I showered and cleaned up, tried making an iced coffee but it was ass, ate a cupcake (I'll tell you about those later), and sat on my front porch for a few minutes. As I sat there I realized that we've been worrying so much about how to deal with our back yard, that I've totally neglected the front yard. So I quickly had a look at what needed to be done, grabbed my purse and off I went.

Stopped for a coffee...the Sunday favorite of a triple grande vanilla no-fat latte, and a bigass chocolate cookie to be consumed throughout the day. Hit up several garden centers, got what I thought I needed and came home.

Chugged some water, ate some hummus and carrots, changed my clothes and got to work. You can see the photos of my gardening on my other blog. Chugged more water while I worked. Ate some cookie. :)

Finished up the gardening, made a turkey dog on a whole wheat bun with a light cheese slice. Finished the cookie. :)

More water, and now thinking about a yummy salad for dinner. Heading to the grocery store now that I've washed all of the dirt off me, and will pick up something fresh and crunchy. Thinking about some cherries for my movie treat tonight too. Bringing my own water to the theatre too because no one needs a $5 pop....nor do I need the sugar or calories. No popcorn for me because tomorrow is weigh-in and I don't want any salty treats making me retain water. No sir!

No menu plan, and the cookie wasn't the best choice, but I was active and rounded out my day with lots of healthy options so I'm very pleased with my day!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Ingoring the cravings...

Yes, that's what I'm doing sitting here. Ignoring the fact that I busted my butt all day and now I want ice cream. Technically I could probably have it without much consequence, but it's more that I know I don't need it so I'm trying to be good. Tomorrow night I'm going to the movies and I would rather have a treat then.

Today I did really good. I ended up not having the pita pitza...just ate some extra veggies and dip. Didn't even have the iced coffee...didn't need it. Then come dinner time I didn't feel like getting cleaned up just to go get food, so I used up the last hard boiled egg and made egg salad on a Ble Menu bagel. Yummy and way healthier than the chicken strips I wanted to go get. I snacked on a serving of Junior Mints throughout the day too....actually you would all be proud, I'd poured the box into a bowl and when I realized how much was there I put half of them back for tomorrow!!

So now I have points to play with and it's 9:00. I'll likely just go for a bowl of cereal as that always seems to help satiate the cravings. Maybe some tea too. Hope everyone is having a great Saturday night!

Busy Saturday

I got up when the alarm went off, immediately went down and put the final load of laundry in and brought the vacuum cleaner upstairs. Actually washed my face and got dressed right away so I wouldn't fall into lazy "i'm still in my pj's" mode. My plan had been to get the vacuuming finished, then I could go to Starbucks....but instead I decided to just put on a pot of coffee and I'll treat myself to something else later in the day. Got the vacuuming done (was supposed to be done last night so I was determined to get it done right away), then had a bowl of Kashi Crunch, then got the kitchen floor mopped. By then the coffee was ready, so I grabbed a cup and headed upstairs to start on the disaster zone that is our spare room.....between this and the basement, I'll be lucky if I come up for air let alone food today. haha.

Menu plan such as it is:

- Kashi Almond & Flax Crunch w/ vanilla Almond Breeze
- coffeeeeeeeeeeeee
- fruit salad w/ vanilla Liberte Svelt yogurt
- pita pitza: ww pita toasted, smoothered with hummus and topped with spinach, tomatoes & light feta
- baby carrots, celery sticks, baked Ritz crackers w/ homemade low-fat onion dip
- homemade iced coffee (with coffee ice cubes so it doesn't get watered down!)
- dinner and night-time treats to be determined..... maybe fast food for dinner (if so, then only fruit for evening snack)....or maybe sushi from the grocery store (in which case, I can have a decadent treat later)

No gym planned for today, but we'll see how I'm feeling later on.....

Personal Trainer Recap

I realized that I never did post the new strength training routine I got from my trainer last week.... I like this one a lot better. I don't know if it's because it seems easier, or maybe because there is less equipment involved, or maybe because I am finally seeing some toning results....but this routine is much more enjoyable to me. It's also faster, with less waiting between sets.

- free moving chest press: this is the machine you sit on with your back up against the pad, and the handles on each side are attached to their own sets of weights (hence free moving because each arm is independent). more difficult than the chest press I was using before, because now I have to control my own arms. this also has the option of lifting a foot off the ground to work on my core...which I desperately need.

- deltoid pull down: this is the machine you reach up and pull down...haha, I guess the name says it all. works the back, delts and biceps. much better than the back machine I was using before...although I will say that my back is definitely getting stronger so it must have been working.

- sit-down/stand-ups: basically these are squats...but using the bench to make sure I squat the same distance each time. squat down so that my pants brush the seat, then stand back up.

during the rest between sets of those, I do...

- step-ups on the bosu ball: just as they sound...faced paced steps up and down on the half-ball (holy high intensity cardio batman)

- tricep press: similar to a bench press, but with a body bar and working the triceps...laying on the bench, keeping arms firm, holding bar straight up and bending at the elbow (hard to explain)

- calf raises: standing on the edge of a stair, going up on tippy toes and back down again

during the rest between sets of those, I do...

- planks: slightly angled, with hands on a bench (so much better for my lower back than the previous ab exercises I was doing)


She also upped me to 15 reps (3 sets). She had me at 12 reps because I'm leaner in the upper body and she thought I might like to build some muscle...but I'm fine with my muscle, I'm really all about the toning, back strength, and light cardio.

Originally I had said I probably wouldn't go back to her, but I've booked a follow up session to go over this new routine and then I'll decide from there. Honestly, now that I have two different routines (plus my own ideas about things I've learned) I think I'll probably take a break from the trainer, at least for the Summer.

And she does it again!

:) Good day here again!! I added in a couple of baked hashbrown patties (I was craving fries, but skipped McD's and came home...wooooo NSV). I earned the APs for them at the gym, so still all OP. I ended up going out shopping later than planned so decided to skip the SB iced coffee and had a serving of Junior Mints while I watched a movie tonight instead (NSV #2, as it is a huge-ass box and I only ate my one serving!).

I'm so proud!!

Let's make Friday 13th lucky for us!

Day two with no candy...done! Stuck to the plan for the most part yesterday....had a little extra cereal and a 3 point Luna bar, but I didn't eat my hummus and my salmon filet was smaller than planned so I think it was still all OP for me. Didn't go to the gym, got into the mood to work up a sweat pulling dandylions from our sad little corner garden patch then did a major cleaning of my kitchen and two bathrooms. Overall, good day!

TGIF!! Gonna try to get through work reasonably early today so I can get lots of errands done and hopefully a walk or a trip to the gym. I want to finish housecleaning too so I don't have to worry about it for the rest of the weekend. I plan to be outside as much as possible and don't want the vacuuming looming over my head. :)

Edit: I rock! :) I got a couple hours of work done this morning, then realized that I have a relatively slow day...so before I could change my mind, I put on my gym clothes, filled my water bottle and took myself over to the gym and got a full workout in. Yaaieeee! Now I don't have to worry about getting my strength training in tomorrow as I normally would...I can focus on playing outside and getting some shopping done. Woooooo!

Today I plan to eat up stuff in my fridge...

- coffeeeeeee
- All Bran bar

- Fibre Eggo topped with Svelte vanilla yogurt & fruit salad

- spinach tossed with marinated tomatoes, cukes & light feta
- topped with crumbled leftover salmon
- 1/2 pita, baby carrots, celery sticks with hummus

- Starbucks grande Double Shot on Ice while shopping
- bag of grapes in my purse just in case :)

- tuna noodle casserole
- leftover steamed brocolli

- creamsicle
- maybe peppermint tea

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH EVERYONE!!

Today's Plans...

The sun is shining, so hopefully it means another good day for me....

- coffeeeeeee
- All Bran bar

- fruit salad (strawberries, kiwi, apple)
- Liberte Svelte vanilla yogurt

- tuna noodle casserole
- carrots & celery sticks
- 2 tbsp roasted garlic hummus

WALK or GYM (1 hour cardio either way)

- 1/2 serving Kashi Almond & Flax Crunch
- 1/2 cup vanilla Almond Breeze

- salmon filet marinated in homemade teriyaki
- steamed brocolli
- Greek salad

- grapes
- peppermint tea before bed

Estimated 22 points here....so I can throw in an iced coffee or extra snack without consequence. :)

Candy Victory!

And there you have it. A day without candy. A day OP. A trip to the grocery store with no harm done. Whew. Thank God!!

And with the internet/phone/cable being out, you would think this would send me into a tizzy looking for treats and comfort food, but noooooo I kept busy (in the kitchen no less) and made it all the way til now!

Get this... while waiting 6 FREAKING HOURS for the internet to come back up I busied myself by making fruit salad, tuna noodle casserole, and marinated salmon and chicken. I was even going to do some baking but was missing a few ingredients. Too bad, because on a day like today I wouldn't have pigged out on the baking...I had it under control. Oh well, it's probably for the best.

Take THAT stupid candy. I'm done with you!

I'm in a funk

At least there is no candy left in house. Because I ate the last bag yesterday. Boooo....couldn't even get through one day. It's so freaking annoying!! Now I'm afraid to go shopping because I'll just end up buying more. Where did my willpower go? :(

Let's try this again!!!

Today so far:
- coffee
- All Bran bar

Planned next:
- Liberte Svelt vanilla yogurt
- sliced strawberries

Lunch:
- egg salad on a PC BM multigrain bagel
- baby carrots
- 2 tbsp roasted garlic hummus

GYM!

- strawberry soy milk drink box
- Kashi granola bar

Dinner:
- 1 x turkey dog on "Buns First" bun
- spinach salad w/ Newmans Italian dressing

- grapes
- cubes of light cheddar
- peppermint tea before bed

This is an estimated 25 points, so even if I do throw in an extra snack that will use up any APs I earn at the gym. You would think this would be doable!! Go me!

Relay post is up...

http://bi0nicw0man.blogspot.com/2008/06/relay-success.html

Today will be free of candy.

It has to be. Must cleanse system of sugar. This is a test.

I seem to have picked up my stupid cold again. I guess walking around in the rain all night can do that to ya. I woke up with yucky sinuses and a pasty, dry throat. Lovely. At least it was for a good cause! Today there will be lots of vitamins and clear liquids.

So far:
- apple juice
- coffeeeeeeeeeee
- two slices of Sweet Home Alabanana loaf
- water

Next I have planned:
- Kashi Almond & Flax Crunch (1/2 serving) with 1/2 cup vanilla Almond Breeze
- cherries
- more coffeeeeeeeeeeee
- lotsa water

Late lunch:
- salad of toms, cukes & light feta marinated in 1tbsp Newman's Italian dressing, tossed with spinach
- 1/2 ww pita
- 2 tbsp roasted garlic hummus
- more water

Late afternoon:
- either more apple juice or diet Dr. Pepper if I'm feeling better

Dinner:
- BBQ turkey dogs (x2) on multigrain bread (mustard, ketchup & relish)
- baby carrots & low fat onion dip
- water

Evening Snack: NO CANDY!
- grapes
- little cubes of light cheddar
- peppermint tea before bed

I'll also be heading off to the gym at some point...potentially this evening to keep me out of snack mode. Light to moderate cardio for one hour, plus a few squats and such.

Not one, but TWO freaking bags of candy!

What the hell is wrong with me?!! Argh.

Does a huge sugar craving mean you are lacking something else in your diet???

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

Ha, oh what a beautiful day!! :)

LOL, how lame am I? I am soooo overtired it's nutty. Can you tell?

I'll do a full report on the Relay later today...complete with pictures...on my other blog.

But I can tell you that it was a great time, despite the damp and rainy weather we got. Oh sure, NOW the sun comes out in full force. Silly Nova Scotia weather. We walked and walked and walked (rough guess is about 48km)...so stiff, somewhat sore, but amazingly not too much pain. Yesterday I was getting pretty stiff, but I went and did some shopping and although it hurt, it felt good to be moving around.

This morning I had to take DBF to work extra early (leaving for a 12 day sail....boooooo) so I packed up my gym bag and got in a workout. Yaaaieee me! I took it easy for the cardio as my hips and knees just couldn't handle any jarring....but got a solid 25 minute light incline walk in on the elliptical and an extra 5 minutes on the bike. Did my full strength routine and felt pretty refreshed when I was all done. :) (added 4.8km to my personal distance challenge)

As I usually do when DBF goes away, I'll be checking out what's in the fridge and pantry that can be eatten up and putting together a loose meal plan for the week. Today is based on what I glimpsed down there last night before bed....

- pre-gym: 1/2 lemon zest Luna bar
- post-gym: Grande Starbucks Double Shot on Ice with Vanilla (my new fave!! so yummy and refreshing! and the Grande packs in THREE shots of espresso to really get me pumping!)
- other 1/2 of Luna bar
- Liberte Svelt Moka yogurt w/ raspberries, blackberries & All-Bran sprinkle
- bacon, tomato, & spinach sammich
- baby carrots w/ smidge of hummus (all that's left)
- dinner TBD: something with lots of veggies, leftover potato salad....hmmmm, need protein
- grapes
- Liberte Svelt Vanilla yogurt if I'm still feeling snacky

Early to bed tonight....I'm still missing about 8 hours of sleep from the weekend....

Oh, on the down side, I'm up another pound this morning to 156. Boooooo. Now I'm over my comfortable maintenance weight. Definitely a detox week!

This weekend...

The mani/pedi was soooo nice. Relaxing and fun all at the same time. I had two younger women working on me and we basically just chatted and gossiped the whole time. Good fun. And my nails look great too! :)

I managed to pass up the afternoon Starbucks trip. I didn't want to stop before my appointment, and afterwards I had to get home and get ready for dinner and the movie. Instead I just ate my Kashi bar to hold me over, and that was all I needed.

Dinner was super yummy! Ate more than I probably should have, but it was a combo plate and I wanted it all! We shared some edamame to start, then the small bowl of Miso soup and tiny little salad that came with our meals. My combo was a California roll, a spicy tuna roll and a spicy salmon roll. All three were very good....although the two spicy rolls had some crunchy tempura in them that I was not expecting.

I did avoid popcorn at the theatre....but did eat a bag of Sour Patch Kids. I've been on a candy kick lately and I swear those little kids called out to me. At least they are fat free (ha, but FULL of sugar) and not covered in butter. I tried to order a Coke Zero, but they were out....so I ended up with Orange pop. Oh well.

The movie was excellent of course. There were a few things I could have done without....cheesy jokes mainly.... but all in all it stuck to it's roots and gave me a few tear jerks and some good laughs. The soundtrack was crazy bad though. The show has never been about the music, and the addition of hip-hop didn't do it for me. But Carrie's wedding dress definitely took my breath away. :)

Tonight is the Relay for Life, so I have no plan. I'll eat the best I can, but I know there will be temptations all over the place and I'm there to have fun so I'll do what I want. I'm bringing homemade potato salad and Sweet Home Alabanana (choc chip/pecan/banana loaf from ESBM). My teammates are bringing sandwiches, taco dip, chips, cookies, drinks, fruit, veggies, etc. Plus there will be food available for purchase and I just know I'll want a hotdog by about midnight! Thankfully they are also providing us with a coffee booth, cuz Lord knows I'll want that! :)

I hope to do a TON of walking. We plan to walk in pairs for as much of the time as possible, to make it more fun. No one wants to walk around in the dark by themselves!

Should be a great time!!

Tomorrow will be a recovery day so I'm planning on some yummy fruit, yogurt and Starbucks. :)

That's right. On a Friday...

...I got up early...and went to the gym!! yaiiiieeeee me!! (shhhh....don't tell anyone I was supposed to go yesterday...)

I wish I could convince my body to do this all the time. Morning workouts are the best!! Now that I'm not regularly driving DBF to work in the mornings, I can't seem to convince myself to get out of bed. I thought it would pass, but it was getting worse. Let's hope today is the start of good things to come.

Treadmill:
- 5 min warmup
- (discovered the random hills setting thanks to my trainer) - so 5 min speed walking, then 5 mins running, then 5 more mins speed walking
- 5 min fast paced walking cooldown

Cross-Trainer:
- 10 minutes random, moderate speed
- threw in a few 30 seconds sprints just to keep the heart rate up (and I'm working on rebuilding lung capacity AGAIN)

New Strength Training Routine
(I'll write this out later)

Stationary Bike:
- 10 minutes random, moderate speed

Stretching!

(This adds a ladybug sticker to my calendar for the Summer Challenge, plus 8.8km to my personal activity challenge.)


Yesterday's menu started out good....healthy sandwich, yummy cucumber & sour cream salad, turkey burgers and spinach salad for dinner. Then we decided to celebrate DBF getting his promotion yesterday...with freaking Blizzards! Argh. What was that? 5 days into my no-Blizzard plan. Booooooooo. (Maybe that's what motivated me to get my ass out of bed this morning?)

Today's menu (and I'm determined to stick to it!):

- pre-gym: 1/2 Larabar
- post-gym: 1/2 Larabar
- coffee
- Liberte Svelte no fat Moka yogurt w/ raspberries & sprinkle of All-Bran
- chopped tomatoes & cukes, marinated in Newman's Own Italian dressing (1 tbsp), mixed with spinach & 1/4 cup part skim mozza
- baby carrots, 1/2 toasted ww pita, 2 tbsp hummus
- potentially a tall no-fat vanilla latte while out this afternoon (going for a mani/pedi with a friend)
- Kashi granola bar in my purse in case I get snacky
- dinner out: Hamachi House: sushi!!
- then out to see Sex and the City!!! (maybe share some popcorn, but I AM NOT GETTING MY OWN!)

How it actually went down...

You see that menu in yesterday's post? So did not happen. (This happens often...great plan, not so great execution). First problem was that I forgot my granola bar when I went shopping, so instead of my iced latte I wound up with a triple grande no-fat vanilla latte and a hunk of chocolate chip banana cake thingy (apparently reduced fat, but still about 6 points!). At least the latte was only 1 point more than originally planned...and I don't feel guilty about getting an extra point worth of skim milk. But I really didn't need that banana thing...could have made it home, or could have just bought something better at the grocery store. Stupid impulse eating. (On a bright note, it was freaking tasty and moist so at least it was somewhat worth it...)

So, rather than let the day get out of hand as I normally would, I came home with my new groceries and wrote out a new plan. On paper. In red ink. Right beside me on my desk.

This is what I actually ate:
- the latte (3)
- the evil banana cake (6)
- Liberte Moka yogurt (2), 1/2 banana (1), 1/4 cup All Bran (0)
- 1/2 cup raspberries & blackberries (1)
- baby carrots w/ hummus (2)
- sammich on yummy fresh thin-sliced multigrain bread: 2 oz light cheddar, spinach, tomatoes, mustard, 1 tsp light Miracle Whip (6)
- chopped tomatoes & cukes marinated in 1 tbsp Newman's Own Italian dressing, served over spinach, with 1 oz shredded part-skim mozzarella (2)
- Kashi granola bar (2)
- 1 cup new Kashi Honey Almond Flax Crunchy cereal (4)
- with skim milk (1)

Total = approx 30 points....much better than the runaway train I started out on. With my high intensity trainer session, I'd say I landed right where I should on the menu/points.


As for my workout.... not sure that my mojo has returned, but at least with my trainer there I pushed harder than I might have on my own. Downside is that I was only with her for an hour so we didn't make it through three full sets of my new routine. I probably should have stayed afterwards and finished up on my own, but such is life. At least the new routine seems more fun....likely because I'm just bored with the old routine, but who cares why!

I did get to add 3.9km to my distance challenge and another ladybug sticker to my calendar. :)

Today I'm Eating...

- SB iced coffee with vanilla & skim
- Kashi granola bar
- GOING SHOPPING...
- whatever yogurt I buy (Liberte Svelte Mocha perhaps?)
- berries (hopefully blackberries!)
- cereal (either Kashi Crunch, or maybe vanilla Shreddies) w/ skim milk
- Greek salad: tomatoes, cukes, few olives, red onion, light feta
- tzatziki & 1/2 whole wheat pita
- 1/2 banana before training session
- Turkey burgers: (ground lean turkey, horseradish, green onions, Montreal steak spice) on ww bun, topped with light mayo, grainy dijon, old white cheddar, lettuce, tomatoes
- tossed salad with olive oil & lemon
- fudgicle

Missing Mojo

This seems to be a common theme among a lot of us lately....Where has my workout Mojo gone? I was kicking ass...then went on vacation, then got sick...now it's a struggle to get myself to the gym. I don't have to drive DBF to work in the morning these days, and that has led to my sleeping in instead of getting in my awesome morning workouts. Booo. Then afternoon comes and I'm either too busy with work or too lazy to drag my arse over there. Double boooo.

Tonight I have my final session with my trainer, and for the longest time I was thinking how great I had done and how fab she would think I was doing, but now not so much. Sure, my strength training has progressed, but I've stopped doing a couple of the things in my routine (because I HATE them....and I refuse to hate my workout) and my cardio has really suffered from being sick. She's going to wonder what the hell I've been doing for the past 3 months.

At least she is giving me a new routine tonight, so I can switch it up. Maybe that's the key. I need something new to get me back into my groove. Let's hope so!!

No News Today

Booooooo. DBF did not get his good news.

He completed all of the steps to finally get his official promotion at work, but typical Military red tape is leaving him frustrated and waiting for someone to get off their arse and actually promote him. They are in the midst of massive seminars this week, and it is creating a hassle for his CO to come down and make it happen. This has been a long time coming and he justs wants it to be official!

Booooooo.

Bring on the sun!

Today's menu is planned out....however, DBF is waiting on some good news from work and if it comes through today we will need to celebrate. And we all know celebrating usually involves alcohol and potentially bad food choices. haha. Good luck honey!!

The plan as it stands now...

- apple juice
- coffee
- Kashi Crunch w/ vanilla Almond Breeze
- 1/2 banana
- WALK THE DOG
- tuna salad on light rye Wasa w/ light cheddar
- baby carrots & cuke slices
- Kashi granola bar (choc/cherry)
- GYM
- PC BM light cheddar smokie on D'Italiano whole wheat bun (ketchup & mustard)
- homemade potato salad (first attempt for the year!!!)
- grapes
- tea

Not to mention: water water water!

Challenge Around a Challenge

Here we are, already into June! Where did May go? Oh right, for me it went on vacation and sick days.

I had already re-planned out my new goals for the Summer Challenge, and although I missed a gym day this weekend I am pretty much on track. I still have to get in 15 more gym days before Jun-22, and still need to travel more than 25.6km in that same time. Totally doable!

But since we have started another month, I've started my June goals as well. Since May didn't work out so well for number of gym days, I've bumped it up for this month. I want to see 22 little lady bug stickers on my calendar. And in tandem with that, I'm aiming for 75km travelled (in gym or not) by month's end. (I achieved over 50km last month, even with being away and being sick...so it was time to up the ante.) My bike should finally be on the trail this week, so that will make the km challenge a lot easier.

As an added challenge, I'm putting the smackdown on ice cream. The blizzards were starting to become a weekly treat, so I'm cutting that down to one for the month. DBF is going to laugh in my face, but I'm going to be strong. If DQ calls to me, I'll either tell it to bugger off, or get a small dipped cone. And I'm not buying ice cream for the house. If it's not here I don't even care about it...but if it's here I can always hear it taunting me.

Anyone else have June goals or challenges?

Monday Blues

Meh. Up 1.4 pounds today. The scale tells me 155, which is as high as I ever like to get. Boooooo. Not surprising based on yesterday though. It was a lazy day, I was tired as all hell, didn't do much of anything. Didn't make it to the gym, managed to finish off the Ben & Jerry's, shared a chocolate bar with DBF, and ate McD's for dinner. Not a shining day for me.

Today is a new day!!

- water
- coffee
- water
- Kashi Crunch w/ vanilla Almond Breeze
- strawberries
- water
- tuna salad (tuna, light mayo, green onion) on light rye Wasa
- baby carrots, sliced cukes
- sparkling water with lemon
- 1/2 banana
- GYM
- Kashi granola bar (choc/cherry)
- water, water, water
- chicken & veggie skewers, Italian herb & olive oil marinade, brown rice, skim milk
- tea
- grapes (if feeling snacky)


Edit: Gym Recap

Treadmill:
- 5 min warmup
- 15 minutes sprint intervals (30 sec sprints @ 7mph, 1 min recoveries @ 4mph)
- 4 min cooldown (I got impatient...haha)

Strength Training (minus reverse lunges and back extensions, but added step ups on the bosu and calf raises)

Recumb Bike:
- 10 mins on level 5, random

Travelled 6.6km today!

Sunday Report

So the no popcorn plan was foiled last night because there was an Indiana Jones bucket that needed to be acquired. LOL. DBF rarely wants popcorn...it's ironic that we ended up getting it the one time I really didn't want it. haha. It was good though and I'm glad we had it! I probably should have passed on the root beer to go with it, but I didn't want diet Coke and there are no other diet options (which is soooo lame).

Then we came home and had wine. :)

This morning I made breakfast sammiches. Not the healthiest choice, made with bacon...but I used the Blue Menu bagels and light cheese slices, so they could have been worse. Besides, aside from some strawberries and yogurt this afternoon I probably won't eat until dinner time.

DBF has blood work tomorrow morning at work, so he has to fast after 7:00 tonight. We are planning dinner for right at 6:30 and I plan to not snack after that because it would be unfair to him. I think we'll make tea!

Dinner was supposed to be BBQ steak with scallop skewers, but with the shitty weather and his pending cholesterol test we decided to freeze those and just stick with something light. I think I'll still do some skewers with chicken, mushrooms, zucchini & yellow peppers...maybe with some rice. Sure, sounds like a plan!

I haven't made it to the gym yet....booooooo. Maybe later. I hope. Yikes.