Weekend, Bakery Love and HELP!

Shall we recap the weekend? Yes, I thought so too!

Fri Night: Went out to dinner with friends and their 2 kids. I got an AMAZING salad at a place called Crisp. So freakin good. Then the husband went to a concert, the kids went to bed and Leah and I made chocolate muffins and ate them warm with Hagen Daaz BAILEYS ice cream on top. Amazing. We also watched He's Just Not that Into You. Cute, but nothing amazing. I got home at 1am! LATE night for Jeannie.

Saturday: Boot camp, nap, pool...So nice! Then a bunch of friends and myself met uptown for a fun night out! We went to Taste of Charlotte which is a big street fair with all the CLT restaurants so you can taste their food. Then we went bowling at a new nice bowling alley. It was a BLAST! I was driving so I didn't drink but every one else got quite trashed and it was hysterical. I'm so happy to have friends in Charlotte!

Sunday: The pup let me sleep in until 9:30!! OMG it was amazing. I dog parked it up and then hit up the slightly ghetto but cheap grocery store, then hit up the POOL. It was great. Just hung out in the pool and chatted with peeps.

Then came more fun.... A friend and I decided to go to this amazing bakery for dinner. Yes, a bakery for dinner. It's called Amelies. It is my new favorite place in all of Charlotte. It is SO adorable... and open 24/7!!!! WHAT??? It was a lovely impromptu girls night out. It's a french bakery and they have baguettes, croissants, EVERY baked good, and home made soups and sammies. I got a roasted turkey sammie. It was cheddar, turkey, crisp bacon, herbs de provance, olive oil mayo on a croissant... all grilled up and toasted. Holy heck. Orgasmic. Then I had a caramel salted brownie for dessert. And my total came to 7 bucks. WHAT? Cheap. Adorable. Delicious. And open all the time. Yup, I'm in love. If you are even in Charlotte be sure to go. You won't regret it. Even if your meal has a jillion calories.


Ok moving onto the HELP section of today's post. This weekend I'm heading to my aunt's beach house in South Jersey. It's just going to be all of the cousins though. It should be a blast -- we're all quite close. Anyway, one of the couples is getting together a little trivia game. I need to come up with some trivia questions about myself (which you're more than welcome to help with... but really I should be able to handle that), but then I need to come up with a 'challenge' of some sort. Here are the instructions:

The other thing that we need you to do is to create some kind of group challenge. There will be five teams playing (4 of 2 and 1 of 3). Your group challenge could use 1 person from each team or everyone all together or something in between... whatever will work for your challenge. Note: your challenge does not have to be about you. I imagine that with this group I don't need to tell anyone what kind of challenges will work but for the heck of it, I will say that it could be anything from a jello eating contest to a physical challenge to a name-that-tune quiz to a bird trapping contest (although I would not recommend that last one unless you are me or Stevie, since we have experience and we will rock it a little too hard). You should write out the directions to your challenge as well (also not showing anyone) and you should bring / create any 'props' that are necessary to execute it.

So bring on your brilliant challenge ideas! Get creative and help me out here!

Bullets

Not the gun kind, the punctuation kind. I've got a lot to say, so you know that means I'll do it bullet style!

• Reading Carrie's list of races coming up got me all fired up! So I've got the Charlotte SheRox Tri on Sept 14, and today signed up for the Susan G Koman Race for the Cure 5k (feel free to donate to the cause) on Oct 5. Woohoo!
• I even signed up to do the COMPETITIVE run. Which means no wimping out and walking!
  
• I sent out an email around work to see if anyone was interested in doing it as well and I think some people might actually do it! I love it when people get out there to move for a good cause.
  
• I mentioned it to one of my best friends from home and she hopped ALL OVER the chance for a good excuse to visit! So she booked a flight and signed up for the race as well. I cannot WAIT for her to visit. Yay for friends being the best.
• My mom also emailed to see if her and one of my aunts can come visit for the weekend of the Charlotte SheRox. It would be great to have them in town to cheer me on. Hopefully it works out.
• I'm going to Mexico!!! Instead of hitting up Canyon Ranch this year with the girls my mom asked how I'd feel about going to Cancun. She wanted to know if I'd be upset to not go to my "happy place" (aka Canyon Ranch). Are you KIDDING? Of course I'll go to Cancun! So my aunt, 2 cousins, mom and myself are going for a long weekend in November. The deal with my mom is that we both need to keep eating well and working out EVEN while we're on vacation. They have a super nice gym where we're staying so no excuses. I think that's a fair deal, don't you?
• I'm slowly getting out of my funk. If I can get to the gym or pool today I think I'll be 100% out of it!
  
• I'm totally hyped up from some Vanilla Chai Tea I had this morning.
• I went to Target on my lunch break and spend UNDER 100 bucks and got everything I need. Including a BRITA which I've been meaning to get forever. The water dispenser from the fridge just takes FOREVER
• It's been so cool and fall-like here. It's going down to 67 tonight. Color me turning the air off as SOON as I get home from work.
  
• I am obsessed with the 'Lympics (as I used to call them when I was little). I am so hooked on the Michael Phelps hype as well. All of the touching little filler stories they do on him just kill me. They did one on his mom and I totally teared up. It's just not ok! I can't help but love all things Olympics though. They are so fun. And synchronized diving is OUT of control.
  

Ok... I think I covered it all. Maybe not, but we'll see.

Menu for today is as follows (and totally random).

Bfast:
Faux chai tea latte - 0.5
About 1/4 of my huge bowl of oatmeal (containing steel cut oats, 1/2 banana, 1/2 oz nuts and tbsp pb) - 3
weight watchers pretzels (mindless snacking - bad!) - 2

Lunch:
leftover burger from Sunday night. So yummy. 5 oz patty (of 97% lean ground beef and some spices), 1 ww single, pickles, ketchup all on a toasted light english muffin - 6.5
yummy nectarine - 1

Snacks:
cherries - 1
yogurt - 2

Dinner (super random)
Starbucks Vivano smoothie (have a coupon for a free one) most likely pick up on the way home from the gym - 5
tomatoes from my garden on light bread with some light mayo and salt and pepper - 2

Snack:
something for 1 or 2 but ONLY if I work out.

The plan for tonight (assuming the weather agrees) is to go home and do a little yard work (weeds are taking over. I hate them!). Hit up the gym or the pool and stop to get my smoothie when I'm done. Then take the little one for a walk and enjoy my tomato sammie after that while I lounge around watching the Olympics the rest of the night. Sounds like a good idea, yes?

19083

I'm "home"... and by that I mean at my parent's house in Havertown, PA. It's good to be home, but also still sort of surreal. My visits home were usually alone because Ar either had to work, or stayed with the dogs or whatever. So it doesn't feel like I'm here because we broke up... but I guess everyone giving me big hugs and asking how I am is helping make it more real :)

It also doesn't help that it's the huge bike race in Philly this weekend. Bike everywhere you go... ahh life is so cruel sometimes. But I plan on hanging out in the 'burbs today... far far away from all of the bikes and people.

Yesterday I hung out at my aunt's house. She was babysitting my cousin's lil 6 week old baby Monica. It was a great afternoon. Then last night I went into Fairmount and had dinner with two of my oldest friends. They made me a delicious Rachel Ray BLT salad w/ grilled chicken and avocado dressing. It was amazing! Then we walked around and went to this home made ice cream place. So delish.

Today the plan is to go to the Y with my other aunt... it's time to see how well I swim. The tri is less than 2 months away (see sidebar for exact time) and I've yet to swim a lap. So today should be interesting. It will be good to get in a pool though. The only downer is that you can't listen to your iPod in the pool. Well unless you had something like this (which I saw in the SkyMall mag on my flight here), but I'm not sure I'd trust it enough not to kill my iPod. So it will be me and the water... trying to keep count of how many laps I've done!

I'm sure my posts will be sporadic since I'm not in my regular routine, but I'll try to update from time to time. My eating was a bit out of control yesterday, but I'm back to counting points. It's been more than 2 weeks since I've tracked anything and feels good to get back to it! And my mom went to the store yesterday and stocked up on everything WW friendly. She's the best :)

Weekend Rewind

The bachelorette rocking out

Four cousins on the subway

Dinner at Vynl

So I was in NYC/North Jersey all weekend. I thought I did pretty well... considering the circumstances... and hopped on the scale last night to see it was up SEVEN POUNDS!!!! Yikes! I'm sure a lot of it is being bloated, but I need to be EXTRA good this week to see a loss!!! It didn't help that last night I had a lack of protein headache (even though I had bacon and eggs at a very NJ Diner for breakfast). At 3am I woke up in SO much pain (I had a headache when I got in bed but hoped it would go away) so I got up and took 3 advil and ate a HUGE spoonful of peanut butter. NICE! I'm sure that fat is just sitting on my thighs right now. HA!

Ok so to start of the weekend my flight was super delayed. They canceled the two flights before mine and I thought they were going to cancel mine too. I thought they were going to cancel mine too, but we finally took off at 10:30. We were supposed to leave at 8. We had been on the plan since 9. I got in at 12:15am, and my aunt picked me up (and had been circling the airport since 10:45 because continentals sight was wrong and said thats when we were getting in!!!!! I felt so bad). Got to my aunt's house and was asleep by 1am. My alarm went off at 9:30 and get this. I got up, put on my workout clothes and went to the basement! I did day 3 of week 2 couch to 5k AND lifted! She has 8lb weights so I did my arms! TB would have been so proud. So I got in a good hour long workout. I showered and then my younger cousin (Glori... Glo for short) and I were off to the foodstore to get stuff. God my aunt -- she said "Jeannie, just put it all on Glo's credit card and I'll take care of it" so we had a FIELD day in Whole Foods. Got 3 kinds of cheese, nuts, grapes, pineapple salsa, guac, chips and fancy pink lemonade and tangerine sodas. We got back to to my aunt's around 1:30 and she made us pancakes with a fruit compote (more on that later). They were yummy. I had 3 since I hadn't eaten anything and knew I wouldn't eat much more til Annies (the bachelorette herself!) at 5. Not too bad, right? Ok.

Off we went to Re's apt (Re would be Annie. Her full name is AnneMarie and her nickname as a baby was ReRe... which I brought back a few years ago. She is so thankful ha!). So Re had her apt all cleaned and we got the food set up and ready. Her apt is small, but for NY its pretty big. I ate my fair share of apps, but didn't go super overboard. I also had some of the sangria someone brought (it was peach and made with white wine and super yummy) and 1 glass of champagne. Other than that I drank water. We had a fun time at Re's apt playing games and it was a great ice breaker. There were only 7 of us, but it was perfect. Around 8:45 we headed out for dinner. Got uptown and there was NO wait for a table at dinner! The place was so cool -- Vynl on 51st and 9th I think. Splitting the check up not including Re it was $16 per person. For NY? That's dirt cheap!!! I got a grilled cheese and it came with home made chips. I ate like 6 bites of the grilled cheese as I wasn't that hungry and like TWO of the chips. I was so proud for not eating it because it was there. I also drank like 64 glasses of water because each bathroom has a theme -- Dolly Parton, Cher, Nelly (random I know), and I forget who the last one was. But I wanted to try them all out. ha! After that we went across the street to VinTage a wine/martini bar. I just had water there and everyone enjoyed a cockail. It was a cool place but our waitress sucked. We left there around 11:45, took a cab uptown to Re's house.

I helped her clean up, and then Glo and I went back to Jersey! I was in bed at 1:35am. And WIDE AWAKE AT 8:15!!! I then got up and showered, got my stuff packed up and went downstairs and had a cup of tea and watched ESPN.... I can't believe UNC lost.... tragic.

Finally people started waking up, by the time Glo got showered it was noon. We headed out to a Diner for breakfast and then they dropped me at the airport. Flight was on time, I was in my house by 5pm and hit up the foodstore and all of that Sunday fun. I wanted to get to bed by 10 but didn't get to bed til 11. I'm dragging today, but it's ok. At least it's not raining here. Today high of 60, tomorrow 64, Wednesday 74!!!! And by Friday we're in the 80s. HOLLA!!!!!!

Since I didn't have the energy to whip up a batch of pumpkin waffles last night I made my own fruit compote for the week! I just got a bag of frozen berries, a little bit of water and a tsp of sugar. Bring the water and sugar to a boil and add in the fruit. Then just let it simmer on med/low until it was thick. It took like 20 min and I just stirred it from time to time. So today I have eggos for breakfast but will add a fruit serving with my compote! I packed up a little bit of it and will heat it up in the micro. I can't wait!!!

Ok menu time!

Bfast:
2 eggos and fruit compote - 3

Lunch:
pb&j - 3
yogurt - 2
fruit salad - 1

Snacks:
celery - 0
crackers and babybel light - 3
sf pudding if needed (hopefully not though) - 1

Dinner:
I'm thinking pasta with rotis. chicken a little bit of red sauce and TONS of veggies (spinach, asparagus, peps, onions, broc) - 7

I'll have 4 points to play with, so thats not bad! NO FLEX POINTS TODAY!!!!

Gym after dinner -- I'll do day one of week THREE on the couch to 5k and abs. My quads are still sore from Thurs. Gotta love TB!

HAPPY MONDAY!

Friday Fun Day!

I was a bit of a failure this morning and didn't get up to go to the gym. Booooo. I won't be able to go tonight as I have to be at the airport at 7 (flying to NYC for my cousin's bach party).... but I did get up early enough to get to work by 8:15 and did a lap and a half around the lake. Not too shabby. At least it's something. Also, I'm staying at my aunt's house (my cousin lives in a tiny apt in NYC with a cat... and I'm allergic so that wouldn't be pretty) and she has a treadmill, so I'm thinking tomorrow morning I'll try to get up early and do day 3 of week 2 for the couch to 5k. Though Trainer Boy worked by quads and glutes like NOBODYS business last night. He was in rare, hyper form... which means a fun but HARD workout for me. He went over 5 minutes... and 5 extra minutes with him feels like an hour (though I'm happy to get the free 5 minutes haha). I did the treadmill when I was done and literally my legs were like jelly. But I walked for 20 minutes and they felt better. I have a feeling I'm going to be super sore tomorrow as day 2 is always the worst, but I figure if I get up and do a run/walk it'll loosen them up a bit. Here's hoping!!

I weigh in at 12:30. I'm scared. I have not had the best week for food. But I did workout Mon-Thursday. Also I usually weigh in on an empty stomach RIGHT when I wake up wearing gym clothes (which weigh nothing).... so everything will be off a bit. I can handle a 1 lb gain... but hopefully nothing more than that. I'll keep you posted!!

Bfast:
milk chocolatey ovaltine (im obsessed!) - 2.5
pumpkin waffs - 3

Lunch:
leftovers! couscous - 2
meatloaf muffins - 4

Snacks:
turkey on light EM - 2
1/2 cup strawbs - 0.5
dry life cereal - 2

Dinner:
No idea -- something quick before I head to the airport.

This weekend will be a challenge -- but I should be ok today and Sunday. Saturday I'll try not to eat too many snacks and will make as good a choice as I can at dinner. As I have to drive out of the city afterwards that will certainly keep me from drinking (not that that's a challenge for me). Sometimes I wish you couldn't have ice cream and brownies and drive!! Now THAT would be reason enough to be the designated driver. ha!

I fly in around 4:30 on Sunday so I'll have time to hit up the grocery store and get situated for next week.... when it's going to hopefully be sunny and warm!

Whew -- I'm back in NC after a whirlwind visit trip up north. I didn't eat all that well and certainly didn't get any workouts in -- but it was a great trip home and I'm back on track today!

Have my bag all packed for the gym after work and packed a lunch today even though it was super tempting to just go out with everyone else. Not sure what's on the menu for dinner -- but I will be tracking EVERYTHING until WI on Sat.

Here's a little write up my mom sent out to some family members who weren't able to make it home this weekend -- no need for my to retype what she already did so well! And below are some pictures.

I just want to let you all know that Capt. Marty made a beautiful landing of his C130 at Willow Grove Naval Air station yesterday around 2PM. There was a group of 30-40 family members and friends there to greet him and his men. It was really exciting to see that huge plane touch down and then taxi to where we were waiting for him. A few minutes before landing, the rain stopped and the sun miraculously came out so that we could greet them from outside on the tarmac. When the plane landed, their unit flag (352 Raiders), black pirate flag with skull and crossbones was raised from the top of the plane and some of the men took turns sticking their heads out and waved to the crowd. Many of us had US and pirates flags to wave back as we cheered. My sister Karen, was exuberant and radiant. Her excitement was something to behold. Marty was the first off the plane and came right over to hug his mom. I never thought I would see that again. [Sidenote: my aunt has inflammatory breast cancer and they didn't think she'd make it 6 months until he got back -- she's proving ALL the doctor's wrong and is still going strong!] We went inside and greeted each of the men with a goodie bag (treats from Phila) as we all sang The Marine Corp anthem accompanied by Dooz on the sax and Cook on guitar. Who knew there were 3 verses?????

We rushed back to Karen's house to give the men a proper "Kunberger" meal ... meatballs, sausage, baked ziti, etc. as well as cheese steaks and hoagies (at Marty's request). Byron Scott from channel 10 news (NBC) came and did a really nice piece (4 min.) which ran on both the 6 and 11 o'clock news.

Many of the neighbors came out to greet them as they drove up her street. We had decorated the way in with flags and welcome home signs. Each of the men were grateful to be home in the US but of course, were anxiously awaiting getting home to their own families. One of the young men's wife gave birth to their first child just 2 days ago. He was hoping to get home in time, but was looking forward to meeting his new son, Connor. There were 2 or 3 others who were looking forward to meeting their children for the first time.

Marty went back to Willow Grove this morning at 9. He was planning on taking off around 10:30. His wife, Stephanie, as well as many other wives and loved ones will be waiting for them this afternoon at Mirimar, San Diego.

A perfect landing

Marty coming over to say hi to everyone

Even after 6 months of war and just piloting an international flight
can't keep my cuz from being hip

(Left to right) My bro's gf, me and Marty
(enjoying "the best beer of his life")

Rough Week

I've been having a rough week. For some reason I just have no self control. I was so good last week, and this week it's just gone. My friend and I have been discussing our struggles on g-chat. It's been making me think.

A little background... this is one of my best friends since I was in first grade. We went to different high schools, but then the same college. As for this weekend -- I'm heading home for a BIG family party. My cousin is coming home from Iraq so there will be every sort of Philly comfort food in large supply (soft pretzels, cheese steaks, hoagies, etc).

me:dude, i need to get back on track starting NOW... not tomorrow, not sat but NOW!

2:06 PM if i wait til tomorrow ill eat my face off tonight... then tomorrow ill say F it til i get back on sun night which will be BAD ..... sooo much food is in my future this weekend

2:07 PM Friend: yes, completely. keep telling yourself that. and this weekend, TASTE things but dont go crazy if you can help it.

me: i know

i just dont understand why i do this you know?

like how do i stand at the kitchen counter eating pretzels when in my head im literally saying "youre not hungry... you dont need this..."

but i still take another bite... SO stupid but i literally cant stop sometimes

ugh!!!!

2:10 PM Friend: i do the same. sabatoging self.

its awful

me: but why... why do we do it?

i just dont get it

Friend: is it some deep thing about not really liking ourselves or something? or not really believing we'll ever be thin? so we might as well just eat away anyway.

god i hope not

me: thats probably it

2:11 PM so silly and sad

2:14 PM Friend: it is. its like subconscious

me: i feel like if i could figure out the answer to why i don't just listen to my body... then id be much better off

2:16 PM Friend: I think thats what it is with me. I'm like, well I can get down to 116 or so, thats the lowest ive been. meanwhile i read and hear things that say someone my height should be 100 lbs. so its like, wahts the point? i'm always going to be "curvy". i'll never be like my sister. and i'll always love food, cooking, and eating.

me: yes

i mean look at ALL the women in my family

2:17 PM its almost like i figure im destined to be overweight so why bother?

but i never feel GOOD after mindless "f it" eating

it doesnt make anything better

reading and saying all of this just makes it sound SO simple and SO stupid

2:18 PM Friend: yeahI know. Totally. For me, I know its about exercise. Because I love food, cooking, and eating, i will have to figure out another way. because i will never be happy not eating what i want.

never.

and its the same w/ my family - i take after dad's side

the women are big

bigger than me, but still.

2:19 PM me: makes sense

Friend: i have to remember that i felt so good at my lowest. I really did. it was hard work, but it was worth it.

me: i know

me: it really was... the sad thing was at my lowest i still thought i was SO big

but looking back i looked good

still not in my 'healthy weight range' but so much better than i am now you know?

Friend: YES

completely

2:20 PM its the same with high school!

i thought i was huge

then college hit. damn.

me: yeah

stinkin mama celeste!!!!!! We used to eat them like it was our job!

2:21 PM Friend: seriously. i felt awful then. i feel i have a bit more control now at least.

me: yes -- if not control at least knowledge

if that makes sense

2:22 PM Friend: yes it totally does make sense

2:23 PM like i KNOW to eat fruits and veggies now, I KNOW what are low points. as opposed to eating whatever for the hell of it and not knowing about nutrition and stuff.

me: exactly

2:24 PM even the days that i do 'bad' now are still SO much better than i used to be

ill at least still get in all my fruits and veggies and not waste points on soda and juice

2:25 PM Friend:YES. exactly. but still doesn't translate to weight loss. thats where the mind comes in.

and thats the hard part.

me: exactly

Thoughts? Why do we do this to ourselves? I'd love to hear what different people think on the topic.

I did it!

Not only did I spend a good portion of my day in the car (upwards of 7.5 hours), but I stayed WITHIN my points. As in didn't use ANY flex points or APs.

I got everything done on my to do list:

1) Drive home from PA (that wasn't really negotiable though)
2) Hit up the grocery store
3) Went to the GYM... at 7:30 pm in the rain... who is this girl?
4) Made a YUMMY lunch for tomorrow

I'm off to shower now cause I smell. Ick. Then bed and up again tomorrow to have another great day. I haven't stepped on a scale since Sat's wretched weigh in, so tomorrow morning I might take a peak. Please let this week be looking better than last. I've only been eating 24 points instead of 26 (just seems like a lot to me, even though I have no problems eating right through them and then some!) still have 23 flex points left and have been getting in good workouts!

I'll leave you with this picture of my Aunt and I from yesterday. We went ice skating! It was so fun.


Oh! One more thing. Remember me saying that my goal for being home was to not have any M&Ms from the M&M machine? Well if you dont here's the recap from Sat night's post:

I'm at my parent's house now. My mom, dad and brother (who is in town as well) are all at an engagement party tonight, so I'm now home alone. There is an M&M dispenser chock full of pink, red and white M&Ms. It's staring at me. It's calling to me. It's pretty much just mocking me. BUT I will not eat any. That's my goal, to not take a single "pull" from the dispenser from now til I leave on Tuesday. It's going to be hard. More habit than anything else. So wish me luck!

Guess what? I did it! Not a single M&M. I even took a picture of the nasty little buggers staring me down just so I could really show you how evil they are. (I've officially lost it. I think cute little Valentines M&Ms are out to get me... but regardless I showed them)

Doesn't it look like a little monster? "EAT ME!"

Goals, Cookbook, Dress, Contest and More!

Happy New Year everyone! I can't believe it's 08 already. Insane. I had a great Christmas. Went home to Philly for a few days, and then my parents came to Charlotte for the new year. My dad did TONS of work around our house. He's the best :)

Ok -- so I have much to cover in this post so here's a preview:
1) New Years Goals
2) Jessica Seinfeld Cookbook
3) Triathlete??
4) Bridesmaid Dress
5) Contest!
6) Menu

Yes... it's that time of year to make resolutions/goals, whatever you want to call them. I have a bunch which might be setting myself up for failure, but I'm going to try. So here they are:

• Make the gym part of my routine. I'm not saying I'm going to go everyday for so many hours... but to just try to work it in a bit more than I normally do
• Go on birth control! Being that I'm in a monogamous relationship with another girl, I don't have to worry about pregnancy scares, but my cramps are so insanely bad and I'm on like a 20 day cycle. So I'm pretty much PMSing, or crampy and have my period 3 out of the 4 weeks in a month. I think the bill will greatly help this. Woohoo!
• Be more supportive of Ar's races season that is coming up! She's been working her butt of training the past month or two so I hope to get to some of her races to cheer her on.
• Take the dogs for more walks. They love it so much, and it's good for me to get out and walk. So why don't I do it more??

I think that's about it. Like I said, it's a lot... but I'm going to try. And if I just get a little bit better at each of them, or even just one of them... then I'm better off than I was in 07!

Ok -- Jessica Seinfeld cookbook. If you don't know anything about it it's called Deceptively Delicious and the premise is that she makes vegetable and fruit purees and then "hides" them in her food so her kids get in veggies without even knowing it. My mom got it for me for Christmas, and I also got a new food processor (which I'm in love with) so last night I whipped up some of the purees to have on hand. I made cauliflower, carrot, spinach and sweet potato. I also made the macaroni and cheese. It was good, but I would have double the amount of pasta for the sauce that the recipe made. It was TOO cheesy for me (if you can believe that). But I think making more pasta, hence more servings with the same amount of sauce would have been perfect. I also made her burgers and put them in the freezer so they're ready to throw on the grill for a quick dinner. I think I might also make her rice balls tonight. So I'll post reviews and recipes as I make things!

Moving right along....

Yes, you read correctly above. I did say Triathlete! Why? Because I'm going to be one in 2008! I put registration to the 2008 SheRoxTri in Philadelphia on my Christmas list and my brother signed me up! Yikes! But this is the kick in the pants I need to get back in shape. The MS 150 wasn't pushing me enough anymore since I knew I could do it... even if I did it slowly, I could still do it with minimal training. So on August 3rd I'll (hopefully) be swimming 0.8K, biking 25k and running 5k! Wish me luck as my training starts SOON!

A while ago I posted a bunch of dresses and asked yall to vote for your favorite. Well I finally went and tried all the dresses on and made my decision... and I'm so sad to say it wasn't even one of the ones I was looking at! I had ruled it out because it was long and we are supposed to have tea-length or cocktail length. Silly me forgot that things can be hemmed!! So here's the winner!!!



I didn't think it would look good on me at all, but I fell in love with it when I tried it on at the bridal shop. And hopefully by May I'll be a few pounds lighter and toned up a bit more, I'm sure it will look great!!

In other news, Roni over at WeightWatchen has announced her first contest! She's such an inspiration, and I'm a sucker for almost ALL of her recipes, so definitely check out her blog (and check out her recipe blog for all of her yummies). The contest is from Orville Redenbacher to promote their new Natural Line of Popcorn. So check it out!!

And finally, today's menu:

Breakfast:
2 multigrain waffles w/ 1/2 banana - 3
I caved and had a greek delight - 2

Lunch:
homemade chicken salad on light bread - 3
clementines - 1

Snacks:
Hostess 100 calorie pack - 1
Fig Newtown - 3

Dinner:
I'm thinking chicken pot pie - 8
side of veggies - 0

Snack:
something for 3

Cripes

I haven't posted in a week... probably because I've been ignoring the whole 'commitment' post I last wrote. I went home this weekend (to get some goodies for the soon to be new house more on that later), which meant 17 hours in the car by myself.... lots of junk food. While I was home I didnt do all that well either.... lots of home cooked meals and party food.

Now I'm back home and I should be getting back on track, but with the move 6 days away I've refused to go to the store. It's time to start eating stuff in the freezer and using up what we have. I've also been having a bit of a love affair with The Waffle House. I'd never been, and mentioned that to Ar Mon night when we drove past one and she quickly did a U-turn and pulled in. I fell in love. Cheap and delicious. We ate dinner there last night too. This has to stop.

So I realize that the next week or two I probably won't lose a lot of weight. I'm going to be realitic about the move and the fact that we'll be eating out a bit more as the kitchen is pretty packed up. So my goal is to maintain through the move, then get RIGHT back on track starting August 4. Thats also the week I'll start following the 8 week training schedule for the MS 150. I think the new house will be a good jump start to get me back on track. Start from scratch all of that good stuff.

As for going home this past weekend -- I drove up on Fri night after work. Got in around 1:15a. Was up Sat morning to go for a bike ride with my aunt and then had a day of family fun ahead of me. My cousins who's stationed (in the Marines) in Cali was home for a bit as he's being deployed (AGAIN -- this is the 3rd time) in the beginning of August. It worked out well as I got to see him and got some goodies that my dad had for the house. Including a Weber Grill (its used, but my dad cleaned it up all nice and got a new lid for it so it looks brand new!), weed whacker and a lawn mower! Now we've got the back yard covered :) It was great to be home, but I'm still recouping from the drive to and from and trying to pack and all of that goodness.

So I might be a little MIA over the next week or so. But I'm going to do my best. We make settlement and move in on Tuesday (July 31) so hopefully by next weekend I'll be back to normal!

Back

I'm back from my mini vacation at home. I saw lots of friends and family-- found out one of my best friends if pregnant (YAY!!!!!!!!) and just enjoyed being away from work and being spoiled by my mom and dad.

Brought home the new car -- I'm in LOVE! It rides great and is just sooo nice. Big thanks to mom and dad for that one. These arent of my car -- but its what it looks like!




So home was great -- but the diet at home was horrid! I stepped on the scale this morning and it actually wasnt as bad as I thought (given the McDs and Arbys I ate on the road yesterday), so thats good. Now to just make sure it stays that way, and starts heading in the DOWNWARD direction.

I'm home and ready to get back on track, but our fridge is BARREN! And I dont get paid til tomorrow, so no grocery store until Sunday. I'm going to do my best to make it, but I might have to run out tonight or tomorrow to get some produce.

Morning bike rides start TOMORROW! yippee!!!!!

Todays menu is up in the air:

Bfast:
cheerios - 3

Snack:
muffin - 1

Lunch:
Lean Cuisine - 5

Snack:
TCBY- 4

Dinner:
were going to a friends house so whatever theyre servin up!

Back on track today! And I'll stick to it throughout the weekend!!!

Chick-Fil-A, Houses, and a Vacation

Chick-fil-A for dinner last night. WOOPS! But I still did ok. I didnt really snack at work and didnt snack when I got home last night. And I just had a 4 piece nugget kids meal w/ their diet lemonade (so yummy). Could have been much worse. We went there after Ar and I looked at our first house!!!!!! We are both absolutely in LOVE with it (our pictures here). My mom, my aunt (whos a realtor) and our realtor (who had these funny looking suspenders on hahaha) have all encouraged us to look at a few more things just to make sure, but I have a feeling that we're going to want to make an offer on this one. Its got EVERYTHING we want, and its adorable. Not much we'd have to change at all.

So yes... thats why we had Chick-Fil-A for dinner.

Today I'm doing what I like to call Euro-Eating. When my cousin and I went to France (back in the day) we used to run to the gas station and get a baguette, some cheese and fruit and call it a meal. So today for lunch I have something kind of like that -- cheese and crackers and a HUGE fruit salad. YUM-O. So exciting. I might get some veggie soup at Panera to get in some veggies, we shall see.

In other news I didnt get up today OR yesterday to ride. Looks like Wednesday was just a freak of nature. And tomorrow Ar and I are heading up north for a while. (So if I'm MIA that would be why). So I'll be at my parents house and doing lots of friend/family visiting between Sat and Tuesday... which means probably not good eating. My old bike (Trek Hybrid) is still in my parents shed so I'm hoping to ride with my Aunt one day. We shall see! But when I get back, watch out I'm going to become a morning person. I'm determined!!! (At least I'm determined when its not the wee hours of the morning and I'm not snuggled up under the covers!)

In other exciting news while I'm home we'll be doing the great car swap where my brother gets my car (03 civic that has almost 100k miles on it -- but his is literally falling apart so hes pumped about it), I get my moms car (04 Honda Accord, fully loaded baby), and my mom is getting a new car, and donating my bros to charity to get the tax deduction for it. I'm not done paying off my car so my mom paid it off and I'm going to send my payments to her ever month. I do love my mom and dad :) And yes, I realize that I'm a bit spoiled. (I just hope I'm not too much of a spoiled brat! heehee)

Ok onto the menu...

Bfast:
vitamuffin and yogurt - 2

Lunch:
fruit salad - 2
crackers and cheese - 5

Snacks:
asian pear - 0
100 cal pack - 2
maybe something else -- not sure though

Dinner:
No idea. I have to clean out my car, pack, do laundry and get to bed EARLY so probably a pick up dinner using up the veggies in the fridge so they dont go bad!

Real Stuff

My last two posts have just really been pictures -- so I thought it was time to write a real post :)

But before that -- I should say thank you for all of the kind comments on the pictures Ar took of me. Its so easy to look at a picture of yourself and hate everything about it, so I feel like this was just a big step for me... so thanks for boosting my ego a bit :)

Ok -- back to my real post heehee. My week has been flying by which is quite a treat! I cant believe it's already Thursday (and Grey's season finale night -- yes!!). I've been doing well this week, have 14 flex points left which is pretty good, though this morning when I hopped on the scale I saw a pretty high number. My official weigh in will be tomorrow as Saturday I wont be home (more on that in a bit). So I'm hoping if I can down a bunch of water today and really stay on track I should at least get back to where I was last week... I'm ok if I dont lose. I just feel like a big gain will set me back pretty far. And I do need to remember that I've been good at tracking this week, got some exercise in, and if I dont see a loss eventually I will if I just stay on track! (So remind me of all of that tomorrow if I have a big gain haha)


As for this weekend -- I'm off to Canyon Ranch with my mom, aunt and 2 cousins on Saturday! I'm flying into Newark, NJ tomorrow after work and will get in around 8:30. My brother is picking me up and bringing me to my aunts house where I'll spend the night, and then we'll get up at 6am on Saturday and head up to Canyon Ranch (which is in the Berkshires in MA). I am beyond excited. I went last year with my mom and it was a huge treat. Somehow my aunt (who wasnt able to go with us last year because she broke her knee) talked my mom into going with her AND bringing me. Gotta love it.

So yes -- I'll be in my happy place from Saturday morning until Tuesday afternoon. Then we'll drive back to my aunts and my mom will drop me off at Newark for a late flight home. I'll get home around 11:30pm and will be back to reality come Wednesday morning.

I've been working on my schedule for while I'm there -- want to make sure I get the most out of my time. So here's what I have so far... a bunch of things I couldnt decide between so I'll just make a game time decision on if I should stretch or do cardio, etc.

(click image to make it larger)

Ohhh and lest I forget my menu for today!

Breakfast:
Cheerios w/ 1/2 banana and skim milk - 3

Snack:
Vita Muffin - 1

Lunch:
yogurt - 1
asian pear - 0
maybe soup from panera as well - 4

Snacks:
sugar free pudding snack w/ cool whip light and 1/2 banana - 2
pretzels and string cheese - 2

Dinner:
No idea -- I feel like its going to be one of those nights where I dont want to cook! I'll make something for 8 points or so. And also drink TONS OF WATER all day long :)

Trying to Focus

I was a MESS yesterday. I think getting my period just threw me all off track. I dont even know what I ate, but some highlights are: a frosty from Wendy's, oreos (though the reduced fat ones), ice cream and LOTS of other stuff that wasnt necessarily bad for me its just the AMOUNT of food I ate. I feel gross today. And the cramps arent helping haha. But I'm not letting my food fest from yesterday screw up my whole week. I dont weigh in until Saturday so I have time to turn it around! I'm owning up to my nastiness and moving on!

In other news I got all sorts of good produce and other yummies at the food store yesterday. When I dropped my parents off at the airport my dad gave me some 'gas money' which I thought was going to be 20 bucks... but it was 100!!!! And since we are tight on our budget this month (I'm still trying to catch up from the $752 Honda bill from last month that screwed me BIG TIME) I wasnt planning on going to the food store this week and was just going to make do with what we had. But I figured with the money my dad gave me I could go and get produce!!! So I did! And I splurged BIG TIME and got 2 boxes of Vita Muffins! (they are 5 bucks each for 4 muffins, so not really something I'll every buy normally). I got the chocolate ones and the banana nut ones. They are ONE POINT and so yummy.

I'm excited for my food todays... heres my menu:

Breakfast:
strawbs - 0.5
vitamuffin - 1
tea w/ honey - 0.5

Lunch:
double fiber bread, light mayo, mustard, lite turkey, avocado and tomato sammy (YUUUUUUUUUUM) - 3.5*
light chips - 1
apple - 1

Snack:
akmak and light cream cheese - 2
100 cal pack - 2

Dinner:
Ar has to work til 9 tonight because there some Bike! Week event going on -- so its just me! [EDIT] I think I'm going to make these yummy pancakes for dinner!!! I have tons of strawberries and bananas that I'll have with them. Perfect!

* Note that theres no cheese on this sammy! This is a FIRST for me so I'm anxious to see if the tomato and avocado make up for it. Heres hoping!!!

Ok -- thats about it for today. I'm just really trying to eat 24 points ONLY for the rest of the week... and to get some APs. Focus is the key....

5k in the rain

Just got back from doing the 'Peace Begins at Home' 5k here in Charlotte (well it was in Matthews, but close enough). My mom and dad are in town for the weekend -- and lucky me its currently 55 degrees and rainy! But we still forged on and did the walk. My mom went ahead a little with my friend Lily and my dad and I were a few minutes behind them - we finished in about 47 minutes. Not too bad and I feel like I got a decent workout in. Too bad it was cold and spitting rain. Could have been worse though, so thats good!

And as an added bonus -- I'm down 1.4 this week!!!! Which was quite exciting given the fact that I've been down (even though its been small amounts) the past few weeks. I always get nervous that I'm going to see a gain after 4 weeks of a loss. So a 1.4 pound loss is fine by me!! And just another .2 pounds and I'll be at 10 pounds since I started in January. Taking a little more time than I'd hoped -- but I'll get there dammit!

Not sure what the plan for the rest of the day is. My mom and dad are showering at their hotel. I'm going to hop in the shower and then run to the store to get lunch meat. I figure instead of going out to lunch I'll just bring them back to our apartment (they havent seen it yet) and we'll do sandwiches, chips (fat free chips for me), and maybe some potato salad or something. I've been stressing a bit about what to do with them and eating out for bunches of meals and everything. So I'm happy with todays lunch plan. We're going to go to church tonight and then out to dinner.

Probably wont hear from me again until Monday or Tuesday. So I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Go drink some water :)

Weigh In, Steeplechse and a Good Ride

I've had quite the eventful weekend! Yesterday I had to work at the Queens Cup Steeplechase races which was so fun. Basically I worked the WFAE table (spun a prize wheel and gave out goodies) from 10-12:30 and then after that I was free to enjoy the day! Not only did I get paid for working, but I got 4 tickets to the event and free parking! So I really can't complain. I brought Lily and 2 of her friends that were in from out of town. We packed a picnic of cheeses, tons of fruit, wheat thins, carrots and Lily's homemade raspberry squares (which are heavenly). So even with the 'tailgating' I was able to eat well! But anyway everyone was all dressed up in adorable sun dresses and hats and I honestly felt like I had time warped into 1952 or something. I loved it! Heres a few pictures:

Me and Lily (I need to find a good hat for next year!)

The picture doesnt do the horses justice

Then I hung out at Ar's shop from 3-6 as they were short handed and well I'm good at answering the phone at least so I did that to try to help out. Ha! And then we went out to dinner ... MEXICAN. But I did well there too! I got veggie fajitas which was basically a huge sizzling skillet of peppers, onions and brocolli and then 3 small flour tortillas (I only at 2) and then a side of rice (2 bites), guac and salsa. It was great and I ate lots of the veggies. Yay!

This morning I weighed in as I forgot to yesterday morning (what with the excitement of getting up at 8am for Steeplechase). I was down 0.2 pounds! It doesnt seem like much, but considering that I really blew a few days this week AND didnt workout at all I was pleased! YAY!

That got me in the right mindset to go for a ride today. I went out and did about 16 miles. Though my cat eye broke like 15 minutes into the ride (a part must have fallen off the wheel on a bump) so that was a bummer. But instead of being annoyed and quitting early I forged on. Added to some of the sun I got yesterday (my back looks like a maze with 2 different riding tan lines and yesterdays sundress lines haha) and just got in a really good workout. Heres my route compliments of Gmaps Pedometer.

Now its time to shower and clean because my parents are coming to visit on Friday! I'm so excited!!! Though I'm not quite sure what we're going to do all weekend. The two things that are definite are walking a 5k with my mom on Saturday morning (a few people I know are doing it so I thought that would be fun), and having my dad help us install a ceiling fan in the bedroom. Yippee!

As for today's menu it's really up in the air. So far heres what I've got:

Bfast:
Apple Jacks (so healthy I know ha) - 4

Lunch:
small piece of leftover pizza and leftover veggies from last night - 5
Asian pear - 0

Dinner:
no idea! Maybe barilla plus pasta and meatballs??? We shall see what I cook up.

Happy Easter!

I havent posted in a while and this one will be a quickie as I'm home in PA. But miracle of miracles I've been keeping to my April goals! Yesterday I didnt get all of my water in (and had a headache to prove it), but other than that I have been getting in my fruits and veggies, and not eating after 9PM. So I'm quite proud of that. I've also been good at resisting appetizers --and considering we had TWO easter dinners yesterday (one with my dads side at 1pm and another with my moms side at 5pm) so thats quite a feat! And I've stopped eating when I'm full. Granted the stuff I'm eating isnt all that healthy, but it could be a LOT worse so that makes me happy.

Tonight my mom is making one of my favorite dinners: baked zitti and home made meatballs. YUM! It will be hard to stop when I'm full -- but I'm going to do it! And I'll load up on salad first as I've only gotten in one fruit and one veggie so far today :)

Ok -- I dont have time to check blogs right now but I promise to check in on all of the challengers on Wed when I'm back at work!!

Oh and one more thing -- I weighed in on Friday and stayed the same! I'll take it as it's not a gain :)

Lenten Thoughts - 40 Days of ???

I just wrote a whole long post about Lent and my thoughts on it and blah blah blah. And I closed the window because someone came in who needed to use my coputer and I thought it was saved and it wasnt. And now I'm annoyed haha. But I'll try to rewrite it now.

Yesterday Michelle posted a challenge about giving something up for the next 40 days.... It got me thinking. And growing up Catholic Ash Wednesday was always a dreaded day. From when I was so little that I dont remember til my Junior year in high school my family gave up TV for Lent. That meant no Cosby Show, no Growing Pains, no Saved by the Bell, no My So Called Life...later no Felicity, no Dawsons Creek, No Seinfeld, No Friends. Nada. Nothing. Instead we used the time to hang out as a family. When my brother and I were younger we'd pick a book each year to read out loud as a family (Fudge and Super Fudge by Judy Blume were 2 of the better ones we picked) when we got older we'd play board games (Yatzee is still a family favorite) or card games. Thinking back it was kind of nice. But let's also remember that the Oscars fall during Lent every year. I didnt actually see the Oscars until my Senior year of high school... which is just a crime if you ask me!

Also my birthday falls during Lent (or Easter weekend) every year. My 21st birthday was actually on Good Friday (though my brother decided it should be upgraded to GREAT Friday). So I wasnt allowed to eat meat OR eat in between meals. Then I went out and did a whole bunch of drinking.... BAD COMBINATION!!! My mom had a bunch of party trays ordered at the bar where we all congregated (since it was Easter weekend it was mostly my cousins and friends from home), but as we couldnt eat in between meals or eat meat my one cousins (who just happens to be a priest) issued the COUNTDOWN TO MEAT. So basically instead of a new years eve countdown to midnight we had a variation on that until midnight when we could bust out the meaty party trays. Insanity I tell you.

But I digress... all of this came from Michelles February challenge to give something up for the next 40 days (which just happens to coincide with lent). I generally try to either add something (like say do a day of service each week) or if I do give something up I try to add something in its place (if I were to give up chocolate put the money aside that I'd spend on it and donate it to a homeless shelter). But for the sake of the challenge I decided to look at this as solely a weight loss challenge. So this really wont have anything to do with my lenten 'sacrifice.'

After a lot of thinking I've deicded to give up FRENCH FRIES and BAKED GOODS. I'm also only going to allow myself to eat CHOCOLATE on days that I go to the GYM. So I'm not totally giving it up, but I have to work for it. Fair trade I think.

I do need to add a little disclaimer though that I will allow myself a few treats for my birthday. I won't go on a week long celebrating food fest... but I will allow myself 3 'freebies' that week. Be it cake, cookies or just chocolate and no gym I think thats an ok trade off. This way I'll still feel like I'm celebrating, but I wont go overboard.

It seems like a lot, but I really need something to get my ass in gear. My pants are way too tight. And I've been so annoyed with my lack of willpower lately. I think this will be a good time to just kick it all off! So thanks for posing the challenge Michelle! I'm so ready for it!

My Supercool Dad

I read Kellie's post this morning about how she gets frustrated with her husband. And well I don't have a husband... but I do have a girlfriend. And while I may complain and whine to her a lot... she certainly holds up her end of the bargain. She may not be great about doing the dishes, but I can't by any means say that she doesnt do anything. And that makes me happy. And she's good at getting flowers, maybe that's just because she's a girl and gets what the fuss is about? But I like to think it's just because she's cute and thoughtful. haha. Let me pretend :)

But right... Kellies post. It got me thinking about my dad. He might be the coolest guy on earth. A little background. My dad started working at a local hardware store stocking the shelves when he was 16. Fast forward to today: he owns the store (how f'in cool is that?) I've never met a person who didnt love my dad. He's a fun guy, always up for a laugh, and just a great person to be around. Him and my mom were set up on a blind date. After the first date my mom swore she'd never go out with him again. It was apparently the worst date she'd been on. Somehow he convinced her to go out with him again. The night of the date my mom BEGGED her sister to answer the door and tell him she was sick. Bless my aunt, she said hell no! And made my mom go out with him. They fell in love on the second date. On their third date they were engaged. They are still happily married. Like sickeningly happy and in love. When I was little I thought it was so disturbing to see my parents kiss and be cutesy... but now I think its just adorable.

Clearly I'm daddys little girl. If you know me at all its painfully obvious. He doesnt spoil me horribly (not like those teeny boppers on MTVs My Super Sweet 16), but he does spoil me. For example, when I first really started riding and training for the MS 150 he decided he was going to do it with me as his best friend (my Godfather) has MS and it's really deteriorated him. My brother had gotten my dad an iPod that year for Christmas. Now this was before anyone I knew had an iPod. But my dad loves music and he's the hardest man to shop for (exactly what do you get a man who OWNS a hardware store?) At first my dad didnt quite get the iPod, but he quickly became obsessed with it. He'd spend hours everynight uploading all of his CDs to iTunes and then put them on his pod. He hooked it up to the speakers at work and had all different playlists for different days, he listened to it when working around the house, he got the car adapter, he even got a unit for the bathroom so he could rock out while showering. The man didn't go far without his iPod. Well, my dad decided to get me one as a little MS 150 training incentive. As he didnt understand how I was going on long rides without an iPod! He got my brother one too so as not to play favorites and because he knew my bro would use it as well. So one random day we just each got a wrapped present from him and my mom. Thats the kind of spoiling I get. And I love it. haha.

Anyway... I just cant remember a day when my dad got home from work and was too tired to play with my brother and I. He's on his feet all day long. Often unloading deliveries of mulch or Weber Grills or other super heavy stuff. He deals with customers all day. But every night he'd come home, eat dinner with us, do the dishes (with my and bro's help), and then either take me to and from dance class or watch our silly TV shows with us or whatever. His day off is Monday. And guaranteed every Monday he's doing some sort of job around the house... waxing the floors, fixing something in the bathroom, mowing the lawn... the guy is a machine. He plays tennis 2 nights a week and used to play racket ball one night as well. Now that he's a bit older he plays golf like there's no tomorrow. But he does excel at any sport he tries (even freaking croquet! haha).

Not only is he an amazing dad, but he's a wonderful husband. Every year in my mom's stocking at Christmas she gets a little gift certificate for flowers to be delivered every other Saturday during the winter. My mom is really into her garden in the spring and summer and always has fresh flowers around. And one winter she was just so sad to never have fresh flowers... so now during the cold months she still always has fresh flowers around the house. One year for Valentines day my dad got red spray paint from work and painted a HUGE heart on the grass in the backyard (it was the size of the yard) that had their initials inside it. We have a big window in the great room that looks out to the backyard so its the first thing my mom saw when she woke up and came downstairs that morning. And it was there until the grass grew long enough that it got chopped off. So for a few months it was just chillin in the background... so everyone could see how freakin adorable my dad is. heehee

I mean really.. how can you not like my dad? He's just the cutest. And I just felt the need to let everyone know how totally awesome and cool my dad is (and it doesnt hurt that we are painting our apartment and hit up daddy for paint and supplies while we were home over christmas heehee. A hardware store can be so useful!)