I don't NEED Chocolate... right?

I'm aiming to not eat any chocolate today. This is extremely hard for me. First because I just love it. Second because this sits on my desk....




These aren't just any M&Ms either... they are peanut butter M&Ms. I've gotten into the very bad habit of having 2 or 3 after breakfast... then another 2 or 3 after lunch... and then a few in the afternoon because well I just get bored. So today I'm putting a stop to it! I will not eat any little chocolaty things today. I've moved the M&M machine from right on my desk to one of the tables in the reception area (which is mere feet from my desk... but not within arms length!).

Wish me luck! I seem to be somewhat insatiable today. Breakfast kept me full for all of an hour and a half and I finished lunch 15 minutes ago and my stomach still feels empty. Maybe I didn't have enough protein? I know I didn't have much at breakfast and I think that was a big mistake. Live and learn, right?

Last Day of CRAZY food

We only have $65,733 more to raise for our drive! Which we can definitely do today if we keep up our momentum. We did 30k this morning alone. WOOHOO! And today is the last day of TONS of food laying around. PRAISE BE!!!!!

I did HORRIBLEY yesterday. I think I ended up eating 38 points. I had Moes for lunch (aka a burrito and chips and queso). I had pizza for dinner. Ben & Jerrys lighten up ice cream after the gym. It was bad. But I worked out HARD so at least that hopefully offset some of it. I did arms with Trainer Boy which is always my hardest and he had no mercy (which was good) and then I did 35 minutes on the treadmill. Did 2.3 miles not to mention the 2 laps I did around the lake at work. Soooo at least I didn't just eat 38 points and then sit around and do nothing :)

Today Dunkin Donuts was for breakfast. I had 1/2 a donut and a piece of bread. Carb loading, what?? Ha! But lunch is Quiznos and I'll have no problems passing that up. No dinner planned, so I'll hit up the gym as soon as I'm done here and make something with VEGGIES once I get home. I hopped on the scale this morning and it looks like all of the greasy food hasn't caught up with me yet. I'm going to a meeting tomorrow since my friend is visiting from out of town this weekend. Just means I need to be extra good today! I've already drank 1/2 a nalgene which is saying a lot since I usually haven't even filled it up by this point.

I just want to maintain this week. Here's hoping!

Menu for today:

Bfast:
see above - 8

lunch:
chicken and pasta bake - 4

snacks:
nectarine - 1
yogurt (yeah milk!) - 2
pudding w/ 1 graham cracker (more milk!) - 3

That will give me 6 points for dinner tonight. I'm not sure what I'll make -- maybe have some leftover meatloaf muffins and then couscous w/ TONS of veggies in it. Mmmm sounds good.

And tonight I plan on doing dishes (you should see my sink right now... it's insane) and watching basketball!

Flying Biscuit Yummies

While I had a great weigh in on Sat (down 2), I did pretty horribly this weekend. I tracked everything and didn't go over my points by too much, but I didn't eat anything healthy. Carbs everywhere and not enough protein, fruits, veggies, milk or water! I hopped on the scale this morning to a 3 pound gain. Now I'm not TOO worried... but I have a rough week ahead of me with constant food at work and 12 hour days so I need to be on my BEST behavior. Which will be really hard, but I'll try my best.

This morning the Flying Biscuit delivered breakfast and the spread was out of this world. Eggs, turkey bacon, chicken sausage, potatoes, grits, biscuits and these MASSIVE organic oatmeal pancakes. I had a pancakes, a piece of bacon and a few bites of eggs. I'm estimating it at 8 points... YIKES! But the pancake was seriously out of this world. One of the best I've had in my LIFE! I might steal a few if we have leftovers to freezer for later in the week. YUM-O! I plan on scooting out of here around 10:30ish to run to S-bucks and get a Steamer. I've had NO milk servings since Friday. Which is unacceptable. So I'm back to it today.

As for my weekend it was ok. Saturday got up at 6:30, worked til 12:30 , went to the gym and then came home, watched the end of the Carolina game (SO intense) and then took a 2 hour nap til 6:30. I got up, made dinner, watched some TV and was back in bed by 10:30. It was great. Yesterday I got up and worked for a few hours, watched the Carolina game (another good one), hit up the food store, made dinner and watched TV. I snuck in 2 loads of laundry too... but all in all it was a quiet weekend. Which is what I needed to recoup from last week and get ready for this week. And Laura comes on Sat morning so that will be fun!!

Ok... here's my menu for today. I'm trying REALLY hard not to use any Flexies today but I don't know if thats possible. I need to use a LOT of self control. Also I need to get back to chugging water... I've been super lax about it the past few days.

Bfast:
See above - 8

Snack:
steamer - 3

Lunch:
Johnny Burrito is scheduled which I can easily pass up so I'll have...
salad w/ feta and cashews - 3
yogurt - 2
grapes - 1

Snacks:
fruit salad - 1

Dinner:
going super light - leftover meatloaf from last night - 4
maybe some veggies - 0

If I REALLY need a snack I'll have pudding or something else for 2 points

That's not a lot of food between now (8am) and when I go to bed (hopefully like 9:30pm). But I'm going to try SO hard to not have any of the PIZZA provided for dinner -- to just pick it up, set it out at work and then head to the GYM! I'll get home around 7ish, I'll have my meatloaf, shower and get ready for bed. I can do this!

But send me good vibes anyway just in case :)

TEN!!

I've made it through the first 2.5 days of the food-a-thon at work. Day 1 I did great! Yesterday, I did ok. Not amazing, but not horrible either. Today has been off to a rough start. Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. I had 1/2 a donut and 4 munchkins. But I'm done now and have grapes and yogurt if I need something else. I can do this. And if I come out of it with a loss next Saturday it will be the best thing EVER! Though I'm really just hoping to maintain.... keep your fingers crossed.

As for this week, I just snuck out of work to go to my meeting. DOWN TWO! For a total of 10 pounds. I couldn't be happier. I think a lot of it had to do with my new found love of milk. Well of steamed milk. For 2 points it really does fill me up. Woohoo.

I'll be at work for another hour or 2, then off to the gym to work through the pain (a bit sore from Trainer Boy on Thursday) and then I have the rest of the day to do nothing. I'm hoping to sneak in a nap and hang out with Arsbars.

Ok off to actually work!

It's Drive Time

It's that time of year again... the time where those of us who work in public broadcasting beg for money. It's also the time where there is an obscene amount of food here at work. Between now and next Thursday I'll probably work about 75 hours. And breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks will be served. Todays lunch is burgers and hotdogs from Bad Dog. They sent over every topping under the sun:

FIVE kinds of cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, a huge thing of bacon crisp strips, BBQ sauce, honey mustard, ranch dressing, coleslaw, hot sauce, teryaki sauce, four kinds of mustard, chili, pickles... the list goes on and on. I ran out of room on the counter! And then pasta salad, potato salad and chips.

But I brought a yummy salad -- I refuse to gain weight during this drive!!! I passed on bagels this morning for breakfast and will pass on the burger extravaganza. I also have a little piece of leftover homemade pizza from Friday. I figure it's going to go bad soon if it hasn't already so I should eat it. YUM!!!

Dinner tonight is from Duke Mansion. It's a nice B&B here, and I'll partake in that because its always quite decadent (and somewhat healthy)!

I've been at work since 6:30 and will be here til about 6:30... when I'll rush over to the gym and work out with Trainer Boy. I hope I'm still standing by the time I'm done with this day! Ha!

If I'm MIA for a bit, I'll be back after the drive is over. But not to worry I'll be chugging water and packing healthy snacks as best I can. And I won't miss my WW meeting on Sat either. I refuse!!

The end is in sight!

It's finally FRIDAY! Woohoo! I'm super excited as this has been a CRAP WEEK! I'll try to keep my complaining to a minimum, but it was just one of those weeks where one thing after another just kept going wrong... and on top of it all I'm PMSing AND have a nasty cold. So I've basically been a big crank head all week.

I can't wait to just go home tonight and say goodbye to this week! I do have to come into work tomorrow for an hour to answer the phones. We have tickets going on sale for A Prairie Home Companion and people have been going nuts over it. We had a presale yesterday and I got a MILLION calls with people who were pissed because they didn't get tickets. I dont get what the fuss is about the show -- but either way I figured I'd be a good employee and come in to sooth the pissed off people. Better than coming into to 400 angry voicemails on Monday morning, right? ha!

I can say that my appetite has diminished quite a bit from my cold. So I've been eating pretty well. I have 5 flexies left for today and I'm hoping to not use any of them. I weigh in tomorrow and am just hoping to maintain. I had such a big loss last week that I know this weeks won't be huge, so I'm just hoping I dont see a gain. Eek!

I DO need to drink lots of water today as I've been slacking on that.

Ok todays menu....

Bfast:
life cereal (3)

Lunch:
crock pot chili w/ 1 tbsp light sour cream and 1/2 oz cheddar cheese (5)
2 pieces whole wheat bread (2)

Snacks:
pretzel slims w/ laughing cow light (3)
grapes (1)
apple (1)

Dinner:
chicken and veggie stir fry w/ brown rice (6)
biscuit (3)

Ok - off to drink some water! Have a good Friday everyone...

Finding my control

In the post below I updated my menu from yesterday. Got a little crazy what with the McDs fries and getting pasta instead of my usual salad at the place we went to for dinner last night. Luckily the pasta wasnt all that good so I just ate a little bit. I got the rest to go but I forgot to take it home with me, and the other people we were with absent mindedly picked it up and brought it home. They called us on the way home and were like OOPS! We have your leftovers! It was too funny. But I know theyll actually eat it them (as I probably would have let them sit in the fridge for a while and then threw it out) so it worked out perfectly!

Today is going to be a REAL challenge. We have a goodbye breakfast at 10:30 for Mia who's last day is today (BOOOOOO). Bagels, cream cheese and TONS of fruit. I will fill up on the fruit and perhaps bring a vitamuffin with me to help stay away from the bagels. Then I'm sure we'll going out to lunch.... not sure where we're going but it will most likely be Sushi 101 (where I can get a somewhat low point rice bowl) or Lava (where I can get the best soup and salad combo for cheap and low points!) So hopefully that will work out. After work it's off to the wine vault where I'll just drink water as I dont really like wine or beer. So thats no problem.

I weigh in tomorrow morning and only have 4 flexies left, I'd like not to use them if at all possible.

Here's to staying on track on Fridays (and the weekend! eeek!)

Not much to report today. I did alright this weekend with mom and dad in town -- but am down to about 15 flex points to last til Friday. I should be able to do it by getting lots of APs... but we'll see.

I'm heading out of work in about 15 minutes to go meet up with my parents for lunch before taking them to the airport. Then I'll be back to normal eating and planning my meals. Whew! That makes me happy.

In other not so happy news I got my period today and dont have any drugs!!! I ALWAYS have Advil in my purse but I must have finished up my stash recently and not refilled! So I'm sitting here doubling over in pain with cramps. Thats what I get for being unprepared! I just asked someone for Advil and she assumed that I had a headache and gave me Excedrin Migraine -- which would be the ultimate medicine if I had a migraine! But I have cramps! I felt badly being like oh no I dont want that -- so I just put it in my drawer for someday when I DO have a headache. haha.

With that I'll leave you with a funny picture of me showing off my 'start' for the 5k this past weekend (and thats tea not coffee in hand -- not to worry!)

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.

Slacking

That pretty much sums up what I've been doing this week. We've eaten dinner out Sun, Mon AND Tues night. EEEK! Granted Sunday was my big hurrah where I passed up half of my fries, but Monday we went to Tijuana Flats and while I got a 'super light' burrito (which means they use reduced fat cheese and fat free sour cream) I did have a few too many chips and queso. Last night I had a kids scoop of Baskin Robbins before dinner, but then got my fave salad at Brixx and brought my own fat free dressing. So that wasnt horrible.

But I've just been slacking. Kind of stopped tracking points after Monday afternoon... but I am getting back on track today! No need to sabotage the rest of my week -- one bad meal out isnt going to ruin my week unless I let it! So I'm fired up and ready to go today!

I have chili cooking in the crock pot for dinner tonight. Even though its going to be 85 degrees and thats not the typical chili weather... I was craving it and had all of the ingredients. I'm hoping to go home, grab some chili, then go for a quick bike ride and go straight to ceramics after my ride. Hopefully Ar will drive there and bring a change of clothes for me, and then I can throw my bike in her car and go home with her. If that doesnt pan out I'll run to the gym quickly and get a half hour in on the treadmill or elliptical and then go home, eat some chili and head out! Either way I will get some cardio in today. Woohoo!

Menu is up in the air as I've been informed that its administrative professionals day -- so people are taking all the admin type people out to lunch... not sure where were going but I'll try to make good choices!

Bfast:
puffins w/ strawbs - 2
apple w/ pb - 3

Lunch:
not sure -- but I'll allow 10 points

Snacks:
Asian pear - 0
akmak w/ laughing cow light cheese - 2

Dinner:
chili w/ light sour cream and reduced fat cheddar cheese - 8

Snack:
strawbs w/ cool whip! yum!! - 1

And then at least 2 APs, hopefully more!

Have a great day! Drink lots of water :)

Resisting Temptation

I'm going to try to resist temptation today. So far, so good. I forgot to bring my packed lunch (and by that I mean a Lean Cuisine, cereal and some fruit) but I think that I'll be ok anyway. I just checked the freezer and it looks like I have a Smart Ones Lasagna in there from a few weeks ago so that will be lunch. I improvised for breakfast. Burger King Croistantwiches is what I picked up for everyone... but I resisted! And resisting a breakfast sandwich for me is big time. There were apples and Nature Valley crunchy granola bars out, so I decided to go with a pack of 2 granola bars (even though they are 4 points total) and an apple. If I get hungry a bit later I also remembered that I have some fiber one honey clusters in my drawer from Monday that I never ate.

So... no need for me to eat the crap food brought in today. I had a somewhat reasonable breakfast and if I can just hold off on the Jersey Mikes Subs at lunch (which shouldnt be too hard as I'm not a big fan) I'll be good.

Then tonight its home right from work and on my bike. It's going up to 81 so a nice ride after work will be perfect. And then probably in bed soon after that haha. Because I have to be up at and work by 7am tomorrow morning.

Last night I was running a bit behind schedule after picking my friend up from the airport after work and I didnt have time for a ride before it got dark. I did go for a little walk/jog. It was only like 15-20 minutes but it was something so I at least feel like I did a little bit, even if it wasnt a lot.

I'm ready to have an allstar day at work! Thanks for all of your comments yesterday, youre right that I need to just STEP AWAY FROM THE BUFFET OF FOOD! heehee

Weekend Weather

Today starts the insane amount of food at work. So far I'm not doing well and its only 7:30am on day one! I got up at 6:15 (which is a HUGE feat for me), and picked up breakfast at Shoneys and was here by 7am. I couldnt resist. I had a biscuit, a small sausage patty and a little bit of scrambled eggs. Not the best breakfast, but not the worst either. I did pack my breakfast (special K vanilla almond), so around 9:30-10ish when I USUALLY eat breakfast I'll probably have that still. Because getting up 2 hours early really threw me for a loop!

Mama Fus is on the menu for lunch. I think I'll have a taste of the pad thai which they usually bring, and then the fruits I packed for snacks the rest of the day.

Then when I get home (hopefully by like 5:30) I'm getting on my bike. I dont care HOW tired I am. I will not become fatter during this drive!!!! I'm determined. Though it really is like fighting gravity or something... just bound to happen. But damnit I'm going to give it my all!

I didnt ride last night (another reason I must tonight), but Arleigh and I played with Fiona outside for a while, then grabbed some sushi and were off to ceramics. It was so much fun!! I'm a bit of a failure at the wheel as Rick (the instructor) was trying to get us to make a cylinder shape because if you can make that you can do just about anything... but mine kept coming out in the bowl shape. So unless I learn how to make the cylinder... I'm going to have a shitload of bowls! haha. But honestly, that wouldnt be the worst thing ever. So I'm super excited to head back next week!! So far Ive made 2 (ever so slightly lopsided) bowls and Ar made one perfect cylinder and a bowl. Yay!!

Looks like the weather for the weekend is going to be good....


Too bad I have to work Sat and Sun morning... but I asked for the mornings so I'd have my days free! Saturday I should be done around 9am (meaning I can go home and even take a napper!) and Sunday I should be done around 11ish. Bring on the 80 degree weather!

(and I should warn you that I'll probably be posting like mad for the next week as I'll be hanging out at work for 10-11 hour days with little to do... mwahaha)

Weigh In

Well... I was up AGAIN this week. Only a small gain: 0.4 pounds. But still. Thats two weeks in a row that I had a teeny tiny gain. If I keep it up it will all add up eventually. I figure between having my period and the Ben and Jerrys I had for dessert last night didnt help (though I did get a 'low-fat' smoothie). Though I did do well at dinner. Ar and I passed on the spinach and artichoke dip and I just got my salad and put my own fat free dressing on it. It was HEAVEN!

Anyway, I'm bummed about my gain but am trying not to let it get me down. I've started today off well -- went to Aveda and got my hair cut and highlighted. It does look adorable if I do say so myself. I will most likely not work out today as my hair is looking adorable and I dont feel like ruining it. But I will try to get on the bike or to the gym tomorrow.

In other news it looks like I'll be signing up for the Philadelphia/New Jersey City to Shore MS 150 which is in September. I didnt do it last year but did it the 2 years prior to that and I think our team is going to try to reunite again this year for a good showing! So I need to get my butt in gear and start training so I'm not the slowest one on the team again!

Starting Thursday of this week is our membership drive at work. Which means that we have breakfast, lunch and dinner donated everyday starting Thursday and going through the following Thursday. Here are just a few of the places donating food: Shoney's, Burger King, Smokey Bones, Breuggers Bagels, Boardwalk Billys (home of the hamburger that made me sick haha), Gourmet Burgers, Panera, Dunkin Donuts... the list goes on and on. Its a rough week and I'll be working like mad (6:30am-5:30pm Mon-Fri and then probably 10 hours over the weekend) so it is quite nice that we have food available. But it's NOT diet friendly at all. Not to mention all the snacks that are out for the volunteers constantly. So I dont know what to do. Do I just say I'm above all that and pack my lunch everyday? Do I pack healthy snacks and try to just have a little bit of the free food? HELP! I'm stressing about it already. Also doesnt help that I'm in charge of picking up breakfast and lunch everyday... ugh ugh ugh.

Oh well. From now til Thursday I wont have too many obsticals so its time to be and angel and get back on track! Heres hoping...

So far all I've eaten today is a light english muffin with an egg, 2 slices of center cut bacon and .5 oz of cheese on it. Yum!