Family Fun, Frustration and a Weigh In

Wednesday was an interesting day.

Everything started off pretty normal with work. It's starting to get pretty busy at my office (it's tax season and I work in accounting) so I was pretty focused on getting things done so as not to let items stack up.

We don't have cable at home. We canceled it after my father-in-law passed away as he was the only one to really watch television. It's been a challenge, especially now with the Olympics because I really wanted to watch Canada's progression. So when I slid into the van at the subway station (where my other half is so nice as to pick me up so I don't have to take the bus home) and he asked me if I wanted to go to Shoeless Joe's for dinner, I immediately said yes. I didn't even stop to think about the extra calories that would come with such a dinner. All I could think about was the Canadian men's hockey team playing against Russia - and Shoeless Joe's has television sets everywhere, even in the booths!

So as most of you know, it was a great game. I really enjoyed it (and I'm not a big sports person). Even the boy liked it. It freaked him out the first time Canada scored and the restaurant went nuts, but he smiled, cheered along with them, and was fine for the rest of the night. We ordered a bunch of appetizers and desserts afterward and just shared everything. It was a nice bonding experience, made all the better by Canada winning (sorry to any Russian fans out there, close your eyes now).


Ok, I'm done now...

After all that I came home, and in no mood to eat (because I was soooo full and happy) I stripped down and stepped on the scale.


I'm up...0.7 pounds...of course after a meal like that who wouldn't be?

But it's not just that...

I only worked out one time this week, and I ate pretty horribly most of the week. I do really well at lunch, but I always blow dinner. I get home so late I just don't feel like doing anything except picking up fast food.

I also have fallen out of love with the Wii EA Active challenge. It's not the workouts themselves, I love them. It's mostly because of the scheduling feature. My schedule rarely stays the same, so picking your days a head of time and sticking to them is really hard for me. So as hard as I try, I often miss workouts. It's wouldn't be so bad if you could make them up, but there's this horrible irritating statement at the top of the screen that shows X workouts missed. I am sure that is supposed to be motivating...but to me it's the opposite. I just don't want to look at it. It makes me sick. And damned if I am going to restart every single time I miss a workout. I would never finish the challenge!

So instead for a while I think I am going to stick to DVD programs until I can get my motivation back up. I'm kind of in a funk right now. I ordered ChaLEAN Extreme to see if that helps. I like the though of the weight training. Until it gets here though I guess I will mess around with Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred or Biggest Loser Boot Camp until ChaLEAN gets here. Or maybe I'll just keep using the weight loss programs on my elliptical. Maybe I'll just sit around, read, write and play video games.

/shrug

Who knows...

Wednesday Weigh-in

I'm down! Not a lot, but I am down. So that's a step in the right direction at least.

I had a better week overall, but Friday night and Saturday did me in. Friday night my loving boyfriend of almost 4 years surprised me by taking me to our favourite restaurant, The Keg, for an early Valentine's Dinner. Diet or no diet, I'm not saying no to that one!

I ate way too much, but this doesn't happen often so I am not beating myself up over it. The menu was as follows:

1. Grilled flatbread topped with tomato sauce, sliced bocconcini cheese, fresh basil and a balsamic glaze. (We shared this.)

2. Escargot stuffed mushroom caps with garlic and herbs. (I ate four of the 6 and gave the other 2 to my escargot loving boyfriend.)

3. Roasted Red Pepper Sirloin - A grilled top sirloin with a roasted red pepper sauce and finished with goat cheese crumble. (I only ate half and saved the other half to take home and enjoy a second time.)

4. Billy Miner Pie - Mocha ice cream on a chocolate crust with hot fudge, caramel and almonds. (We split this between us.)

I also had 2 Keg sized glasses of Zinfandel.

I don't even want to know how many calories were involved there...

Saturday we had a late Christmas dinner with my brother, sister, mother, and company in St. Catharines. It was great to see everyone, and the food my brother and the couple he is staying with cooked for us was so good I just had to try everything! I have to remember to ask Missy for her turnip recipe.

Monday was a holiday, Family Day here in Canada, and I made the homemade turkey chili my family loves. I rarely have the time to make it as I leave it to simmer all day and it does not fit in our Crockpot, so my family gets super excited when I get a day off to make it. I hope to make a Weekend Warrior post about it once I find the time to upload the pictures from the camera.

On Monday I also restarted my EA 6 week challenge. I had missed a few workouts due to poor scheduling choices, and I wasn't finding it much of a challenge. This time I bumped it up to the medium intensity and picked better days for the workouts (I suck at working out on Fridays).

The first workout kicked my butt! I was breathing so hard I just kind of lied on the floor after the cool down. I even skipped my 5K elliptical run I usually do afterwards.

The second workout went much more smoothly as I expected the increase in intensity level. The reps required are much longer than on easy. I had to do two sets of push-ups! Man my arms chest and abs are killing me now! But I still managed to do a 20 minute weight loss #1 run on my elliptical (programs are built into the machine).

I am thinking about getting a treadmill, or maybe purchasing a new program more geared to strength training and increasing muscle, kind of like Chalean Extreme. Has anyone else tried this?

Overall I am still plugging along and trying to be upbeat. I have to keep reminding myself Rome wasn't built in a day, and I didn't get this overweight in one day either. It's going to take great inner strength and determination, but I know I can pull if off. I keep picturing myself in a nice bikini, something I really haven't worn since I was 16. This excites me and makes me push myself through those extra push-ups.


One day right?

What pushes you?

Wednesday Weigh-in

As predicted, I went up this week. I went up 3 pounds from 161.5 to 164.5.

I am OK with this for at least 4 reasons:

1) I have really bad digestion problems (more on that later) and this is a bad section right now, and my weight always goes up when this happens.

2) I am bloated and cranky, and all women (and most likely most men) know what that means, and that always adds to my weight as well.

3) As mentioned in my previous post, I had a really bad eating and exercise week. So to be honest, I am still pretty impressed that I ONLY went up 3 pounds!

4) I am still down from my beginning weight of 168 pounds. So that's an accomplishment in itself!

But it was still enough to give me a kick in the butt. We were running pretty late because of my dentist appointment, so once again we broke down and had takeout. I decided to get mashed potatoes and corn instead of the fries, and only ate half of each item in my meal. I told my other half he was more than welcome to help himself to whatever was left the next day as I would not be taking it to work for lunch.

I read for about an hour or so and then forced myself to complete my scheduled EA workout (#11 now) and I followed that up with a 20 minuted steady pace on the elliptical.

That feels better! I can't wait for next week!

Blogging Breakdown

So...I haven't posted in a while...but it's not from a lack of trying!

I have installed the Window's Live Writer on each of my three most used computers (work desktop, home desktop, and netbook). I love Live Writer...usually...

For some reason, when I try to use it from work, it crashes out every time I try to publish the post or even publish a draft. I have now lost no less than three posts to this occurrence.

Unfortunately, when I am at home, I rarely have time to post from my desktop computer. The only time I really turn it on is to raid. Other than that I am usually cooking, cleaning, working out, doing homework, or something with my family. Oh yeah...and I get to sleep too...sometimes...

So I guess I will either have to give up on Live Writer, or start dragging my netbook with me wherever I go (which is what I am supposed to do with it anyhow).

Anyhow, a brief listing of things I was TRYING to post about:

* Last week's weigh-in put me at 161.5 lbs, earning me a "lost 5 pounds" badge


* I completed week 3 of the EA Active More Workouts challenge - half way there!

* I had a crazy busy weekend with family stuff and was unable to complete a "weekend warrior" project to share


* Tonight is my weigh-in and I'm nervous because I had a really bad eating and exercise week.


* I have a new trainer and program to help me get ready for the 5K!


Hopefully I will have more to post real soon!

Thanks for your continued reading and support!

Weekend Warrior

This week’s Weekend Warrior recipe is homemade honey peanut granola. I love this recipe, and I’ll tell you why. Most granola has horrible bits of dried fruit and/or raisins in it. I’m not really a big fan of those items. I like oats and nuts, and that’s pretty much it for me, so when I found this recipe I rejoiced!

Honey Peanut Granola

3 cups quick cooking oats

1/2 cup chopped (smushed in my case) raw peanuts

1/4 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I use extra virgin olive oil)

2 tablespoons warm water

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or regular salt if you prefer)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

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1) Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet (unless you are using a non-stick pan).

2) In a large bowl, combine oats, peanuts, sunflower seeds and wheat germ. If your peanuts are not chopped place in Ziploc bag and smush with rolling pin or other suck item. (Great for relieving stress!)

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3) In a separate bowl, combine honey, brown sugar, oil, water, salt, and vanilla. Stir well; then pour into the oat mixture, and stir. Spread out on a cookie sheet.

4) Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool before serving.

Voila!

We like to keep ours in one of the large heavy duty Ziploc bags and just refill it every week or so. We use it in our yogurt or fruit parfait. It is so good it can even be eaten by itself as cereal or a crunchy munchy snack. And the best part? The boy loves to help make this so it’s great mommy-son bonding time. Just look at that happy child mixing away!

Estimated Nutritional Information
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Calories: 428
Total Fat: 18.2g
Sodium: 202mg
Total Carbs: 60.1g
Dietary Fiber: 5.7g
Protein: 9.4g