Day 205-207, New Year

So here’s my proper post about Onederland and reaching 50 lbs lost (50.1 to be exact….)
I went into the weigh in Saturday morning feeling “fat”, you know when you have those mornings? You wake up and your skin feels tight, your stomach looks bigger than usual and you are sure you must have eaten an elephant in your sleep? That’s how I felt. 
When I went up to the scale, the receptionist who is also my regular meeting leader, asked how my week was and I said, “Ok” and she said, “Just ok?” I nodded. Then she said, “Your OK is better than most people’s good – you lost 3.5 lbs!”  I did the mental math and just about screamed! I said, “So that’s 199.9?” and she nodded and smiled.  Then I told her it was also 50 lbs since my on line start date and you know what she did? She scratched out my start as 235.4 and put 250 and updated my loss from 35.5 to 50.1 and said I should stay for the meeting and celebrate and get my 50 lb charm…so I did. It was really an amazing moment.
I really didn’t think it would be this week, I thought by the end of August I would be in Onederland. It was totally unexpected. I had planned that I would ask them to take a picture of the scale read out for me, but in my surprise this morning I completely forgot.

Here’s my key ring.






  And here is me in size 22 pants now.

Day 208 - 211, New Year

Happy Long Weekend to my Ontario friends!

I have a busy weekend planned, but it's all good.


Weigh in today was another 1.9 lbs down so I'm happy and feel like I have my feet firmly planted in Onederland. Although I was thrilled to bits last week at hitting 199.9 - weighing in this week, it just felt a little too close for comfort and I was terrified I might go up just a smidge and I would get kicked off the island.

But I didn't...so all good.

Couch to 5K is going well. We just wrapped up Week 2 and Week 3 starts tomorrow. Week 3 jumps to 3 min of running...and although I have done it before, I have this nagging doubt that I might not be able to do it again.  Both our run and walking speeds are increasing and  it is very motivating to have someone to do this with, this time around.

That's all from me today.  Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Day 199–204, New Year (click on pic to enlarge)

Day 198, New Year

Sunday has always been the first day of the week in my mind. So it's the perfect day to prep for the week ahead. That's what I did last Sunday and it resulted in a perfect-eating week and a not-obsessing-about-food-all-the-time week which made a pleasant change.  It was easy to just grab and go each morning and not think about food again until supper time.  This week, I'm doing that again.

Breakfasts are super easy, 1 cup 1% milk and 1 pkg NSA Instant Carnation Breakfast. I mix it up the night before and then just shake it in the morning when I'm ready to drink it.

Last week's lunches were my cereal/yogurt mix, this week it's falafels in a pita. 4 falafel balls, 1/2 whole wheat pita, chopped onions and tomatoes and 1 tbsp of PC Blue Menu Tzatziki Dip.

Snacks will be apples again. Royal Gala are my favourite.  Aren't apples the most perfect snack food? They're portable, they last a long time, they are crispy and sweet, about 80 calories each and high fibre, low sugar.

And I'm good to go. The week is going to be a breeze for staying on plan. The nice thing about this is that I know how many points I'll use all day and there are plenty left over for dinner so I can have just about anything and make it fit, as well I'll have my 49 weekly points.

On the exercise front, some of you may remember I started C25K back in April, I got as far as Week 3 (I did it twice), then my self discipline fell by the wayside. Good news! A friend of mine wants to start it and he lives just a few blocks from me so it will work out well for scheduling. The other good thing is that he is very, very competitive and stubborn and he won't want to back down or skip a run, so this will keep me motivated as well because I won't want to be the one that lets us down either. Tonight's our first run! We're starting back at Week 1. He is also out of shape and wants to lose weight so he has lots of motivation to be active.

Wishing you all a great week :)

Update: Week 1, Day 1.

Day 195 - 197, New Year

Weigh in today: 2.1 lbs down.

Day 192 - 194, New Year

Just a bunch of random thoughts....

1. My newest favourite lunch is this:

1 cup of Kashi Almond Crunch (thanks Shelley!)
1/2 cup of President's Choice Non Fat Greek Yogurt
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp mini chocolate chips
1 tsp of maple syrup

Mix together and enjoy. So crunchy, so creamy...I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.

2. I took off my wedding ring. Well to be more accurate, it keeps falling off and I really don't want to lose it.  I am not sure how I feel about it...yet.  I put on my "new" ring, the one I bought last summer, but it's also too big...so now my wedding ring finger is naked and yes, it feels strange.

3. I am seriously addicted to "Drop Dead Diva"...I watched season 1 and 2 in one weekend and am all caught up with season 3...can't they play an episode every day?  And.....Jane looks eerily like my friend Melissa, who is actually more beautiful than Jane - but still looks so much like her.

4. I want to go back and read all the Harry Potter books before I see the movie.

Day 185 - 191, New Year

Just checking in.

Since my last weigh in, I've had a lot of take out food and eating out and not much exercise. Life happens sometimes. This ended up with a 1.1 lb gain...and I'm ok with it. I did my best to control portions and make the best choices I could with what was on offer. Sometimes, it just works out that way.  It'll be gone soon enough.

The last few days I've been back on track, I went to the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit on Friday and walked around for 2 hours, I prepped and packed all my lunches for next week and have my breakfasts ready to grab and go. Snacks will be apples. It will be a good week.

Some of you know my husband and I separated last year after 22 years of marriage.  This past Friday night is the first time I've felt lonely. My boys were away, I was at the Art Exhibit waiting for my friends to join me and I just sat at the fountain at Nathan Philips Square people watching.  So many couples, of all ages and description, holding hands and laughing and talking.   Parents with small children on their shoulders or in their arms. All of a sudden I felt really sad. My boys are growing up and there isn't anyone to hold hands with.  It made me think about what I want for the rest of my life.

Don't worry, I'm not brooding and a good nights sleep and I was pretty much over it :)  But it was an interesting introspection.

Day 177 - 184, New Year

It's been a whirlwind two weeks - my oldest son turned 17 and my youngest  graduated from grade 8 and will be in High School in September...honestly, some days it feels like I was just 17...where do the years go?

I weighed 204.4 at my last weigh in and this reminded me that the last time I weighed this low, Liam (my now 14 yr old) was 2 years old.

It's been a long, uphill road to go downhill in weight.

The long weekend was nice, relaxing, family time and no stress.   I managed to eat really well all week up until today, but am hoping it will balance out with the rest of the week.

Thank you all for your comments on my last post (the photos) it made me smile to read each of your comments and brightened my day. It validates for me that the most important thing about this journey is persistence. I know I can't be perfect forever, but I know I can always keep going and I hope that that is what will get me to goal and keep me there.

Have any of you ever broken your toe?  The middle toe on my right foot is swollen and bruised and very sore and hurts if I put weight on my foot a certain way - running is excruciating, going up and down stairs is extremely painful. At first I thought I broke it when I stubbed it against a cart a week or so ago, but then a few days later it seemed a lot better, then yesterday it got worse again. I don't think there's anything that can be done for a broken toe except let it heal, right? Maybe tape it to the next toe to stabilize it? But it's really swollen right now so I don't even think that would be a good idea. If it's not noticeably improved by tomorrow I'll try and go by a walk in clinic just to get it checked out...but I really don't think there's any treatment. Has this happened to any of you?

I hope you had a wonderful Canada Day and Happy 4th Of July to my American friends.

Den, Iain, Liam & Enz - Liam's Grade 8 Grad.