FAT CAT...no literally!

Hey!

guess what! Remember I told you I saw my parents yesterday? Well...as soon as my mom saw the cat (Jules) she said *imagine thick brit accent please*

"What the bloody hell have you been doing to that cat? It's bloody enormous...awww thats cruel, that is."

Ahem....ok.  Naturally my mom would notice such a thing... even in cats...lol.  So..I weighed the little thing.  She was 8 pounds when I got her....yesterday she was....almost 12!!!

OMG I'm a horrible mother!!

Clearly I cannot even control a CATS weight...let alone my own!!  I zipped out to Pet Valu and bought her some 'choice' diet food.  The guy I talked to was awesome...he said...the regular pet food we give our animals is pretty much...crap.  Its like their version of junk food.  It doesn't really fill them up and its not really good for them.  No wonder she's so...ahem...stinky.  The good stuff costs at least double....but am I really surprised?  Funny how animal food so closely mirrors our food.  Hell if I ate Taco Bell every day I'd get massive too!! AND it would be a lot cheaper than buying fresh organic produce. 

Anyway....check out kittys weight loss roll on the side of my blog! I'll weigh her in every Monday too! lol. 

PS.  AND No worries...I've learnt from yesterday's little catastrophe...here's what I found out yesterday...

• Don't weigh myself between official weigh-ins EVER
• Don't use all my points for the day on one meal...especially on WI day
• Don't come home from said WI and use up two-thirds of my weekly allowance of flex because you're starving and mad
• Don't assume coz you had a big meal at lunch that you won't need to eat dinner....you'll just eat twice as much
• Don't have massive expectations all the time
• Stop being such a whiny, sucky baby and appreciate little victories
• Move on from bad days!

Part of my moving on was a fabulous hour long session on the elliptical this morning.  I may or may not attend hot yoga tonight.  I've been thinking about it since yesterday! Will keep you updated! Gotta get rid of the unneccesary calories from the crap from last night....although if my definition of a binge now is....

• 
  
   At least 5 points of veggie chips
  
  
  
• 
  
  A boiled egg
  
  
  
• 
  
  About 15 triscuits
  
  
  
• 
  
  A Light Laughing Cow wedge
  
  
  

Then I clearly haven't been doing too badly :)

Happy weigh loss-ing!

FIRST FULL WEEK ON WW...and????

Man, I am so disappointed. 

I was SO excited for tonights weigh-in.  I had taken a couple of peeks at the scale this week and it kept going down.  Today before lunch....162!! WOO HOO Awesome eh? Thats about 4 pounds down!!!  This was great news, because my scale at home tends to be in line with my WW scale.

I've followed the program perfectly this week.  I've worked out so hard and tracked every little morsel of food I've eaten.  Hell I've put in the work...I DESERVE a great loss.....well...

I went to my meeting tonight and weighed in at 165.  Thats a pound down from last week.

I don't mean to sound like a brat but...WTF!

The only thing I can think is at lunch today I had a high point meal. It literally sucked up all my points for the day PLUS some flex. My bf and I took my parents out for lunch Surely its got to be that...right? A ton of sodium or something? Even though it was something like 6 hours before weigh in.  Was it the hot yoga? Did it mess things up? Hmmmm...regardless...biggest one day gain...EVER!

Note to self....never eat out on a weigh-in day. 
Second note to self...that whole no weighing thing was a good idea!

Ah well....my non brat is emerging.  Even if it WAS just a pound...hey thats great!! Its better than last week right? And if it is more than a pound...it'll be more fabulous next week!

I was so psyched to see Kate get to goal this weekend (GO GIRLFRIEND!) and I started visualizing in my head that happening to me.  Sigh....I just hate how long it takes...Sorry lol...I'm snapping out of it!! You didn't see Kate throwing hissy fits, so I must stay sane as well!

On a bright note....Regardless... a loss.  Oh man...FINALLY! It has taken what? 2 months for me to get back on track.  Thanks for all your support in getting me back! I've gotten a few e-mails over the past few weeks from other awesome bloggers and I'm a horrible person for not replying! I just want to say thanks and I did get them...I'm so, so sorry for not writing back yet :(  My life is so busy and overwhelming sometimes! I really gotta work on that. 

In other news, you might have noticed that I've changed my sidebar up a bit...added some important info and got rid of some useless stuff.  I've noticed I have a few new followers..HEY GUYS! so I thought I'd make it easier on you. I tried to think of stuff that I like to know when I read new blogs and I added it on mine.  Hope it helps! Definitely easier than having to go and read millions of posts to see what my deal is.

For you new followers let me just tell you that I did awesomely up until about July and then I had a whirlwind summer and I gained 8 pounds back. BOO! I really struggled with getting back on track for a while, but I've finally started to get rid of those...thank GOD! However, thats why some of the weight in the pics on the sidebar are lower than my actual weight today.  As soon as I pass below my July weight (158.8) I'll start adding new progress pics to the sidebar! I'll get there soon!

Have an awesome week everyone! Keep tracking!

My foray into....HOT YOGA!

Hello everyone!

As you know today I have the day off to work on report cards...yippeeee!! I was a good girl who got most of it done on the weekend though so I had a little extra time to spare.  I decided to FINALLY try Hot Yoga!!!  Besides my muscles are still killing me...I had few other options!

Ok...so I hadn't mentioned it yet, but I purchased a gorgeous Gaiam yoga mat last week! Beautiful isn't it!!

I also bought a pair of VERY skimpy shorts that in a MILLION years I would NEVER normally wear, but I decided to suck it up since I've heard that its best to be as cool as possible during a Hot Yoga class. This took some guts let me tell you to prounce around in these things as I hate my legs with a passion.  I mean, yah yah, I know we're all about accepting out bodies here...and I think mine is ok, but my legs..meh!

So...the first thing that surprised me was that the instructor was a man...stereotpical of me I know, but I was expecting a woman.  This guy thought....HOLY CRAP could bend his body in the craziest of ways.  He was the real deal.  So other than him..how was the class?

SO, SO HARD..it wasn't really physically diffucult as opposed to Bodyattack or Step, but the heat was RIDICULOUS.  It was literally like exercising in a sauna.  I had a love hate relationship with it.  It was so intense and tough.  At times I had to really concentrate on getting enough oxygen as it was more diffucult than usual.  I tried to just be calm though and that helped.  I also gotta say...the skimpy outfit was FABULOUS! I can't imagine wearing anything with greater coverage..it would just be insane!

I also loved it though because I sweated like an ABSOLUTE pig.    In a weird way.... It felt so good! lol. It was literally dripping off everyone.  Sorry...I know that sounds super gross, but it felt good.  I feel cleaner now if that makes any sense?

I took a few pics AFTER the class to show you the sweaty mess.....Ahem...here you go...

And one from the back....this is literally soaked!

Blluughhh...gross!!  So...overall...Hot Yoga is a LOT harder than I expected, but I was also pleasantly surprised.  It definitely makes you feel better afterwards which is a huge bonus.  This might be a nice addition to a regular workout program as it seems to focus more on your insides and overall health than just weight loss.  THUMBS UP!

I'll be back later with my weigh-in results!!! EEK!

End of an awesome first week!

Hi all,

Soooooo....I woke up this morning a cripple.  My back, my calves, my biceps are all on fire!!  I had wanted to FINALLY try out a hotyoga class at the gym today, but my body thinks otherwise.  I had also really hoped to max out my Activity points, but hell I still did a great job and rest is just as important as exercise sometimes. So...I guess thats it for exercise this week.  My total results for this week...

22 AP's
17 flex used

This is exactly what I was aiming for as these are the numbers that gave me success before.  I'm actually super excited for my WI for once. Fingers crossed for tomorrow. 

Anyway....today my bf and I went on a DATE...which we never do!! I am sick of tired of work, work, work, so we decided to actually go out and do SOMETHING!

I've wanted to see 'Body Worlds' for a long time, so today we went to the Ontario Science Centre to see it.  If you haven't heard of it, Body Worlds is an exhibition of real life bodies and organs that have been preserved....I dunno how! The goal is to teach people about the body.  It's kinda like what you see on Dr. Oz or Oprah when he shows organs....except it includes actual people. 

A lot of it was really cool...definitely educational...but BLOODY expensive.  Admission for me and the bf was almost $60....crazy.  However, this visit reinforced for me again how important it is to look after your body.  I got to see actual organs with cancer and other diseases.  Hell...I don't want that.  Like I've said before I want to lose weight to look good, but really its about being healthy, right?

We ate lunch there before we left and I chose this!
I think it was a bloody good choice and I calculate it was about 8 points. Would you agree?? I'm also very impressed with the Science Centre for offering options like this.  It's such a nice change from the normal pizza and hamburgers. In the past I used eating out as an excuse to just gorge on something really fatty and delicious, however I feel like I've really progressed from that kind of thinking.  Choosing this meal wasn't even that difficult and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.  YUM!

On the way home we decided to stop in at Costco.  I have a few goodies that I'm interested in buying, but sadly none were to be found.  Instead I found something that is my weakness....BOOKS! Oh man....I have an issue with books...particularly cookbooks. 

I've bought a lot of cool books, but today I found an AWESOME one.  Here it is....Cooking Light - way to cook.

The reason I am in love with this book is that it is SO visual.  I love cookbooks with pictures, but this one has pictures on every SINGLE page.  Not just the finished product, but step by step instructions with pics. 

I also love this book because it includes some recipes, but it also just teaches you how to cook basic items.  For example, it might explain the differences between various types of rice and how to cook them or it teaches you how to roast a basic chicken, because God knows I have no clue.  Here are some pics to show what I mean...

You can click on the pic to get a closer look!

I also bought this book....Eat this, not that! I've seen this in stores before but never really looked.  It's really cool! It would be cooler if they had a Canadian edition, but still!!

The book compares options at restaurants and fast food places and shows which ones are the best and worst.  It also compares various products....for example, Juice or chips etc! I like it because it can get rid of any assumptions that you might have of what is good for you and what isn't.  It can also confirm if you're making good choices!

Here's an example of one of the pages...lots of pics here too! If I HAVE to eat out, one of my same choices is Wendys Mandarin Chicken salad.  According to book thats one of the best choices I can make there...WOO HOO...so thats good.  I'll have to read on and share tidbits from it from time to time!

Ok guys...fun is over...back to report cards! I'll be back tomorrow with my 200th post!! HOLY CRAP and my 2nd weigh-in back at WW!

Reviews, reviews and MORE reviews!!

YAY! Its the weekend....how are you guys? Great I hope:)

This is an extra awesome weekend for me because I get Monday off to work on report cards.  WOO HOO! This is the first time this have ever happened and man will it help.  Those things take a looooong time to write. 

Anyway...yesterday I skipped my morning work-out because I was really exhausted.  I had worked out 4 mornings in a row so I figured a rest day was in order.  It's funny...when I don't work out I feel even more tired during the day.  Despite sleeping in, I had an hour long nap when I got home yesterday.  Fridays are just so exhausting.

Today my bf and I decided to make it to bodypump....my third one this week!!! I figure the faster I build up some muscle, the sooner my metabolism will get going! The weekend class is an extra 10 mins...holy crap.  What a workout!  So so hard...but at the end I felt good.  I did something that I've NEVER done before....I stayed for a second class.  Bodyattack is right after Bodypump so I decided to try it out.

So how was it?? Well....super hard BUT super fun too.  This is a really high impact class.  You're jumping all over the place for most of the time.  They do cool things like run around the room....I dunno...it was different, but I really liked it! Sadly my ankle didn't like it.  This is my first high impact exercise since the ankle got hurt and it definitely is not 100% better.  I'm going to have to skip it until its a lot better because I couldn't work-out as hard as I would have liked.  Either one...ANOTHER awesome good-life class! I'd say its a small step below Step class in terms of difficulty.  Definitely one of my new favourites!

As you know I have set a goal of reaching 149 pounds for the new year.  This is a lofty goal, but not impossible...and hell even if I don't reach that exactly, anywhere close would be so nice!!   Well...that kind of number takes work...a lot of work.  So I've been super dedicated this week.  I'm hoping as I see results it'll keep me as motivated as possible!  Monday is my first weigh-in with my new membership to WW and I'm hoping for a great result! Wish me luck!

FINALLY!

I wanted to let you know how the Vitaptop tests are going....I love all vitatops...(when they are heated and served with something yummy, but some flavours are better than others)

MINT-CHOC CHIP
6.5/10
I dunno man...a bit too minty.  It was a bit too overwhelming...still not bad, but not my fave.

PEANUT BUTTER - CHOCOLATE
7/10 
Good, but the peanut butter taste isn't all that strong.  I'd prefer a little more...regardless...good

BANANA-FUDGE
9/10
YUM...love the slight banana taste...not too overwhelming...perfect! My fave so far

Lol...ok enough hijinkery! I got report cards to write!

Endorphins are my friend :)

Hey all,

For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you know I tend to go in sort of extreme waves of happy/sad.  Well....I'm in a happy phase at the moment.  I know it must be a tad irritating to read at times, but meh...rather this than a misery guts right? I get tired of listening to people who are ALWAYS down and feeling sorry for themselves.  Hey, the only person who can change your life is you right? So...here I am in the trying to change it part.

There are a few reasons why I'm so upbeat lately.  One of them is the exercise.  I don't mean the actual getting it done, I mean how I feel afterwards.  This 'endorphins' thing must be real! 
I looked it up on trusty Wikipedia.

Endorphins are endogenous opioid polypeptide compounds. They are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates during strenuous exercise,[1] excitement, pain and orgasm,[2][3] and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a feeling of well-being. Endorphins have also been shown to be released in profound relaxation in a float tank.[4] Endorphins work as "natural pain relievers."

Dayum...it does work. I feel way better when I exercise.  My chest and lungs somehow feel cleaner...its hard to explain.  I am calmer and I notice I don't get as stressed out.  My job can be stressful at times...you never know what a day will bring, but lately I've felt more in control.  Kinda nice. You know, weigh loss aside...I think there really IS something to this exercise thing.

I also feel a bit better because I feel like I have an awesome support network forming.  I talk to people all over the world who are in the same shoes and it is SO nice....refreshing really.  Also, as you know here in Toronto we have started to meet up and thats also pretty cool.  The lovely Andrea has challenged us all to run a 5K in December. (The Santa Shuffle) It started with the peeps out in Halifax...then that was matched with Ottawa and now us.  Its cool to have a connection with everyone even if we haven't met.  In a MILLION years I would not have thought to run this race, BUT see what a network can do?

This morning I did bodypump.  The bf is in great pain from Tuesday so I told him to take the day off.  Look at what he did last night though.  CUTE! He did a sit up and push up routine with Wii Active. Then he declared..."I'm so excited to get a six-pack!" lol

 Anyway....I still did my bodypump this morning and then I thought....hmmm...I wonder if I can still run. I'm a big nervous about this Santa Shuffle business! As you know I hurt my ankle and haven't even been on a treadmill for at least a month.  After my class I jumped on the treadmill and thought...just do what you can....even if its just 2 mins. I wanted to see if I was capable of doing anything BEFORE signing up for the shuffle.  GUESS WHAT! 20 mins!!! OMG.  All that training hasn't gone away.  I can still do it.  I think the secret was just to jog pretty slowly and have no expections...plus good music always helps.  YAY!

Ok...so bf went to visit his mom tonight so I'm solo.  I treated myself to my fave food ever...SUSHI!! Hmmmm.  God this is good!

Ok guys...I've got a ton of catching up marking too.  A lot of late assignments from those kids who are homeworkerically challenged! sigh.

Talk to ya tomorrow!!

Wednesday already??? WOO HOO!

Hello my lovelies!!

Like my new hair-cut???

OH COME ON!

 Like I would do something so drastic without telling you first....ppffff

My bf is uber-cute again.  He stopped at the mall on his way home to get something and all the Halloween stuff was on sale.  He knows I'm NUTS about Halloween or any dress-up type of event so he picked up a few things for next to nothing...as seen up here ! and down below...

I'm kinda liking the roller-girl look.  Hmmmm...where can I become a member in Toronto? Looks SUPER fun!

And here's my Tina-Turner esque....look...

AHAHAHAH...hideous.  Though I'm enjoying the tattoo sleeves.  Check out those pipes!

Not much to report today EXCEPT omg....I think I'm getting sick.

The evidence?

• Sore throat
• 
  
  Sneezing
  
  
  
• 
  
  Perpetual  headache
  
  
  

GREAT! Not again.  I am pumping myself full of Extra-strength Cold-FX, orange juice, echinacea etc etc. Don't worry...I don't think its the 'pig.'  Very minor at the moment. 

I trotted off to the gym this morning for spinning and had a FAB time.  Hell they played my all time FAVOURITE song from grade 8.....Rhythm is a Dancer by SNAP! I mean COME ON...how can you NOT want to dance.  It was awesome...good times, good times!

Dinner tonight was my FAVE thing for a quick meal.  Stir-fry of course.  This baby takes less than half an hour to make and is only 4-5 points. LOVE IT.

Today at school we had a staff meeting with a CRAPLOAD of treats as per usual.  I was starving so I couldn't resist a little something, but after the meeting I rifled around the empty tostito's bags like a crazy women recording all of the cals, fat and fibre.  Sigh....pathetic I know...but I do believe it would have been more pathetic to just stuff my face like a pig and then moped about it.  No worries.  I'm still totally within my points :)

Ok guys of to prepare for tomorrow...sigh....2 more days to go!

Bye for now!

OH...before I forget...British peeps...can you please translate a word for me...'NAFF'! I heard it on BBC Canada this weekend AND Coronation Street tonight.  I'm usually pretty good with the Brit lingo...but this is is new..HELP! Thanks my English lovelies!