It's Getting Cold Outside

Happy Halloweeny! 

While Pat and I were outside a couple of weeks ago raking the plethora of leaves in our yard, one of our neighbors stopped by to introduce herself. Somewhere in the conversation, she mentioned that Halloween is a little bit quiet around here because most of the parents in the neighborhood take their kids into town.  We live in a rural neighborhood where the houses are fairly spaced apart. But she said she makes her kids walk the neighborhood and they usually go with another set or our neighbors.  She said that they are usually the only ones out on Halloween night. So we took her advice to heart and only bought a couple of bags of candy, which is probably one too many. The bag of Kit Kats was opened about a week ago and the other bag hasn't been opened yet.  Halloween candy is a weakness for me but I think I'm doing pretty well this year.

Onto my main topic of the day. That's right, it's that time of the year when it gets cold outside. Daylight savings time ends next weekend so besides getting cold, it's also going to be dark by the time I get home at night. I don't really mind the fact that it's cold, I do mind that it's dark outside. Our new neighborhood is not well lit, well, it's not lit at all! There are no street lights around.  I am usually an afternoon/evening workout person so I am trying to come up with some ways to solve my darkness problem. I have thought about bringing my work out stuff to work and walking/jogging right after work in Verona where they have street lights. That would mean I wouldn't get home at night until 6 or 6:30. The other couple of options I've thought about include buying an Indoor Trainer. The other option is for Pat to help me move our elliptical machine upstairs. It's in the basement right now and I can't use it because the ceiling is too low down there. My head just works its way right up into the ceiling if I try to use it.

I've also thought of outdoor solutions. I'm one of those strange people that actually does enjoy the snow up here in the great north. I know nothing beats sitting inside on a snowy night with a cup of hot cocoa but I also love being all bundled up and making snow angels. So I was trying to come up with activities I could get into during the weekends or on my days off that involved winter weather. I've thought that I should get back into Nordic Skiing. That would require a bit of extra money for purchasing wax and such but not overly expensive. I haven't skied since high school so I have no idea what condition my skis are in and I don't really like to ski by myself and Pat doesn't have Cross Country skis. We could rent him some I suppose.

Snow Shoeing is the other outdoor winter activity I came up with. I haven't ever tried it but it could be fun and a great work out AND it can be done anywhere. I wouldn't have to find specific trails to do it on.

For today though, I think I am just going to bundle up against the 40 degree weather and go for a walk. 

Favorite Things

So I was going to do a post about how great of a day I had today, until I ate a role of Rolos. Food was great today.

Breakfast: Whole wheat bagel thin with some low fat cream cheese

Lunch: 40 minute walk, Lasagna Lean Cuisine, fruit cup (pears) in juice, low fat strawberry yogurt and some diet Mt. Dew.

Dinner: Pat and I didnt feel like cooking so we went to BW3 where I had grilled chicken buffalito (yummy) with a lemonade.

I felt pretty good at the end of the day. I wasn't tired like I usually get when I don't eat well.



So in respect to the fact that I am watching the Sound of Music reunion on Oprah, I wanted to make a great list of all my favorite things. These are things that make me happy. I find that through this journey of change that there is a lot of negative self-talk. So, on to some great positive things, that may be slightly random!

Pat
Alyssa
Mom&Dad
Friends
Kitty cats
Musicals
Snow(flakes)
Memories
Cozy Soft Old Quilts
Colorful Maple Leaves(pressed in Grandma's dictionary)
Rainbows
Strawberries
S'mores
Rice Krispy Bars
Watermelon
Love
Fiction
Photography
Great Teachers
Piano Music
Christmas Music (:P)
Austria
The Sound of Music makes me smile
Ice Cream


I'll add to this list later.

Changing Tastebuds?

Pat and I went to the grocery store tonight. I filled up the cart with good healthy foods. By the time we got home, it was after 8pm and I didn't feel like cooking.  It's ironic isn't it that I just went to the grocery store to stock my house and I didn't feel like cooking? So while I was cutting up a very delicious pineapple, Pat boiled some water to make some Velveeta Shells and Cheese, low fat addition.  I was weak and had some of his shells and cheese...and they made me gag to the point where I had to have Pat eat the rest of my bowl.  I used to eat that all the time in college, often with seasoned salt. I just couldn't bring myself to eat anymore than a couple of spoonfuls because they just didn't taste good. 

Don't shoot me but I also threw away a grande non-fat mocha from Starbucks this morning. I think I was dehydrated and all I really wanted was a big bottle of water. I feel like I wasted the 4 bucks I spent on that drink but it didn't taste good enough to me.

I wish I could get this way with soda (pop for all you MN people). I need to get to the point of it tasting like crap. Pat and I don't have it in the house anymore but I do find myself craving it often. I need to drink more milk as well. It will be interesting to see where my tastebuds take me.

I am planning on a few home cooked comfort foods this week. Beef stew is on the menu, as well as Turkey Tacos tomorrow night, and spicy chicken soup in the crockpot probably Thursday or Friday (let me know if you want the recipe, it's super simple). 

Should I go?

Trying to decided if i want to go to this.

They had a similar gathering this last weekend in the Twin Cities. I'm thinking about picking up a couple of tickets for myself and a friend but I really dont know if I can afford it or not.  I think it could be a lot of fun.

I will do another post later.

Friends

...Or lack of.

Tamara came to visit with her boyfriend Corey tonight. I haven't seen here since the end of July at Andrea's wedding. Tamara used to work with me at Anchorbank, but she has now moved on to bigger and better things and I miss her.

Truthfully, I don't have any very close girl friends here in Madison. No friends that I can talk about anything with, no girlfriends that I can tell my secrets to. I do enjoy times with Michelle (another former coworker) and Anne. And I do feel that I could have a close relationship with Jana and Kinsey has been reaching out quite a bit. But the girls I am closest with now don't live here. Four of them are in the cities now and Tamara has moved north as well and Alicia is in Milwaukee.

I wish I would have taken more advantage of the time I had with Becky while she was here in Madison. There were times I spent most of my time with Pat. And she's not here anymore and I miss our Thursday night dinners while watching Grey's Anatomy. I did manage a great day at the Arboretum and a great picture of her. She was also the crazy amazing personal attendant at my wedding. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to live up to her standards. Becky is one of those friends I can talk to about anything. So is Christina.

Becky


Christina has been my closest friend since, well we've been close since our junior or senior year in high school when we sat next to each other in Chemistry class (trying to listen) but I have known her since Jr. High. Even when I went away for college and then moved to Madison, we kept in touch, we told each other our secrets. I was there on the phone when she told me the news about her mom's cancer, I was there on the phone during the final hours before her mom beautiful soul left this planet. I was there on the phone throughout school, through new men, and then later when those men were making us cry. I feel horrible because I haven't talked to her in over a month. I miss our once weekly phone calls. Christina

Andrea and Tamara are both wonderful ladies that I used to work with at the bank. Like I said above, Tamara moved north to live with her boyfriend Corey. I know she misses it down here but every time I meet Corey, the more I like him. I think he is good for her. Andrea lives in the cities with her husband. They got married a couple of months ago. I'm excited for them. I really like Andrea and I think if she would have stayed down here, we could have had the opportunity to be much closer friends. Andrea and I have joked that her and I just need to switch lives because most of her friends and family are in this area and mine are up where she lives.Andrea and Tamara (my bachelorette party)

Alicia is in Milwaukee. Alicia, I met her at a party in college. She was in the sorority I was thinking about joining. We didn't become very close until her senior year, mostly because she and I were the only two that stuck around to clean up after events. Alicia and I spend most of our time now meeting in Johnson's Creek for some outlet mall shopping, switching off to drive between her house or mine and chit chatting about various things on the phone. I am her son's Godmother. She is another friend I don't call often enough and fail to return phone calls too.Me and Alicia

Then there is my sister. She's in the cities too. She's my sister. I know she'll be there the rest of my life. She is my biggest supporter on this journey of change and betterment in myself. We've had a pretty quiet past. We fought a lot when we were younger, like sisters are supposed to do and sometimes we still don't agree but she's still my sister and I love her.Me and Alyssa (I wish I could crop myself out)

What it comes down to is that I have made friends here but then they leave. I would never replace these ladies. I just miss having someone to be able to call up on the spur of a moment. I'm sure I'll find someone soon. Or someone I can be motivated with. Pat's good at that but it's not the same as having a girlfriend to do it with. I'm sure there will be someone else I just have to be patient.

Don Lee Farms

I was at my parent's house this weekend and I needed a quick meal while I was running out the door. So my mom warmed up a Veggie Burger for me that she had gotten at Costco. Now, I've had Boca Burgers and these were so much better. Theses are actually vegan as well. I was impressed. I had it on a whole wheat sandwich flat. Just the patty and the flat. It was extremely yummy. Now I just need to find someone who has a Costco membership so I can go get some soon! Oh and 170 Calories per patty! Great snack!

Eating Out

Pat has been a little stressed lately so when he got home, he didn't really want to spend time making dinner. So we went out, something quick and easy of course. Noodles it was. I have always thought that Noodles has some good food on their menu, good meaning healthy. I always order either their Pad Thai or Pasta Fresca. Tonight it was Pasta Fresca, no tomatoes and grilled chicken breast. I never remember that Noodles has a small sized bowl for all of their dishes. So I ordered a regular. I ate until I was full, leaving about 1/3 of my total meal there on my plate which is now in the fridge.

When I got home, I brought up their website on my computer and I pulled up their nutrition facts. I shocked at how many calories are in a regular bowl of Pasta Fresca, and then I added grilled chicken on top of that. Tonight's meal, had I eaten every last bite would have been over 900 calories. I have decided I either need to stop eating out or I need to do what Jen over at A Prior Fat Girl does. If she is going out for dinner, she pulls up the menu ahead of time and decides what she is going to eat before she even gets there. I thought this was an amazing idea! Now I just need to make sure I do it. Had I looked at their menu and nutrition facts ahead of time, I probably would have gotten a small size of some meal. Or their Tomato Bisque soup (which I hear is really yummy).

Shin Splints

Oh Lordy my shins hurt when I walk at a pretty quick pace. They hurt when I am done doing my tiny bit of jogging that I do during my walks. They only stop hurting when I either walk for 45 minutes or more or I just stop moving. I'm spending some time tonight reading about how to either prevent them or keep the pain from being so bad. If anyone has pointers, I will take them. I'm pretty sure that once I get my weight down, they wont be so bad, or at least I hope they wont be so bad.

Hills

I did a two mile walk with Pat before dinner tonight. While we were walking it, it didn't really feel like we were walking it all that fast...but then there were the hills. Gmaps doesn't account for the hills. At the entrance to our neighborhood, there is a nasty hill and that nasty hill always comes up at the beginning and the end of the workout. My calves were killing me on the way up the hill. Pat offered to go get the car (jokingly) to pick me up. I love running down the hills, it makes running seem so easy when I have gravity working with me.

I know my body is going to hurt in the morning because of these nasty hills. But the pain is going to be a good pain...I think. I did do some stretching after tonight's workout. I know I have pain issues when I don't stretch. But tomorrow, I might have pain even with the stretching.

I'm really trying to take advantage of the sunlight after work while I still have it. It really is an outside motivator to get myself to exercise. My neighborhood is really dark so I wont be able to work out in the winter. I love exercising outside in the winter. (I know I'm weird) I was thinking I might be working out in Verona, since the streets are lit, and then I'll be heading home after that to make dinner. It's just a thought. While it's still light outside after work, I will be taking advantage of it.

I had weigh in this morning. Just like I had predicted, I did gain some weight. I weighed in this morning at 223lbs. So its only a gain of 0.6lbs.

Oh My God!

I went to Panera yesterday morning and had a cinnamon roll and a frozen coffee drink. I just used their website to track my calories. In that teeny tiny meal, I ate 1200 calories. OH MY GOD!

Here is their evil website that gives you the calorie counts

http://www.paneranutrition.com/

No Title Needed

I don't think I stuck to the diet plan this weekend.

Friday..what do say about Friday? Subway (6 in) for lunch and Chipotle for dinner. I felt find after I ate lunch. I was ok with doing a 6 inch sandwich. I don't really know what came over me for dinner though. It was the craving and giving into the craving that caused me to binge that night. I ate a whole chicken burrito and I regretted it right away. I used to be able to it one of those a week. I haven't had one for about two months and I don't know if I'll be able to do another whole burrito again. I was sick to my stomach right away. I think next time it might be a good choice to get a burrito bowl instead and only eat half of that. After dinner and a trip home to change, Pat and I went to a friends wedding in Verona. I stuck to one drink and one cupcake. The cupcake was an amazing vanilla cupcake filled with raspberry filling. My sister was at my house by the time we got home from the wedding.

On Saturday morning, Pat, Alyssa and I got up early to head down to campus to see the Badger/Gopher football game. I didn't made a good decision about breakfast at Panera. I had some crappy beer before the game and a pretzel with nacho cheese for lunch. Dinner was a couple pieces of frozen pizza. Pat and I had some friends over for a bonfire. I did manage to stay away from the beer and had water instead. I didn't get any specific exercise yesterday besides all the walking to and from the football field.

This morning was started at the Pancake Cafe for breakfast with my sister. I did opt for the egg beaters in my omelet instead of real eggs. I actually don't mind having egg beaters, I've gotten used to the taste. Also, I had an english muffin instead of pancakes. I also didn't finish my full meal. After breakfast, the three of us drove up to Devils Lake to get some great pictures of the lake and the trees since they are changing some amazing colors.

I'm really nervous about my weigh in tomorrow morning. I have a great feeling that I actually gained something instead of losing it. It was a hard week. I didn't get as much movement into my days. I didn't walk during my lunch period like I had been the week before. It's a new week I suppose.

Cravings

I haven't worked out for a couple of days now. Work has been stressful, which is an even better reason to work out to relieve that stress. Pat and I are watching the Twins game right now. It looks like they may not be winning this one either.

I had a craving for McDonald's breakfast this morning. I usually get a number 11 (two breakfast burrito meal) with a small oj. I dont know if its the worst thing on the menu or not. I just happen to really like them. I talked myself out of it by having a bowl of cheerios here at home. I will probably have to talk myself out of it tomorrow morning too.

Tonight I had a craving for Chipotle. I once again just got in my car and went the other direction towards home so I could just wait for the craving to go away, which it did at some point because when I got home, I told Pat I had changed my mind. So I had leftovers, which were better for me and less expensive

Calories

So I thought I had a really bad day as far as food goes. I binged a bit at my lunch and went to Subway again, this time ordering a foot long turkey and ham sub which is a whopping 600 calories. AND then I didn't have a diet soda with my meal AND I ate a bag of Cheetos. Now that is bad. I added up my calories for the day and I'm still at a fairly low number of calories. I estimate that I ate 1300 calories today. I didn't think that was all that bad.

I had some delicious crockpot chili for dinner. I love how much the protein in beans fills up my belly. The serving that I did have is making me feel so full right now.

As for the calories, I'm not really sure how much I'm supposed to be eating every day. I suppose I am going to have to figure that out from doing some research.

Watching the Biggest Loser right now.

A Good Week

I'm sitting on the couch, in my butt rut. Lol that rhymes! The cat is sitting my tummy, making it somewhat hard to type. I am amazed that this cat has become a lap pet. I never thought she actually would.
I got on the scale this morning. I am down 6 lbs. Now I have to say some of that was water weight. But I still worked for those pounds so I will take them and keep going.

I dragged Pat out for a walk this evening after work. It was much needed after the day I had at work. I am really working on using walking as a stress reliever instead of eating. I want to get to the point that I'm craving walking or being outside instead of food. Is that possible? There were a few times last week when I would be sitting at my desk at work just thinking about putting my running shoes on and going for a short walk during my lunch break. I didn't walk today during lunch. I was just so busy and my lunch period went far too fast.

I just got off the phone with my mom. She tells me Congratulations on the pounds lost. And I said thanks. This is a battle worth fighting and eventually winning.

Listening to "It Depends on the Context" by The Mighty Orange Trio

Weekly Weigh In

I weighed myself this morning. I am down 6 lbs to 222.2lbs. More to post tonight when I get home.

The Couch

I worked yesterday. It was the first Saturday I had worked in a couple of months. And it was cold yesterday. It was the first night that we had to bring the plants in from outside to avoid killing them. After work, I came home to eat some lunch and then promptly sat my ass down on the couch.

The Couch. The couch that Pat has written off because the cat has left too man claw marks in the suede. The couch that has a soft spot in it from too many hours of my ass sitting on it. Yes, I said it, a soft spot. A spot where the couch is permanently sunk in. It's like Homer Simpson's couch and yes, it's lame. I sat on that very couch yesterday for hours. It was cold in our house and cold out side and I had a headache (I think I was dehydrated). So the headache forced me to sit on the couch and nap and watch movies from the 1990's that were campy. Dinner wasn't much better. We wanted something warm, so Chinese it was.

Today it's still cold outside but atleast we have the sunshine. We will probably get some raking done and yard work including planting some bulbs that we purchased yesterday. I will probably do another post tonight.

Today its still cold out

Friday

I'm starting to realize that I may not get an entry in every day of the week. Last night, Pat and I went to Overture Center to see Wicked. It was great, but not as good as the time I saw it in NYNY.

I broke down and hand Subway for lunch yesterday. I did stick with just a six inch sandwich though and had some Baked Lays. For dinner we went to what we had time for, Cosi. We haven't been to Cosi since they opened down here. I guess I wasn't too impressed by them the first time. I had a melt. It was really yummy and I was so excited to get to the show on time, because we were running a bit late, I couldn't finish it. That was a good thing though because I didnt need all of that.

Today was not the best day really. My hand found it's way into the chocolate stash at work and then pat and I went to BW3's for dinner. I am definitely feeling that dinner now and I feel like crap. Even sick at times. If I listen to my body, it's telling me right now that I shouldnt have had those chips. Maybe I will learn that eating what I ate makes me feel like this and I shouldn't eat it again. I did go for a walk during lunch today because it was a bit stressful at work. That walk was for a little bit more than a mile.

Blah! I'm tired and I have to work in the morning. Goodnight all.