Weigh in Wednesday

Good news people.  I somehow managed to lose 1.3 pounds over Thanksgiving and I have no idea how.  I'm going to be honest, I ate really crappy over the long weekend.  I'm glad the scale didn't reflect that...

Anyway, here's this week's stats:

November 30: -1.3 pounds, -27 pounds total

Operation Goal Weight By Wedding has kicked off and has already included some delicious salads.  If I could make every salad I eat a taco salad, I would eat salad all day every day.

Shoes!

I want these shoes.  They're TOMS, and the mustache is wonderful.  I have a strange obsession with mustaches.  Sean thinks it's weird...

Anyway, family take note: size 11 please. :)

All ready for Christmas!

It's after Thanksgiving so that means our Christmas tree is set up.  Boots has already messed with it.  She likes to chew on the branches and pull on the tinsel.  I have a feeling Sean and I will be re-setting up the tree a lot this year.  I should probably get the wrapped presents under the tree so she can't get up in the tree.

Happy holidays!

Weigh In Wednesday

And the results are in!  Drum roll please....

...I'm down 3.3 pounds from last week.  Boo-ya!

November 23: -3.3 pounds, -25.7 pounds total

This makes me super proud of myself.  And it only makes me more excited about losing weight.  Can I lose weight through the holidays?  Well I guess we'll find out.

Remember last week I wanted to be down 25 pounds today from the start of the lifestyle change, goal complete!  We're on our way to being 40 pounds down by Christmas.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  I'm not going to give up all the delicious food completely, but the plan is to not eat as much of it.  Instead of having two helpings of potatoes, I'm only going to have one.  Definitely going to skip unnecessary carbs -- i.e. dinner rolls.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Sean proposed...

...and I said yes!

We're both really, really happy.

Hey, guess what?  I finished my Just Dance 3: seven day sweat workout. 

I'm impressed I completed all seven days.  If I wasn't going to home for a few days due to Thanksgiving, I would start another seven day workout tomorrow.  The sweat workouts have three levels.  I just finished the second level.  Starting this weekend it looks like I'll move up to the third level -- which just means I have to dance longer.

I know.  I know.  The workout is corny.  But!  It gets my butt moving and it's actually fun and I legitimately enjoy doing it.

I'm getting tired now, I think it's almost time to go to sleep.  This old lady can barely make it 9 p.m.

Weekend in review.

It has been a relaxing/productive weekend thus far.  Let me tell you about it in bullet form.

• It looks like winter outside.  It finally snowed on Saturday.  
• Sean and I went to Como Zoo yesterday morning.  Because of the rain/sleet/snow the zoo was empty.  We spent quite a while in the giraffe building.  

•  I love giraffes.  This little guy is one of the baby that was born a few years ago and he's chewing on the wire.  The mom is the giraffe in the background. 
• Due to the snow, Sean and I decided we should stay home and watch a movie and the hockey game last night.  It was a very relaxing day.
• Today we got our grocery shopping done.
• I've cleaned the apartment and done laundry.

I feel very accomplished.  Now, it's time to wrap some Christmas gifts.  The snow on the ground is totally getting me excited for the holidays.  I can't wait until we get home from Thanksgiving with my parents so Sean and I can decorate the apartment for Christmas.  We're totally going to watch Elf while we set up the Christmas tree.  It's the most wonderful time of the year...

I didn't get the job I applied and interviewed for, the job that would have been perfect for me right now.  I would have been actually been doing things I went to college for, unlike my current job.

I found that out this morning via email.  Then, I found out at work out PTO time is changing and the sick time I had from this year wasn't rolling over to next year.  So, I used some time and took the afternoon off.  Katie did too.

Instead Katie, Lee, Sean, and myself had lunch and then stopped at Sam's Club for their Holiday Taste of Sam's.  Then, Sean and I headed to Mall of America to do a little Christmas shopping.  It definitely took my mind off of being bummed about not getting the job for a while, but I'm still disappointed.

There's other jobs I guess...

Check and check.

Last night I was SUPER productive.

• Ate chili.
• I called my grandma.
• Definitely perused the Internet. 
• Did a little Just Dance.  Way more fun than doing an actual workout.
• Read magazine while taking a bubble bath.

I received my first issue of Everyday Food (a Martha Stewart Magazine).  I had completely forgotten I cashed in some My Coke Rewards points and subscribed to that.  Too bad all of the recipes look delicious and are most likely high in calories.  Good thing I can bookmark the recipes I want to make someday.

In addition to the above items, I also payed my monthly bills.  The bank account is smaller, but the pile of random stuff on my desk has definitely gone down a little bit.

Let's make today a good, healthy food decision type of day.  Godspeed!  (P.S. you're welcome Katie.)

“How soon 'not now' becomes 'never'.”

Thank you Martin Luther King, Jr. for that nugget of motivation and inspiration.  I'm going to need it.  There's actually (surprisingly) a lot of things I want to get done tonight.

• Just Dance - I'm on day two of a seven day sweat workout.  How corny does THAT sound? 
• Try not to be so lame, exhibit A ^.
• Get through a couple magazines that are sitting on the coffee table.  Fun fact.  I subscribe to Marie Claire, Allure, Better Homes and Gardens, Martha Stewart Living, and Real Simple.  I tend to not read them for a while and let the magazine stack get really large.  Then, I binge read 3-6 of them at one time.  It's enjoyable.
• On a completely unrelated note, I wonder if my mother and sister-in-law have received the free Better Homes and Garden subscription I sent them... I got a renewal offer on my subscription for two gift subscriptions if I renew for a super low rate (their words, not mine). 
• Another fun fact.  I may be only a mere 23 years of age, but I act like I'm an 86 year old woman.  Just look at the magazines I subscribe too, oh dear.
• Call Grandma to see if she's free next week around Thanksgiving.  I keep forgetting to do this, especially important.
• Take a bubble bath because I haven't done so in a few weeks -- that's a long time for me.
• Eat the chili Sean made today.  Thanks mom for the canned sauce mix. 
• Peruse the Internets, a.k.a. Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Google Analytics, and Pinterest.  Definitely NOT delicious baking blogs like Joy the Baker, shutterbean, and Sweetapolita.  They make me want to bake delicious bakery treats which I don't want/need right now.

Now, let's see if I actually do all of this.  Have an enjoyable Wednesday!

Weigh in Wednesday

So, I'm doing something new.  Instead of doing weigh days on the 1st and 15th of every month, I'm going to weigh myself every Wednesday.  Hence the name "Weigh in Wednesday" -- obviously.

The reason I am switching to weekly weigh ins is to help keep myself on track with my lifestyle change.  I find that I tend to eat crappier after a weigh in because I know the next weigh in isn't for another two weeks.  To prevent that behavior from happening in the first place, I need to do weekly weigh ins.

I also chose Wednesday for a reason (and not just because of the catchy title I could use).  I notice I tend to eat a lot better when I'm at work all week and the weekends are more difficult, calorie wise.  Clearly I didn't want weigh ins to be on Mondays because I don't want to ruin it over the weekend.  I thought about choosing Fridays because it is the end of the work week and I (generally) will have eaten well over the course of it.  But then I didn't to have an excuse to eat crappier on the weekend since I just had the weigh in.  So, Wednesday it is.

Today is Wednesday.  And I weighed myself.  I know, I know.  You're shouldn't weigh yourself every day because the number on the scale can fluctuate day-to-day.  I weighed myself anyway and am pleased about the result.  I'm not making excuses for yesterday's weight gain, but I'm down two pounds from yesterday's weigh in.  I think the 1.3 pound gain is just what I needed for a good kick in the pants to get myself into this lifestyle change again.

November 16: -2 pounds, -22.4 pound total

Do you think by next Wednesday I could be down 25 pounds from the beginning of my lifestyle change? Let's hope so!

Note: my next weight goal is to be down 40 pounds from the beginning by Christmas.  That means I will have to lose 3.52 pounds per week, with Thanksgiving thrown in there as well.  Let's do this!

Newest obsession.

Have you checked out Pinterest yet?  It's my newest obsession...

Check it, yo!

Weigh day.

I knew this was going to happen, so I'm not that broken up about it.  I gained 1.3 pounds -- all the more reason to work harder (see previous post).

November 15: +1.3 pounds, -20.4 pounds total  

Severely lacking in the motiviation department.

Tomorrow is weigh day.  I'm not looking forward to it.  But, I need to face the music.

I've lost my motivation.  The cold has made me lazy.  Wait, scratch that.  I've made myself lazy.  No blaming it on the weather.  You know what I need?  A game plan. 

With daylight savings time in full swing, it's dark by 5 p.m. and it's only a matter of time when it will be dark at 4:30.  Me being afraid of the dark and the boogy monster means I will not be running in the dark.  I think I need to get my ass into gear and start running as soon as I get home from work.  On days I have something going on, I need to be doing some other sort of workout.  May Wii Fit.  Maybe Just Dance 3, because let's be honest, Just Dance 3 is WAY more fun than anything else.

But seriously, I need to stick to my game plan.  At the very least, I should be doing some sort of work out every single day, not being a lazy pile like I have been. 

It all changes tonight.  Tonight after my hair appointment I will be doing Just Dance 3.  How long you ask?  I have no idea.  Until I'm tired...?  Even though Just Dance doesn't feel like a workout because it is so much fun, I always end up sweating a lot (sign of a work out?).  According to Katie, I don't sweat, so it's a pretty big deal. 

Alright, game plan in motion.  Operation Move My Hiney is officially kicked into gear.  You with me?

In Kali's kitchen.

Yes, I did make soup yesterday.  No, I didn't take any pictures because I forgot.  Silly me. 

I only made two batches instead of three.  Good thing because I had made five quarts of cheesy wild rice soup goodness. My five quart pan was so full.

I found a new frosting recipe to try.  It's from Sprinkle Bakes.  The whole cake looks amazing.

Let there be soup.

I'm making soup tomorrow night.  Awesome, delicious soup.

Like three batches of cheesy wild rice soup.

Get excited people, get excited!

Happy birthday to Sean!

Yesterday was Sean's birthday. 

He requested a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, and boy did I deliver.

Dark chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting topped with chopped up Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

It's beautiful.

It tasted just as good as it looks.  I found a peanut butter frosting recipe that is a keeper.  The peanut butter frosting recipe can be found here, from Joy the Baker.

Happy birthday Sean!  We went to the Minnesota Wild game last night.  It was a fantastic blow out game against Vancouver.  Wild won 5-1.  There were a couple great fights, which is my favorite part. 

Weigh day.

Happy November!  2011 is flying by it seems...

Today was a weigh day.  And I'm two pounds lighter from the last weigh day. 

November 1: -2 pounds, -21.7 pounds total