do you know what you just ate?

Clam Chowder
We met when I was about 7 or 8. I remember smelling it when I came home from school one day. Please note that what I am about to describe is not a discredit to my mom's cooking because she is faboo. Trust me. But the smell of NE clam chowder, clams and potatoes simmering in HOT MILK... ugh. I said to mom, "Mom, I don't think I will like it". In spite of my protests, I found myself sitting in front of a hot bowl of chowder. I dunno, even the name "chowder" sounds like a way to purge your body. "Eat it!" I stared. "Eat or you get nothing else". I still stared. I could tell my dad was starting to get uncomfortable. I could see his almost pleading glances for me to at least try it. But I COULDN'T. It was HOT MILK & CLAMS! Didn't anyone understand? They didn't but I was forced to eat it and almost all of it. It was only when I began to "purge" that I was never forced to eat the evil clam chowder ever again. I have two other foods that fit into this food group: Brussels sprouts (which I can now tolerate) and liver (don't EVEN post that it's because I haven't had it cooked the right way because I can't even stand the smell, let alone the taste).

Lamb
This food group is the one where mom was at her finest. Every now and then, mom would serve up something a bit "kid untraditional" like lamb or periwinkles. She's creative but that's not what I'd call it when she got me to eat these things. She would flat out trick me. She'd cook it up, make it look like a burger and then when I was done eating, all the while "mmm-ing" thru it, she'd ask me "do you know what you just ate?" Many of you posted that my mom looks like a blast. Oh she's a blast all right. Trouble in its' highest. UP TO IT... always.

Peas
Now, there were things I would have preferred to not eat but for the most part, I cleaned my plate. Vegetables weren't my thing but I usually ate them all because I didn't have the option to not eat them. Sometimes my stubborn streak would flare and there would be something on my plate that I was NOT gonna eat. That meant pullin' an all-nighter at the kitchen table. Peas, sometimes, was one of those things. I am like my dad. He enjoys cookies, cakes, pies, donuts, the occasional fruit (like watermelon), meat and potatoes. We are like two peas in a pod. Speaking of peas, he would eat my peas for me - it was either that or I would probably STILL be sitting at the dinner table.

When I moved about a 6 hour drive away from my ever feeding mommy, I rebelled and to be honest, I think I ate maybe zero vegetables for the first few years that I was away from home. I'm not including salads here. Now, I'm a little older (11 years to be exact) and realize that I cannot fulfill my vegetable requirements with iceberg lettuce alone so last week I branched out into another section of the grocery aisle. I actually picked up zucchini, fresh tomatoes (which I really love) & carrots AND used them. That's a big deal for me because my veggies always go bad... always. Tonight, I made spaghetti with turkey meat sauce. While the onions, garlic and fresh tomatoes sautéed, I decided to spice up my life a little and add some zucchini and canned corn to the mix. At 7.5 pts per serving I had a pretty darn good meal.

Chourico & Salad

So tonight there's a little lesson about my heritage. I am part Portuguese. You can thank this woman for all that entails.

Meet.. my mom. The Portuguese are Latin, romantic, passionate and hospitable. Please interpret that last word to mean that everything and I mean everything revolves around food. Now my mom, bless her heart, weighs about 98 lbs soaking wet but eats enough to sustain a baby elephant. Where the food goes, only the Lord will reveal it to me? And yes, THIS is the burning question I will ask when I sit on God's lap and uncover the hidden things. But I digress.

The Portuguese love to cook, eat, cook & eat and most importantly FEED YOU. I can remember when I was a little girl the first thing my vovo (Grandma) would do is sit me down at the kitchen table and start bringing food over to me. This leads me to one of my favorite foods that I grew up with.. Portuguese chourico. Basically, chourico (as seen on Emeril.. BAM!) is pork, fat, wine, paprika and salt. Then it's smoked. For more info, click here. Once that whole process is done with, you can eat it unheated in a sandwich or like many of us like to do, we sauté it with a bit of olive oil, throw in some onions and call it a day. I have a 'thing' when I visit Massachusetts which if you are all caught up on your reading know that I was there last week. I stock up on Chourico because it's very hard to find outside of New England. I found chicken chourico in Maryland once but that was almost blasphemous.

Tonight, my featured dinner:


It turns out to be approximately 4 pts per serving. Then throw in a salad lightly dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar and you have a 6 point meal... YUM!

I don't know what to post about today....

So, I'll post pictures! :) I got a new camera for Christmas and I have been very camera happy. My brother went as far as to call me "the papparazi". Nice.

This is my view of Polly's head as she sits in front of me
(the background is the cold but beautiful New England snow)


That's my daddy. My mom said this picture is too dark. I say it looks artistic.


That's my brother and my niece Faith. I love this..


That's moi after the dye job. I took a TON of pictures of me. Doesn't look too much different. My hair is very dark except for the grays that try their darnedest to reveal my age. I worry about how much I enjoy taking self portraits. Many more where this came from sooooo... if you are tired of my face (who could tire of it???), you might wanna break from my blog until I get this camera thing out of my system. As a side note, I am waiting for Mel to get back to Maryland so she can take some "before" shots of me. I can hardly wait (sarcasm to the 'shots' comment).


Me again. I'm eating out with my family. If the papparazi do it to famous people, why can't my family do it to me?


Both girls enjoying Polly's new bed. Sadie is on left (camera shy) and I forgot to mention that she is Polly's mommy. I am sitting for her while Mel is away. She has settled right in as you can see.


That's all for now. Thanks for stoppin' in. I hope you enjoyed your stay at the El Foto Tina. Please come again soon. Ciao.

Merry Christmas All...

To all of my blogging friends, I wanted to make sure I wished ya'll a very Merry Christmas. Right about this time some of you are stuffed to the gills from a wonderful dinner (and desserts) or are pooping because of the constant activity in and out of your homes. I had Christmas last week with my family in Mass as I had to work this week, so today it was just me and the dogs. A quiet day, but not such a bad day if I do say so myself. Did some cooking, tv watching, napping and just got in from a nice brisk walk in the cold December air. Well anyway, I hope you all had (and are having) a great day with family and friends and that Santa was good to you this year! Hugs.

Losing weight makes no sense sometimes...

So this weekend I decided that I had enough "fun" and was gonna get back on track. After all, I had eaten out at least 4 times last week, had Burger King TWICE and believe me I got the whole nine there, didn't make it to the gym, and the list goes on and on. I don't know why but I decided that I couldn't stay down for long and maybe what I needed was a week like last week to just relax. I went back to Mass for the weekend to see family and meet my niece for the first time and didn't walk around consumed by thoughts of food.

Meet Faith....

She was such a blast. OMG! And what a cutie. I'm so honored to have met her.

I'm back in Mary-land.... I had to work today (only a half day) and now I'm home, just relaxing. I'm not spending Christmas with anyone (just me and the dogs) so tomorrow I'll be taking it easy again and watching some marathon on t.v. I'm sure.

Oh yeah, about my title. After all the crap I ate last week, I lost 1.6 pounds. HOW does that happen?

I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas and that Santa brings you everything that you wanted and more. Oh yeah.. I got some great stuff for Christmas. A 14 piece set of Cuisinart cookware, digital camera, cash, dvd burner.. I'm pysched! Ok, I'm pooped as I managed to find things to do (like dye my hair - see the picture) until about 2:30 am. Yaaaaaawn. And HUGS.

Sick...

No real post today as I am feeling like poop tonight and need to crawl back in bad. Didn't want to leave you completely post-less so I am sharing a funny that I got from my friend...

These men are installing and setting solid steel pillars in concrete to stop vehicles from parking on the pavement outside a sports bar in downtown Norman OK. They are cleaning up at the end of the day. How long do you think it will be before they realize where their vehicle is parked?



That SO would happen to me!

Will you be my friend?

So, I just created a Facebook a few days ago. Like I needed anything else to feed my insomnia tendencies. I tried creating a badge for my blog but it took up SO much space. Will try again later. Do any of you facebook? I'd love to add you to my friends list. Send an email to me and I'll get right on that.

On the DEC front, I've done 1/2 of my elliptical time this week. W00T! By the way, did you know they added "woot" to the dictionary? Tonight, I'm hittin' the gym and will do the other half of my elliptical & some weights work.

It's really quiet at work these days... we're waiting for a big torrential rainstorm to bring in the business... and while we wait, I Facebook.

My hometown is getting hit with some snow! I'm so jealous... Hope you all are having a great day. I will try to pry myself away from my new addiction to catch up on posts. *Hugs*

i tHiNK my ScaLE is mEsSIng WITh mE

Ok, so today is weigh in Tuesday. *insert sarcastic yay here* I was a little nervous about today because as far as calories and points go, I was around 1400-1500 calories all week long with the exception of three days. I should mention that I had two kick ass workouts and bowled for 3 hours. So at least I was moving for three days last week. I was still nervous though.

Well, I got on the scale and it said 183.0 which means up 0.4. Poop! Oh yeah, I did a lot of that this morning too! Sorry, TMI. Anyway, for those of you who obsessively weigh yourself, when it's WI Tuesday, I do just that. I get on and off the scale about 10 times, just to make sure it's the same. Well, around my 10th time getting on and off the scale the numbers starting shifting between 181.4 and 183. WTF!!!! So now I'm really obsessed until.... you guessed it.. until the number stayed at 181.4. I got on and off the scale about 10 more times just to be sure but it didn't budge anymore.

So the verdict is DOWN 1.2. Maybe my scale is possessed, maybe it's messing with me or maybe it just needs a new battery. Either way, I'll take the loss. Oh and in addition to my scale "victory", my measurements have changed for the better. My hips are down one inch (how is that possible) and my waist is down a half inch. Woowoo!!

Bowling, Butt Muscles

I bowled a 113 tonight.. TWICE. Woohoo! I know that doesn't sound impressive, but trust me, I have zippo skills when it comes to the big balls. ZIP. I am proud to say that I even beat my uber competitive bff. I didn't promise I wouldn't tell. She has the pictures to prove it. I'm waiting for them to be uploaded so I can prove it. WOOT! In all my bowling fun and jumping in the air EVERY time the ball knocked at least one pin down, I think I pulled a butt muscle. Nothing serious, just a slight limp. No worries. I also stayed up past my bedtime tonight and bowled about one hour into rock-n-bowl.. that's when they turn the lights out, everything is glow in the dark, and the music gets crankin. Some of the new tunes that are out there are a little gross. I think Mel and I are getting old because we kept wrinkling our nose at each other and mouthing "what is this?". There was one dude there, probably twice my age who was shakin' it like a Polaroid. It was HYSTERICAL. Oh and then I started dancing when that one song came on that says, "now slide to the left, now slide to the right, cha cha now.. smoooooooth"... Here it is for you to enjoy. You won't be able to help yourself. Get up and move.. ACTIVITY POINTS BABY!

I'm partied out and I'm up early tomorrow. I'm off to bed, just wanted to post that it was a good night and that my buttocks are thanking me.

AWOL, TOM, DEC, CMAS PTY

AWOL/TOM
Sorry I've been AWOL for a few days but I am here to explain. Good reasons I SWEAR! So, of course my "friend" (which is nobody's friend if you ask me) stopped by to visit on Wednesday night, just before bed. I had worked out that day like a mad woman and when I came home, I felt like I might be able to examine the contents of my stomach. I wondered why I was feeling so rough (and exhausted which is always my first clue). I bathed (I take a bubble bath almost every night) got out and I think I was checking my email when I got that uh-oh feeling. I went to the bathroom, checked it out and sure enough I had a visit. When I was a teen & actually before birth control, I never felt like this. Awful cramps so bad that I'm nauseaus, hunched over (one of the guys at work said "what's wrong? Headache?") and many times breathing like I'm about to have a baby. But now, every cycle seems to get worse. That night I took a sleeping pill, turned on my heating pad because the cramps started pretty much right away and then went to sleep.

Thursday
This morning I woke up and was in A LOT of pain. I ate Advil for breakfast along with some coffee and all day long I could barely stand it. I worked a full day but I don't think it was a productive day. I don't remember much from Thursday except coming home, soaking in a hot bath, climbing into bed, and moaning from all of the stupid pain. I was gonna work out this day but I could barely stand up, let alone move my ass on an elliptical.

Friday
I didn't have to go into work.. YAY.. and my cramps were as horrendous as the first night so I stayed in bed with my trusty heating pad. My goal was to work out in the afternoon before our office Christmas party/dinner. THAT didn't happen. I moaned and groaned ALL DAY to the point where my dog was whining because she was worried about all the noise mommy was making. :( While in bed I got a few texts asking if I was going to the dinner and wrote back about my condition and that I would try and do they have anything illegal. :) I got a text back from two friends saying that one would try to bring something and the other would definitely bring something for me.

Christmas Party
Friday night was the night of the office Christmas dinner. We had it at a restaurant by the water called Macgregors. Sounds classy but it was actually very relaxed (it had a NEON sign out front). It's always weird seeing our installation crew actually in regular clothes and showered. But anyway. My illegal meds hookups arrived (they remain nameless so as to not incriminate). One of them FORGOT and the other slipped me a yellow pill with a V on it. Yeah, you guessed it. And you can guess who is remaining my friend. So I took the little pill with the V on it and soon after started to feel tingly in my face and soon after that I got the giggles. I felt very removed from my environment.. it's the only way I can describe it. I kept asking if I was talking too loud. Embarrassing. Tingly, giggly but the cramps AND my headache went away. YAY! That was until the nausea kicked in. Boo! You see, I had very little appetite and I was not in the mood for my filet mignon (which I took two small bites and SAVED flex points for). I took a bite or two from my mashed potatoes, ate 4 onion rings, my salad and called it a day. Oh yeah, I did eat a little of my apple pie a la mood... less than half. I ended up eating only 20 of the 24 POINTS I'm allowed. I left the party with a designated driver and came home to, you guessed it, my comfy cozy bed. BUT that was not before I tried to fix a very annoying computer problem. I guess I was jazzed up from the umpteen diet Pepsi refills. Anyway, I'm less high now and am happy to report I have zero cramps. YAY!

DEC
Ok, so I'm supposed to work out 3x a week for 30 minutes each session doing some type of cardio. I worked out 2x this week doing a total of 1hr and 45 minutes. So that's not bad at all. No strength (s)training this week. I'm hoping to either maintain or of course lose. I feel like I've been eating a lot this week (because I've been eating my activity points) so if I don't have a loss I may eat less of them next week.

Hope you all are having a FABOO weekend. I'm going to a bowling birthday party tonight so that should be lots of fun. Pictures of the Christmas and bowling party to come later. I'm out.

Nausea = High Intensity??

I worked out on the elliptical for 45 minutes at high speed (my heart rate was between 175-183 pretty much the entire time). I am whooped and nauseas. But you know what that means DEC-ers.. 15 more minutes until I've reached my cardio goal. WOOT! It's almost worth the nausea. :)

I decided regarding the whole activity points thing to do what is right for my body. I know my body and what it takes for me to get in motion. So with that, I'll use some math, some knowledge about how my body feels and responds and will do what is right for me... what my body is telling me that it needs.

I'm off to bed but I will post again.

OH YEAH... we got our first real snow.. just a few inches but AWESOME. I'm hoping Santa brings me a dig cam for Christmas so I can stop taking pictures with my cell phone. See below (Note the piece of the logo on my hat under the hoodie.. I wore this same outfit to the gym and got some very dirty looks. Still wondering? PATS baby!)

Down, down baby.. down by the....

182's.. WOOT. Down 1 pound. Take THAT mean scale. Sweatin' to the oldies DOES pay off.

One hour baby!

Did it again.. one hour on the elliptical and kept my heart rate at a minimum of 163 the entire time. Came out to about 10,000 strides and 4.5 miles... woo woo! That's me tooting my own horn.

Now for my confession:
This weekend I felt like CRAP.. just mentally and physically and didn't even want to get out of bed. On Saturday morning, I went over to Mel's house in the morning to help take some Christmas pictures. That was crazy with a capital C. Imagine four kids, ages 4, 3, 3 and 1. Now imagine me trying to capture a nice family moment AND their attention. OMG. The hubby was the best kid of all. And by best, I mean worst. ;) It was cold and windy and the kids looked so darn cute. I think we got one picture that they could live with...I just wish there were more options for mommy to choose from.

This is what she decided on:


I like it! And it's very hard for this fam to take a bad picture. They're all so pretty!

After a very eventful morning, I went back home. I was SUPPOSED to do errands, I have a list like 8 billion miles long of things I need to get done but I just couldn't muster up the mental energy to do it. I HATE when I am like that. So I spend the rest of the day in bed, sleeping and watching tv. Later that night I took a sleep aid to be sure that I went back to sleep and that I did. I woke up the next morning VERY groggy. Ugh. I figured Sunday would be better but I was in an even crappier mood than the day before. Emotional and drugged out do not mix well on me. I ended up in bed AGAIN the entire day. I've been eating okay. Not great, not horrible, just so-so. Now we are up to date.

Monday
Wake up. Crappy mood, day 3. Wonderful. I barely want to get out of bed, let alone face other people at work. But I do it anyway. I stop at the local DD to pick up some treats for fellow co-workers and head in. It was DEAD today. I mean, I had 7 voicemails but nothing important at all. My boss asked me how my weekend was and I just about burst into tears because he was being so sweet when I said "not great". Dum, dee, dum. Day rolled on as normal. Except for my appetite which is part of this confession. I felt as if I could eat my arm. I was HUNGRY all day. I ate my lunch at about 11:15 and by 1:30 when evil Ryan announced that he was going for Chinese and did I want any (btw, he knows I'm doing ww).. I exclaimed YES! I got an order of pork fried rice and ate 1.5 servings. Ouch. Thank God my flex points started over today or I would have been in TROUBLE. Just a little nervous about tomorrow's WI because we know that Chinese food loves sodium. Anyhoo... the boss let me go home early (around 330) and I rested for a while (like I haven't been doing that all weekend, I know). I decided at 5:00 I was gonna get up and head to the gym and that I did. Got on the elliptical and exercised my buns off (hopefully) for an hour. Hence, the earlier tooting of the horn. I feel better. They say exercise can do that to ya. Yay. :)

Oh yeah, this is DAY 3 of D.E.C. (December Exercise Challenge) and I have 1 of my 2 hours on the elliptical done. Woot woot again.

Btw, tonight the team from where I was born and raised plays in my current home state. GOOD LUCK BOYS!

Have you seen this? 20 Worst Foods

Twenty Worst Foods

Ricki Lake's Weight Loss

Very inspiring read and video... for any who are interested.

Ricki Lake's Loss - Read & Watch

Are you eating enough?

Thank you all for the responses given to my question about activity points, etc. I'm a bit of a 'googler' when it comes to these things so I found an answer that made sense to me AND it was on the Weight Watcher's website.

First, Steph was right. I think for any of us that have gotten our butts in gear, a big KUDOS to you (and me too) because in addition to eating right, exercising is right up there with getting us on the path to the smaller butts that we know we all want. And it can be DAMN hard to get our asses off the couch and get movin' so let's not discount what it takes to do it!

Second, I also think we need to be sure we are eating enough for our bodies to survive and actually BURN calories. Sometimes that involves straying a bit from the formula and figuring out what is right for us. After all, we are uniquely made right? For example, there are some of you that are near your goal weights and have decreased your caloric intake drastically because of your weight loss and then presto, chango, you stopped losing weight. And then when you increase your caloric intake a bit (by way of Points), the weight starts coming off again. Why is that? I've read on someone else's blog that she figured out the calories she was eating came out to about 900+ calories a day... She stayed within her points and was doing what the program said she should do, but the weight refused to come off. Little changed by way of exercise and foods she was eating but still, the scale was stubborn. She figured out that she was eating way too little for her body and when she increased her food intake, she started losing again. When I see a grown woman eating less than 1000 calories each day AND exercising, I have to ask the question, WHO is that healthy for? You have to know I ask these questions from the perspective of someone who has struggled with eating issues, both over and under eating.

Third, I don't think that activity intensity needs to be subjective or a guessing game. WeightWatchers along with many other health websites gives us a formula to use to figure out our activity intensity. I read on this site the three different tests you can use to measure activity intensity. Basically, you can do one of three things: 1. the talk test 2. determine if heart rate is in the target zone 3. perceived exertion. Interesting and helpful, I thought.

I was thinking today that what may be moderate intensity for one, may be high intensity for another. For me at 182 pounds, it takes a lot less effort for my heart rate to get within the maximum level than it does when I am 40 pounds less. I don't agree that most activities are not high intensity. I think that it needs to be taken into account who is doing them. I may be able to walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded (and btw, I can't right now) but my grandma who weighs over 200 lbs may not be able to speak when she reaches the top. And I'm sure if I took her heart rate, she would be near if not over 70% of her maximum heart rate.

After all that, the other thing I was poking around on the internet looking for an answer is "when I earn AP, do I have to use them all?". Again, I found many subjective responses, which if you haven't noticed, I prefer a more black/white answer. I LIKE FORMULAS! :) Some said, eat them if you want. I had a leader that said you MUST eat them ALL. I've read that you eat them if you need them. How do you know if you need them? Is your stomach growling? Are you ready to faint from exhaustion and lack of food? Can some of you share what you do with your AP? What works for you guys?

Heart Rate - Activity Intensity

Ok, so I found my answer on the WW website...

Here is the link if you are interested in the full article:
The Article

Below is the estimated formula for measuring your maximum heart rate:
220 minus your age in years.

So for me, that would be 220 - 29 = 191 MHR

Now the level of intensity is as follows:
40-54% of MHR for me that means 76.4 to 103.0 - Low intensity
55-69% of MHR for me that means 105.0 to 131.8 - Moderate intensity
> or = 70% of MHR for me that means 133.7 and over - High intensity

I got a comment about high intensity should be something that makes me breathe so hard I can't talk but I'm never like that on the elliptical. I am breathing harder than normal and am tired but am never so out of breath that I can't speak. I guess that's what the site means about "perceived exertion". The thing is my heart rate was over 150 then ENTIRE time.. and at many points was in the 160's. To be safe, last night I calculated my activity points at moderate activity so that I didn't overestimate but now it looks like I should have used the high intensity measure. What do you guys do?

I rode on it for an hour... NSV ...and a question

Ok, I know I'm a bit of a sicko and could have come up with a less provoking title..but.. naaaaaaah. :)

So, I went to the gym tonight as planned and thought I would do cardio for a half hour and then strength train on the nautilus equipment. I don't know what came over me but when I got on the elliptical and manually entered in how long I wanted to be on it.. I hit the little up arrows and when I saw my normal "30" I kept going.. 35... up, up.. 40.. 45. I have to admit when I saw that number I hesitated a little. But I then I said to myself, I did 35 the other day, why can't I do 45? And THEN I continued upping it until I got to 60 freakin' minutes! I pretty much negative talked myself thru the whole session. Instead of saying I could do it, I said "I think I can't, I think I can't". Remind me never to quit my job and become a motivational anything. 30 minutes in I said to myself, 'self, you've gotta be freakin' kidding. You've got 30 minutes MORE of this AND you're staring at stupid sports center on tv because your blind ass didn't notice ESPN was on the tv in front of my elliptical BEFORE you started.' I hate that. I don't know how or why but I kept going. And I kept looking over at the other tv screens while I listened to the tv on my mp3. The people next to me kept thinking I was looking at them. I know this because I kept getting funny looks from them out of the corner of my eye. Anyhoo... The last 15 I just about died but then the now so tiny Ricky Lake was on talking about her lifelong struggle with weight and OMG, maybe I haven't seen her in a while but she looks FANTASTIC. She started out as a size 24 (well who starts there?) and now after diet and exercise is a size 2 and weighs 120 something.. The story was interesting and inspiring at the very least. I mean, I have about 40 something pounds to lose before hit my goal but that's not impossible and some people would KILL to have only that much to lose. Guess in a weird way, even though it's a struggle, it's a blessing. Anyway, my point in mentioning that is good ol' Ricky was a good ol' distraction and while watching/listening to her story, I was able to finish up and barely notice :)

My question is... how do I count my activity points. My heart rate was above 150 the entire time. Is that high activity or moderate activity? HELP.

i no unnerstan eenglesh

That's what my scale said to me this morning when I prayed silently then cursed like a sailor. My t.o.m. BETTER be coming because I'm crabby, not sleeping well, and my ass gained 2.2 lbs. I'm gonna sulk because I'm a woman and feel I'm entitled to a "I gained weight despite working my ass off and EATING RIGHT even on Thanksgiving" grumble. Arrgh, maybe I'll try to squeeze into my size 8's anyway...then I could say I met my goal (aside from the magician thing) and be done with it. Ok, as I write my mood is getting better. Wow, women are crazy. I guess I better put some clothes on.. yes I'm sitting here in the buff... It's time to go to work. Gotta fly!

ps. I ordered my first pair of Spanx a couple of days ago. Fedex says he will bring them to me by Wednesday. I'm so excited! Any of you making your butts look better?

Bad Day

1. I have a migraine. For those of you that get them, I sympathize. I swear some days I just wanna remove my head from my shoulders. It increased on my drive home on the rainy and dark highway. I did make it home in one piece.

2. Tonight was my gym night which I skipped.. instead went for a 10 minute run/20 minute walk which I thought was better than nothing. I feel bad for skipping but I also felt bad for crating my dog all day (longer work day than usual). I ended up running her outside in the rain. For 30 minutes I forgot about my head hurting... how does that happen?

3. I weighed myself (the night before my WI) and the scale was UP 2.2 pounds. I'm not happy about it because I stuck to my points, exercised last week.. I just don't get it. Talk about wanting to give up before you begin.

Sorry to be a bummer. Just needed to vent. I'm gonna hop in bed in a few. I'll quit while I'm ahead... Blog again soon...

Black Friday!

Wow, I am completely out of whack today!

First, Thanksgiving was crazy, chaotic but a lot of fun. There were people everywhere doing something, whether in the kitchen helping (or just getting in the way) to the living room with just the boys watching some football. It was wall to wall kids too! But even though I escaped a few times to "have a rest" in the guest room and Mel and I at one point were hiding in another part of the house (while we listened to the search party look for us), I love a crazy Thanksgiving. My morning started at about 6:00 am yesterday and I didn't get in until about 10:30 pm. Oh yesterday I brought over a homemade cheesecake to my neighbor. I felt like such a nerd.. I couldn't just think of it like I was doing something nice.. I just felt like a big cheese ball. But anyway, my neighbor was really sweet and made the moment of the handover not as awkward as I dreaded. Yesterday I did really well with my points only dipping into my flex by 3 or 4 and that included dessert. Yay! I hope the scale reflects this come Tuesday morning.

Today, at 4 am, Mel and I braved our first Black Friday shopping spree. We hit Kohl's which was a MADHOUSE. The line to check out wrapped around the back of the store BOTH WAYS. I'm kinda a nut about crowds (don't love 'em at all) so I pretty much felt nauseous the whole time. We were LOST, no experience with this kind of shopping. We saw some pros.. one woman brought her own large box (clearly she thought about about the whole "too many people, not enough carts" thing). We ended up with some great stuff. I ended up buying a really pretty pair of diamond earrings for my mom for 69 bucks (reg. price $200)!!! I'm still a bit lost about who I'm buying for and what I'm getting them, but I did at least make a start. We hit Target (which we love but weren't impressed with the "big sales" they've been boasting about), Best Buy and then a quick stop at Old Navy in the mall. I got back home around 9 am, climbed into bed and slept until about 12. I lay in bed for a LONG while then got up and went to the gym and kicked the elliptical's butt for about 35 minutes.. WOOT! Came back home, had a bit of Turkey Day leftovers and then back to bed. Which leads me to now... :)

I have about 8 points left so I think I'm gonna go get a snack, have some tea and chill in bed watching tv. Aaah....

I hope you all had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! Talk to you soon.

Feasting and football...

I'm headed over to my Melissa's house in about 30 minutes and am bringing with me a bird (one of two).. talk about PRESSURE, also my homemade cherry cheesecake, brownies and cookies. Luckily I have a bunch of flex points left for today. I don't plan to use them on dessert though.. I'm a meal girl.. turkey, potatoes, gravy and STUFFING. :) I hope I get to take a little turkey home with me so I can make some soup and sandwiches.

So, I should tell you what I'm thankful for... many things, family (even though they can't seem to pick up the phone to call me), friends, my job, my home, my doggy & kitty, my life... But today I am thankful for Melissa because this is my first Thanksgiving with her. She has been my best friend for about 10 years and she has stuck closer than a brother. She is a wife, mommy to four little ones, and a faithful friend. She is forgetful but that comes in handy when it comes to others flaws because she seems to see right past them. She cares about the important things in life, like family and friendships.. all else is not even a close second. She is unique, can make me choke with laughter, we can finish each others sentences... But above all this, she has a heart of gold and there is none like her.

Down!

Weighed in this morning at 181.4 which means I'm down 1.4 - yay, it stuck! Woot!

Hope you'll have a great day!

1.4 down but my WI is tomorrow...

Quick post before bed...

I've been weighing myself daily and to be honest, it's driving me a little crazy AND I think stirring up old eating disorder haunts. I think it's not the wisest thing for me to do so I'm gonna abandon the daily scale torture and resume my once a week thing. Btw, I've been the same weight ALL week (182.8) until tonight... Before I went to the gym I stripped down to my skivvies, crossed my fingers, exhaled and stepped on. I'm down but it technically is not my WI day so tomorrow I will report official results.

The gym is creating quite the burn... my arms are already killing me which is a good thing. My legs.. I feel like I've been riding a bull. I think I saw someone look at me like they should offer medical assistance. But I did it.. 2.25 miles on the elliptical. Can't wait to start running that!

Anyone excited about Thanksgiving? I'm not a big overeater.. I'm a one plate kinda gal, but I pile it high. :) I'm headed to Melissa's for Turkey Day.. What is your biggest downfall on T-Day?

Apple Crisp

Hi ya'll...

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend. I am loving mine. Just spending time in the kitchen when it's cold and gray outside is really a joy to me. Managed to do a few loads of laundry (why can't the dryer go as fast as the washer), baked apple crisp twice (the first time the crumble was dough-y) and now am here. I found this recipe here and with a few modifications, it can be very points friendly. I made the recipe without straying and it turned out pretty darn good. I added up the calories, fat and fiber for each ingredient. Serves 6 (I made 7 because I put some in a mini loaf). The point value is based on serving 7. (250 cal/10 fat/4 fiber) = 5 points

The next time I make this I will use Promise Fat Free margarine (which I just found is not too bad). This will knock about 100 calories from a serving and 6 fat grams. So you'll be looking at about 2.5 points for each serving! Now that's a treat!

Martha Madness

So the fall/winter time brings out this side in me... a cooking, baking, domestic side. I have this friend that I call "Martha" because she is always making things like Chicken Bruchetta and then says "it's easy"... you just... and then rambles off 19 ingredients I've never even heard of, let alone would I be able to find them in my local grocery store.

Well anyway, today I had a Martha moment. Some of you know that I have a fond taste for Indian food. Well, last week Melissa's nanny (who is Indian) made some Chicken Tikka Masala and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. Indian food is usually really high in points and since I'm in a dedicated frame of mind (to WW) I wanted to see if I could find a lower point alternative. So I scoured the good ol' interweb for a recipe and found one here.. I made some adjustments to the recipe, eliminating the salt, replacing the heavy cream with light cream and using Promise Fat Free butter instead of real butter... I also replaced the yogurt with nonfat yogurt and voila.. you have a Chicken Tikka dish with a little bit of a kick but less points but great taste. Oh, I also used one less chicken boob and kept the serving size to 4.



This is 7 pts per serving and with a half cup of brown rice.. you have a 9 point indulgence.

Sweatin' to the oldies...

Editor's Note: The person in picture number two is a random lady in full makeup, hair and WHITE jeans. Oh, and she's either texting or playing a game on a cell phone.

So, with my boss out of the country this has been a h - e - double hockey sticks of a week with lots of stuff on my shoulders. Simply put, it means that I've been keeping an eye on every department. Lots of stress and I'm learning about me that when I'm stressed I eat. But even though it's been a crazy week and I have used some, ok most, of my flex points, I still have stayed on point.

Now, I've been weighing myself everyday, looking for even the slightest change in the scale and the damned scale hasn't budged even as much as a tenth of a pound. Not frustrated yet, as I just started doing this neurotic daily WI this week and my WI day is technically on Tuesday... I started doing this because I noticed that a bunch of other fellow bloggers do a daily weight tracking... Maybe I should make a pro/con list for this and see if it's worth it for me...

I know some of you THOUGHT I was working out on Thursday but craziness happened and we weren't able to make it.. so we went tonight. It was TOUGH and I swear I thought I was gonna die and at one point Melissa made me laugh so hard I really felt like I had swallowed my lungs... all of this while on the elliptical. I think I should share with you my joy...

While some are sweatin' to the oldies...


















Others arent...

If you're a boy, get out of the women's gym!!

Maybe because we were all wearing "workout" pants, he didn't notice that we were all girls but the subject above was my thought when there was a GUY in the WOMEN's gym last night. I kept singing in my head the "one of these things just doesn't belong.." song.

Oh yeah, NSV... made it to the gym AGAIN... 2x in one week AND did 10 minutes extra on the elliptical without having a heart attack. :) Yay. Me and Melissa are going tomorrow too.. I'd better watch out or this might turn into a habit or something.

Sorry for the late post.. cuckoo day at work and the boss is out of the country so I'm doing my best to do my best. I've been reading your posts. Hope mine are keeping you amused. :) Oh and TAKE MY POLL. :)

Doggy Treat Anyone?

So, I'm reporting my weigh in today as a starting point because when I started WW last week I refused to get on the scale. Like you haven't done this. :)
The scale said 182.8 lbs. I was a bit frustrated this morning because that's the highest that I think my weight has ever been that I've known about and wow, what a long road I have to get to my goal... one day at a time right?

I have two funnies today.. one is a joke I heard from a co-worker. The other is a true story that happened today.

First, the joke (hopefully no one gets offended)
Three reasons why I think Jesus was black: one, he called everyone "brother"; two, he lived at home until he was 30; three, he couldn't get a fair trial.

Now the story:
I brought my doggy to work today which she loves because she gets to hang out with mommy all day long. She is a bit apprehensive toward men but seems to relax around the guys that are in the office. Well there is this one particular man that she growls at and he just thinks he can get her to warm up to him. I am always telling him to give Polly space. He's one of those that is convinced that every dog loves him. Well, not Polly. So once again she was growling at him so I gave him two treats and said "maybe this will help"... Well after a few minutes he said "this is supposed to help her like me?" and that's when I noticed he was chewing on something. I said "are you EATING the dog treat?!?" He said, "yes, I thought that it was for the dog to like my breath"... He continued to chew on it for a few minutes and when he realized it was intended for him to FEED TO THE DOG he went outside to spit it out. When he came back inside I said "where's the other treat?" To which he replied, "I threw it out. You can't give a dog that. It tastes terrible". AS IF! That is some sheer brilliance.

"If you're nice to Tina, she will treat you like gold..."

This is what my boss said to a fellow employee who usually acts (to me and everyone) like a complete douche bag. I apologize in advance for my feisty-ness but sometimes especially in the case of this particular person it's warranted. My boss went on to say ".. if you treat her like crap, then you'll get treated like crap back". I was talking to my bff and she said "um, shouldn't he have replaced "Tina" with the word people?" I agree. She's right.. what about the golden rule? Now there was a time when I was less stand up for myself-y and more doormat-y. But I'm a big girl now and I'm not one for taking $h!T from people. Every now and then I'll keep my mouth shut but usually that's because someone has slipped me some serious dough (joke). The funny thing is the ones that I stand up to usually go all whiny and tell on me and result in me getting a lecture. Which is what happened.. I got a lecture as a result of the whining.. but I guess we both got a talking to.. Recognizing each other's value.. etc etc. Anyway, just a teeny vent was all.

So I'm home now and I'm walking around like I was in a bull riding contest last night. DIRTY! Get your mind out of the gutter. If you read yesterday's post, you'll know I revisited my old weight loss stomping grounds.. the gym. I did that press thingie between my legs at 50 lbs a pop for about 70 reps and GOOD LORD my inner thighs are KILLING me. It wasn't too bad this morning, a little sore but not the ridiculousness that I'm showing in my not so sexy stride. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel better because Mel and I are hitting the gym tomorrow night. That's right folks.. that would be TWICE in one week. :)) I knew you'd be proud.

Last night I made a really yummy apple crumble with a low points value. I'll have to post the recipe later. Tonight for dinner I'm having a cuke & tomato salad (with olive oil/red wine vinegar); 3 oz of sirloin; brown rice.. Doesn't that sound YUMMY! I can smell the steak so I'd better run back to the kitchen.

Tomorrow's my weigh day.. wish me luck!

Paco's Tacos

So for those of you who are familiar with my writing you know at least two things about me. 1. I love food. 2. I love TV. I was watching Til' Death a few weeks ago and btw, I'm gonna be pissed once the freakin' rerun thing starts happening. Strike, bike. Hell, I'LL write for them. :) Sorry.. no tangent intended. On this one particular episode, Joy is paying bills and Eddie is giving her a hard time about money spent for something she doesn't use ie. her gym membership. He asks her if she even remembers where it is. Her first response is "It's on the corner of Bite Me and Suck It".. hee hee. Then later on she says "I know EXACTLY where it is.. it's right across from Paco's Tacos".

I remember sliding down under my covers because every month my gym faithfully takes 81 buckaroos from my account and I faithfully don't go there. We've had a nice little arrangement it seems. Until today. I'm slightly excited because this morning for about 55 minutes, I made good use of my gym. Oh, I'm talkin' elliptical machine, nautilus equipment, stretching... Now, my goal is to at least walk in those doors once a week. At this point managing to get in there more than that is cake (low fat with sugar free taste free frosting of course).

Weekends = Do Nothing = I love it!

First, I have to give a big ol' thank you to Swizzlepop. I just can't believe how sweet she is to post on her blog about me. I don't do this often but I feel the need to give her an interweb hug... ((((((((Swizzle))))))) You're the best!

So, you're here because of curiosity, an accident, were directed by my Weightwatchen pal or you just plain stalked me.. whatever the reason, thank you for stopping at my page and lending me some support. I do need it for sure.

The other day I was walking down "When I Was Skinny Lane", looking at old pictures, thinking about just how tiny my waist used to be and then I realized, hell, why can't I do that again? I don't have to let my life be a contest to see just how big I can get (that's from Kevin James' standup). I think sometimes I get on this losing weight kick (trust me, I hope it's not just a kick) because I totally get sick and tired of myself and just *have* to do something about it. Ya know?

Today was another good day. This one day a time thing was a pretty inventive idea. If I don't worry about tomorrow and give myself a break for my yesterdays, then life, my weight, my stupid household chores will all be easy (or just a tad easier) to deal with.

Can I just say how much I love lazy Saturdays? Wearing my slippers that scream HOT SEX (NOT), sweatpants, oversized tee... I love dressing up but I love NOT dressing up too. :) I spent part of the day cooking (homemade chicken noodle soup AND crockpot chicken stew with potatoes, green beans, carrots and onions) and the other part I spent IN BED. I watched tv, took a nap, made a Target list (that would be a "go to Target" list), typed a few sentences on a book I'm starting and now I'm here. Does that sound like the perfect day or what? I love a lazy weekend.

Fallen off the fat ass wagon...

So, I'm home watching Oprah, ok now it's the evening news because for once I got to go home early and didn't work a 90 hour week (ok, I'm exaggerating)... The Osmonds were on and oh they are all so cute. But anyway, I digress.. Today I worked until 11:30, went to the grocery store, (100 bucks, not too shabby) and prepared for another week of eating right. Ahem. And now I'm home, in my cozy yet at the same time a bit chilly home..

So this is where I am.. sorta having a love/hate relationship with the fall, holidays and you guessed it, my weight. Now the fall is so beautiful and Melissa and I were talking about this yesterday.. if we're not careful, we may just drive off the road with all the tree admiration going on. See attached (please excuse the low quality pic. It's my camera phone) But back to the love/hate thing..I realized again that this, my weight, is something I'll always face, hopefully not always at this size, but it will always be work, sometimes it will be harder than others. That kinda sucks. I started WW again... I can look at that last statement two ways. What a loser.. I had to start ww again because my butt refuses to stop spreading everytime I down a pan of brownies OR I could say YAY, I have it in me to do something about my weight struggle.

I kind of had a realization today when I was arranging my fresh flowers.. after trying to make them look "perfect" I realized that I'm a little too hard on myself.


I think I have some things to be proud of:
1. I started WW this week, Monday to be exact and to date have only used 2 of my Flex Points. So we could say that I'm having a good week.

2. Twice, maybe three times this week I had to deal with the office "ordering out". Oh, it was tough.. they ordered from my now favorite Chinese place and they kept torturing me. So mean! Or maybe they are teasing me because they are blind to how big my butt really is and they think I don't need a diet. :) But anyway, I ate the lunch I brought and that was that!

3. I went grocery shopping and bought all good stuff. I did buy brownie mix but I always bake for the guys on Wednesdays so that doesn't quite count.

4. I actually THOUGHT about the gym today. I'm thinking I may make an appearance tomorrow or Sunday. Haven't decided which day yet.

5. I made it back to my blog. I think it's good for me to write here, vent, share, receive and give feedback..

Thanks to those who even thought about my teeny tiny blog and gave a rats ass about how I was doing. I never forgot about my blog or you guys. I just felt a bit guilty that I had fallen off the fat ass wagon and didn't quite know what to say.

Hopefully I'll be entertaining both me and you with my writing for many months to come.

I will remember them...

Created by me for my girls as a goodbye gift. They came to the USA about 3 months ago as work/travel students and found themselves in my home.. and my heart. And now, one by one.. they leave to return to their homes. I will remember them...

Down 0.2 lbs

Hey, I'll take it! Down is down, right?

So, I've had a very undisciplined last few weeks, my writing both my food journal and my blogging reflects that. But I'm back.. bigger n' badder than ever. Well hopefully not bigger.

I've started my week over on a Monday (usually I do this on a Tuesday) but am keeping my weigh day on Tuesdays. Do any of you do this if you've felt you've gotten off track and once you start anew you switch the start day altogether?

Yoo-lee-uh

That's how you pronounce her name.. my Russian Julia. She was one of 6 that became like a child of mine, someone I nurtured, cared for, someone that found her way into my heart. She was quiet at times, yet could get so excited about life, especially when talking about the rides at Hershey Park... Wow, I could hardly get her to breathe between sentences! She was genuinely interested in my life, this crazy American. Wanted to know where I was going, and always wanted to tag along, even if I was making a quick run to the grocery store. The day I met her we talked on the stairs outside of my bedroom for about a half hour. She made quite the impression.. She looks like she stepped out of the June Cleaver days, especially with that roller on her bangs. :) But don't let that fool ya... there's a wild streak somewhere in there.. a zest for life. You can tell just by looking at her pictures.
Julia is precious and kind. She is caring and thoughtful. She is smart and insightful. She has a sensitivity that is found in only a handful of people. This morning I woke Julia to say my goodbyes to her as she is returning home today. Even as I write, she is still in the air. Tomorrow I will blog about other things in my life but today I want to dedicate to my Julia. You're loved!

11 Days Since I Posted Last

Ok people, we really need to catch up...

Let's see the last time we talked I was heading to CT for a work convention. They really do know how to throw a party.. The first night we all went to the NBA Hall of Fame in Massachusetts. We got to hear Walter Bond and Bill Walton speak.. My hotel room was AWESOME.. I kept wondering if anyone would notice me sneaking a king sized bed through the lobby. ;)

Here are a few pictures... we were shuttled from CT to the Hall of Fame. We were the last of the riders (our group was ALWAYS the last)... This is our bunch at the Hall of Fame. My company had towels printed that said Team Basement Systems and we had Bball Mardi Gras necklaces.. Some people have TOO much money. :) The kickoff! That's Walter Bond.. And Bill Walton.. ... he said he comes up to Yao Ming's chest!!
Me holding all the awards. Our company went from number 24 dealer (out of 200+) to number 17!! The top 10 dealers get four wheelers. We're almost there.. That's our home office.. very impressive...

I was so busy that weekend.. sessions all day and parties at night.. all in all it was a great time. A lot of learning that I've brought back with me and will incorporate into the office and what I do... Oh yeah, I won Employee of the Year for my company. The joke is that the Dutch (we have many at my company) have had the monopoly on this award for year. I dethroned the Dutch! :) Oh YEAH..Saturday in the middle of the night I got very sick.. I will spare you the details. My only real relief came when one of the guys brought up some Immodium and I was finally able to rest.. I missed all of convention Saturday because of being sick but to be honest being with loved ones made me forget about how I was feeling. What a great time!! I didn't get to see my niece, long dysfunctional story but I did see pictures of her.. what a cutie. I left a bunch of clothes with my mom to give to my brother and SIL.. I left Mass Sunday night returning to MD early Monday morning.. and then back to the daily.. My boss has been away the last two weeks so that has made my life a lot busier than normal. Production was waaay up the last two weeks to that makes for a happy owner (and a happy Tina)...

How did I almost forget this... Thursday night I took all the girls out to eat at the Arundel Mills Mall.. to celebrate birthdays, goodbyes and everything else we will miss when they all return home.. Here are a few pics from the night.

This weekend I'm trying to catch up on sleep and also trying to get better.. my body always retaliates whenever I pack my schedule solid. Sorry I've slacked w/ the blogging guys.. To be honest, I've slacked w/ everything... I feel like I've been eating everything in sight!!! Arrgh! But next week is a new week for me. Gonna get back on track!

Chinese Food Strikes Back!

Hi all..

I'm crazy busy here at work with a million things as the owner is away.. Had to make a quick post though. Miss you guys!

I'm back up with a 0.4lb gain. Arrgh. I was running late this morning and trust me if I wasn't, I would have spent some quality time w/ that $@%@#$ scale. :) I'm remembering Roni's words though.. I weighed myself twice this past week and at one point was down to 167.2 so I know that this teeny gain is not a 'real' one. Whatever that means.

Oh, I did two days of gardening this past week and burned a TON of calories... I think I lost about 10 million pounds of water. Too bad the scale didn't pick up on it. Instead it decided to zero in on the 8 million pounds of Chinese I ate (that would be Chinese FOOD, not people). :)

Here are some pictures... I'm no Martha but at least my neighbors are happy with the destruction of my weed garden. :)

Hope ya'll are havin' a great one! I'll try to post again this week but I may not be able to... I'll be away on business Thursday-Saturday in CT and then Sunday I'm spending the day with the family in good ol' Taxachusetts. Can't wait!

I'm DOWN, I'm DOWN...SV!!!!!

169.0

That's MINUS 2.0 lbs.. HOLY CRAP!

I'll tell ya this has been a rough two weeks so of course I was happy to not have to kill the bloody scale. I was pissed as most of you know. But I read something on Roni's blog that gave me a little perspective on my last two HUGE gains. Here's the link if you wanna check it out: Roni's Page. You need to find the balance with the weigh-ins and see what your body is doing throughout the week. She said she gets frustrated when people get so upset about seeing a gain when a lot of times it's because of salty meal. I'm gonna try to remember that if I have another gain in this freak'n journey!

Ok, I have to start working so I'll be back later.

BTW, I talked to Olha last night!!!!!!!!!!! Yay! More posts later.

Hope ya'll have a great day.

NYC - How the heck do I calculate the AP?

Oh, it feels good to be home... Have to share my time w/ ya'll.. so here goes.

5:00 - 6:15AM Woke up to take Polly (my boxer) to Mel's house. She babysat for her on Saturday. Thanks Mel!

6:30 - 9:30AM On the road to NYC. Picture 5 girls, VERY close in the passenger seats of my Camry, singling, giggling, sleeping, laughing, pointing, questioning... ARE WE THERE YET? We had two stops (I HATE stopping) but one was for me.. just started 'flowing' and the other was for my STARVING car sick girls... Oh good God!

10:00AM - 10:00PM NYC Arrival. And I thought that the ooh's for Baltimore were something.. these kids were amazed at the city. Pointing, pictures.. We parked in the Met Life Building on Park Avenue.. which is located inside Grand Central Station. I've never been inside Grand Central before. It was pretty awesome! From there we walked and walked, stopping to take pictures of various buildings..Empire State Building included. It was our goal to start at the Statue of Liberty. Because of 9/11 we're no longer able to go up inside the statue so I figured we wouldn't spend time on the island, instead we'd take the Staten Island Ferry by it so we could get some pictures. I'm on purpose leaving out the Subway experience.. let's just say we would have been on the right one if construction hadn't been going on. :) Oh but before that we got off on Chambers Street and walked to Ground Zero. The girls wanted to experience and see it but I'm not sure what they were feeling. We didn't talk about this yet. This is the second time I've been back to Ground Zero and it's quite moving. I was watching the girls faces as they took pictures of the name memorial. One of my girls wanted to buy or light a candle... After GZ the girls were begging to stop for something to eat. I was happy to oblige as they were getting cranky. We went to a shop that I've stopped at before.. I got a burger, fries, gatorade and water... I only ate the burger and maybe 4 french fries (they were teeny tiny)... It was too hot! From there we headed off to Battery Park, home of the Statue of Liberty. We caught the Staten Island Ferry and the girls were able to get some closer picture of our Lady.. They thought she would be biggger. :) From the S.O.L. we headed to Chinatown. UGH. I have a few things on my list of "cant stands".. one of them being crowds. I've been to Chinatown before.. AGES ago.. it's just like China.. wall to wall people, barely room to walk down the sidewalk. People pushing you... NOT my cup, that's for sure. The girls didn't like it either. We headed into a few shops and they were done.. they wanted to get out. From Chinatown we took the subway to Central Park SE... OMG, it was so beautiful. We walked for about an hour, stopping at the playground and to take pictures in trees (that would be me) and on some of the largest rocks I had seen. What a place to get lost in! I was so dreamy walking thru there. From Central Park we headed to Times Square about a 15 block walk.. The girls did their shopping and I took one of my girls to meet up with a relative that lives in the city. We ended our night in Times Square Deli & Cafe at about 9:00 eating some sandwiches and guzzling our drinks. It was such a HOT day. We headed to the car which was about 4 blocks away. The girls (and I) were pooped to say the least. The ride home was fairly quiet... most were sleeping. I had one phone call which helped me for about an hour and then Paula, my faithful talkative Paula, asked me question after question to make sure I didn't fall asleep. When we got back to the house (YAY), most of the girls hugged me just inside the door and said thank you. I can't tell you what these girls have done to my heart... but it's a beautiful thing. This day I was crampy, tired, hot but in the end it didn't matter. Because these girls saw their dreams (some of them from when they were little girls)... come true.

Naked Volleyball - I'd say that was a NSV

Let me preface this with I've never skinny dipped EVER.. not because I'm a prude but because I never really thought about it or thought I had opportunity. I do remember this one time when I was a teen and there were a bunch of us at the lake and everyone was going under the water to kiss one another. I heard the term "skinny dipping" but had NO IDEA what they were talking about. I think I thought it meant that they were skinny people taking a dip in the lake or something like that. Aah, gotta love being young and naive.

So I'm with my best friend, trust her with my life, she's seen my who-haa one time or another, I've seen her boobs (I mean she has FOUR kids) AND who-haa...my point being we don't embarrass easily in front of one another. For the events that happened this evening, I blame her. She brought it up... this subject of skinny dipping. We were bumping the ball around and she was amazed (I guess because I'm a superfreak) that I had never done such a thing. She had explained how (I think the word she used was 'liberating') it was, etc. So I said, ok, I'm in. She wanted to wait until the hubby went to meet his girlfriends (not really girls.. just guys he talks to as much as girls talk w/ girls). He left and off came my bottoms first. And can I say WOW. After all my giggles subsided - I mean, come on.. I just got half naked in a big bathtub (pool) with my best friend which is not an everyday occurance for me - then I really started enjoying it. I think I mentioned wanting my top off and before you know it... I was completely naked. We BOTH were. And YES I looked. I'm only human.. and she did too. She kept hitting the volleyball onto the deck so I'd have to get out of the pool. I think she just wanted to get a glimpse of the girls. Just kidding Mel, I know you're reading. Swam around, floated some.. got some exercise in... a good night!

I'm VERY tired right now.. my eyes are burning but that may be from the chlorine. :) What an experience though and I'm on track this week... I'm already eating A LOT better than I've been and even though I've used some flex points, I'm still doing okay. Can't wait for Saturday when I'll be in NYC walking around ALL DAY long. I'm bound to earn some serious activity points! Yay!

Hope ya'll have a great day today. For those of you that commented, thanks for your well wishes. They mean a lot. You guys are the best. If I don't get back on this weekend, have a great one!

Debbie Downer

Let me start out with this: this morning SUCKED!

Ok, let's get this out of the way. Another gain.... 1.6! I don't even want to add that to last week's 2.8 gain. There's no getting around it, I'm pissed. Don't have much more to say about this other than it seriously makes me want to NOT eat another thing but I'm not gonna do that. Gonna keep doing what I've been doing and maybe make some better choices and STICK more closely to my points. I've slacked the last two weeks for sure.

Also, my Olha left again today... the kids are only here for a few months and maybe I shouldn't get so attached but it stinks when people you like/love have to go away. She has big plans for her life and wants to keep in touch. I hope she does...

Finally, the big NYC trip this weekend I planned for Julia's birthday.. She didn't know where we were going but her other friends did (not the girls that live in my house). Her friends were mad with me (!!!!) that I planned a special day with her in NYC so guess what? They planned the SAME trip for today, tomorrow and Thursday. I'm so mad I could scream. I was talking to a friend this morning about this and he gave me some advice and said to change my perspective about why I'm going. It was for Julia but it was also for my other precious girls who have dreamed of this place, some even as little girls. So I will be mad for probably the rest of the day and then I will get over it. I can STILL show her a good time..

Sorry I'm a big bundle of "down" today. Hopefully the day gets better.

New *Chocolate Fix* Finds!

So, I just got back from Target and I have to report on two things. One was recommended by annoying checkout lady in Walmart (remember her?) and the other I think I saw in a fashion magazine and forgot about until I went a choccolate hunting.

Find No. 1 - Hershey's Sticks are 1 pt per stick (60c/3.5f/0fr). They come in 3 flavors: Caramel, Mint and Milk Chocolate. OMG, quite the little candy. Tasty (as my girls would say) and it hits the spot if you're looking for a choc fix. Oh and compared to the one in the picture.. the actual size is about an inch longer and a tad thicker.


Find No. 2 - Hershey's Antioxidant Milk Chocolate - 5 pts/4 pieces (190c/12f/1fr) - These are comparable to a Ghiradelli's chocolate square and have a good taste to them as well. They do taste like a healthier chocolate but not healthier in a I need to scrub my tongue kind of way. I vote thumbs up.

I forgot what my catchy title was gonna be today...

Wow, it's been waay too long away from my blog. You'd think I have a ton to write about but... I don't. Some quick updates from last week for my hungry readers. ;)

Da Beach - I won't spend too much time talking about this because I don't want to make ya'll jealous. Hee hee. Ok, so I had on a bikini (yikes!) and got a FABULOUS tan... and a little burned on my nose and cheeks. I also bared my hip to the Henna tattoo guy. Got a little genie lamp with writing that says "I dream of...". I've been thinking for years that I may get a permanent one but wasn't sure what I wanted. I think that may be it. Anyway, he didn't seem all that excited to be writing on me. Kinda like the gyno I guess.. Probably gets tired of looking at the same thing all day long I guess, although my hips aren't exactly like the ones I was seeing at the beach. *Shrug* The girls and I stopped about five million times on the drive to Ocean City. One good stop was the produce stand where we got a bunch of yummy fruit (tomatoes, nectarines, peaches, strawberries). I did well for the earlier part of the day, mainly laying on the beach, drinking my water, reading mags and eating fruit. Mel and I played vball for what felt like 9 hours but it was probably about 15-20 minutes. Mel swears it was only for 2 minutes. I think she's lying. :) Anyway, the sun and sand were hot and I was huffin' and puffin' right away... wow, I can't wait till I can play for hours again. After that, we played in the water for a while (actually Mel played, I watched her play) and then back to the beach to lay in the sun again. At one point I took off my top (was laying face down) and this woman kept staring at me. Geesh, it wasn't like I was face up people! Oh, maybe she liked me. :) I'm thinking no. Hmm, what else? Some more volleyball, eating on the boardwalk (yikes again), sleeping on the beach, talking with the girls, sand angels (I really am a kid sometimes), eating at Waterman's... was such a good time. Mel kept trying to talk me into staying but I had to get back to work the next day along with a few of the other girls. I'll post some pictures when I get them uploaded to the puter.

Da Weekend - It was a good weekend but I've been so LAZY and not feelin' so hot. I'm kind of PMSing so I'm not in the mood to hang out and do stuff. I just want to be in bed or at the very least hanging out in my room listening to music. Got some laundry done, did a bit of cleaning, went to Jake's 4 y.o. birthday party (for a few minutes), church... not that exciting. This weekend I'm taking the girls to NYC so I'm gearin' up for that. I've stayed there before but don't remember where. Any ideas on a central location? We're gonna do and see everything possible.

Monday, Monday - Me and my alarm are not friends. I hit the Snooze from 530a until 610a. But I got up and did my run (Day 3/Week 1)! And can I say, it's getting easier. I didn't huff and puff at all. The only difficult part is that it's about 3000% humidity here so I feel like I'm drenched even before I begin - gross. And why is it that I was sweating more when I stopped then while I was actually exercising. At any rate, Polly is lovin' the morning jogs.. And she's getting better and better each time too. I'm thinking I may do Day 1/Week 2 tonight when I get home but we'll see. Maybe tomorrow....

Weigh in tomorrow and I'm biting my nails. I just FEEL fat and like I've had a gain. If so, I may have to take it out on the evil box. Gotta read up on my girls' blogs. I'll get to that later today or tonight. I'm supposed to be working (busy!!). Have a great OP day!

ps. Wow, I guess I did have a lot to say.

Exercise is masochistic (right now anyway)

I still think I'm gonna die. And if I find out who came up with the "exercise is good for you" theory, I just may track him down and beat him senseless. It took about 6 snoozes and a very excited boxer standing on top of me to get me out of bed. Begrudgingly I got up, threw on my clothes, sneakers and headed out the door. I dare say that Day 2 was a little easier although you wouldn't know it by all the chest heaving. What a beautiful day this morning though! Oh and my doggy was better company this morning - she didn't try to chase every living thing in sight which is a major accomplishment for her.

My goal is that I just want it to feel good to exercise. Right now, it's just borderline masochistic. I jumped on the scale this morning (let's face it people, I'm gonna be scale obsessed this week because of my gain).. and I was down 0.8 lbs. So that's looking up! Hopefully I will lose the entire 2.8 lbs this week and if not I'm gonna work to get it off in two. You guys are the best! Have a great day. I'll catch up on my posts later on today. Oh and I won't be around at all tomorrow. Heading to Ocean City, MD with my bff and 6 girls... naps in the sun, beach volleyball, sand castles... I think it's been years (with the exception of Atlantic City last year) that I've been to the beach!