Super Early Workout!

Just stopping in to inform you that I am officially back in an exercising groove.

That's the only possible explanation for my whereabouts at 5:00 this morning--the gym.

I was at the gym at 5 am, which means I got out of my warm, comfy bed at 4:40 am! Craziness!

And that's not all. This is the third time I've worked out in three days! Tuesday was BodyFlow, Wednesday was BodyCombat, and this morning I did 30 minutes on the stairmaster. Booyah!

I was out of town last weekend and missed my Weight Watchers meeting, but I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about this Saturday. I think I'm finally starting to settle back into my old healthy ways. :)

Pad Thai Time

Happy Wednesday!

I do hope to get back into the groove of frequent posts... fingers crossed! The past week has been filled with marking an endless pile of tests. Thankfully, I wrapped that up yesterday, and now I have about three weeks before I have to mark again! :D

Last Friday, a dear friend was visiting from Ottawa! She came over for dinner and I wanted to make her something special.

I chose the pad thai from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry!, which I've made once before. I prepped all the ingredients before my friend came over. I felt like I was ready to shoot my own cooking show!

After all the prep was done, the meal came together quite quickly.

It was delicious! We both thoroughly enjoyed it. :)

I've also been rocking the stir fries lately, and I've gone back to an old standby: steel cut oats with brown sugar! I need something to keep me warm, since I try to keep the heat as low as possible.

I'm off to watch some Sex and the City on DVD and knit!

Still hanging in there

I'm still here, and as you may have guessed, my eating has been far from perfect lately.

Thanksgiving threw me off, followed by my birthday (which was honestly more of a birthweek and then some), and I was definitely up at my meeting this Saturday.

But I have some good news! This is my third day in a row of tracking (it's still early in the morning, but I've pre-tracked my lunch and dinner already), and I still have been exercising (albeit not as much as I should be).

Last night, I actually cooked dinner! I haven't been in the mood for cooking for a long time. There's been a lot of microwaving, assembling, and convenience meals, but not much cooking from scratch. But yesterday, I thawed some chicken breast, and actually whipped up a pretty darn delicious stir fry with lots of veggies and brown rice. Could I be back in the cooking groove? Only time will tell. :)

Midweek Weigh-In

Yesterday evening, I found myself at loose ends. Since I'm going to miss my Weight Watchers meeting this coming Saturday, I went to one last night instead.

I wasn't expecting a loss, since I usually weigh in in the mornings, and my last weigh-in was only a few days ago. But to my surprise (and delight), I was down 0.8 to 198.6 lbs! :)

I have some potentially difficult (eating-wise) events coming up - Thanksgiving and my birthday. I'm going to spend Thanksgiving weekend at the cottage with my parents, and I'm hoping that I can enjoy a yummy Thanksgiving dinner and not let it affect the rest of my week. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Great week ... finally!

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. I wanted to wait until I had some proof (for you and for myself) that I am re-committed.

For months, I've been all "action plan" this and "back on the wagon" that, but it was not leading to anything -- I pretty much just gained and gained and gained all summer.

But check this out:

That's right.

I tracked ALL WEEK. All seven days, baby. This in and of itself is a HUGE accomplishment for me.

But wait, it gets better. Not only did I track all week, but I actually STAYED WITHIN my points (exactly). It has been months, people. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had a week like this. I feel great.

In addition, I worked out three times! I'm glad my gym membership is actually getting used again. I also tried playing squash recently (for the first time), which was a lot of fun! I'm not usually into sports (due to gym class related traumas in my childhood), so this was definitely a little out of my comfort zone. Plus, I didn't suck as much as I was expecting, which was a bonus.

So, did all my hard work pay off in the meeting room this morning? I'll say! I was down 7.8 pounds to 199.4! Out of the 200's! Hopefully for good this time. :)

I think one reason I was able to stick to my points was that I did very well on the weekend (my tracking week starts on Saturday). I got through Saturday and Sunday only using 1.5 of my weekly points. Usually, I use all of my weekly points (if not more) immediately, which makes the rest of the week feel impossible. My plan is to aim for a great weekend again!

OH! I also went to that wedding, in the new dress I mentioned. I think it's rather fetching! And it has pockets! I wish my feet weren't cut off in this pic because then you could see my silver shoes.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my weekend... and by "enjoy," I mean finish marking approximately 100 math tests. Yay!

Weigh-In

I was up 0.8 on Saturday! I guess it could be worse, but I'm frustrated. Last week, I tried really hard (honestly), but I still went over my points (and ate an entire pizza for dinner Friday night - not a huge pizza, to be fair, but still).

Hmm, I just read what I wrote, and I really couldn't have been trying all that hard. I think I'm in a bit of denial. I am still happy to be back in my school routine, though. All it's missing is the gym! I'm working on it. :)

In other news, I bought a new dress for the wedding I'm going to on Saturday! I think I could squeeze the zipper shut on my old dress, but I wouldn't want it popping open at an inopportune time. I'll show you a picture of me all glammed up after the fact!

Sorry for the short post - I'm off to get my beauty sleep!

Back to school!

And I'm loving the structure & routine already--even though my first class hasn't happened yet!

I went into school yesterday to get some prep done, and I started my day off well with a healthy breakfast (eaten at the table, not on the couch with my laptop!) and packed a healthy lunch (including homemade date coconut bars - I'll blog about them soon, hopefully!) to bring in with me. I came home and made a healthy dinner (ALSO eaten at the table) and got to bed at a somewhat decent hour.

I was teaching in the summer, but only two days a week. I'm back to four days a week, and teaching a course I've never taught before, so it will be much busier (in a good way).

My last week of holiday (I had a tiny bit of time off between the summer & fall semesters) was very relaxing and fun! I went to Ontario Place & the CNE (don't worry, I avoided the deep-fried butter... although I was very tempted), among other things.

Go Banana!

I also couldn't make it to my meeting on Saturday morning, which is why there was no weigh-in this weekend. I have a good feeling about this coming Saturday, though! I'm going to a wedding in less than two weeks, and when I tried on the dress I want to wear (pictured below), it wouldn't quite zip up.

It ALMOST fits, so I'm determined to get into it! Although I might pretend it still doesn't fit so I have an excuse to buy a new dress. ;)

I'm off to school now! Wish me luck for my first class of the term!

P.S. Sheryl (aka Bitch Cakes), one of my favourite bloggers, just got lifetime! I'm so excited for her!