No worries...I'm here, just a little late

By the time I post this, it will already be tomorrow. I worked my booty off tonight cooking a big German dinner for my son's first communion party on Saturday. Joe's grandmother's recipe for sauer braughten and my very own sauerkraut balls. Long night, but my day went like this.

7:00 Honey Nut Cheerios (I ran out of raisin bran!)
8:30 coffee w/creamer
10:30 Reduced fat string cheese
12:00 Burrito Joe's Grilled Chicken Taco salad w/ reduced fat cheese, salsa, black beans, black olives and southwest ranch (ouch!) 9 reduced fat tortilla chips with salsa & a regular coke. (I need to point out that I didn't eat the entire salad and I didn't get queso or sour cream like usual. I know that doesn't make it healthy, but I know a saved several hundred calories.)
6:00 another string cheese
9:00 Four homemade sauerkraut balls fried in peanut oil (OH SO UNHEALTHY but OH SO GOOD!) and a cherry coke zero

Rachel brought cupcakes in today but I didn't eat any...not even sure why I'm pointing it out when I'm not even tempted. Cake is icky to me. Now if she brought in warm queso from the Comet and chips WATCH OUT and keep your fingers out of my way.

As Natalie pointed out, I weighed myself this morning and I am down 5lbs! Now after today's less than great eating and lack of exercise, I have a feeling the scale would not read the same this morning. Good thing I'm not going to weigh myself for at least another couple days!

Nat- You MUST buy a scale. It's a great reward for all of your hard work. I'm sure you've lost weight too and the sooner you weigh in, the easier it will be to record results.

Briz- What is up? Are you sick? I think Nat said something about hoping you feel better. If you are under the weather, I hope you get better too.

I am disappointed in the level of posting today....because it was NONE!

Where is my crew?!? I get on tonight excited to read about every one's day, and nothing! Big disappointment. (Hope you are feeling better my dear personal trainer.)

Angie...I am so proud of you and your jeans fitting. Plus your 5 lbs that have vanished! Way to go hottie! When I get my house warming present, I will track my actual weight.

Here is my eating for the day. Tonight was the CBDS (Cincinnati's Best Dinner Society) dinner at #9 Nectar. Made it a slightly difficult eating day. I tried my best though. PS. Nectar was good but not great. I think #9 might have been overrated.

Breakfast - Scrambled eggs with ketchup and a slice of wheat toast with jelly. Ice tea to drink.
Lunch - A big salad with chicken. I went with the ranch dressing this time, but not croutons. I also had a dinner roll and another iced tea.
Snack - Fruit snacks
Dinner - It is a big one, so hang in there. I had 2 glasses of white wine and two slices of dinner bread. I should have limited it to one. Rachel and I spilt a cheese apt. It had three small, gourmet cheeses with figs and honey. Very good. My dinner was salmon with mushrooms. Not dessert, I already had too much.

I better see some posts ASAP!

An unexpected kink in the day...

I lied today. I drank alcohol tonight. I totally forgot that this was Joe's first night of softball and sadly that meant a tub and a half of draft beer for me. I waited for this all season and now I feel guilty as hell. Food was:



5:45 Leftover Jr roast beef

8:00 1.5 mile walk (we didn't make it all the way around the neighborhood b/c I had to pee half way through from drinking so muchdraft beer at the softball field!)

8:45 Reduced fat string cheese



Again, Joe and I shut down the first floor and went to bed early so I wouldn't be tempted to eat any crap during my PMS craziness. (Thanks for not freaking out Briz. In about 10 years, it will be a never-ending cycle of craziness with your girls so it's good that you can handle it. My stepdaughter is 13 and HOLY CRAP...I forgot how traumatic puberty is!) Anyway, Joe has been asleep for about 20 minutes b/c he was at the firehouse yesterday and they had 6 runs after midnight last night then he went to University for a full 8 hours in the OR (he's a nurse on his "off" days). I'm thinking if I can fall asleep quick, I may be wide awake enough to go running with him in the morning.



Briz - thanks for sharing the work out philosophy. I really do want to step it up, but I will be honest and say that I am struggling to just do the walks. I know I have to take it up a notch, but working out is the hardest thing for me. I really will try. I want to make cardio my bitch.



Also, my jeans fit SO well! No big roll hanging over the top and no stretch routine after taking them out of the drier to make them more comfortable. I have a LONG way to go...but I'm doing it! Yeah me!



Now I have to go b/c one of my guilty obsessions is on TV and I hope to fall asleep watching it. It's called Workout and it's on Bravo. Jackie is taking all the girl trainers on a lesbian cruise, so this should be good. (Sleep on that one, Briz!)

Hello my Co-Bloggers,

While it is fresh in my mind, Briz, I will need help with your comment today. If yogurt with granola isn't a breakfast meal, what is? Does oatmeal count as a meal? What could I add with my yogurt to make it a meal. My mind goes straight to carbs, like a bagel or toast, but I don't think those are good options. Thoughts are much appreciated!

After reading the exercise comments, I am rethinking my workout plan. On the nights when I do Pilate's, I typically do them at 9 or so. I am now going to rework this and change to doing my exercise in the morning so that I get the most out of it. I mean, if I am going to do it, I want to take it for all it is worth! On my run days, I will still have to do those in the evening. I would have to get up at like 5 to get that in and still get to work as early as I do.

Here is my eating for the day:
Breakfast: Oatmeal with granola
Lunch: Veggie burger (I wanted a wheat bun, but they were out), salad with Lite Italian dressing (though the creamy, wonderful ranch was right next to it)
I wanted to get a snack in there, but my afternoon got so crazy. An excuse I know. Key is to take the snack with me to meetings.
Dinner: PB&J on wheat, bowl of Raisin Brain, piece of angel food cake
Snack to come later.

My funny moment of the day: The fact that Angie and I can email our marketing director something like the following: We were uncertain of which evening to hold the BOFA ball. Also, please advise if we should proceed to order your blue, ruffled tuxedo for the evening!
And only on Febreze would he email back that we need to meet with his admin to discuss potential locations for the ball and suggest that we need to find a cool club somewhere. Love this brand!

Ahhh....Exercise

Why hello my friends.

OK, today's post is all about exercise. I'll be quick and succinct, though, because there's not that much more to say about exercise than we all should be doing it! :)

You guys are about losing weight now, then maintaining a body that both of you really want. In order to do that, not only does the eating need to be right, but there HAS to be an exercise component to it as well. Without it you'll be ok....but just ok. You won't reach stretching goals and your body won't feel as good as it can without exercise.

So my opinions, along with some proven methods:

1. Exercising in the morning is better than at other times during the day. The oxygen flow to your body that you get from working out in the morning benefits you throughout the day. If you workout at night, that's ok, but not too late. Your body will stay awake if you workout too close to going to sleep, so try to avoid that as much as possible.
2. For every 30 mins - 1 hour of great exercise you get during the day, the less sleep your body needs at night. Your body enters REM sleep faster if you've worked out during the day.
3. By working out in the morning, your body will tell you more often during the day that you are hungry - and thus will enable your snack routine without you even thinking about it. Your body will tell you when it's time to eat.
4. Walking is good - but it's maintenance. You need more than just walking.
5. Nothing can replace working up a good sweat via cardio. NOTHING. You can lift all the weights that you want, but you'll never see those muscles unless you have a cardio portion to your workouts.
6. Weight training and cardio are shown to provide way more benefits when both are in a routine together. Doing just one or the other is great, but your body will respond much better with both in your routine....even if the weight training is light.
7. There are so many ways to workout now it's ridiculous - so excuses why we don't workout are pretty much just that...excuses. And it's all about priorities. If something is a priority, you find time for it. You guys have shown that this is a priority to you by continuing to post items and keeping track of how you're eating and exercising - let's keep it up!

Unfortunately work is calling, so we'll have to leave this to 7 items for now. These are good things to think about, and if you guys want help trying to setup routines that you can do at home, a gym, or wherever, let me know.

Two feedback items for you guys before I go though -

ANG - couldn't care less about PMS comments lol. Showing some good willpower, too, with the food - other than Arby's ;)

NAT - 4 meals a days will be great. And I don't care who buys you your outfit - just make sure you get one, which I know you can handle :) Let's call yogurt a snack, not a meal. So let's see if we can get 4 "meals."

And my eating for the day:

• 8:00 AM: Cereal
• 9:30 AM: Bagel
• 10:15 AM: EAS bar
• 11:45 AM: Sauteed Salmon with green beans, rice, carrots, and mushrooms.
• 1:30 PM: Swiss cake roll ;)
• 2:30 PM: Oatmeal bar
• 5:00 PM: Powerbar
• 9:30 PM: Chicken tortilla soup and chicken rellenos (not the healthiest in the world, I know).
• Plenty of water

Adios for now!

Frick and Frack

These are my guys. We usually have to take one silly and one normal pose of every photo we take. Clay, you can probably relate...

I should be a roller derby girl...

The only exercise I got yesterday was roller skating (slowly) with my daughter for 2 hours at the St. I's Roller Skating Party. I'm sure it was better than sitting at my desk, but it didn't raise my heart rate. Beats a blank though. The rest of my food intake:

12:00 Arby's Jr roast beef sandwich (yes, after spewing the evils of fast food with my kids yesterday, I caved and got us roast beef sandwiches before the roller rink b/c their dad didn't feed them lunch before I picked them up even though I asked him to. Grrr. No fries though.)
3:00 Another Arby's Jr roast beef sandwich. (they were 5 for $5.95 so I had extra. There's actually another in my fridge right now. So not good.)
6:00 Tuna salad sandwich with chunk white tuna in water, reduced fat mayo, mustard, relish & reduced fat provolone on wheat with a glass of Pino Nior (Don't worry Clay. That was the last of the bottle. No more alcohol until the weekend and no more West Side Walks.) That meal also reminds me. To answer your question a few posts back, I love fish except for salmon which sucks b/c I know it's one of the best varieties. I don't eat it as much as I should, but I will make an effort.
7:30 Reduced fat string cheese. Then I shut down the kitchen and went downstairs. I was in the mood to eat yesterday, so I had to get away. (Clay, I would advise earmuffs for the next part, but since you are reading, maybe blindfold would be the more appropriate advice if you are weirded out about girly stuff.) PMS is upon me and not gorging myself with food just for the sake of my crazy hormones is a challenge every month. So I opted for remining upstairs in my bedroom for the rest of the night to avoid temptaion. I watched Anthony Bourdain - No Reservations and just ate vicariosly through him. Damn, what a job that guy has! The best food every country has to offer. And I notice he isn't much of a sweet tooth either. He's always eating the salty, cheesy, meaty stuff. Yum.

Today:

7:00 Raisin Bran
9:00 Coffee w/cream

I packed a Turkey sandwich on wheat with mustard and reduced fat provolone and brought 2 sour dough pretzels (big fat crunchy kind) and a string cheese for snacks. I'll update the rest of the day later.

Also, I have a pair of army green capri's that are so darn cute that I bought at AE for cheap and have never fit into. They would be perfect for Miami. I have to step it up.

They aren't my own....but they are still cute.

I can't be left out of this cute kid contest. They might not be my own, but they are my babies. This picture is almost a year old, but they have only goten cuter!

I am trying...really!!

This is a late post for me. My internet has been out at my house for the last few hours. How annoying. Enough of my complaining (oo wait there is actually more to come)

This isn't necessarily an excuse, but unlike the feedback I received, I felt like I act more actual meals in the last week than I have in a long time. It wasn't all that long ago when I would eat one meal a day and maybe have a snack in there somewhere. Last week, I felt like I had a good three meals a day. This 5-6 times a day is a big stretch for me. I am trying though and will shot for eating 4 times a day this week.

I will work on getting the scale. Maybe I will make my Dad buy it when my parents are in town this weekend to help with my house. While he is at it, he might as well also get me this cute outfit that Briz recommended. I like this plan!

Here is the food consumption for the day. Does this count as eating four times?!?
Breakfast - Yogurt with granola and iced tea
Lunch - Chicken salad on a croissant and baked lays. There were these really awesome cc cookies at the checkout, but I refrained. I did sneak a few drinks of diet coke from Rachel.
Afternoon snack - Fruits snacks which have 100% of my daily vitamin C
Dinner - Chipotle burrito bowl. Not good, I know. Darn Febreze CMK outings. It had rice, pinto beans, chicken, salsa, cheese, and sour cream. I also split chips with Bethany. I have no idea how to estimate the calorie count of this one, but not good.
Now- I am going to eat a piece of angle food cake when I get done with this.
No exercise today....to tired (more excuses).

Thanks for the helpful review. The only thing you forgot to add is that I looked hot all week!

Grades anyone? Not for me....

OK, so Nat and I were talking about grades and the fact that she felt like if she were graded that might be more incentive to do well. At this point, after thinking about it and even telling her I'd grade her, I don't want to do it. What I would like to do, though, is be a little more explicit in feedback:

Ang:

• Keep walking! It's great that you're getting out, and I want to continue to see that. But keep that tasty beverage at home while you're doing it. Not only is walking maintenance, you're killing it by having alcohol in your hands while ure doing it. Take water, any of the sports drinks, or even a 100% juice with you. But leave the booze at home.
• Your reduced fat cheese is good, knowing that you don't like milk especially.
• You hit the nail on the head with portions - they can make or break a meal. Even big portions of really good stuff can be more harm than good. Again, more throughout the entire day vs condensing into 2 or 3 meals will make you lose weight even if you sit there all day and do nothing. Beauty of metabolisms.
• Recognize your body will do better if you ate a meal the size of a typical dinner at 6 AM than it will do with nothing. Your Sat started off poorly, and believe me, I understand why. But without anything in the morning, your body really is running off of fumes, and it's gonna grab those fumes from places you don't want it to. Always always always eat something first.
• If you know you're gonna have a busy day, pack it the night before! You're already awake at 11 the night before, so you probably have an idea of what the next morning will hold. So pull out the food that you'll need the next day so that you don't have to in the morning.

Nat:

• I liked your Saturday - when you actually ate. You didn't eat enough during the day. I counted 3 times that you ate - you need to double that. Put a goal down for you to reach 5 meals a day by next Sunday. And if you keep eating like you did on Sat, you'll start to notice a difference.
• Your Sunday was better, but you missed lunch. And you didn't have anything to eat after you exercised. Your body needs that so it doesn't resort to stealing from broken down muscle. And yes, fruit is good, even as a topping on a DQ sundae. Just keep that as the exception to the rule, not the norm.
• I'll talk about exercise a little more tomorrow, but use your new neighborhood as a reason to get out and run. Explore streets, meet neighbors, etc. You've got your iPod all ready, I can only assume that your clothing is good to go....just keep up getting out there!
• I know that you said no clothes in May - so tonight, tomorrow or Wed, I want you to buy an article of clothing that you'll fit into by the time LA is here - something smaller than what you have now. Don't care if it's a bathing suit, shirt, pants, whatever... You work best with specific goals, so I want you to constantly look at whatever you buy as your goal. It's cheesy, but with you I think it just might work.

For both of you, weigh yourselves only in the morning, and do it about every 3 days. It will limit any variations, and the morning is the most consistent time to do the weigh-in. Nat, I know you don't have a scale, but you do need one. That will be a good house-warming gift :)

OK, I'm out. You guys have a great night!!!!

The real loves of my life

Biased for sure....the cutest girls in the world (Katrina,2 on left; Savannah, 4, on right) :)

Ang, if you want to see the latest pic, go look on Nat's desk.

A brief tumble off the wagon...but I wasn't injured.

Sunday was a bit of a challenge b/c we had a cook-out at our house. Food for the day included:

9:00 Raisin Bran
12:00 Leftover wheat penne with grilled chicken, broccali (still can't spell it!) reduced fat alfredo and a sprinkle of parmesean.
2:00-5:00 Grazed on Lays dipped in french onion dip. Did not keep count, but I would estimate 20 chips just dripping in the dip. I'm not going to lie. It was good.
5:00 Burger with cheese, ketchup, mayo, mustard and pickles. No Bun. Mett with mustard & saurkraut on a bun. (AHHH!! Bad Angie! Too much food! Too much unhealthy food!) Also 2 glasses of Pinot Noir and a Fresca over the course of the day.
6:30 Brownie w/ Ice Cream. (Did I mention yesterday was REALLY bad?) The brownie and iced cream equaled 4 small bites b/c sweets are not my thing. I only ate it b/c Joe made the brownies and he was really proud of them. (Excuses, excuses)
7:30 2.3 mile walk around the neighborhood (no alcohol included)
9:00 Low fat string cheese and a Regular Coke.

OK. Thank goodness that day is over. Today is better so far:

6:00 Raisin Bran and Coffee w/FF creamer

Nat- You are cracking me up. I guess Dairy Queen after walking is the East Side version of walking with alcohol. It's a total wash.

Briz- You must post or send photos of your girls! I had no idea you are a baby-daddy...and a much more responsible one than my baby-daddy! I feel your pain with the kids and eating healthy because I hardly ever allow treats. I know they eat crap consistantly when they are with their dad, so we never eat fast food. Eatin fast food with them is like a once-ever-three-month event for me because I feel I have to balance the damage their dad does. I can now also excuse you for not posting over the weekend. I was kid-less this weekend but next weekend will be much more of a challenge since Gabe and Ava will be with us.

Rock on, healthy (and semi-healthy) eaters!

Back from the weekend

OK ladies.....back from the weekend.

Ang, as Nat already knows, on the weekends when I have my girls with me, the rest of the world is pretty much at a standstill. No phone calls, no web surfing, and certainly no blogging - sorry!!! As there was a reference to priorities over the weekend, I have to echo that. When Curly and Squirt (no, those aren't their given names - those would be Savannah and Katrina :) are with me, they are the priority. Yesterday was awesome too - did the big beach blanket lunch at Alms Park, watched the airplanes and helicopters take off and land for a while at Lunken, then the girls had an awesome time at the playground - and honestly, so did I, especially with that marble slide they have up there. Who knew smoothed stone could hurl you at 20 mph?!?!?

But it is Monday, and I'm back on here, and as this is week 2 of this, the little excuses that we like to make for things should start getting cut back a little. Not saying that either or you, or I, have made them...out loud anyway. We always make excuses for something here or there that makes us feel ok about why we did something - well, this week, let's try to actually do that which we intend to do. Want to not drink that drink from Starbucks?!?! Throw it away or don't get it (GREAT JOB ANG!). Want to move furniture and then NOT eat poorly because you thought that you worked out?!?! Then eat right (GREAT JOB NAT!). You guys are already starting to do it a little, and I can see that. Just need to keep it up now...and this week I'll be watching just a little bit more ;)

As far as my eating for the weekend went, it sometimes comes and goes with the girls. That's not an excuse (didn't I just make some huge argument for not making excuses?!?!?!) though. So Saturday:

• Normal morning routine
• 12:00 PM: Turkey and cheese sandwich, baked Lays, swiss cake roll
• 1:30 PM: Dried Mangos
• 3:00 PM: Yogurt
• 4:45 PM: Cereal
• 6:20 PM: Frozen pizza dinner (ugh - this makes me gag just thinking about it)
• 50 ozs of water

Sunday looked a little something like this:

• Normal morning routine, spread out a little though
• 1:00 PM: Turkey and cheese sandwich, baked lays
• 3:30 PM: Double Choc Chip milk shake from Greaters
• 6:00 PM: Minestrone soup, Lasagna, cheese bread
• 80 ozs of water, huge glass of orange juice

Unfortunately, not the greatest eating in the world. Not terrible, but not great. I try set the example with the girls that 90% of what we eat should definitely be good for you. We had a conversation about McDonald's this weekend and how I simply will not take them there because I don't like the food and because it's not healthy for you. They don't fully understand that now, but they will after they hear me say it enough :) And right now, as they're 2 and 4, bribing is part of the game that we play, so if they eat their healthy meal right, they get a small treat. Yesterday was a big treat though - Greaters. It's in Mariemont and was on our way back to the house, and man - for someone who doesn't like ice cream (yes, Ang - I don't like ice cream), that shake hit the spot. But of course my 2 year old, who also fell out of her chair yesterday there, says at the top of her lungs 'Are we going to have some chocolate cake TOO!' as she's eating her chocolate chip ice cream pointing to the cakes in the closest display case :) Are all of my teachings going down the tube?!?!?!

OK, off to the gym now (yes, I know it's 7:50, but I'm working from home this morning, and that always lends itself to a few liberties here or there). My exercise post will be tomorrow. And I'll post another entry later with feedback on the weekend's activities for everyone :)

The East Side is Where it is At!

WSG...do you not see that I did a post on Friday?!? I am all about this blog and looking extra sexy! I think that our trainer Briz is the one being a slacker. I am so proud of your weight loss...way to go! Given our Thursday, I am very, very proud of you. LA better be ready for us.

Here is how my weekend went:
9:30 - Ice Tea/Lemonade combo at Starbucks and a slice of iced lemon cake (the cake isn't a good dietary start to the day)
Exercise - Rachel and I were Ikea warriors...rolling up in her VW with Starbucks. What does this say about our yoppiness? Given that the store is so big, I am counting this as exercise. It is basically the Ikea 5K. Rachel and I also carried a box which contained a coffee table and 2 boxes that contained a dresser but two flights of stairs into her home. That is my weight exercise for the day!

2:30 - I finish off another 6 inches of my Subway sandwich for lunch. A foot long for $5 rocks!

8:30 -Dinner at Chez Noria with Rachel. It felt like I had been there before, but it is a little foggy on the details! =) We had Brize with fresh fruit for an apt. I had crab cakes for dinner and we split a salad. I had ranch, and not the reduced fat shit. I wonder...we can put a man on the moon but we cant make reduced fat ranch taste good? Am I the only one in this country that sees the problem with this? I had a glass of white wine here and another glass at Twist. Not too bad if I say so myself.

Sunday -
11:00 - A blue berry bagel with reduced fat cream cheese at Panara with an iced tea
Exercise - A walk around Blue Ash probably a mile and a hour
4:00 - A small strawberry sundae with sprinkles from DQ. Not great, but I feel like it could have been worse. I did say no to whipped cream.
5:30 - Lean cuisine spaghetti
6:30 - Angle food cake which has zero fat...how amazing is that!
8:00 - Snack to come..still deciding what I want to have

I don't currently own a scale. I have banned owning one in my house for some time, but I am starting to think that now might be the time to bring it back into my life. I would like to be able to quantify how I am doing with this. Maybe I will ask for the scale as a house warming present!

Is writing when nobody is reading the same as talking to yourself?

Either I'm a total loser (which is a good possibility) or I am the only one even logging onto this site anymore. Doesn't really matter. West Side is representing!!!

Today went a bit like this:

6:00 alarm clock goes off and I hit snooze continually until...
7:00 Joe has to practically drag me out of bed kicking and screaming to go walk. It is cold and misting but I did it anyway. 2.3 miles around the neighborhood
8:00 Coffee w/FF creamer and a mad dash to Gabe's cold and miserable baseball game. They lost. :(
11:30 Still not a morsel of food. Not good. Not good at all. Go to Findlay Market and buy lots of fresh food, but the thought of eating fruit on an empty stomach makes me gag a little.
12:30 Visit my Alma Mater book store and can't believe how much the campus has changed...well except for the fact that the food still looks gross so more waiting for the first meal of the day.
1:30 turkey mett with mustard and saurkraut on wheat bun. Reduced fat string cheese. I must pause here to stress that I realize even though a mett is made with turkey does not make it healthy. I'm not one of those chicks that eats a box of "fat free" cookies and wonders why she can't lose weight. I know it was not a healthy choice, but the difference is that before this blog, I would have eaten 2 metts with all the same trimmings. I am seriously working on the portion control. I know that I should eat more fruits and veggies...but I have never been able to stick to that. Hopefully I will get there.
6:00 Wheat penne with grilled chicken, broccali (dude, I can't even spell the names of vegetables correctly!) reduced fat alfredo and a sprinkle of parmesean. 1 glass of Pinot Noir
8:00 A "West Side" lap around the neighborhood. What is this you might ask? Another 2.3 mile walk with a beverage in hand. Usually, the drink of choice for our neighbors is beer, but tonight Joe and I had huge plastic cups of Captains and Diet Coke and Patron Margarita respectively. I love the West Side! Where else is alchol during exercise not just accepted but embraced? Certainly not east of I-75 :)

A Surprise End to the Day

The rest of the day went like this:

2:00 reduced fat string cheese

3:30 Iced tea with unsweetened lemonade from Starbucks. No clue on the calorie content on that one.

6:00 another reduced fat string cheese

8:00 half a spinach salad with bacon, eggs, mushrooms and warm bacon dressing and half of the best hamburger in town with cheddar cheese, tomato, ketchup, mustard and full fat mayo. Also had a fountain Coke...the only thing better than ice cold Coke in a can!

10:00 Joe and I walked 2.3 miles around the neighborhood...what a beautiful night! Didn't want to come inside. Pretty impressive for a night that was supposed to be filled with thunderstorms.

Before going to bed, I weighed myself even though I wasn't going to do it for a week. I weighed 138.5 lbs! Good incentive to keep going and do better. Also, it shows what portion control does. I could have eaten much better this week, but the bigger problem for me is the amount I eat. Eating smaller meals and snacks is obviously better...I just have to keep it up.

This photo was from my honeymoon on the Mayan Riviera during the best beach day ever! It is our own little Corona print ad. The beer was cold, the sun was hot and I weighed about 132...the least I've weighed since we've been married. I want another beach day like that in LA, only 7 lbs lighter!

Ok, now I have to go to sleep. My alarm is set for 6:30 so we can walk/jog before heading to Findley Market. Hope you guys are having a good weekend!

A recap of the madness that was yesterday

OOOO where to begin. I will start by saying that Westside girl makes my yesterday look not so bad. If I had to post this alone, I might have suffered a heart attack (all the food yesterday certainly will contribute to clogged arteries.)

Breakfast - I didn't end up having dinner the previous night, so I had scrambled eggs and yogurt with granola. Good start to the day

The downward spril - Get to game and proceed to have a hot dog with ketchup. I also had a Miller LITE. Then we shared nachos. Unlike WS, I didn't count the number of chips. I would say that it is in the ballpark of 20. Another ML. As if I wasn't full enough, I needed to go get a Reds Hat Sundae. I did get it with strawberries, so that is a fruit serving. Good job me!

After the game, the drink count gets shaky. All I know is that my cup was never empty. Darn Brand Managers and their endless pitchers of beer. I also had more peanuts than I could count and two really horrible wings. If I wasn't drunk, I would have gaged on them. In terms of exercise, I am hoping that the large amounts of laughter that I experienced burn at least some of the calories i consumed.

Next stop, I had a glass of wine (which we know if good for the heart) a salad (I am sobering up at this point and am starting to get some sense back), and a 3 cheese and bacon quesidalla (going back to drunkenness here).

On a positive note, I played softball. Made it to second base =) and my team won. Apparently, I need to play drunk often.

What a day! I love Febreze, Jackson's Mommy, and my West Side stripper!

Back On Track

Yesterday afternoon was a trainwreck! My food intake included:

1:00 One Big Red Smokey with extra kraut and 6 tortilla chips with cheese sauce (yes, I was a dork and counted how many I ate)
6:00 Rueben sanwich dipped in 1000 Island dressing and potato pancake (about the size of a McDonald's hash brown...not good AT ALL, but also not as damning as the ones Izzy's serves which are as big as a human head.

I lost count of the number of draft beers I had because after they started buying pitchers, my glass was never empty! I also had a Regular coke and a TON of water when I got home to combat dehydration and potential hang-over.

Bad day, but I'm not beating myself up b/c today I am back on the wagon.

7:00 Raisin Bran w/skim milk, coffee w/FF creamer
8:00 Bought a small (tall) Starbucks skim Carmel Mocha I took 3 drinks and just couldn't do it. Just eating up my calorie count today. Wasted my $3.75 and pitched it.
12:00 Turkey sandwich w/ lowfat provolone on wheat with mustard. I have a diet Dr. Pepper staring me in the face, but guilt from yesterday will not allow me to open it. I am going to hoof it downstairs to get water.

I brought a low-fat string cheese and some almonds for later. Tonight we are supposed to eat at the Cabana. They have the best burgers I have ever eaten and they are HUGE so Joe and I usually split one. I also plan to walk/jog the neighborhood at some point this evening. I'll update tonight or tomorrow on how the rest of the day goes.

Briz- I thought there would be more feedback on my choice of comfort food.

Nat- Get with the program. I want to know about your comfort food and you need to BLOG for yesterday and today. I know you said you are busy with work, but let's think about PRIORITIES here. What if we are on a beach and a shirtless Matthew McConahey (sp?) walks by and asks us to play beach volleyball? We need to have game with NO JIGGLE.

Have a great weekend and keep in touch...BLOG EVERY DAY!

Where is everyone?

OK, getting lonely in the blogsphere....where is everyone?

No working out this morning - worked till 2 AM and couldn't drag my butt out of bed, so got into work at 9:20. Not the best way to start the day on a number of levels.

Eating hasn't suffered tho yet.

7:45 AM: Cereal
9:30 AM: Banana
10:30 AM: EAS bar

Hope you guys had a great time at the Reds game!

Comfort Food

I started today with a bowl of Raisin Bran at 8:00. Had Coffee w/cream at work. Almost time for the game, so I will have to post the rest of the day's progress later.

My go-to comfort food is Skyline Chili. A 4-way with onions and LOTS of cheese (of course) sounds good to me even when I am sick. I do not have a sweet tooth like most women. I like starchy, cheesy, salty food. I'd rather have a second helping of dinner than dessert. Not sure what that means, but I've been that way all my life. The only sweet thing I crave is Coke. Again, regular, not diet.

Ok, must get my game face on. I can't wait to see the Reds!!!

Good morning!

Who knew there was such a love/hate relationship with our friends the cows! Looks like dairy can make you guys weep with joy or sorrow :)

So I finished up my day yesterday OK. Remember that I've been at this for about a year now, and with time comes the ease of making sure that things go the way that you want them to. I worked out yesterday morning around 6:45, and today should be my day off, I still did some pushups and situps when I woke up to get the blood going.

7:30 AM: Cereal
9:15 AM: Banana
10:15 AM: EAS bar
12:00 PM: Rotisserie Chicken, Baked Lays, Swiss Cake rolls
1:30 PM: Oatmeal bar
3:30 PM: Powerbar
7:45 PM: 2 PBJ sandwiches
70 ozs of water

Everyone has their vices - looks like Nat's little slice of heaven includes cake and ice cream and a man (put those three together however you choose ;), Lang's includes Coke, and mine are Little Debbie Swiss cake rolls. So now that we know what they are, we can help each other keep them in check. And I'd be interested to know from you guys to what your go-to comfort foods are. If you've had the most stressful day in the world, and you go for 1 food, what is it?

AL - good job on the walk and the almonds, and hope the arm is healing up nicely. The almonds are packed with protein.

Nat - one day over the course of many won't kill ya. Just make sure it's not a pattern. Which I know that it won't become.

When you guys hit the Reds game today, have a great time! When I'm at a game, nachos, a coke, and a hotdog are mandates. But then I end up working my ass off in the gym later so that it doesn't stick!

One thing that we haven't talked about yet are different kinds of foods. The one I'll mention today is fish. Not sure how you guys are with seafood (well, Nat, I know ur ok with it, not sure about you Lang), but fish is about as healthy as you can get and baking it takes no time at all. It's not as filling as some other foods, but if you can get the veggies right with it or put it with some pasta you've got an incredibly healthy meal that's not that hard to prepare. I had baked fish last night and wondered why I don't eat fish every night for dinner.

OK, off to work. Will keep track of eating today and blog to myself since you guys will be gone!

I am off the wagon today...

This is where this blog comes in handy. I had a not so great day today, and my eating reflected that. At least I now have to be honest about it and shoot to do better tomorrow. I hope that they have healthy food at the Reds game. Maybe Angie and I should pack our own lunches.

Here is what I ate: It doesn't do well on either the number of times or quality front.

• 8:00 - Oatmeal with granola
• 12:30 - Chips and cheese and rice
• 6:00 - Margaretta and chips and salsa

I need to eat something else now. Maybe a PB&J or something equally as hard to make.

No workout today. I got home from work and feel asleep for an hour.

I know I will do better tomorrow.

So I finished out the day like this:

2:00 - reduced fat string cheese
3:00 - Handful of almonds
6:00 - Taco Salad (98% lean ground beef, fat free cheddar, green olives (weird, I know), banana peppers, hot sauce and regular fat-filled ranch dressing (again...I always have to ruin it with something not so great) Oh, and a Diet Mountain Dew. Not good, but I drank water the entire rest of the day...less than 3 sodas per day is unheard of for this girl! Regular Coke is like my swiss cake roll (or whatever your weakness is, Briz) and once I lose this weight, I am going to figure out how to work one in every day.

6:00 - Walked 2.3 miles with the family...no running. We can barely keep the kiddos moving at a snails pace but we made it all the way around the neighborhood.

I forgot to mention something else. I love cheese. Actually, love would be an understatement. It's a strange thing since I hate milk as much as I do, but cheese is without question the best thing ever to come from an udder. I am making better choices about the kinds of cheese I buy (paying attention to the fat and sodium content) but if someone told me I had to stop eating cheese or else I'd lose a limb, I'd start prosthetic fittings immediately.

I'm not going to lie...tomorrow is going to be a challenge. We are going to the Reds game and more than one overpriced frosty draft beverage will be consumed. I am going to have to be sure all my other choices are good because I've been waiting for this day forever!

I've decided on weekly weigh-ins so I have a few days to get straight.

Check me out. I know how to blog!

Food so far:

7:30 Raisin Bran & skim milk
9:00 Coffee/cream
11:30 Turkey Sandwich w/reduced fat provolone and mustard

I also brought an apple, almonds, reduced fat string cheese and sour dough pretzels for healthy-(er) snacking later.

Point taken on the exercise. I really am going to try and I think having friends monitor me will help. (you guys are awesome:)

I went to the grocery store the other night to stock up on healthy stuff, so I will continue to pack my lunch...this will probably also save money which isn't a bad thing.

I'll finish the food intake later today.

Day 3

OK, no words of wisdom at the moment, other than to say that I taught Nat how to post stuff today rather than comment. Angie, watch for the wisdom to flow your way too.

6:30 AM: Cereal
7:40 AM: Yogurt
9:15 AM: Banana
10:15 AM: EAS bar
12:00 PM: Grilled chicken, veggies, rice
2:00 PM: Oatmeal bar
5:00 PM: Zone bar
6:15 PM: Baked fish, peas, organic mac n cheese
~70 ozs of water

Hope the welt and the legs are better on both of you!

Hilarious writing

So this thing is turning out to be as much for the writing as it is for the substance :) Hilarious.

Lang-son - to comment on the sugar coated raisin thing...no worries. You got milk (good for calcium of course, and especially important for women as you know), and the cereal wasn't terrible. If it helps for you to know, while most of the time I eat cereal from Kashi or Kellogg's Smart Start, the past couple of days I've had Raisin Bran Crunch.

And that's one helluva day. Hope the welt heals nicely. And while you were at home all day, you at least missed the massive quantities of cake apparently.

NAT - great job getting out to run, even if it was a jog/walk. Almost anyone who does that after a while off will tell you that the jog/walk is actually the best way to get yourself back into shape. Running outright after not having done that for a while will shock your body a little too much. And a little piece of cake won't kill you.

Again, for both of you, you'll see my theme in here - small things here and there aren't bad for you. The one thing that I want to drive home is consistent good eating throughout the day. Eating smaller quantities more often will actually make a huge difference. AL, to your point about not wanting to work out when you're eating right, or vice-versa...that's something that I've heard from a ton of people. And I've caught myself doing that too every now and then. But that's a zero-sum game that you'd be playing only for maintenance in the end. If you want to stay 140, then you could do that. If you want 125, you need both. Again, I'll get into exercise thing in a day or two. Let's see if we can get the eating thing to a decent point over the next week.

One thing to point out - eating out in general, and especially in our cafeteria, is not the greatest thing in the world for you. If you have the time, spend 1 hour on Sunday thinking through what you'll eat during the week and prepare anything yourself that you can. If I'm to listen to my own advise, that means I'd take an hour every Sunday and make 10 PBJ sandwiches for the week (2/lunch). The rest is the healthiest I can find that's already packaged.

OK, enough randomness for the moment. Lang, watch the welt. Nat, hope you had something to eat/drink right after your run. It'll help burn cals/fat while ur not doing anything afterward if you do that.

Talk to you guys tomorrow!

My theory on eating

OK,

So I've never put any of this in writing before, but this forum gives me a good chance to do it!

First, diets suck. Your diet is what you eat over time, not a point in time to get thin. I've never believed in going on a diet for anyone. Everyone should adjust their eating habits such that the word diet gets used in its original form.

Second, unless medical conditions dictate it, people shouldn't deny themselves foods that they like or crave. For example, around 90% of what I eat is almost completely healthy and adds to my goals for the day of reaching certain calorie counts or allowing me to workout like I want to. However, the remaining 10% is reserved for those foods that I really enjoy eating. Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls. A piece of apple pie. Things like that. But it's done in complete moderation. The Swiss Cake Rolls are done every day, so maybe not those - but everything else is :)

Thirdly, the saying 'you are what you eat' is completely true. The phrase 'garbage in / garbage out' also applies. It goes back to the old analogy of a car - you put in crappy gas, crappy oil, etc, your car isn't going to run like it could. You feed it 93 octane, put the best oil in, and all of a sudden your Pinto runs like a Benz (that's a stretch, but you get the point :). If you feed your body crap, that's what you'll feel like in return. If you give it the good stuff, your body will thank you 10-fold for it. And you'll notice a difference.

And no theory on eating would be complete without talking about exercise too, but I'll leave that for another time.

As far as today's eating is concerned, I'm not feeling so hot, so:

• 7:30 AM: Cereal
• 9:15 AM: Pineapple, Cantaloupe
• 10:30 AM: EAS bar
• 12:30 PM: Big bowl of soup, Swiss cake rolls
• 7:45 PM: 1 1/2 PBJ sandwiches, Baked Lays chips, glass of milk
• 33 ozs of water

The reality of what we eat

OK my friends. How well are you eating now, and how well can you eat? We'll track how well we're doing here, and of course comment along the way. And anyone else that wants to join is more than welcome. Keeping each other honest about this, and not just for the trip to LA but ongoing, will help everyone.

I just created this today, so the blog will go through some changes over the next couple of weeks so that we can tailor it to how we want to use it. And throw feedback my way to - I won't be able to get it perfect, but will get it as best as I can.

My eating for the day? So far, a little off:

• 7:15 AM: Cereal
• 8:45 AM: EAS bar, chocolate milk
• 12:30 PM: Ham and cheese wheat wrap, baked chips, swiss cake rolls
• 2:00 PM: Powerbar
• 5:30 PM: Oatmeal bar
• 8:00 PM: Chipotle Carnitas burrito bowl w/ cheese, tomatoes, corn
• B/t 70-80 ozs of water

Not the greatest day in the world, but not terrible. As workouts get stronger, the need to eat more in a day kicks in.