Week 5 weigh in

Well my back is finally feeling good again, and I was determined to weigh in this week after missing weigh in for the last two weeks. Because my home scale reads different that the w.w. scale, I really had no idea if I had lost, gained, or stayed the same. I now know that my home scale reads 10lbs heavier than w.w.

Anyway I am happy to report my loss was 2.6 lbs, bringing my total loss to 12 lbs. Although I was down on the scale, I do realize that I have not been giving this 100% effort. I am determined that I am going to make losing weight a priority for the next little while.

Having said that, I have pulled out the tracker and will write down everything I eat. I think I have been making pretty good choices and my loss proves that, but I could be doing a lot better and that is what I will focus on for the next week.

Plus, in order to achieve my original goal of losing 7lbs per month, I need to lose 4.4 lbs in the next two weeks. I am going to go out on a limb and say, I am going to do it!!!!!!!!!

EXERCISE!

So on the holiday Monday, I went out for a hike. This is literally the first exercise I have gotten in...... well a really long time! I have to say it was really tough, I was out of breath, my back and legs were aching but you know what, I felt great to get out there and get moving. Here are a couple of pictures. I absoulely hate the picture of me, but it is reality and reminds me why I need to lose weight. Oh by the way the total hike was 4.5 k - One step closer to climbing my mountain.

Bucket List objective- - LEARN TO RIDE A MOTORCYCLE

Most of the people I know would think this is a strange entry on my bucket list, since I have never even sat on a bike before let alone ride on the back of one, and have never really talked about wanting to ride one. There has always been something that draws me to this lifestyle. I think it is the freedom on a bike. I really don't have any desire to ride around the city on a daily basis, but I would love to take a bike trip either across the state of California, or up the Dempster highway up in the Yukon.

A couple of my friends who have husbands that ride are extremely interested in learning to ride as well, so we are planning on going to a riding school in the spring of 09 to learn.

Get your motor running, get out on the highway, looking for adventure, and whatever comes our way - Steppenwolf. Born to be wild baby- hahahaha

Happy Thanksgiving

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. - John Fitzgerald Kennedy


Well yesterday I celebrated Thanksgiving at our family's annual Thanksgiving at my cousin's home. I've been doing weight watchers for about a month now and truthfully have been struggling for the last two weeks. I have basically stopped tracking, which I know is key for my weight loss success. I could use the excuse that I have been dealing with a painful back for the last month and have made that my priority, however, regardless of my back issues I have been slacking in the weight watchers department and have even stayed away from meetings for the last two weeks. Anyway, I was getting ready to go to my cousin's and I thought I would add a challenge to my day and really use the day as a celebration rather than an excuse to eat my face off. So, I went and had a wonderful time connecting with aunts, uncles and cousins, laughed my arse off and had a small plate of food. Even with all of the amazing desserts out on the table, I stuck to one small piece of cheesecake and some fruit. Today I feel good that probably for the first time ever, I thought of the holiday as a time to really give thanks for all of the wonderful people in my life and not think of it as an excuse to eat everything in my sight.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Sunday's kitchen Creation

Cheesy baked cod

Now this was absolutely fabulous. The ingredients were all very rich (i.e butter, cheddar cheese, breadcrumbs for the topping) but because it's so rich I could only eat a small portion. I ran it through the recipe builder and it works out to make 6 portions at 7pts per portion. I think I will freeze half of it and use the other half for my lunch this week. I will grill some asparagus later to have with it. Yumo!

Bucket List objective- Climb a mountain

Have you ever heard of a Bucket List? I saw the movie of the same name a few months ago, wherein the two gentleman embark to fulfill the things that are on the one guys bucket list. Basically it is the things that you would like to accomplish before you kick the bucket. Now this movie got me thinking, and I comprised a bucket list of my own and that really has gotten me to start changing my habits and moving myself closer to accomplishing the things on my list. I have chosen many things, and my list keeps changing. Some are specific goals, some are more general. For me, they are all dreams that I CAN make a reality. I will profile these bucket list items bit by bit on my blog to sort of make things a bit more not so out of reach.

So the item I posted today reads on my bucket list as "climb a mountain". Pretty vague right? I have been on several adventures where going on amazing hikes were well within my reach but because of my weight, my smoking, and poor fitness level they were not attainable. This fact, however, has left me wondering about the beauty that lies at the end of that hiking trail. I was watching a program on TVO tonight where 4 people were climbing/hiking to Robson Glacier in B.C. The one woman, who had given up smoking at the same time as starting the 3 day trip, found herself gasping for breath as she was climbing a steep incline. She said" I hear that the harder to climb- the better the view" This really stuck in my head and I wanted to write it down.

I have a very strong image in my head of the way I will feel when I reach the end of that trail. With the sun and a fresh mountain breeze on my face, my body spent from the effort put forth to get there, and the sense of overwhelming accomplishment that I will feel as I look out into the stillness and wonder of Canada's wild! So now i am looking into places to climb/hike even though this goal is in my distant future. I am thinking maybe the Robson Glacier, perhaps Gros Morne National Park in Nfld, as I made it to the start of the trail and had to turn back when I quickly realized I could not do it. The place I really have in the back of my head is the Chilkoot Pass, made famous during the Gold Rush from B.C. into the Yukon. I drove through the vicinity on my trip to the Yukon many years ago and read alot about it sooooooooo perhaps that will be the mountain I will climb!

Time will tell, time will tell.

My 22 pt breakfast!!!!!!

So I thought I would make a nice big brunch. Here it is onion, asparagus and mushroom egg white omelette sprinkled with cheddar cheese and a whole wheat bagel with butter. Of course a caramel coffee on the side. It was absolute heaven, and then I added up the points- 22 pts. Holy crap!!!!!!! Well I enjoyed it and still have 9 pts left for supper and it is a new week so my flex are re-set. I will use this as a reference the next time I want to eat a whole bagel with my breakfast and add butter to it. On another note, my back is feeling better today, I went grocery shopping early this morning and picked up the most gorgeous roses which brightened up my day. Later I will be trying a few more receipes. Oatmeal breakfast bars and baked cod. If they work out, I will upload pictures later on.

Here are the flowers
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