loss or maintain?

so, 2 fridays ago i was 174.6, then i weighed myself again a few days later and was 170.4. but, i was pretty sure that was a fluke.

well, today the scale read 170.4 again! (yay!) so is it a loss or a maintain? hmm, i'm gonna go with loss...or maintain...or loss...really i don't care. as long as the numbers are getting smaller, i'm happy. with thanksgiving and all i was just trying not to gain, so i'm happy to have been successful at that!

hopefully i can just keep doing what i'm doing. the brother comes back from china tomorrow, along with his cookie habit...and i'm going on yet another blind date...which are never ever my favorite and often trigger the eat-everything-in-the-house reflex.


so (in the words of Michael Bluth) i'm just hoping to

"keep my head down and power through"

I thought I was a morning person...

I always thought I was a morning exerciser - get on the treadmill first thing and forget about it for the rest of the day. But I was a bit slow to get out of bed this morning and skipped my 30 min session. Tonight, I was on for an easy 60 min while I happily watched TV (prime time is way better than the Today show - who knew?) - it makes me wonder if I should change up my routine. I think if I switch to evenings I'll be a little unreliable but will have a better workout when I get around to it. Hrmm...decisions, decisions...

On the other front, I've been losing a bit of motivation lately (thanks Mr. Scale - I hate you too) but luckily my produce delivery is keeping me on track and I've been hitting the winter veggies pretty hard. I love cauliflower as "mashed potatoes" - the boy once claimed that he didn't like it, but last night polished off the pot...liar.

thanksgiving special edition

hello again.

well, i just have to say that i'm sort of mystified by my own *extremely good behavior* over the last week or so. it's like being inhabited by another person...you know, one of those people who actually has it together and doesn't overeat and always exercises? you know, one of those skinny people...

honestly, i can't really account for the change. it just seems to have happened in the last few weeks...i have gotten things under control. maybe my brother being gone? hmm. i was fully expecting a total relapse when i went home last week...but the relapse never happened. nice. let's just keep it this way, shall we?

i've been exercising (walking 60 min) every day. even on thanksgiving.

i said no to the rolls. (gasp!)

i said no to a second piece of pumpkin pie (what?)

i said no to a second serving of stuffing (my favorite!)

i kept track of all my points every day. and i managed to not snack away the entire pantry like i used to do. (seriously. i'm not making this up!)

and...we made magnolia cupcakes for my sister's b-day. (these are a *total* trigger/weakness for me). guess how many i ate? 2 cupcakes over 2 days. i have been known to eat like 6-12 in a day. no joke. just 2?! crazy. good crazy though.

so...i don't know who this alien is that is inhabiting my physical space...but, i hope she stays around.

haven't checked the scale so i have no idea what i weigh...i hope i stick at the fluke 170 mark i was at before thanksgiving...or the 160's would be a nice surprise...

and OH OH OH! guess what? i bought a skirt in size 10 this weekend! and i tried on size 32 joes jeans and they were too big. 31's fit!!! yippee skippee!

(thanks for letting me brag.)

Confessions

Um, this was a whoopsy holiday weekend. I honestly don't know how much I ate and thinking about it makes me feel guilty. (Think pie, lemon curd, whip cream, stuffing, prime rib, waffles, scones, garlic bread, fries, creamed mushrooms, real mashed potatos...over 4 days...oh, and no exercise.) But it was a nice relaxing weekend with friends and my nice husband, so it was worth it. I'll give myself 5 flex for the rest of the week so I don't give up counting. After being a slothpig all weekend, I "feel" the fat around my mid section and love handles...like the weight was gained instantly. I know it's just in my head - does this happen to anyone else?

Tag, I'm It!! (and I'm also VERY late) (sorry)

ok...i know you have all been checking your computers every 6 minutes to read my 5 interesting things about me...sorry to keep you all waiting! ha ha ha. here they are:

1. i have never been on an upside down roller coaster. no current plans to either...

2. i had the chicken pox twice (once in kindergarten and once in 2nd grade)

3. i have a crazy, but super useful knack for remembering number sequences, such as phone numbers, bank accounts, credit cards etc. seriously, i know all the info on my parents, family, exes, etc. i would make a fantastic criminal, if i were so inclined. (don't worry, i'm not)

4. i can't roll my tongue.

5. i get right and left mixed up. there's a name for this...and i can't ever remember what it is...but if you tell me to turn left, i'll turn right. i still have to hold up my left hand to find the "L"...the funny thing is, i also have a great sense of direction...as long as the words "right" and "left" don't come into play.

so. there it is! thanks hotthickchick for the link!

and i believe bri has already tagged our 5...(see post below)

Steroid-free water for me, please!

I'm a little late on the ball for this, I suppose. But BPAs (Bisphenol Aan estrogen mimic) are leeched into foods that are stored in polycarbonate plastic. This is a concern primarily for small children and women of child-bearing age (ack!). I use a lot of plastics in my kitchen - my microwaveable tupperware ($$$$) is polycarbonate (the company won't respond to my emails about exchanging my products) and so are my Nalgene bottles. I'm slowly trying to transition away from my beloved tupperware (I'm so mad that them right now!) and for now will not store oily foods in them. But since I drink 2-3L of water a day from a Nalgene at work, I decided to give up the bottles and get these Sigg beauties instead (0.6 and 1 L).

food journal: Yesterday I ate 20, exercised 2, flex left 20. Today I ate 20, exercised 0, flex left 20.

Tag, we're it!

We've been tagged by our dear friend Hot Thick Chick! Here are the rules (which I also stole from her): Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

5 REALLY INTERESTING things about me:

1. I've was once detained by the Turkish military police.

2. I love cheese so much that as I child, I used to sneak small sliced of the fancy cheeses in our fridge so that my parents wouldn't know. bad bad girl.

3. I can't do a cartwheel. I was the only girl in my 4th grade class who couldn't do one.

4. I really want a nice big dog. For now though, I've become the crazy cat lady. I'll tell you all about my cats if you give me the chance. And oh yeah, I firmly believe that they are the best cats ever... You all should be glad that I have resisted posting pictures of them on here!

5. I love a bargain (Meg will back me up - I'm super cheap). I also love J. Crew. So I check their website at least daily to catch the good deals. I rarely find them, but when I do... How embarassing.

These lovely people are it!
Soap Box Girl (on vacation, but we can't wait for her to come back!)
Cara
Healthy Pear (where did you go? we miss you!)
Bionic Woman

the sugar cookie diaries...

yea, remember when i said my goal was 3 sugar cookies total? hmm. that didn't quite happen. i ate 9 cookies total over 4 days.

is that a lot?

ok, just kidding, i know it's a lot. too many, actually. BUT...it's much much much better than past sugar cookie episodes where i've eaten 9 in one sitting....followed by another 9 a few hours later. i was very proud of myself and gave away about 3 doz. of the ones that were left over and then i threw away the remaining cookies.

even though i ate way way way too many cookies, i didn't really eat much else...so i stayed within my points. i even walked for an hour yesterday. no brother=best dieting secret ever.

and...guess what? i weighed myself yesterday and the scale said 170.4! (lowest weight since starting blog). it might be water weight, it might be a fluke, but i really don't care. i'll take it!

(maybe i can actually reach my christmas goal...)

Points report part 2

OK, I probably ate more than I should have, but my points estimate comes in at 28 for today, using 8 flex points leaving 20 for the rest of the week. I think I can keep all of those until Thursday...

Lately, I'd been feeling pretty good about how I look shapewise. I think that was contributing to last week's "I'm tired of this" whine session. Then yesterday I saw myself naked in the mirror. Let's just say, that burst my bubble, and has made me recommit to losing a few more pounds. It also makes me appreciate my clothes that much more.

Points report part 1

My weekend has been nice and relaxed, though I haven't been able to pack in any exercise. I've been diligent about the eating though since I'm going up to a friend's house in VT for T-day, and I suspect I'll be eating a lot. My goal is to have 20 flex points for Thursday, since exercise is also not an option that day. So far this weekend, I've had just 7 flex points (that's really low for me) but I'm going to a friend's tonight for dinner and we are having "Chinese takeout". I've actually never had "Chinese takeout" before (I generally hate American Chinese food...icky) so I've never looked up the calories or fat, but I suspect I won't like what I see. Hrm. Well, I guess I'll eat a bit before and do my best to make conversation so people won't notice that I'm not eating very much. Anyway, as long as I keep it under 8 flex points, I'm good...

Two in a row

For the first time ever, I am exactly the same weight as I was last week. crazy! that never ever ever happens to me...i am usually all over the place. so, 174.6 it is again. i guess that is better than a gain!

i will be making approximately 48 sugar cookies today. i am a little scared, i have to say. my track record with cookies is just not good. so, i am trying to develop some will power before 8 pm....i think i will say i can have 3 total between today and tomorrow...but no more. too bad my sugar cookie recipe isn't gross--otherwise, this would be easy!


have a great weekend everyone!

Skepticism...and Motivation

I'm chuckling over my am steel cut oats because I've 2 pounds since Monday (1.5 pounds since I left for my food0fest odyssey). I should be really happy, but I'm quite skeptical. Sure, I ate well (um, ignoring those two free cookies from yesterday which were so not worth it - note to self) and exercised a bit. But I am waiting for the gain from all of those cakes and stuff. Anyway, we'll see if it catches up with me next week. For now, this little bit of weight loss is just I needed in the motivation department, which has gotten a little pathetic lately.

Oh, I tried on my progress pants last night - they look good from the front and the back but from the sides, the pockets still pull apart.

Sorry I've been a bad blogger this week - I'll be better next week. Promise.

Have good weekends everyone!

mini post

sorry i've been an absentee blogger this week...just wanted to drop by and say that things here are going fine...actually, they're going pretty well. i seem to have found a groove with the eating and exercise thing...no brother is a huge help in the dieting realm...i've been staying on track calorie wise and i've been walking on my treadmill between 30-60 minutes every day. now if i can just keep doing this...!

ummm...i'll be back later with something more interesting to say...

Soooo tired...

I'm so tired of dieting. I'd like to just turn that part of my brain off, but I can't. History shows me that when I turn that off, I gain weight. Pre-blog days, feeling this way would lead to quitting, so I have to thank you all for helping me stay motivated.

today: ate 25, exercised 5, flex left 10.

Things I ate...and the one thing I didn't but should have

I just ate my way through Central Europe (well, just parts of the Czech Republic and Austria). I am baffled about how the people there are so skinny - all this stuff we hear over in America about how in other countries people eat healthier and restaurants serve smaller portions is a huge lie*. Veggies in the Czech Rep. looked terrible, so I don't blame them for just eating meat, gravy, and bread dumplings. And in Austria, it is all pastries all the time, with a side of very large wiener schnitzels and sausages. (I suppose people must eat like birds when they eat at home to compensate.) And I don't think the locals can walk all of these extra calories off - their public transportation is so good there (and stops seemingly every 10 feet). Like I said this morning, I was eating about 40 points per day, and said yes to just about everything I came across that looked tasty. Luckily, I hate beer and wine, so that gave me a few extra calories (and cash) to spend on coffee and pastries. On days that I didn't walk all day long (conference days) - I usually made up for the pastries by having just soup for dinner.

*may not be statistically significant

Things I didn't eat but should have (Meg, you'll kill me, but I didn't get back to the store):

(that's right, this list is very short.)

Things I ate and maybe shouldn't have (obviously, some of the plates are for the boy - you think I'm a pig or something? ahaha):

Um, this was really tasty - included gingerbread dumplings.

This was also tasty, though not worth the calories - thei big offender here was the ginormous fried potato pancakes that is wrapped around the meat. I didn't eat much of it. I kept thinking of that Simpsons episode when Dr. Nick tells Homer how to rub food in paper to see if its transparent...

Vienna was crazy delicious and chocolatey. I didn't the whole case, but I did get one of the chestnut chocolate confections, which were the in-season thing while I was there.

This sausage was the first of many. It would have been impossible, in term of time and money, to eat healthy while on the road like this. At least the sausage is tasty.

The famous Sacher torte with the Vienese "melange" coffee.

Hot chestnuts - sooo good.

I only ordered Wiener Schnitzel once...and they gave me two ENORMOUS pieces. I ate about 1/2 of one piece.

The Linzer torte.

That's right ladies - that whole pastry is covered in chocolate. Hello. The other has a poppyseed filling.

Our last desserts before coming home. The pic is not good, but the desserts were :)

Today: Ate 19 so far, exercised 2, flex left 10. I may use a few of the extra points for a hot chocolate. These pictures make me crave sweets. Whoops.

Damage control

I missed the blog world while I was away! I have a lot of catch up to do reading all of your blogs. I got back last night and am now in full force damage control. I estimate that I was eating about 40 points per day while I was away, which was fine most of the time when I was walking all day long, but during the conference, it was not so fine. Water consumption was a problem (bathrooms are hard to find, and cost money). So this week, I'll be back on the treadmil and the pilates mat, drinking a ton of water, and will limit my flex points to 10 for the next 4 days until I start as normal again on Friday. I took a ton of food pictures, so I'll be posting again tonight. But the quick summary is that I left like Homer in chocolate land. It was wonderful and horrible, all at the same time :) Oh, and the scale last night and this morning is telling me I weigh 141, so that's a .5 lb gain from when I left. I'm not really sure how to judge that (you know: long flight, salty foods, is my huge gain going to come next week) but for now, I'll gladly take it.

real progress!

i finally broke the 175 barrier! this week i'm 174.6. i can't even remember what i was last week...176-something. anyway, i'm very excited.

no brother in la casa...so far so good! i am cookie-free. however, i do need to work on eating fewer carbs (particularly kashi granola bars and fiber one bars...) and get back to vegetables. that is always the first "new habit" that i lose. and more water, and more exercise...but, for now, i'm just happy to see a number w/ a 4 in it!

play the accordion...lose weight!

i just checked out this site and had loads of fun finding out how many calories per hour i burn doing things like...

walking (238)

changing a lightbulb (26)

listening to music (79)

washing my hands (3)

getting dressed (26)

and best of all, i found out that the instrument i play burns 159 calories per hour! (no, it is not the accordion!) that means that on my mega-long teaching days when i play between 3-5 hours, i burn lotsa calories! who knew? (i'm totally going to tell some of my adult students about this...maybe it will motivate them to practice...haha)

check it out!

monday? already?

soooo...let's see here...how about a mini-update in bullet-format?

*another successful episode of beat-the-crafty-table on saturday! i even managed to avoid eating pizza during a long night of filming...when it was like 40 degrees outside and i had no coat and really really wanted something warm. i did however have 1 breadstick. not too shabby.

*"accidentally" ate 2 snickerdoodles though that were in my brother's car (ha ha, that sounds weird...but they were fresh--not like under the seat or something!)..and had a few of the bro's choc. chip cookies that have been all over the house lately...but, i did count them all.

*managed to almost use all my flex points in a granola bar attack. oops. seriously, don't know what my problem was. i just couldn't get enough of those kashi chewy trail mix bars...

*staying motivated w/ exercise...have walked on treadmill every day (or night) for about a week.

*brother leaves for china tomorrow. no more cookies! yahoo!

ok...that's all for tonight...sorry i've been a bad blogger lately--i have been reading all of yours but keep running out of time to comment!

Fluctuate

yea...i think i should change the name of the blog to "fluctuate"...that seems to be more accurate than "skinnify"...well, at least for me!

i am down this week, but still not to the pre-birthday 175. last week i was 177 on wednesday.. and 178.6 on friday... and this friday i'm 176.2. though i am happy to apparently have lost like 2 lbs, i don't get it. i'll say it again and again. numbers just don't make sense.

well anyway...i feel like i'm on a roll with the diet and exercise thing this week, so i'll just keep doing what i'm doing. i seem to have found the right combination of enough stress to keep me busy and away from the cupboard (but not enough to turn me into a cookie monster), willpower, and motivation to exercise...now if i can just keep going this way. experience has shown that this is the danger zone for me...i tend to start thinking i can get away with things as soon as i see a loss and then boom--back to where i started.

random side note: last night one of my students moms told me she's lost 65 lbs. (she looks great--when i first met her she was over 300 lbs.) she said this is the first time she's been under 300 lbs in 16 years. wow. i am so totally impressed. people like that inspire me.

Walking at Midnight...

i've relapsed a bit and am back to my night owl ways...

i generally prefer to exercise in the mornings, but lately, i just can't get up and running early enough to get it done first thing. my brother and i have often talked about how we need to invent some type of catapault device that will launch us out of bed in the morning...i really wish i was more of a morning person and got up at 5 or 6 am. but alas, it seems that after brief flirtations with being a morning person, i always return to my night owl ways.

anyway. instead of just giving up on walking if i don't get it done in the morning, i've started walking in the middle of the night. (cue that billy joel song...) oh, i should mention i walk on a treadmill. not out in the streets or anything.

i'm not sure if it's the greatest idea, as i'm sure it goes against some type of health guideline somewhere...but i feel better when i exercise regardless of the hour of the day.

how about you? when do you like to exercise?