10/31/2010 - Cali Picture and this week's OBSESSION!!

Missing the beach already! I really love California!

This weeks obsession is something I have posted a recipe for here in the past...it is Nutrisystem Pancake Mix, mixed with Half and Half and cooked into biscuits in my puff pan...stick a little piece of turkey sausage in each one and cover with 1/3 cup gravy. Serve with fruit. Soooo yummy! I ate it every single day this week!

The one bad thing about traveling is the lack of being able to cook. I was still able to stick to my plan, but wasn't able to cook!



10/27/2010 - Back from Hell!

So, I must admit that I didn't expect my trip to have the adventurous, torturous ending that it had. It started dreary, with the typical California sunshine hiding itself entirely for the first 8 days. Oh, there were still highlights. I got to meet some interesting new people, reunite with some old friends and generally have a typical California visit sans sunshine. I had the opportunity to take part in the Brain Tumor Walk with my dear friend and Abrego Team Captain, Dallas Williams. Work was great, as usual.

Then.....Vegas Happened! I drove to Vegas on Friday morning with a colleague to do dealer visits. We got there about 10:30 and made our rounds. After lunch, I was going to drive back to the Mercedes store with the Finance Director. . . but he misplaced his car in the structure at the Fashion Show Mall. After an hour or so, we found the car and were on our way. Being lost kinda puts me on edge, especially in a foreign city, state, and area. After a nice visit, I headed to my hotel and was not feeling well. So, I laid down in my hotel room at the Green Valley Ranch only to find that some very hearty newlyweds are in the room next to me. With little sleep, I headed to the airport Saturday morning. I got stuck in horrible traffic because Obama was flying out on Airforce 1, the entire airport was closed. No one could come in or go out. My flight was scheduled to leave at 9:45. At about 2:30, it got cancelled due to horrendous storms at DFW (better safe than sorry). At that point, several other flights to DFW had also been cancelled, as had all the re-routed options that would get me home in a timely manner. So, the flight that I got was at 9:45 on Monday.

I started calling hotels and, because of the National Rodeo Championships, the largest rodeo in the world, all the hotels were sold out! So, what was a girl to do? I was feeling very sick at this point and kindof pukey with a huge headache. So, I sat there and had a good cry. Then, I called a friend who had lived in Vegas and goes to Vegas all the tme. He found me a hotel room at the Luxor for $100. I was so thankful. I took a cab to my room and immediately laid down, then starting getting sick. I was sick all weekend. On Sunday, I ventured out and found a Walgreens. I bought some Immodium and some Pepto Bismol. I chugged gatorade and water. Then, I went back to my room and went to sleep. Monday morning, my cab didn't take a credit card, so I had to run and find an ATM machine, though annoying, this had little strain after the rest of my weekend. I was asked to get bumped from my flight to arrive in Dallas at 4:45 p.m. instead of 2:45 p.m., I declined.

For the first time in my life, I was so glad to finally land in Dallas.

10/18/2010

So, I am traveling until next Saturday, so my next weigh-in will be a week from today. I expect that I have lost weight, but either way, I have never felt better in my life. I have so much energy!

I hate to weigh-in when I am traveling. 1) The plane makes me gassy and bloated 2) I prefer to weigh-in on my own scale so that I don't get crapped out if it shows a higher number, even though there are differences in scales. (Seems like there is a poop theme here!)

California feels different too. Last night I stayed in Pasadena and ate sashimi at a place called the Wokano...went because it was the only place opened, but it was FANTASTIC!!! I forgot how good the sushi is in Los Angeles. Sticking to the plan, of course, cannot wait to see the results.

10/11/2010 - Week 12 Weigh-in

Week 12
October 3rd-October 10th
Weight: 221
Week 12 loss: 0lbs
Total for 12 weeks: 26 pounds
Workouts: 4 1 hour cardio workouts

Favorites this week
Breakfast: nothing new this week
Lunch: nothing new this week
Dinner: Southwest Chicken Wrap, Yummy!
Snack: nothing new this week

10/10/2010 - Fattitude....

Okay, guilty admission. . .
In the earlier parts of my blog, I stated that my highest weight was 330 pounds. I lied. That weight label was accompanied by this picture:

So, yeah, I did NOT weigh 330 pounds in this picture. I weighed in at 370 pounds...Not sure why 330 pounds sounded lighter in my head or why that number felt better to put into print. Crazy what the mind comes up with, but my weight was 370 pounds. Tomorrow I should be 150 pounds below my starting point...for the second time! Yes, like Eminem, I had a Relapse. But 220 is also the lowest weight I have been in. It was the point I was stuck at for 2 years and what led me to the doctor to discover I had Hashimoto's. It is the weight that I will be breaking through in the next weeks with ease. My plan is fantastic and I have so much energy and joy since I have found myself. I feel like I need to admit this because I was talking to my friend and told her that I will be at a total loss of 150 pounds tomorrow. . . she was like, "no, it will be 110, you started at 330." And I was like, "Oh, you read that? Um, yah, that was a lie."

10/10/2010 - Half-Assed Book Review and link!

I love to read while I am working out. Working out is my all-in-one me time. In fact, I love to read anytime I have time. This is why, for instance, I go to the library every Saturday and pick up the books on my request list that are waiting for me. (For anyone who doesn't do this, you should! It is completely free except for the fees wrapped up in your taxes. So, really, you are already paying for the services, so you might as well take advantage of them.) And also why I keep those library books that are on deck in my car...just in case I get a moment or two of spare time.

So, a book I recently read is Half-Assed by Jenette Fulda (http://www.pastaqueen.com/). The book and corresponding website are a real look at a real person going through a real struggle. Like me, she likes to eat and has learned to cook healthy recipes to reach her goals. She found, to her dismay, that she likes to workout after shedding copious amounts of weight. She is funny and very candid with her quirks. An example is when she ran home to read her blog after discovering that her mother had found it online, scouring it for things that were humiliating and realizing, in turn, that her journey through 2 years of blogs had been very long and treacherous. Her story is very inspiring and her candid insights are at once warm and often observationally perplexing. Describing how people disappear from her blogisphere, Jeanette talks about how she often makes up a back-story...filling in the blank of WHERE THEY COULD HAVE GONE...and knowing, in the health and fitness world, that they probably fell off the wagon and were too embarrassed to stay online. She then discusses how awful it is to be embarrassed in your real world AND in the online world. I love how she discovers her confidence online and translates it into her real world, true moments of empowerment that are an example for all of us. I highly recommend this book! I love this book! How many stars? 5-star book since I have been referencing hotels all week...

Here is a picture of the cover, find this book! There is a link on Jeanette's website (http://www.pastaqueen.com/) if you want to order it or, you can borrow a copy from your public library like I did.

10/8/2010 - Nutrisystem Lottery!

Ummmmm. . . .okay, I may have a problem. But this is the best deal EVER!! I responded to the below add and got 16 dinners, 5 lunches, 4 breakfasts and 2 desserts for FREE! 27 items for free! Yay! My lucky day! They were moving and didn't want to move the food from the pantry. And it is good stuff too. There are even a few things I haven't tried, like Chicken Tortilla Soup and Turkey Dog. 5 of my favorites are here: Pancake Mix, Blueberry Pancake Mix, Stroganoff, Thick Crust Pizza, and Hamburger Patty! Yay!! So, today I won the Nutrisystem Lottery! This might, kharmically make up for the $40 breakfast that I bought in my last post in the hotel.

10/7/2010 - Hotel Living

I LOVE hotels! From the moment I enter my room, I slip into the robe and feel like I am suddenly relaxed. Now, when I am traveling, I am packed with meetings and the moments in my room are very limited. I come in, hang up all my clothes, iron anything that got crumpled, put on my robe and pretend I am on vacation until my meeting starts.

Typically, I ask for a fridge in my room and have either brought or stopped at the local store and bought groceries. On my most recent trip (this week) there was a huge fee to rent a fridge. So, I made a makeshift cooler in my sink with ice. By the 3rd day, I was not confident in the freshness of my food, so I ordered room service from the elliptical machine at 5am.

My order: 3 boiled eggs, coffee, berries. Special requests: Please deliver to my room at 7:30.

How much would you expect this to cost?

15 bucks? 20? Nope, it was $40 dollars!!!

My deluxe breakfast...

Oh, and the Nutrisystem Scone is my own addition...not included in the $40...

And I just ate the eggwhites, not the entire egg from the boiled eggs.

10/4/2010 - Week 11 Weigh-in

Weight: 221
Loss for week: 1 pound
Slowly approaching "overweight" on the BMI index, YAY! I cannot wait to be overweight instead of OBESE!

10/4/2010 - Why I love to Exercise!!!

So, the best part of each day is when I wake up and have that moment where I decide if I should workout or not. . . When you are down 149 pounds, you are enormously inspired to keep heading down, and I MEAN ENORMOUSLY. I am one of those girls who gains weight if I am not on a very strict diet and I certainly will not lose if I am not eating clean and working out consistently. In fact, if I am not recording each morsel that enters my mouth, I gain, ounce by ounce, until it turns into pounds of extra weight. Thyroid and slow metabolism be damned, I have challenged my natural propensity towards obesity, and I WILL win!

So, at that moment in the morning when I have that Hamlet-like decision, To be fat, or not to be fat...that is the question, I usually decide to hop out of bed and head to the gym. Now, as all busy women, I don't have much time to do things I love. The things I love involve traveling, watching movies and tv, reading, writing, hanging out with my family, meditating, and napping. So, the gym has become my all in one "me time." When I am running on the treadmill, I listen to books on tape or read a book. When I am sitting in the sauna, I update my blog. Sometimes, I just let my mind wander and meditate as I row on the rowing machine. But this time in the morning has become my special time, time to rejuvenate and become a better version of myself-enhancing the fitness of my mind and body.

If I have not worked out, those closest can tell. For instance, I will say something snarky and they will give me the head-tilted, beaten dog look and say, "did you work out this morning?" My workout is a huge predictor of how my day will go, so much that I have been known to slip away mid-day to "turn my ship around." Getting in my workout makes or breaks my day.

So, do I work-out to lose weight? Yes and No. I started working out so that I could become more fit. I weighed 370 pounds when I started working out, my knees creaked as I lumbered on the treadmill. My first workout consisted of a walk for 5 minutes. I think it was a speed of 2. I thought I was going to die and had I not kept going, my chances of having a healthy life could have been severely hindered. But I kept at it. I told myself that I would do 5 minutes each time I worked out and once that became doable, I would increase it to 6 minutes. I kept at it until I was at 1 hour! Slowly, very slowly, I began to look forward to that time to start my day on the right foot. I better hit the sack so I can get up at 5:15 to rock out my workout!!    

10/2/2010 - My Favorite Salad and some FRIED Apples!!!

Most of my post's titles end in EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!! I am just so excited about losing weight and some of the delicious, nutritious things I get to eat on my plan. I am also super excited that I don't cheat or even feel the urge to cheat and, in a pinch, I have the knowledge and confidence to make the right, healthy non-Nutrisystem decisions.

I also love that I can spend as much or as little time as I like when it comes to each meal. Busy with the kids? Have a Fudge Graham bar for lunch. Not feelin' so hungry? Have a can of tomato soup. Starving? Make 2 pizzas with delicious ingredients. Have time and feeling like cooking, zip through recipes and find something amazing to prepare or prepare any of the entrees with stir-fried veggies. You can be as creative or as "right out of the box" as you like. You do need to prepare ahead of time to ensure that you have veggie and protein options available. But, after you get the hang of that, it is very easy too. Pre-boil some eggs for the week, have some light String Cheese available, keep some light white meat turkey dogs on hand. Easy peasy.

I have some go-to favorites. One is my all time favorite salad and the other is a new selection for fruit that I recently discovered on the Nutrisystem boards (best, luckiest find ever).

best salad ever! 




Raw spinach, 1 oz Goat Cheese, a few berries, and then 2 T of fat free balsamic vinagrette

  fried apples!

Core apple and slice very thinly.
Spray pan with Pam.
Put apples in pan.
Sprinkle with cinnamon, Truvia, and Vanilla.
Spray with Pam again.
Cook on medium until apples are ready...