The Unintentional Vegetarian

This past week we ate all vegetarian meals. There was no real plan to do this but it just worked out that way. I loved it. I feel so clean and lean after eating no meat all week. I'm not sure hubby is happy about it or if he has actually noticed. He hasn't said anything.
I hope to incorporate more vegetarian meals into our weekly rotation but need to do some planning ahead of time to get there.
So here were our dinners for the week..
Monday- vegetable soup with rice. (I did hear a lot of complaints about this meal but as time is an issue on Mondays it was "eat it or go hungry" They chose to go hungry.
Tuesday- spaghetti with tomato sauce (sauce has to be smooth with NO lumps or kids won't eat it!)
Wednesday- over easy eggs on English muffins with cheese for the adults and cereal for the kids ( since we need to get out of the house by 6:10 for lessons-this type of meal will likely have to do for most Wednesdays for the next couple of months!)
Thursday- tofu stir with vermicelli noodles (i finally figured out something to do with those noodles!! I was pleasantly surprised that the kids actually ate them!)
Friday- tonight I'm not sure what we'll be eating but I have a feeling it won't be vegetarian- hubby is responsible for dinner Fridays and this usually involves a roasted chicken from Sobey's (okay not usually- ALWAYS) and some kind of side dish. I  also have chicken soup in already made that I'll serve with noodles.
Weekends are never planned ... we'll see what I can come up to continue with the vegetarian trend.

oh zumba...

how i love thee!!! I have been doing the Wii Zumba a couple of times a week and I am loving it. The class i went to a couple of times just wasn't cutting it so I have swapped Thursday night Zumba for 30-40 minutes on the elliptical while watching Grey's Anatomy and will start going Saturday mornings to Zumba at Garnet.I have high hopes for this new instructor and hope she lives up my expectations! Time will have to tell!

How do you wear your jeggings?

I recently aquired a pair of GAP jeggings. When I first tried them on I thought there was no way on earth I would ever wear them and planned to give them back to the donor.... but at the last minute I decided to try them on again and actually really really like them. The only problem is I have no idea how to wear them! Obviously I know how to wear pants or even leggings  but not how to pull off jeggins. I am really not into wearing leggings as pants with a short top and think it looks inappropriate unflattering most of the time.
How do you wear your jeggings ? (And I'm not talking about skinny jeans-those I have no problem wearing the same way I would wear regular jeans- it's leggings or jeggings specifically I am looking for help with!!)

The Past Week

was pretty good on the eating front. I have been tracking all my intake and have been trying really hard not to eat in front of the TV in the evenings. Except for the fact that I have been on anti-biotics this past week, which tend to cause me stomach upset I have been feeling great about my diet. I have also been trying super hard to exercise more often. I have been hopping on the elliptical for at 30 minutes at a time and earning activity points for that. Thanks to FP  and her suggestion of challenging oneself during commercials or for certain time periods, my elliptical workouts have been getting better. I now try to keep my speed to over 13.50 while the commercials are playing and over 11 during the regular shows. This has me breaking a nice sweat, something I hadn't really done before on the elliptical. Also been doing Wii zumba. I absolutely love it!! It is so fun and also a great workout! Once the weather improves I will definitely getting on my running shoes and pounding the pavement once again for evening runs.
Thanks to the convincing FP I will be doing a 5k in May and need to definitely get my game on for this event!!

A typical eating day

At the request of a reader I'll share a typical eating day for me. This is a basic plan with some variations daily.

Breakfast

1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/3 cup bran buds
1 banana

or

1/2 cup oatmeal made with 1 c skim milk and 3 tablespoons sugar free syrup
banana


coffee with 1/4 c skim milk and 1 sweetener

Lunch

2 cups spinach and arugula
1/2 c pepper (either green or orange)
1/2 c cucumber
1 diced tomato or 10 grape cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons low fat blue cheese dressing or Italian herb dressing

and either 1/2 avocado or 3 oz diced chicken or 1 can tuna

Snack

I try to control what I snack on during the day. I am supposed to eat 2 servings of low fat dairy a day so I will often eat 2 triangles of Laughing Cow Light cheese or I eat 6 almonds and 6 dried apricot halves.

Dinner
Here is where the most variations occur. I normally just eat what the family eats as I keep my points low during the day. If I am serving pasta than I substitute it with spaghetti squash and if I'm doing a stir fry I make sure to measure out 1/2 cup rice rather than just piling rice on my plate. I also add vegetables in the form of a salad or steamed if the main dish isn't veg based. If I am giving the kids fish sticks I will make real fish for hubby and me. (usually tilapia or another white fish- although salmon is very healthy it is quite high in points)
I also drink a tonne of water. On WW the recommended water consumption is 6 glasses per day. I try to drink between 10-12 cups per day. It works okay for me as I do have a desk job and can run to the WC whenever I need to go! Not really feasable for a lot of people though.

So far So good

Today is day 4 and I have been doing really well keeping up with the "off the couch" plan. Sunday I was a little active by playing Just Dance with the kids. It was actually quite the workout!
Monday and Tuesday I did Zumba on the Wii and really enjoyed it. The class I'm taking now isn't the greatest and the Wii class is actually significantly better than that instructor.
I finally cracked open my Jillian Michaels Wii game and didn't love it but will need to play with it a bit before making a further judgement on whether or not I'll use it. Not sure what I expected but it's not actually Jillian doing a workout, it's more like a cartoon character version of her with her voice dubbed in.
I am definitely going to take up running again. I really do enjoy it but I am definitely going to wait until the weather warms up before getting out there! No need to freeze my petunia off :)

Eating plan has been ok. Keeping to program for the most part but still craving sugar/cookies- will have to wean myself after all the indulgences over the holidays!

New Year, New you...

or really new me! I resolved 2 years ago to lose 30 pounds. I did it. It wasn't easy but through following Weight Watchers, attending meetings and keeping control of my eating I was able to obtain my goal. It took me 6 months to get there.  I have kept the weight off for the most part- I am about 3 pounds over my ideal weight. I am now resolving to fit exercise into my lifestyle more regularly as well. I have started recently by joining a zumba class at a local community centre. The class is at a great time for me since it doesn't start till 8:30 and I can go after my kids have gone to bed. Unfortunately that is the only class around that I can find which starts at that time. But I also bought a Jillian Michaels workout for the Wii. I haven't  opened it yet but I plan to start that program soon. I also resolve to only watch TV once I have worked out. I plan to no longer make TV my first priority, it should be a secondary priority  once the exercise is done- or maybe even a third, after exercise, cleaning the house, then TV!! (but i have to be realistic, no?!!)
I hope that by putting this out there I now have some accountability and will be able to stick to my plan.

shuffle...scramble

I was in a bit of a panic. The dance class I registered dear daughter in was cancelled. I kind of knew this might happen as there were just way too many spaces available when i signed her up. I noticed another class at the same covetted spot but it was full, on to the wait list she went... but then after looking at every community centre and every class available on every possible time I was able to reschedule swim for Sunday mornings, and dance is now when swim was going to be... at the same time in the same place at dear son's swim... thank goodness it will all work out! and thank you to the holiday season for a slow work day !!! Gave me time to work this all out while at work getting paid :)

Reviews

Haven't done a product review in a long time. I used to love reviewing the new things I bought but really haven't bought anything newsworthy lately until today.
I went to Sephora to look at eyeshadow pallettes. Most of mine are pretty much done and I only have the super dark "night-time" colors left- the ones I hardly ever wear- since i hardly ever go out! I was drawn to the Hello Kitty Noir collection pallette in a collectors tin. It is so cute and there are so many colors to choose from. 25 to be exact! I can't wait to try them all. It also comes with 10 lip glosses. I tried one and it is a very deep color. Quite pink actually, nice but will take a little getting used to! Can't wait to see if the color actually lasts!

sick and sick

So I finally get back to working out. Had 2 or 3 great days and was starting to feel good about the routine...even went skating at lunch one day.. when bam... i am struck with a dumb cold. I know I can still work out a little when I'm not feeling well but I just don't have the energy for it. I'm going to try some of the wacked out cold busting methods some co-workers have shared with me. They might help and they definitely can't hurt. A combo of vitamins c and d .. plus cold fx might just to the trick. For now I'm up at an ung-dly hour just trying to breathe.

My nails

update: over all they are holding up well except for one large chip in my thumb nail. I keep planning to go back to venetian to have it fixed but due to all sorts of reasons just haven't had the chance. The chip happened late Saturday afternoon and all the other nails are still perfect! I will definitely have it done again but won't be going back to Venetian for it. Firstly they don't do an amazing job and secondly, they are fairly pricey. I can get a Shellac mani for much less elsewhere and in the same area!

Nails Take Two

Decided to give Shellac mani a second try. Got one done on Wednesday afternoon a dark brown/redish color. LOVE the color and so far the mani has held up well but I can see a tiny bit of bubbling/texture where I don't think there should be any. Looking forward to seeing how long this will last! The last one I got didn't make it the promised 2 weeks and I ended up peeling it off (and a layer of nail too!)

December Days 3 and 4

Did well on the eating front... more due to a burning I have in my chest every time I eat anything- gotta get that checked out today! Went back to my first Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday for the first time in well over a year. It was great to get back to it-although I"m not %100 convinced I loved this leader. My old one was amazing but it is just too hard to get to meetings during the week and Saturday mornings are way more convenient. SO I will stick with this one and see how it goes! Didn't work out over the weekend, I truely planned on it but honestly this feeling like my lungs are punched in every time I eat or take a breath put a major damper on those plans. I am going to see my doctor today (or any doctor for that matter) and have this problem  resolved so I can get back to the working out challenged I posed on myself.

December Day 2

Did alright all day with the healthy eating plan...until dinner time. Hubby came home with his weekly store bought roast chicken and latkes and i resisted those yummy latkes for almost the whole meal...when my resistance wore thin and I tried one bite...which turned to two and suddenly the whole giant fried potato pancake was all gone. but it wasn't all that bad because I did keep my chicken down to 3 ounces and didn't have anything else...except one piece of challa. and since I was in bed by 9:30 I didn't have time to eat any other junk...

Today is a new day and so far I have been doing great!

December Day 1

Kept fairly well to the eating healthy plan. Ate all my vegetables and dairy servings. Did jump on the elliptical for 30 minutes and took the stairs several times today.

Last day till the last month

of the year. December first is tomorrow and it's time to start thinking about New Year's Resolutions once again. Two years ago I resolved to lose the "baby weight" and I did it. That was a serious challenge but I kept at it and obtained my goal. I had some deep rooted motivation and now almost 2 years later I am going to resolve to keep up the healthy eating habits I gained while on my weight loss journey. I am also going to resolve to get more active again. I know how to eat healthily and now I must learn how to incorporate activity into my lifestyle as well. I have all the tools and knowledge but need the deep rooted motivation to filter into this part of my brain! I need to focus on the positive energy working out more will give me. I am digging deep inside me to figure out what exercise  I love best and plan to stick to it.
December is my month of personal challenge, to figure out how to incorporate activity into my life, to find a routine and schedule that works for me. I plan to try out some new classes at the community centre, revisit my love of  Zumba and perhaps give yoga another try (so many people love it- maybe I will find the type that I love too)
I will keep you posted on my journey of self discovery over the next few weeks and hope that I find something to truly move me

Update on "Party Cool"

So it turns out party cool is just another word for "dressy" Everyone showed up at the bat mitvah in suits, fancy dresses and loads of bling. (except for one of the bat mitvah girls friends-who showed up in jeans,sweater and pumas -boy did she look uncomfortable!) I am certainly glad I wore a little black dress and not a skirt and top or dress pants as I had originally thought I might!
Next event I throw that requires an explanation of dress code will simply say Fancy but NOT formal. Or perhaps something like "cocktail party attire" that sure would have helped clarify what to wear to this event!

WWYD...

if you were handed a cheque for $6000???
Would you spend it on yourself? Go on a shopping spree at your favourite store??
Would you use it to pay off a loan? Line of credit?
Would you purchase new appliances for your home? or play it safe and put it away for a rainy day???

Oh the possibilities!

Party Cool???

We were recently invited to a Bat Mitvah. The invite states that the dress code is "party cool" now really WTF does that mean? A few years ago we were invited to another family function at the dress code on the invite said "elegant casual"... seriously! Now I know for sure that hubby will be wearing a suit- no need to make the same mistake twice but I have no idea what I'm going to wear! I have a great dress I'd love to wear but I wore it to a wedding last year and think it might be too dressy... and the sweater dress I recently bought will probably be too casual...so i guess a shopping trip is in order! Any suggestions on what to wear when the invite says "party cool" that is really a totally new one to me!
(and really, what is with the new dress code lingo all about- just say what you mean so people actually understand what is going on!!!! )

Today I commit to...

starting all over again.

I am promising myself that today I will get back onto the healthy eating and exercising track.
I will make better choices, in both my eating and behaviour.
I will think before I act. I will look to the future before reacting in the now.