Another FIRST today!

I woke up WITH Collin at 5:30am!!! My body was STARVING, and my metabolism WOULD NOT let me go back to bed until I ate something! (OH, I hate when I wake up in hunger pain like that!)

Today is my FREE day, and I'm planning on going to a Crawfish Boil for lunch... apparently there will be other things besides crawfish there, so hopefully I don't waste this FREE day by NOT eating something that tastes WAY TOO GOOD TO BE HEALTHY! I mean, that's what FREE days are for, RIGHT???

Cheerio Folks!
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Happy Birthday DADDY!

My dad is 60 today! WOW!!! I can't believe he's that old already!!! (This is a self portrait he took of himself when he was working up North.) Yup, I got the camera bug from him! (that and a few other traits: saving money, cleanliness, talking alot to the point of being annoying... HAHAHA! Couldn't resist!)

Daddy, you really did teach me soo many great lessons in life that I can't even express how much I thank you!!! For being a great family supporter (even when you had to go up North, leaving your wife and kids back at home, you did what you had to to make sure we were housed, fed, clothed, nurtured, and loved!) for teaching me the value of money (I had a bank account as soon as I can remember, and my Dad would take us down to the Bank on the weekend and allow us to deposit our allowance into our account at a real bank teller!) for allowing us to play many different sports (My Dad allowed us to explore our athletic side. He always took us to the ponds to skate in the winter and then to the ball games we had in the summer! ... until I was able to ride my bike there myself :) and for your constant support and always believing in your children!

Dad, you are amazing! I love you... we all love you!!!

Have a wonderful BirthDay!!!

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Let the Unpacking begin!

I will be helping my sister unpack her boxes from their recent move today (from Nanaimo, BC to Strathmore, AB) I am seriously THRILLED that she lives sooo freaking CLOSE to me again! Godness, I've missed her company! (not to mention her 2 little kidlets and Ken too!) I am really excited to hang out with her today, even though I am going to be put to work! lol (Work is like breathing to me, it's actually harder for me to sit and do nothing!!!) So, Jen, get ready to bond over unpacked boxes :) cause I've really missed you!!!

Last night I spend the evening with an old friend who has, just last year moved to Houston, Texas. She's back in town for the weekend since she has been planning her wedding for August and it's gonna be here. We met at Montana's for dinner, and I ended up ordering something completely not on my diet, and it tasted YUK! :( Luckily I was eating BANG ON yesterday so I wasn't so starving that I had to eat it anyways! Despite that screw up, I think I ate pretty well overall, and I still came home for some veggies and dip!!! (I don't like to be hungry ever, you know stomach growling)

My poor quads are still aching from my squats on Friday! Wow!!! I need to do MORE weight training!!!!

Still loosing... but A LOT SLOWER!

The "rapid weight loss" phase of my diet is over, I think... Overall, I'm still loosing weight on my current nutrition plan but it's to the tune of 1 pound per week. (not 3 pounds like I WAS seeing during the first month!)
I expected this to happen though, and at least I haven't hit a PLATEAU yet! And this is also a really good wake-up call for me... NOw I understand why the daily weigh-ins are so silly! If you are loosing weight like a NORMAL person, seeing a ONE pound change over the week is normal... weighing-in more then that frequency just sets you up for the emotional rollercoaster of gaining and loosing due to so many factors (drinking more water then usual, workout factors, stress, what you ate the night before, etc...) NO MORE OF THAT!

I've also moved into the "vetran" stage of this phase of my diet (according to my colleague!), where I know exactly what to eat and when and am so much more relaxed about it! (However, this past weekend stressed me out, diet wise, because we spent it driving around Alberta and I found it tough to eat at my set times... I couldn't really plan my meals when I don't have my own kitchen at my disposal!) But I made it through, and I feel great!

Cheat Day gone WILD!

OMG... This Saturday (my cheat day for the week) I ate like I've never seen food before! LOL
I literally went to bed 3-5 pounds heavier then I woke up!

UGH... I think Cheat days are there to remind you about how much BETTER you feel when you are eating healthy, nutritious foods... because BOY, did I feel like crapola Saturday night! (Granted, I must admit, I did eat MORE then I would have normally eaten even before I started this nutrition plan! I was a PIG! HAHA)
I didn't feel guilty about it though, which is something that I've been trying to tell myself NOT to feel on cheat days for the past month... so I am making progress. But I do see the damage that it's done on the scale this weekend... that kinda makes me miffed!
It was a MUCH easier transition from Cheat day back to Nutrition plan this time though. I didn't want to "cheat" once yesterday! I ate all of my healthy foods, and I'm starting to feel good again!

Next cheat day I am planning on eating healthier foods... not Taco Time, Arby's and Moxie's all in the same day! LOL

Finally feeling like the FIT GIRL!

These photos were taken 18 days apart! And the one on the left isn't even where I actually started! (That had already at 5 pounds!)

This shows my progress to date: 10 pounds of weight loss the RIGHT, healthy way, with proper nutrition and exercise... no magic pills, no special packaged foods... just a balanced nutrition plan, and my own WILL POWER!

I feel GREAT about my progress so far!
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My home scale = crap!

I need a new (or to garbage!?) my current bathroom scale. It's soo inacurate and it's making me doubt my progress. Today I weighed in at 147.4 at HOME... then I weighed in at the gym and it read 144.7! WTF???

I've decided no more home weigh-ins! Gym only! The scale is UBER plush and has a really huge platform to stand on! (like the one on the biggest loser. Well, sorta!)

This will keep my weigh-ins to about 3 per week. Monday, Tuesday and Friday. I can live with that!!!

Doing well with my nutrition today. I made Chili (what I just had for lunch, delish!) and babaganoush last night. I have to try the babaaganoush today... it might not be very good because I don't have a big enough food processor! I did try though!
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Ketones NEGATIVE!

What is Ketosis?
My sister suggested I buy some Ketostix to enable me to forego the daily weigh-ins. (Ketosticks are these strips that you pee on, and they measure the amount of Ketones in your urine. Ketones are released when your body is using your fat stores for energy ie. weight loss mode)

My ketones this morning were negative, NADDA, NIL! The stick had not even a *hint* of ketones on it! :(
How bummed am I? So bummed, I forgot my weekly weigh-in today, and I already ate breakfast!

Stupid week, I hope it doesn't screw me up!

Thursday was my 2nd Free/Cheat day on my plan. This one was an emotional day for me... like I didn' know how I felt about eating the sugar again! (everything is sooo much sweeter now... I had to water down my tea! What the??) So emotional that I almost cried twice. First my bank card wouldn't work at the coffee shop in the AM (and that was my only form of payment. Boo) And second... I was so excited for hamburgers for dinner and Collin forgot mine on the grill and burnted them pretty bad :( (And I HATE eating burnt anything! I WILL NOT!!! I cut off the charred parts, so my burgers were like really thin slices of meatloaf! LOL) It just seemed like nothing went smooth for me... Like someone was telling me "Ah, Ah Ah... don't be a cheater!" Stupid, guilty conscience! I guess overall, it's a good thing!

Tonight, I planned on working out, but still haven't! (And it's 10:30pm!) I might do 15 minutes of skipping and some pushups and sit ups... I'm just not in the mood to sweat anymore! But I did go for a tan today! That felt awesome! (First tan since my trip! Even out those tan lines finally! haha!)

Tomorrow is Collin's mom's Birthday dinner... I am going to TRY NOT to cheat... but I don't know if I can turn down BIRTHDAY CAKE!!! Maybe I will, but who knows! I'm not expecting to have a very positive diet day!!! I guess you only live once, right?
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