Wednesday Weigh-In

Decided to start doing Wednesday Weigh-Ins.  I didn't expect any weight loss this week - in fact, I expected a gain due to the fact that I'd taken so much time off from counting calories and working out.

Instead, I lost 2 pounds this week.

Which brings my grand total to 25 since August.

Wish it was more, but still a big milestone!

Better get back to the office!!

I'm back

So I took a break from blogging for my trip to Kansas and it turned into a break from blogging, working out, and counting calories.  So today, I am back to all 3. 

The trip to Kansas was good!

Gus and I picked up my sister on the way through Fort Worth.  She played dj the whole way home so I didn't get to listen to the book on cd I'd bought the week before.  I do have to say that I like the new Miranda Lambert cd.  We got to Dodge City ~8 p.m. on Thursday and met Dad at Kates for supper.  A taco for me please!  yum.

Gus was super excited to see Jeb and Joker when we got to the house.  He ran around outside with them for a while, but we were all tired so we headed to bed pretty early.  Gus somehow managed to cut his gums on the door (trying to get in).  He must have thought he cut his paw, though, because he just kept licking at it. 

Dad had breakfast ready when we woke up on Friday morning.  yum.  I left Gus at home and drove to Garden to meet my friend for lunch!  After a little confusion about the restaurant location, we found a place to eat and had yummy Mexican food.  Always fun hanging out with her (and her mom and grandma!).

After a failed trip to Sams to get beef jerky supplies for dad, I went back home and hung out in the barn for a while.  Dad smoked some turkeys - yum.  I brought some back to Texas with me!!

Beth and I went to town so that I could get a tan sprayed on that afternoon.  There is not a single tanning salon in Dodge or Garden that has a spray tan booth.  So..... I had to get over my embarrassment and let a person do the spray tan (and of course, it was a petite little blonde chick).  I do have tan lines though - strapless bra and shorts.

Cammie and M (and Trooper) were at the house by the time we got back to the house.  Cammie, Beth, and I drove to town to meet some of the extended fam at the bar and for supper.  Several of us ended up back at Kates for supper.  That night, it was a cheeseburger and tots for supper. yum again.  We all went to the restaurant/bar where my cousin's rehearsal dinner was being held (at the invitation of my aunt) to hang out and socialize. 

Saturday morning, another breakfast in the barn at the house.  Cammie, Beth and I went to town - I had an appointment to get my hair cut and eyebrows waxed at noon.  When the stylist finally showed up at 12:30, she worked fast to get my hair trimmed (3-4 inches gone), eyebrows waxed, and hair straightened.  It's so nice to let someone else straighten my hair!  We ran some other errands then went home to get ready for the wedding.

The wedding was beautiful.  My cousin was beaming as she walked down the aisle.  A beautiful Kansas sunset met the newlyweds as they exited the church. 

The cake and mints were yummy.  The beer was flowing (which my family appreciated).  Dinner and dancing was fun.  And always fun to spend time with the fam!

Much of the family needed to travel home on Sunday, so we had Thanksgiving/Christmas brunch at my grandparents' house that morning.  Aunts, uncles, and cousins went their different directions.  Beth rode back to Fort Worth with my uncle so she could work on Monday.  Dad had to drive to Sherman for a Monday morning drop-off.  Cammie and M wanted to get home to work on some things.  That left me (and Gus, Jeb, and Joker) at home alone.  Weird.  I went over to my brother and sister-in-law's house for a while that evening.  We wound up going out to eat Mexican food and watching part of a movie.  I loaded my car that night and tried to get to sleep early so that Gus and I could leave early Monday morning.  It was kind of strange - I think it was the first time I had ever spent the night in my childhood home alone. 

I got to listen to my book during the long and rainy drive back to central Texas.  "Every Now and Then" by Karen Kingsbury.  Good book.  I need to go pay my library fines so I can check out some books this winter. 

Worked Tuesday and Wednesday.  Nice, quiet Thanksgiving weekend.

My uncle and sister brought me the washer and dryer that my dad found to me yesterday!! 

I'm Leaving...

but not on a jet plane.  Just in my car with Gus.  We are Kansas-bound tomorrow for my cousin's wedding.  I hope the clothes that I packed fit.  I'm sure I can make something work! 

I cleaned out my car this evening to make room for my bags, Gus' wireless fence, and Beth's stuff.  I told her to pack light so I hope she listened.  Gus and I are picking her up on the way through Fort Worth. 

I was amazed by the amount of junk I was able to clean out of my car though.  It definitely looks better!  Even had room to put the 6 1-gallon cans of Ranch Style beans that my dad requested from Sams.

Highlights of this week:

• Weighed in for Maintain, No Gain at work.  The goal is to not gain more than 2 pounds over the holidays.  Of course, that should not be a problem for me because I fully intend to lose far more than that before January.  Anyway, if we Maintain, No Gain, we are awarded 4 hours of leave!  So, as hard as it was to weigh-in in front of one of my coworkers, I did it for the time.
• Gus and I walked/jogged around the new subdivision behind the apartment complex Monday evening.  Still just trying to jog a little more each time and build up my stamina.  I think Gus is benefiting from all our exercise - his waist seems more defined.
• Our apartment complex is being painted ---- and it is being done in the strangest, most unorganized-looking fashion.  I'll be interested to see what it looks like when we get back.
• Last night and this evening have been spent cleaning and packing and organizing.  My apartment is still not going to be anywhere near spotless when I come home, but it'll be ok. 

Be back sometime next week!

Sunday funday

Oops.  I didn't write about today...

Gus and I slept late.  Then we met LS and her kids at the new trail we went to last weekend.  We walked not quite 2 miles and Gus got to play in the water at the "waterfall."

And LS's kids both got to walk him a little bit.

After lunch from Whataburger (Jr. Whataburger and small fries), I took my old school mp3 player and went to the gym for a while.

When MM got back to town from visiting her family, she wanted to go walk.  Because it was so windy, we opted to go back to the trail that we had walked at this morning.  Gus got to play in the water again!  He is so spoiled rotten.  I definitely met this goal for myself today though.

This is hanging on my door so I see it every time I go out!

"Back" At It

I wound up taking a few days off working out, which I think gave my back enough of a rest to straighten itself out somewhat.  But I got "back" to it today!

So what have I been up to?

Thursday, I went to College Station - always fun!  The reason for the visit was to talk to the Epidemiology Student Organization at the School of Rural Public Health about my career path in epidemiology.  It was a good talk - they had lots of good questions.

Then I stopped by the Association of Former Students to see the big Aggie Ring!  The guy hiding underneath the ring was surprising his girlfriend, asking her to formal.  He had sent her on a scavenger hunt and this was the last stop.  

I stopped at Freebirds for a chicken Hybird burrito - yum!

And I stopped at Blue Baker to get supper to bring back to Temple with me!  I usually get the Powder Blue sandwich, but opted for the B.B. sandwich, which is turkey, ham, and swiss on a French baguette.  It was good, but I'll go with my norm next time.  I also tried a cranberry oatmeal cookie - that was yummy!

Friday was Veteran's Day - a big thanks to all the veterans out there!  LS is a veteran so she asked me to go with her to get her free lunch at Olive Garden.  I did not get a free lunch, but I did get a delicious lunch!  I ordered the Chicken Caprese panini - it came with salad, soup, and breadsticks.  I opted for zuppa toscana soup - potato and sausage - yum.  I ended up bringing the panini and another cup of soup home with me.  I had the panini for supper and the soup for lunch on Saturday.

  Yesterday, I watched the A&M versus K-State game.  Good game.  It went to triple overtime!  Unfortunately, the Aggies ran out of time, but it was a good way to end the Big XII matchups.  I'll miss the family rivalry that goes along with the game too.

Here's crazy dog - doing his thing.  I love how his lip flaps open!

Chilly

But no chili yet.  I got all the stuff for my version of Dad's chili but haven't made it yet.  I'm looking forward to making and enjoying it this weekend!

When I went to the grocery store, I bought some zucchini and yellow squash and mushrooms, so I whipped up an easy pasta dish with lots and lots of vegetables.  Yum.

It started looking like this:

Then I added (canned) diced tomatoes with garlic, basil, and oregano

Served over cavatappi (corkscrew-shaped) pasta with Weight Watchers Four Cheese Italian blend cheese:

I ate it meatless the first night.  The second night, I added a precooked chicken breast.  Yum.

I also found a couple new flavors of Clif bars - Spiced Pumpkin Pie and Peppermint Stick.  I had the Peppermint Stick Clif bar today --- pretty good.

On a final note, Gus is finally learning to be a "real" dog.  I've always called him my air conditioner dog, because he's never been a dog to stick his head out the window in the car.  But lately, he has been enjoying the breeze making his ears and lips flap in the wind!   (I was not driving when this picture was taken!)

Exercising has been going ok this week - not great because my back is still being temperamental.  Sometimes moving helps and sometimes, it just makes things worse.  Just trying to keep a good calorie deficit!

Pain in the Back

Gus and I did not work out today, because starting last night, my back decided to remind me that it has arthritis and a herniated disc.  When my back decides to act up, I cannot even stand up straight.  I have a definite tilt to my posture.  What a mess.  I don't know what aggravated it but it was frustrating not to be able to exercise today.

We did go for a couple walks yesterday - once in the morning and once in the evening.  The morning walk took us to a different trail in town that we had not tried before.  MM, Gus and I met LS and her daughter at the trail.  It was a nice walk - wide path, relatively flat, shaded, quiet, peaceful, and with water elements.  Gus even got to play in the water at the encouragement of MM and LS.

He was nice and wet and cool when he got finished playing in the water.  And he left sandy footprints in MM's car...

In the evening, MM, Gus and I opted to walk at our normal trail.  Gus and I jogged a little bit --- it felt good at the time. 

I took laundry over to MM's apartment (oh, to have my own washer and dryer again...).  We went to Chipotle for supper - I got a steak bowl, rather than a burrito.  Saved myself the nearly 300 calories that the tortilla would have cost me.  We also stopped and got frozen yogurt.  Gogo's didn't have pumpkin fro yo, so I mixed together fat free chocolate and vanilla with Heath bar and almonds on top. 

Even though I didn't exercise, I did go to the grocery store this afternoon.  I made it out of the store for less than $100 which surprised me because this was the first time I'd shopped this month.  And I got all the fixin's for my version of my Dad's award-winning chili.  That is a project for one evening this week. 

It's only 8:30 p.m. and I'm starting to get tired.  I hope I can adjust to this time change ok.  I'm planning to get to sleep early tonight and wake up and start the week off right by heading to the gym tomorrow morning.  Advil and Biofreeze will be good friends this week, I'm afraid. 

Dreading the Time Change

So daylight savings time ends this weekend, which will shorten the already too short evenings.  We need to find a well-lit track or trail so Gus and I (and MM and LS) can keep up our outdoor training.  We can walk/jog around the perimeter of the apartment complex (it's ~0.4 mile), but that will get boring really fast.

Let's see.  I didn't post yesterday, but exercise-wise, Gus and I walked with LS at the track in the morning and walked with MM at the park in the evening!  Yesterday was a beautiful fall day --- and then a cool front moved through during the night.  It was definitely cooler today but it's supposed to be back in the 70s by this weekend.  We're loving the fall weather, especially because we know it won't last long.  It is really nice to have the windows open.  Gus spends his evenings like this:

Except when he looks like this:

This is a look I like to call the "grimace"  --- he gets it every time I put the nose part of his Gentle Leader on his face.  And he pretends to hate it, but he also gets super excited when he sees the Gentle Leader because he knows he gets to go for a walk!

Today, we took our boss to lunch at a local restaurant.  We went to BJ's Brewhouse --- so I made today a "cheat day."  I had a mini pizza with mushrooms and black olives - they have yummy pizza crust.

This evening, Gus and I walked at the park with MM.  We had to wear jackets, but it was still a nice evening for a walk.  On the drive home, we passed the pumpkin patch near our house.  Lots of pumpkins left.  MM had mentioned before that we should stop and take Gus' picture with the pumpkins so this evening, we stopped.  Gus may or may not have peed on one of the pumpkins...

Blank Slate

I try to look at each month like it is a blank slate, a new start to the next step in my journey to health.

There were no stickers on my November calendar this morning.  I plan to have a picture of this same calendar at the end of the month and the days will all blur together because of all the fall-themed stickers. 

November marks less than 5 months until my sister's wedding and 6 months until I'm 31.

And I started off November right - got up before the crack of dawn and headed to the gym to meet LS for our morning workout.  The treadmills were full so we headed for the stationary bikes.  I did 30 minutes on the bike.  She did a warmup on the bike then lifted weights.  I have found that cardio is my best bet in the mornings because it doesn't require as much thinking as strength training does.  After she left to get her kids ready for school, some eye candy came in (I'd never seen him before) and got on the bike next to mine.  Of course, I'm sure I looked lovely, seeing as all I did was brush my teeth and put in contacts and pull my hair into a ponytail before I went.  Oh well, the goal is not to pick up a man at the gym (although that would be an added bonus); the goal is to get healthy!!

So I love seeing those dogs who balance a treat on their noses and toss them up and eat them on command.  Gus will never be one of those dogs.  However, because his head is so big, I discovered that if I distract him, I can set a treat between his ears and it will balance there for a while. 

I didn't have my camera ready the first time I did it and it was perfectly spaced between both ears.  He must have good posture because it stayed balanced there for a while!  This one did not stick around quite as long. 

It was a gorgeous fall evening.  MM was not available to walk this evening so Gus and I took a walk/jog around the new subdivision being built behind our apartment complex.  Pretty low key. 

Now, I'm watching The Biggest Loser and Gus is snoozing on the kitchen floor.  The windows are open and I'm hoping the apartment will be nice and cool when we go to sleep. 

Oh, as a follow-up to the October challenge to lose 12 pounds.  I didn't meet the goal, but I did lose 7 pounds in the last 4 weeks!  Any loss is a gain!  I just have to keep going!  And I will try again.  November challenge to myself is 12 pounds!