accidentally in love

I just had this little guy

for breakfast with a little granola sprinkled in and YUM! Actually, I barely even put any granola in because the yogurt was SO GOOD! And I am not usually a big fan of yogurt without a lot of stuff in it but…seriously, YUM!

And! In my search for more info about them, I came across Yummy Diet Food. No, it’s not as offensive as it sounds. *g* It’s sort of like Hungry Girl for people (like me!) who are sometimes horrified by the crazy chemically substitutes she likes to put in her recipes.

Speaking of, I accidentally ordered a billion bottles of caffeine free Diet Coke last week instead of the regular SUPER AWESOME MORNING/NOON/NIGHT caffeinated Diet Coke. Let’s not talk about how I am sleeping better and stuff now, okay? Okay. (But I totally am!) I figured I might as well go with it. And if by the time I run out of those billion bottles, I am still walking upright, I might try to phase the diet soda out all together. If it doesn’t have sugar OR caffeine, it’s just chemical filled water, yes? We shall see. I think I probably end up eating more when I have soda with my meals too. Maybe the universe made me mess up on my order to send me a message?

I also invested in some very nice pans that should be delivered to my doorstep soon. I am hoping the nicer weather and fresher produce will inspire me to cook more. Ha. We shall see!

forward momentum

I just did the dishes! *plays victory music* And I didn’t even do them because I was out of silverware/plates/bowls/pots/pans! This is a small victory for me, for serious.

I am doing my best to celebrate the small things like that. Since moving to my new apartment in September, I’ve lost about 10 pounds and I’ve literally done nothing different other than walk to work and make a lot of goulash! So apparently that whole “little things add up” crap people are always spouting is true! I know, so shocking!

Don’t get me wrong, I still want to make huge changes and lose 80 pounds in three months but I am going to try this realistic outlook for awhile, see how I roll like that. I’ve added some low-impact fitness DVDs to my Netflix to put a little extra moving around on the agenda.  And I’ve found an abundance of tasty and healthy recipes for things with whole grains and veggies. The world may end.

Other than taking better care of myself, the rest of my life is moving along rather nicely. I just got a very nice raise at work, I like the new preisident a lot and my adorable hockey team is playing pretty well these days. So, really, I don’t have very much to complain about. If I can’t make positive changes now, when will I *ever* be able to do it?

Inspi(red)

You may be asking yourself what a bunch of happy hockey players have to do with my health but, trust me, I am going to get to it! This isn’t just an excuse to post that awesome picture. Although I do adore looking at it. *stares for a moment*

Okay, here’s how the story goes. A few weeks ago, The BFF e-mailed me a proposition. “Let’s set some health and fitness goals,” she said. “And then when we reach them, we’ll buy season tickets for the Capitals!” Sometimes, she has awesome ideas. So we started to plan. However, the Caps threw a little (yet extremely AWESOME) wrench into our plans: THEY MADE THE PLAYOFFS! C-A-P-S! CAPS! CAPS! CAPS!

Uh. Anyway, after some research, we realized that a)season tickets were selling out fast, and b)if we bought them now, we were guaranteed playoff tickets at a discounted rate. After much conferring, we decided to go ahead and get them. Now, if you know me, you know that delayed gratification is an Achilles’ heel for me. To make this as legit as possible, we are all (The BFF’s roommate is also in) going to sign a contract stating that if we do not make our goals, we have to SELL our beloved tickets.

We decided to make Friday the deadline for coming up with our goals but I think I have them down for now. I tried to be as realistic as possible. And while I will be watching my weight, I have decided not to make any set weight goals, as I feel that eating better and exercise will naturally lead to it (hopefully!) and obsessing about the numbers is not really in my best interest at this time. I am trying to incorporate things that have worked in the past and leave behind the things that haven’t. We’ll see how that goes.

Here is what I have so far:

1. Exercise at least 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes.
2. Bring lunch to work at least 3 times a week.
3. Update this here blog at least once a week.
4. Eat more fruits and veggies!
5. Track food on Spark
6. Avoid white flour as much as possible.
7. Avoid eating out as much as possible.

I’ve set up a little widget from Joe’s Goals to help me track my progress, which I will add to my sidebar as soon as WP stops being a bitch.

The first five goals give me positive points and if I slip on the last two, points are taken away. I am trying to be realistic without being too vague and/or easy on myself. How am I doing? Should I be more strict? Not strict enough?

Hopefully, if all goes well, I’ll lose weight (so I can fit into the teeny arena seats better!) and have more energy (for cheering) when this is all said and done, as well as AWESOME season tickets to the Caps. However, I promise to never ever wear this. Probably. Maybe. Okay, no. Seriously. But I reserve the right to wear ridiculous things like that in the future if the spirit moves me.

That’s how I roll

We had a work happy hour at a nice sushi place last night. I was very diligent and put what I planned to eat in my Spark log before I left. Can you see where this is going yet? If you are thinking I am going to talk about how I followed my plan, you have been reading a different blog.

Yes, I ended up eating one extra roll. Um, a shrimp crunch roll which, while tasty, was probably about the worst thing I could have chosen. Did I mention tasty? Part of it was because my boss was buying, so the extra incentive to only buy one California roll and some edamame to save money sort of went out the window. How can I turn down FREE SUSHI?? It would have been criminal! And instead of just ordering one roll at a time, I got two because I was scared to be hungry. I was literally afraid that I would eat my edamame and my roll and then, I dunno, starve to death? Have to have a piece of fruit when I got home?

The sad part is that I was actually a little too full when I was done. I probably could have at least halved that shrimp roll. But I shoved that whole thing down because it was there. I’ve been actively telling myself that there isn’t anything I *can’t* eat, I just have to be smart about it, so that’s the main reason I am disappointed in my choices. However, I could have had a free martini and I stuck with iced tea, so I get one little gold star for that.

It’s funny, sushi always makes me think of Erin of Lose the Buddha fame. She was one of the bloggers that inspired me when I first started this thing so many years ago. I remember not understanding how someone who “only” weighed 170 pounds could suffer as much as me. I would look at her “before” pictures and think to myself, “I would kill to weigh that!” But I liked her writing and I was still inspired, so I kept reading.

Then one day, she posted an entry about how she used to get sushi to go. She described eating it and being so full and not being able to stop because it tasted so good and how she loved the whole experience of it, from the flavors to the carb coma afterwards. I am paraphrasing, as her old archive isn’t working. But the point is, she did get it. And that’s when I realized that it wasn’t the actual pounds that mattered, it was how I gained them. I mean, that was years ago, so I obviously still have a lot of issues with that concept and I still get on the scale and tell myself I would feel less miserable if the weight would magically disappear. Which, is sort of true, but also you are always you, no matter what size you wear. Sometimes I need I reminder of that, I guess.

Anyway, I was thinking about that and then Gretchen left me a super nice comment about how I inspired *her* that kind of made my day. Anyone who says that the communities you are part of on the interwebs don’t count somehow is, well, stupid and lame and you shouldn’t listen to them. I know I would be a lot worse off if it weren’t for people like Erin and all the other people I’ve read and linked to in the past.

And of course now my blogrolling is broken! Irony, thy name is Blogger.