Back In Black

What I Wore While Avoiding Color:

About 10 years ago I took a good look at my closet and realized that most of it was black. I made a conscious effort to infuse some color into my wardrobe. Slowly over the years, I became comfortable with more and more colors and color combinations. Now I am not afraid to look like an Easter egg. Today however, I went back to my 90s roots and opted for an all black ensemble. The only color is from the white pattern on my skirt, and the dark grey of the pearls in my black ribbon necklace. It evolved from my desire to wear my new (to me) skirt that I picked up from Goodwill this weekend, and because I wanted to wear these booties that I didn't wear enough this winter. Today was windy and cool, so I took it as my last opportunity to wear tights (needed for the booties) before Spring set in for real.

• black striped blouse (Target)
• black/white skirt (thrifted)
• black distressed tweed jacket (Old Navy)
• black leather belt (??)
• black tights (Target, these things are at least 10 years old)
• black ribbon/pearl necklace (Target)
• black stone earrings (?? it looks like I have another pair of earring that need repair)
• black booties (Oh Deer!)

What I Ate While Getting Back on Track:

• 2 oz mixed pasta (remnants of different boxes)
• 2 oz longhorn beef meatballs
• 1 c. spaghetti squash
• 1 c. pasta sauce
• 2 small pieces of garlic toast
• dessert - 3 small haystack cookies (

These haystack cookies are yet another great recipe from thewwchick She's great! You should check out her blog. Did you make your haystack cookies, Stacy??

Total for the Day: 1639 calories, 5 glasses of water, 15 minutes of Wiixercise

Tee Many Martoonis

Today was one of those days where I was really happy that I plan outfits in advance. I didn't sleep well, and I over-celebrated a friend's birthday, so I was too fuzzy to have been able to make any choices this morning. Thankfully my clothes were already hanging there on the door in the closet. All I had to do was pick out earrings.

Despite my morning daze, I did manage to stick to my plan to get 15 minutes of exercise in on my Wii. I did lots of hulahooping and step aerobics Let's be honest, I worked up a sweat, but not like I would if I was doing a "real" workout. So, let's call it Wiixercise.

What I Wore While Wishing I Was Still in Bed:

• brown slacks (Walmart)
• cream tank (Ann Taylor)
• red/orange/cream short sleeve wrap shirt (Lane Bryant)
• camel cardigan (Kathie Lee, thrifted)
• cream stone/leather belt (?? maybe from Ross many years ago)
• red flats w/ gold buckle (I can't decypher the name anymore)
• gold earrings (hand-me-down from my Mom - from her days in the Navy)
• red/yellow flower pin (thrifted from Goodwill this weekend - their new stock section, so it's probably from Target)
• poufy hair (by me - I haven't figured out how to style my new do yet)

What I Ate While Fiending Sugar and Grease:

In addition to being incapable of choices this morning, I did not have my weekly lunches packed yet. And we hadn't gone to the store yet. I could have scrounged something up, but that would have taken thought. Luckily I had made my weekly breakfast already.

Breakfast for the Week (309 calories):

• 1 serving quinoa
• 2 T. Better'n Peanut Butter
• 6-7 dark chocolate covered raisins
• 3 strawberries (if they last all week, which I doubt b/c they're starting to turn)

Today's Lunch (456 calories):

• Tomato & Avocado Sandwich (Which Wich)
• single serving bag of Baked Lays

Dinner:

I lost it. I had a 10 piece chicken nugget meal from McDonalds. Then some chocolate. Then some sugared ginger, and finally some melted mozzarella on saltines. Sheesh. I fought the grease and sugar urges all day long (it's always bad after a night of drinking) and then I gave it at the last minute and I gave in majorly. Tomorrow will be better.

Total for the Day: 2367 calories, 5 glasses of water, 17 minutes of Wiixercise

Week 5 Weigh In & Goals

Starting Weight: 230.5 lbs
Week 1: 226.5 lbs
Week 2: 228.0 lbs
Week 3: 224.5 lbs
Week 4: 225.0 lbs
Week 5: 223.0 lbs

Change for the Week: -2.0 lbs

Total Change: -7.5 lbs

Week 5 Goals:

• 1800 calories/day - YES
• 6 glasses water/day - YES
• eat at least 1 healthy meal on splurge day - YES
• workout 2x this week - YES: M-F 10 minute morning workouts
• one workout should involve sweat! - YES
• get a hair cut- Finally, YES

Week 6 Goals:

• 1800 calories/day
• 6 glasses water/day
• eat at least 1 healthy meal on splurge day
• workout 15 minutes every morning M-F

A Very Special Date Night

Saturday was our 1 year dating anniversary, so we out to a very nice restaurant just a few blocks from our house. They specialize in using local produce and meats. There was no calorie counting of course. We started with steak tartar, then he had buffalo steak and I had antelope steak, with a bottle of wine, and then we finished with an amazing cherry/caramel bread pudding with dessert wines. Yum!

I had Rand grab a couple of quick pics after we got home, but I didn't take the time to photograph my accessories since I wanted to spend quality time with Rand.

What I Wore on My 12 Monthaversary:

• brown tank (Ann Taylor)
• green/maroon/dark brown dress (L8ter via Ross or Marshalls)
• dark brown patterned tights (Target)
• brown satin coat (Andrea Jovine - I've had this forever -it's a size 8!!! I think I got it at Ross)
• green suede heels w/ bow (What's What by Aerosoles)
• brown woven clutch (Avenue)
• green necklace (??)
• green chandelier earrings (gift)

I hope everyone had as great a Saturday night as I!

Time for a New "Do"

What I Wore While Getting My Hair Cut:


I bought this heavy gold chain necklace over a year ago and I have never worn it. I almost immediately put on enough weight that it seemed too short on me. Today I took some leather strands off a belt and created an extension. Much better, I think.

• black longsleeve, v-neck T (Old Navy)
• black/cream flutter sleeve wrap shirt (Lane Bryant)
• denim pencil skirt (Target)
• black boots (Cloudwalkers)
• gold chain (via Macy's)
• black leather studded belt (new thrifted from Goodwill last week)
• new hair cut (Osgood O'Neil Salon)

I finally got a haircut today. I think it's been 9 months since I had it cut last, and even though I don't blowdry my hair or even use a curling iron or flat iron very often, there is NO EXCUSE for that. I went from having really healthy long hair to major split ends, all within the last month. So let this be a lesson to anyone who has long hair and like to skip the salon - go regularly!! It's so much better for your hair and for your style. I've been relegated to grody ponytails and scraggley ends for too long.

Rand had trouble getting my entire head in the shot. :) And it had already been rained on, so it's a little flat.



What I Ate After Running Errands and Forgetting to Defrost the Porkchops:

We spent all afternoon cleaning out, rearranging, and putting new furniture in out bedroom. Great for sleeping, but bad for planning dinner, esp when I forgot to defrost the porkchops we were supposed to be having. So Rand ordered us some Thai food. I had vegetarian pad thai. And I hated it. So not worth all the calories. Ugh. And I had finally lost some weight after 13 days of the scale not budging at all. I'm scared of tomorrow's weigh in.

Okay I just looked up calories for the pad thai and it's not as bad as I expected, since I idn't get any meat or even tofu in it. The calories range from 500-800 it seems. I'm logging mine as 800 just to be on the safe side, which actually still puts me under my maximum for the day!! Yay!!

Total for the Day: 1710 calories, 4 glasses of water, 10 minutes of exercise.

Women's Fashion is Confusing

Another rainy day in Dallas. I took these pics in the morning, for a change, b/c Rand wanted me to wait to leave until he finished a phone call. Morning light really gives everything a blue tint.

What I Wore That Made Rand Say "I don't understand women's fashion":

• purple lace edge tank (Lane Bryant)
• purple dress (Old Navy)
• magenta/orange/lavender/cream skirt (Lane Bryant)
• orange ostrich heels (Exchange via DSW)
• orange & brass bead earrings (? Ross?)
• painted flower & leather necklace (hand-me-down from friend)
• amber beaded necklace worn as bracelet (hand-me-down from same friend)
• brown leather braided belt (Old Navy)

What I Ate on the Wet Front Porch:

• Hoizen Glazed Chicken
• 1 c. fried rice (made with leftover brown rice, egg white, and a tiny bit of sesame oil)
• 2.5 c. cabbage salad (I had to give some of it to Rand b/c I put too much on my plate)
• 1 glass white wine
• dessert - 15 animal crackers

Another day of mini-exercise on the Wii. :)

Total for the Day: 1662 calories, 7 glasses of water, 10 minutes of exercise

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

I seem to have problems remembering to bring my umbrella with me to work. I got quite wet on my way home, so I decided to brave the remaining drizzle to take my pics after I got home.

What I Wore While Getting Rained On:

• blue wide-leg slacks (Gap)
• orange tank (came with the shirt)
• orange/multi-colored wrap blouse (I already put it away and don't remember what brand this set is)
• orange cardi (thrifted)
• teal leather belt (Nine West via Ross)
• olive green leather wedges (BCBGirls)
• blue plastic chain necklace (thrifted)
• brass earrings (Target)

The necklace that I am wearing today was one of the "new" things I picked up yesterday when I stopped off at a thrift store I had never been to. Well, really it's more like an antique store that has a clothing thrift store stuck on the side. It's right in my neighborhood and seems to have a lot of good stuff. Most of it is a little pricey, but some of it gets marked down to great deals. More new stuff to come...

What I Ate While Listening to the Rain:

• vegetarian chicken parmesan
• 1 c. spaghetti squash w/ 1/2 c. pasta sauce
• side salad w/ Newman's Own Low Fat Ginger Sesame dressing
• 2 small slices garlic toast
• after dinner - 3 oz Tequila Rose & 1/2 Terra Nostra

I got up a tiny bit early today, so I did 10 minutes on the Wii Fit - 8 minutes of step aerobics and 2 minutes of hula-hooping (my favorite). I did the same thing yesterday, and 10 minutes of ballet on Monday. I'm going to try to workout 10 minutes every weekday this week, and bump it up to 15 next week. I figure creating a habit even if it's just a sort workout is better than doing nothing b/c "it's not a real workout." Right?

Totals for the Day: 1775 calories, 7 glasses water, 10 minutes of exercise

It's Only Tuesday?

What I Wore While Checking Out a New Thrift Store:



I'm a little rumpled in this pic since I stopped off at a new thrift/consignment store on my way home and I tried a few things on. I see that I didn't get everything back in quite the right spot.

• blue/tan/black/white cubic patterned wrap dress (Old Navy)
• black buckle pumps (Nicole Miller)
• black leather & silver tone cuff (? via Ross)
• black & silver earrings (? via Ross)
• black leather shoulder bag (Reaction by Kenneth Cole)

What I Ate After Buying New Necklaces:

• Rand's BBQ roast beef sandwiches
• butternut squash fries
• cabbage salad
• La Fin Du Monde

Total for the Day: 1783 calories, 7 glasses of water, 10 minutes of exercise

Time for a Twist

I started off the morning by oversleeping, but I refused to let that be an excuse to not work out like I had planned. Since I really did not have time to do a 30 minute video, I pulled out a really old workout DVD that a bunch of 10 minute workouts on it, and did 10 minutes of "ballet." I probably only burned 50 calories, if that, but at least it helps to create a morning routine.

What I Wore While Training on a New Case:

We had training on a new case at work today, so had to be pretty conservative today. I will say I think that my hair was a beautiful coil today. Since it was completely wet when I put it up at 8 this morning, it was still wet when I took it down at 6:30 pm. And what is up with it looking so shiny? That is an illusion, esp since I still need a haircut!

• brown heathered cuffed slacks (Lane Bryant)
• orange emroidered blouse (Apt 9)
• leopard pony hair belt (Target)
• brown suede pumps (Quipid)
• gold tone earrings (? Lane Bryant?)
• bamboo chopstick (World Market)

What I Ate While Nursing a Headache:

If you haven't noticed, I eat the same breakfast, lunch, and snack for an entire week. I just make them all in advance on Sunday (like how I pick out all my outfits for the week on Sunday) so it's faster in the mornings. So really there's no need to list it every day. I'll just post it on Sunday or Monday, and if I eat something diferent during the week, I'll post that.

breakfast for the week:

• steel cut oatmeal w/ sliced almonds, dried blueberries, unsweetened coconut & ground flax (inspired by KERF)
• strawberries

lunch for the week:

• Buddig chicken sandwich
• 10 pretzel rods
• 2 cuties

• cheese stuffed chicken (with 1/2 the cheese)
• pan roasted potatoes and onions
• side salad
• 2 glasses of white wine

Total for the Day: 1785 calories, 6 glasses of water, 10 minutes of exercise

Week 4 Weigh In & Goals

I just don't know what to say. I pulsed up 1/2 lb the day after my weigh in last week and I just stayed there all week. I know I went over my calories on Thursday, but I never went down, even before that. I am frustrated. I don't deal well with negative reinforcement. Some people see an increase and just buckle down harder. But staying flat or putting on weight just makes me think "Why do I bother? Let's go eat chocolate and fritos in an endless cycle."

Starting Weight: 230.5 lbs
Week 1: 226.5 lbs
Week 2: 228.0 lbs
Week 3: 224.5 lbs
Week 4: 225.0 lbs

Change for the Week: +0.5 lbs

Total Change: -5.5 lbs

Week 4 Goals:

Food:

• 1800 calories/day - 5 out of 6 days
• 6 glasses water/day - YES
• eat at least 1 healthy meal on splurge day - YES

Fitness:

• workout 2x this week - YES: 1 hr of yoga, 2.13 miles of walking
• one workout should involve sweat! - YES
• walking to bar/restaurant does not count as exercise this week - YES

Appearance:

• get a hair cut - generally this category has been the easiest for me to stay on top of, b/c I like it, but I seem to have problems getting my butt to a salon. Part of the problem is that I don't have a stylist anymore, so I need to find a new place. I trie to call for an appointment yesterday but the salon a friend recommended was already closed for the day and isn't open on Sunday. I've never heard of a salon not being open on Sunday. I guess my stringy locks will have to wait a little while longer. I'll call again on Monday.

Week 5 Goals:

the same as week 4

Review: HeavyWeight Yoga

So last weekend I wripped off the plastic wrapper of my new fitness DVD: HeavyWeight Yoga. I was in a rush, so only did the warm up and cool down. I was not impressed, but I thought that was probably b/c I didn't do the "real" poses sections. So this weekend, while Rand cleaned the house, I settled down on my mat in the living room to do the entire workout.

The workout consists of 4 parts: warm up, poses 1, poses 2, and cooldown.

oh yeah, check out my big ol' butt in yoga pants.

I don't care. I'm working out and they are comfortable.

Warm Up

It is a nice slow warm up, loosening your back and joints, with some stretches and minor ab work. She shows you modifications to make things easier or harder, and she definitely takes into account the fact that larger people have to deal with their guts and hips being the way for some poses. And she does it in a way that is unobtrusive. You don't feel embarrassed that your belly fat needs to be moved in order to bend over. And trust me, I could get embarrassed of that alone in my living room, and I refuse to think I am the only one. I like the Warm Up.

Poses

The poses are nice and simple, and again take into account needed modifications. But there are too few, and she spends too much time explaining. It's perfect for the first time you watch the DVD, but I don't want to spend 3 minutes between poses listening to her explain how to not fall over. This brings me to another point; she talks throughout the entire DVD - pretty much non-stop.

Cool Down

As I said last time, the cooldown is ridiculous. Maybe b/c I am not a yoga devotee I just don't get it. But sitting cross legged on the floor for 20 minutes, breathing while watching flowers on my TV just doesn't do anything for me. I've cooled down after about 2 minutes. Plus, to be honest, I never really warmed up too much. Too much yakking between poses, so I never really stayed warm.

My Opinion

The DVD is great on so many levels. She has different options in the menu where she will tell you what equipment you need, or you can select which parts of the workout you want to do, or you can select preset workouts. All great options. I wish she just had one more where she talked to you about all the little modifcations and poses in advance so that you didn't have to listen to them during the workout.

I will probably use this DVD occasionally, but most likely with the sound off. And I will fast forward through the non-pose jabbering, or I will just start the next pose early if I remember what it is. I will NOT use the cooldown. Enough said on that topic.

I think it's a good starter DVD for overweight people who want to get into yoga, but I think that most people will quickly outpace it

Today is Brought to You By the Letter F

What I Wore on Friday (F is for Friday):

Friday is casual at my work, and I was the only one working, so my outfit wasn't really blog-worthy. I wore jeans, a tank top, and a cardigan. No big whoop. I did, however stop by Target on my way to work and bought some new accessories. And they are Fun and Fabulous (F is for Fun; F is for Fabulous), and sadly not Free (why isn't F for Free??)

And these new flats.
And I hit Goodwill on my way home, where I picked up a clutch and a black leather belt. Sorry, no pics of those. Bu I love it when I find good stuff at thrift stores. You can't beat $1.99 for a leather belt! (Although will someone explain to me why the prices on new Target clothes is higher than what you would pay at Target when they hit clearance? It feels wrong to pay $12.99 for a cotton top that I could have purchased the week before on the clearance rack for $4.99. Who is pricing all this donated clothing from Target???)

What I Ate: F is for Fish:

About a month ago I started reading this blog Kath Eats Real Food. Not only did she inspire me to rev up my morning grain jar, but she also has some cool videos of meals that she makes. Tonight's Fabulous Fish entree is 100% her. So, thank you, Kath! And I highly recommend this beautiful and healthy and YUMMY meal to the two of you reading this blog.

As you can see, we had another beautiful dinner on the porch again. Right now the weather is perfect for this. And we have to get as much of this in as possible before we start getting attacks by the swarms of killer mosquitoes that inhabit our yard and before Texas decides to really turn on the heat and our food gets oversalted from all the sweat dripping into it. YUCK!!

• breakfast: same as all week
• lunch: leftover eggplant & tomato sauce on 2 slices of toast, 2 cuties
• snacks: 1 T Better'n Peanut Butter, 15 animal crackers
• dinner: KERF parchment tilapia, 1 cup bown rice, 1 glass white wine
• dessert: 1 black bean brownie

Total for the Day: 1452 calories, 6 glasses water

A History Lesson?

What I Wore While Looking Like a 16th Century Maiden:



This morning Rand told me (1) I looked "hot" and (2) that I looked "like a 16th century maiden. A rich one, since green was an expensive color of fabric to make. But not the leopard belt." He's so sweet. I have to agree with him about the peasant dress over the sheer shirt having that old world style. I wonder what they would have thought of my belt, fishnets, and seeing my knees! And my elastic, for that matter. Ha!

• green peasant gress (Mossimo/Target)
• sheer cream, long-sleeve shirt
• leopard print pony hair belt (Target)
• olive green wedges (BCBGirls)
• nude fishnets (Dots)
• bee ring (Dots)
• red/brown stone earrings & necklace (handmade gift from friend)
• whisky purse (Far Nine, thrifted)

What I Ate When I Should Have Been Eating Fish:


We were supposed to make parchment tilapia, but the weather was so wonderful that we wanted to be on a patio somewhere. So we went to Dodie's. I haven't calculated calories yet, but I will. It's going to be bad. Is it better that I only ate 1/2 the poboy and fried and 3/4 of the beer?? Probably not when you consider that I also ate 1/2 an order of really greasy onion rings.




Total for the Day: 972 calories + hundreds more at Dodies, 6 glasses of water

What I Wore While Drinking Wine on the Front Porch:


I bought this cream shirt on sale at Target last week. I am not sure how it was intended to be worn, but it is HUGE. Muumuu-esqe in fact. I bought I medium, and could have easily worn a small. And I am an XXL girl these days. And it was not attractive alone as a shirt, but with a belt is so sweet and demure. And I love how it is longer in the black, so it's flirty. Rand pointed out that that is probably the result of me "having so much in the front, making it short" rather than the intended styling of the shirt. Whatever, I like it!

And I took a tip from Kasmira and experimented with putting a brooch on the scarf that I wore as a belt. It really added a touch of class, I think.

• sheer cream cap-sleeve shift w/ lace trim (Xhilaration/Target)
• blue wide-leg slacks (Gap)
• blue/white scarf (??)
• cream/gold T-strap pumps (Santana)
• pearl bracelet, 2 pearl necklaces (??)
• pearl earrings (gift from grandma)

What I Ate After Drinking Wine on the Front Porch:

• breakfast: 1 serving quinoa, 2 T Better'n Peanut Butter, 1 T dark chocolate raisinettes, 3/4 c strawberries, iced coffee w/ french vanilla coffe mate
• lunch: open faced sandwich with turkey buddig, string cheese, & cauliflower/potato mash, 1 celery stalk
• snacks: 1 SoyJoy, 2 cuties
• dinner: penne w/ eggplant & tomatoes, side salad
• dessert: 1/2 pocket bar Terra Nostra Goji Berry & Salt dark chocolate

Total for the Day: 1675 calories, 6 glasses of water

St. Patrick's Day - For Real

What I Wore While Repeating St. Patty's Day:



I tried a little pattern mixing today with mt shoes and my dress. I'm not sure that I like the result in this case, but let's be honest, really it was an excuse to wear these shoes. I've had them for several months now and every time I put them one, I switch to something else. Not this time! I was gonna wear those suckers!

Also I tried wearing this wrap sweater in a different way. I really like the result. I feel like it framed my figure nicely.

• blue/cream wrap dress (Target)
• cream lace tank (Old Navy)
• green wrap sweater (Target)
• white shell bracelet (?? Target?)
• green stone & glass necklace (Lane Bryant)
• green stone earrings (??)
• green/blue/white plaid round-toe pumps (Bumper via $9.99 shoe store)

What I Ate While Having a Romantic Candlelit Dinner on the Front Porch:

• breakfast: 1 serving quinoa, 2 T Better'n Peanut Butter, 1 T dark chocolate raisinettes, 3/4 c strawberries, iced coffee w/ french vanilla coffee mate
• lunch: open faced sandwich with turkey buddig, string cheese, & cauliflower/potato mash, 1 celery stalk
• snacks: 1 SoyJoy, 2 cuties, 1/2 Wild Blue Lager
• dinner: stuffed bell peppers, 1 slice of homemade bread with 1 T butter

Total for the Day: 1768 calories, 6 glasses water

romantic candle lit dinner:

Rand made a request and who am I to turn him down. Don't ask. I have no idea.

Sometimes It's Good to be a Lawyer

I was running late on my way to work today, so I was speeding. Ok Ok. I would have been speeding anyway. I got pulled over, and I couldn't find my license. The cop noticed my bar card in my wallet while I was looking for my license and told me that he doesn't ticket attorneys. Yay!! But he told me I need to take someone out to lunch to "pay it forward." Works for me. Much cheaper than a ticket on several levels.

What I Wore While Not Getting a Speeding Ticket:

• brown tulip skirt (Lane Bryant)
• white shortsleeve blouse w/ brown dots (Style&Co.)
• camel cardigan (Kathie Lee - thrifted)
• brown suede pumps
• brown/red stone/crystal earrings & necklace (gift)
• tan snakeskin tote (Old Navy)
• brown tigerseye hair stick - holding my ponytail flipped up for a different look (?)

What I Ate While Enjoying Side Perks of Being a Attorney:


Kroger was out of steel cut oats in the bulk section and I refuse to pay $5-7 dollars for a box or can of them when I get them in bulk for $2. So I decided to experiment with quinoa. And I was inspired by KathEatsRealFood to add some treats into my breakfast bowl as long as I stayed in my calorie range. The result was very tasty and quite filling, although I think Rand would have preferred I not cook quinoa again since it "stunk the place up and it's too cold to open the doors."

• breakfast: 1 serving quinoa, 2 T Better'n Peanut Butter, 1 T dark chocolate raisinettes, 3/4 c strawberries
• lunch: open faced sandwich with turkey buddig, string cheese, & cauliflower/potato mash, 1 celery stalk
• snacks: 1 SoyJoy, 2 cuties
• dinner: 3 slices butternut squash pizza (this was rather odd), side salad, 1 bottle of Wild Blue lager
• dessert: no calories left :(

Total for the Day: 1806 calorie, 6 glasses water

Fat Girl Yoga & Time to Go to the Grocery

Exercise:

I decided that needed to break out the HeavyWeight Yoga DVD that I purchased off Amazon over a month ago. I found out about it while reading the Amazing Adventures of DietGirl blog. Her blog is so funny and inspiring that I went back and read the entire thing from the start forward. She said that she liked thi DVD, and I trusted her (amazing how that happens just from reading someone's blog) so I picked it up. And it's sat in my DVD drawer ever since. Well no longer!

I had high hopes since this DVD was presented as a good option for people who may not be able to get into all the positions due to a lack of flexibility or b/c they have a queso baby in the way. Check check! Must be perfect for me.


I didn't want to do a full hour of yoga, so after I watched the introduction I selected the short option, which was 35 minutes. Ummm...it was just a warm up and cool down. No actual poses. the cooldown was highly annoying - sitting cross legged and "centered" while images of waterflowers and ponds migrated across the TV and ocean sounds played. That was really odd BTW - looking at a pond and hearing the ocean waves.

Anyway, the warm up stretches were nice and she definitely told you how to deal with the queso baby and added modifications for lack of flexibility. I'll have to do the full workout with the poses before I can render a full opinion. Right now I am mixed about it.

What I Ate on a Lazy Sunday w/ No Food in the House:

We didn't have any fruit or veggies left in the house, so I had to make do with what we did have. So no fruit with breakfast, random leftover frozen veggies with lunch, and no fresh veggies at dinner. Sadly that made the dinner look very brown, even though it's still a healthy meal with grilled fish, healthy corn fritters, and whole grain bread. It's just missing the brocolli. Damn.

• breakfast: Fiber One pancake w/ oats, topped with Better'n Peanut Butter mixed withlow cal syrup. yummy and full of fiber and protein!!
• lunch: 2 slices low cal bread topped with: 2 oz steak, 1 c. mashed cauliflower & potatoes, 1/4 c.fat free shredded cheese, and a side of frozen veggies. This was so filling!
• snacks: 1 SoyJoy
• dinner: 5oz lime grilled tilapia, 6 WW corn fritters, 1 whole grain roll

Total for the Day: 1302 calories, 5 glasses of water, 30 minutes yoga, 15 minute neighborhood walk

Week 3 Weigh In & Goals

www.my-calorie-counter.com The webs free Calorie Counter

Starting Weight: 230.5 lbs
Week 1: 226.5 lbs
Week 2: 228.0 lbs
Week 3: 224.5 lbs

Change for the Week: -3.5 lbs

Total Change: -6.0 lbs

The day after I weighed in last week my weightwent up another pound, and I sure it will do that this week too, after all the Guinness and fried food I consumed. I really am going to have to rethink the splurge day. I'm not quite sure how I want to modify it. Set a higher calorie limit on those days? Splurge for one meal only? Leave as is? Any thoughts??

Week 3 Goal Results:

Food:

• 1800 calories/day YES!
• 6 glasses of water/day YES! (I think Imay have been short 1 glass one day)

Fitness: do 20 min of exercise two days Yes. No exclamation point here b/c I really didn't do the kind of exercise I had in mind. I walked to/from the pub for St. Patty's Day stuff and I did some really low-key yoga this morning. I need to sweat a little and there was none of that this week. I am just a bump on a log recently. I need to light a fire under the log on which I am a bump. Ha! Just as long as I don't burn the forest down like some unnamed friends of mine...

Appearance:

• try on outfits in advance YES!
• floss 4 times YES! 5 out of 7 days this week. And really this is a good thing since by flossing I discovered that one of my fillings is loose. I don't have dental insurance (or health insurance for that matter) so it's good to be preventative about these things.

Week 4 Goals:

Food:

• 1800 calories/day
• 6 glasses water/day
• eat at least1 healthy meal on splurge day

Fitness:

• workout 2x this week
• one workout should involve sweat!
• walking to bar/restaurant does count as exercise this week

Appearance:

• get a hair cut!!! I've needed one for about 4 months now. It's getting ridiculous.

St. Patty's Day Festivities

Okay it's not really St. Patrick'sDay yet, but here in Dallas there is a parade and a street party on the weekend. So we walked to a local irish pub and the festivites began quite early. We have some guest phots today. Ha!

What We Wore That Was Green:


Most of the clothes are from Old Navy, the Gap, and Target with some Ralph Lauren and Converse thrown in.

What I Ate While Pretending I was Irish:

I logged most of what I ate (and DRANK) yesterday into The Daily Plate. It was not pretty. I didn't actually eat a lot of food - just 3 meals, no snacks, but none of it was healthy and it shows by this big number.

• breakfast: nutella crepes & hashbrowns from IHOP
• lunch: sample plate of corned beef & cabbage, whiskey chicken, & shepherds pie at the bar
• St. Patty's: 4 Guinness, 1 Harp, 1 jello shot
• dinner: chicken crispers and a Guinness from Chili's
• dessert: 1/2 Terra Nostra choc bar

Total for the Day: 4600 calories. YIKES!

We Have Movement!: Since we walked to bar for non-drunken-driving safety, I finally got a little exercise this week. The walk there and bck was about 1.8 miles total, so about 40 min of walking total.

Thank God It's Friday??

Please ignore the very puffy eyes. I got a call while I was out running errands that a new project was starting with the same firm I have been working with for the last 10 months...at a $2 wage decrease. I'm pretty upset about it and had been crying.

What I Wore on My Friday Off:

• jeans (Ralph Lauren)
• white longsleeve scoop neck T (a.n.a.)
• grey/white striped short sleeve scoop neck T (Old Navy)
• grey flannel engineers cap (Target)
• grey black glitter striped socks (??)
• grey flannel/black leather shoes (Sketchers)
• silver hoops (Walmart)
• purple nylon purse (Daisy Fuentes)
• grey/purple/black dot trench coat (Apt 9)

I had a real outfit picked out for today (per my goal of planning my weekday ensembles out on Sundays) but since I was unemployed today I didn't get that dressed up. In fact, since it rained all day today, I didn't even bother putting makeup on. Uh...and I may have been in my bathrobe until 3 pm when I finally got dressed to go run errands. shhh....don't tell anyone.

What I Ate While Getting to Cook All Day:

• breakfast (332): 1 fried egg, 2 slices turkey bacon, 1 piece white tost w/ spray butter, 1 cutie, 1 large mug of Jet Fuel w/ french vanilla coffee mate
• lunch (356): Lean Cuisine Three Cheese Ravioli, 1 2% string cheese, 1.5 c. cabbage salad (I didn't eat the pears in the picture b/c the were mushy
• snacks (305): 1 SoyJoy, 1 black bean brownie, 1 string cheese
• dinner (404): 4 oz. oven fried chicken, 1.5 c mashed cauliflower & potatoes, kale chips, 1 whole wheat roll, 2 T BBQ sauce
• dessert (356): 1 oz port, 3 oz Tequila Rose, 3 Trefoils

I burned the kale chips and they left a really bad taste in the mouth, so we ended up not really eating them. I'll try again and keep a closer eye on them. And Rand wasn't too fond of the cauliflower mixed into the mashed potatoes b/c it changed the texture. I think part of that was because we didn't boil the cauliflower long enough. But since we have a rule that we always have to try something new but we only have to try it once, I probably won't make it for us again. I'll just cook them seperately. So the sides were mediocre at best, but the chicken was AMAZING!!! We will def do this again. You should try it too!

Total for the Day: 1763 calories, 6 glasses of water

Chipotle is HOT! Who knew?

Today was a little odd. Yesterday I was sent home from work early with the information that my project was finished but they would need us "in a few weeks." Uh huh. Sure. So I boxed up all my stuff and brought it home. On my way home I stopped off at a RedBox to get some free movies, since they are offering free movie codes on Wednesdays (and Mondays) this month. I was prepared for a nice day on the couch watching free movies (you've got to be frugal when you are unemployed).

Then at 9 am I received a text message to come into work at 10. Yay Money! Darn no movies. And I was seriously not prepared foodwise. (Luckily I had my outfit all planned out since I picked out everything for the week on Sunday.) Rand had a coupon for a free Which Wich sandwhich stuck on the fridge, so I grabbed that and the last of my box of Puffins as I ran out the door. Whew. I only worked for 4 hours, so I didn't have to worry that I didn't have any snacks at the office, thankfully.

What I Wore in a Rush to the Office:

• paisley skirt (Anne Klein)
• brown long sleeve, v-neck T (Old Navy)
• navy blue short sleeve blouse (Old Navy)
• brown boots (Cloudwalkers by Avenue)
• huge brown patent leather purse w/ gold hardware (Target)
• brown leather woven belt w/ bronze buckle (?? Lane Bryant??)
• amber art deco necklace (gift from Rand)
• lt. yellow earrings - yes, I see that a piece is missing. oops (??)

What I Ate While Not Watching Free Movies:

• breakfast (250): 1.5 c. Puffins, 12 oz can V8
• lunch (506): Tomato & Avocado Which Wich w/ provolone and veggies, 2 cuties
• snacks (235): 1 SoyJoy, 1 black bean brownie
• dinner (513): 2 oz chipotle chicken, 1 c. wild rice, 1.25 c. spinach/pearl onions/grape tomatoes, 1 glass white wine
• dessert (185): 5 trefoils, 1 mug diet hot cider, a good book

See that steam coming off the rice. mmmm. It was so hot and yummy. What you see here is actually 4 oz of chicken, which I originally had in my meal plan for the day. But I accidently put too much chipotle spice on the chicken when I was cooking it. And I just couldn't really eat it, so Rand got 1/2 of my chicken.

Total for the Day: 1689 calories, 7 glasses water

Rain Rain Go Away

What I Wore in the Rain Without an Umbrella:

• green dress w/ black/blue/red/cream pattern (via consignment store)
• dark grey denim vest (Lane Bryant)
• skinny black belt (Target)
• black boots (Avenue)
• teal ring (Target)
• teal earrings (street vendor in Austin)
• necklace (via Ross)

What I Ate While Listening to the Downpour:

• breakfast (270): 2 1/4 cups Puffins cereal (no milk)
• lunch (355): 2 slices of Better'n Peanut Butter on toast, 2 cuties, 1 string cheese, 1 cup cabbage salad
• snack (235): 1 SoyJoy, 1 black bean brownie
• dinner (580): 3 oz whole wheat pasta w/ 2 oz longhorn meatballs, 1.5 cups mixed italian style veggies, 1 slice garlic bread w/ butter spray, 1 large glass red wine
• dessert (210): 2 black bean brownie, 1 mug decaf hot tea

Total for the Day: 1794 calories, 6 glasses H2O

A Non-Working Day

No work today. UGH. But I did have a recruiter meeting and a doctor's applointment, so I was planning on taking the day of anyway. But I hope that there is work tomorrow. Otherwise that new Blackberry I purchased today is going to be hard to pay for. Yay New Phone!!

What I Wore While NOT Going to Work:

• black tulip skirt (Lane Bryant)
• maroon shortsleeve embroidered blouse (Apt 9)
• black leather belt (via Kohls)
• black pumps w/ buckle on heel (Nicole Miller)
• maroon seed pearl necklace (made by a friend's mom)
• teardrop multicolored earrings (borrowed)
• black leather purse (Reaction by Kenneth Cole)
• black portfolio (from a law firm)

What I Ate on a Non-Working Day:

• breakfast (304 calories): 2 cups Puffins cereal, 6 oz blueberries
• lunch (389 calories): egg/cheese/turkey bacon sandwich, 2 cuties, 1 cup cabbage salad
• snacks (245): 1 strawberry SoyJoy, 1 black bean brownie
• dinner: 1/2 Franziskaner beer, 1 serving Indian Chicken Curry II, 1 cup brocolli, 1 365 Naan
• dessert: 2 black bean brownies w/ 2 T. fat free whipped topping

Total for the Day: 1836 calories

This is a little higher than it is supposed to be, but when I decided to put the whipped topping on my brownies I had forgotten that I had eaten brocolli with dinner. I still consider it be an on-target day.

Why Planning Isn't Always Enough

Today clearly demonstrated to me that just planning my outfits in advance isn't enough. I need to actually try them on. I picked these things out and they looked great on the hanger. Then I threw them in my car and went out to the ranch Sunday. Which brings me to today. I got up at 6 am so I could drive back into town (2 hrs) and go t work. Even in my super groggy state I could see some serious problems, like the shell needed to be ironed and is currently too small. So I had to button my cardigan, which I hasn't planned on doing. And the buttons were lose. This was not going well. And I forgot jewelry. And sometime at work I realize that my sideseam on my pants had come loose. And I was covered in cat hair. And everything was rumpled to hell. So planning wasn't enough. I need to actually try things on too.

What I Wore While Being a Total Rumpled Slob:

• black slacks with tear and cat hair (Lane Bryant)
• pink/red/green dot shortsleeve shell that is wrinkled and too small (via Ross)
• black satin ballet flats (via Kohls)
• yellow clutch (Old Navy)
• yellow wrinkled cardigan with buttons falling off (Target)
• earrings & necklace (yep, nice aren't they?)
  

Week 2 Weigh In & Goals

I actully weighed in Saturday morning. I have decided that Sundays are my weigh in day, but I wasn't going to have my scale available Sunday morning (or Monday morning for that matter) and I thought I might be really dehydrated from all the drinking. And I thought that might give me a falsely low weight. I knew I was going to have gained last week.

Starting Weight: 230.5 lbs
Week 1: 226.5 lbs
Week 2: 228 lbs
Change for the Week: +1.5lbs
Total Change: -2.5 lbs

Week 2 Goal Results:

Food: same as week 1 I really had a lot of struggles this week, with grocery failures, and social obligations. I could have been worse, but I could have been a lot better, even with the small hurdles. I am embarassed by my results here, which I think is good. I don't want to be complacent. FAIL.

Exercise: let's start a little smaller. Any kind of exercise 20 min or more, 2 days this week. Rand I and I walked to breakfast Saturday morning. I didn't time our walk but it's about 1.4 mile round trip, so I know it took more than 20 mins. YAY!

Appearance: same as week 1 PLUS floss at least 4 times. (I hate flossing!!!) I planned all my outfits in advance. I put lotion on 6 days of the week (I forgot to take body lotion to the hotel so no lotion after the wedding). And I flossd 4 days!! I know it's a minor thing, but I can't beleive I actually flossed that much. YAY!

Let's be honest here. My goals that I obtained were pretty small, and I totally dropped the ball on the main one - staying under 1800 calories.

Week 3 Goals:

Food:

• 1800 calories/day
• 6 glasses of water/day

Fitness:

• do 20 min of exercise two days

Appearance:

• try on outfits in advance rather than just putting them together and hanging them on the door
• floss 4 times

Saturday Morning Walks & Breakfast

Rand I took a nice walk to breakfast, then came back home and played Scrabble on the porch. Given Rand's urgent need for caffeine in the mornings, I didn't take much time getting dressed. Well, that and it's Saturdays and who cares what you look like when you eat breakfast on Saturdays?? I never do. The fact that I have on jeans and not comfy pants is a major triumph! No pics of my fabulous wedding attire that evening, nor of the delish food that was served at the reception.

What I Wore While Trekking to Coffee:

• red graphic T (Lane Bryant)
• cream angora zipper hoodie (Old Navy)
• trouser jeans (Old Navy)
• Round Rock Express cap
• brown flip flops (Old Navy)
• mug full of coffee (Cafe Brazil)

What I Ate While Pounding Gourmet Coffee:

• 1/2 c. low fat granola
• cream cheese muffin
• 1/2 c. 2% milk
• 1 c mixed fruit
• 2 cups of coffee with cream

I only ate 1/2 of the granola and the fruit at breakfast. I saved the muffin for later when Rand and I split it during our Scrabble game (I WON!!). And the rest of the granola went for my Monday morning breakfast.

Death By Bachelorette

• "Diva" trouser jeans (Old Navy)
• grey pintucked shortsleeve blouse (Old Navy)
• grey/purple plaid flannel flats (Steve Madden)
• sunglasses (Target)
  

If I took pictures of everything I ate today it would have filled my entire memory card today. When I am really hungover, I need grease and sugar and lots of it. I don't usually drink to excess and I never do it during the work week, but the bachelorette is my oldest friend and she needed a big celebration. And boy did we give it to her. And now I can refrain from that kind of night for a long time. I'm too old for that. Ugh. So food...let's see...McDonalds, junk food from CVS, pizza (for the 3rd time this week), girl scout cookies, and...one of those cupcakes from yesterday.

And tomorrow is the wedding. Looks like Monday will be when I'll be back on track. I'm going to try to have a healthy day all day until the reception. I can do it, right?

When Cupcakes and Saki Bombs Attack

Written Thursday...

It's been another rough day today. A coworker brought in cupcakes today. (Yes it's the same evil even though she's great coworker that brought in brownies last week.) I'm having a very hard time. Tonight is a friend's bachelorette party, so I know I am going to go over my calories for the day anyway. So I'm having that urge to just blow the whole day. WHICH IS THE WRONG ATTITUDE!!! ACK!!! I know that, but I'm still feeling that way. I know what I really need to do is the exact opposite. I need to keep my calories low today in order to help balance out tonight.

I was doing okay until coworker #2 brought one to the table and ate it right next to me. But they're chocolate, my brain reminds me, you don't like chocolate cake or cupcakes. Yes, but it's Ghiradeli dark chocolate. I like dark moist cupcakes. But when coworker #2 ate his, it looked dry and overcooked. That's exactly what you hate about chocolate cake - dryness. Yes, but she said some of them were undercooked. ACK! When coworker #2 ate his cupcake right in my face, I ate my South Beach chocolate raspberry snack bar delight. It helped. Briefly.

But now it's after 3 o'clock, which means it's soup time. I really count on my afternoon soup to get me through to dinner. I've got my soup, but I left my soup mug at home. I have nothing in which to warm or serve my soup. Great. So now I'm hungry AND craving brownies AND Thin Mints. Did I mention Evil Coworker #1 also brought Thin Mints in?!?!?!? I'm going to eat my SoyJoy, but it's not going to be enough to hold me until dinner tonight, esp since that's at least an hour later than normal b/c of the bachelorette. I fear I am going down, but I am off to grab some hot tea and my SoyJoy in an attempt to resist.

****************

Ok I got invited to Starbucks so I grabbed a skinny latte for a mere 100 calories and avoided the cupcakes. Whew.

What I Wore While Contemplating Death By Cupcake:

• blue wide-leg slacks (Gap)
• white tank (Old Navy)
• white cardi (Target)
• red/white/blue scarf (thrifted)
• silver disk earrings (Walmart)
• red croc pumps (Ann Marino)
• black purse (Reaction by Kenneth Cole)

It's a little patriotic looking, but not too bad. And Ilove my new scarf. Even if I did look like a flight attendant/cowboy.

What I Wore While Being Attacked By Saki Bombs:

• denim pencil skirt (Target)
• black graphic T (Lane Bryant)
• black boots (Cloudwalkers)
• cream/gold purse (via Kohls)
• gold tone chain (H&M)
• gold tone earrings (?? I've had them since I was in college)
  

What I Ate Drank:

• breakfast: oatmeal jar
• lunch: same as all week
• snacks: 1 SoyJoy, 1 SouthBeach bar, 15 sesame rice crackers
• dinner: smoked salmon sandwich, fries
• drinks with the bachelorette: 2 La Fin du Monde (my fave beer), 2 vodka gingerale, countless sake bombs
• midnight drunk munching: tons of Puffins cereal, 1/4 goji berry & salt chocolate bar

Total Calories: TONS AND TONS