Devil's Night

Hello my friends....still here???? (minus 2 followers....booooo)

I know my absence has been causing some grief, hence the emails I have been getting about it. I will be back soon I promise. I just need to get my "life" back into the routine that it has been used to.

The last few days I have been sick in bed with a horrible sinus/chest infection, that I'm on medication for. Good news is that this gives me an opportunity to catch you all up. Not that I really have anything exciting to say cause I have done nothing but work and sleep.

So far this is where I am at with my weight loss......219.6lbs.....that's a total loss of 63.4lbs.

I have gone from a size 24 to a size 16. Boy is it hard on the pocket book though, especially with all the new "business" clothes that I had to purchase for my new position.

On the shrinkvivor front, I am still going strong. We are down to 3 tribe members, the rest have been voted off to exile island. We are still tracking minutes of exercise and doing mini-challenges. This weeks is NO CANDY......really???? your gonna pull this shit on Halloween???......this week is tough, not gonna lie. Go team Blue!!!!!



I also received a blogger award during my hiatus from Fat in Suburbia. It is a Versatile Blogger award. I think this is perfect for me.....as I go from one thing to another.....lol

Versatile:  ver-sa-tile [vur-suh-tl] or, especially British, [vur-suh-tahyl]:  capable of, or adapted for, turning easily from one to another various tasks, fields of endeavor, etc.:  a versatile writer.

Here is how the award works:

1. You thank the person who presented you with the award.
2. You tell 7 things about yourself.
3. You award 5 other newly discovered bloggers.

Thank you Fat In Suburbia for thinking of me.....I love my followers!!! 

7 Things About Me:

1. I'm a bookaholic. I can read a 400 page book in a day. If I'm into it I just can't put it down.
2. I'm a Gin & Tonic drinker. Most of my friends tease me and say it smells like pine needles.
3. I've had a knife pulled on me twice, and both times I walked away without a scratch.
4. I didn't cry at my wedding or the birth of my son....my husband calls me a hardass.
5. I love designer glasses....I have 8 pairs....I sometimes think people remember me for my frames.
6. I HATE cake.
7. My husband thinks I'm a witch....

5 Blogs I'm Awarding This To:

1. My Hips Don't Lie
2. I'm just a girl & I've had it up to here
3. Runs for Cookies
4. 70lbs 2 Go
5. Ronnie's Bandumentary

Have a great Halloween everyone!!!!!!

Miss Me Yet?

Hello my loyal readers....friends, family, fellow bloggers & shrinkvivor contestants

I am sorry that I have been a bad blogger and been neglecting my duties to you. This is the first time ever since starting my blog that I haven't been regularly updating. I have NO TIME. Since getting this new job, but hanging on to my other one (part-time) I am working a minimum of 57 hours a week, plus working out (my Shrinkvivor team needs me) plus taking care of my family, plus cleaning house, and plus, plus, plus.........

I need to clone myself.....anyone know how to do that?

Please forgive me, and don't leave...it will only be for a short period of time I promise.

What I am going to try to do for now is just do some short and sweet posts, and when my life gets back to normal, I will come back with my more in depth blogs.

I still need to post my 60 pound bra & pantie shot....that will be coming soon!!!

In the Shrinkvivor realm, I made it through another week, but we lost Megan (booooo) I logged 392 minutes of exersize and lost a total of 2.6lbs last week.

I am 222.4lbs!!!!!!
(actually I weighed myself this morning and I was 220 but I'm not making an officially weigh in till wednesday...lol)

Almost in my teens people.....hahahahaha

AND........I have a NSV (non-scale victory) that I would like to share.....I purchased some new pants for my job and they were a size....drum role please....

That means I am officially out of the "fat" stores. I can actually step into clothing stores that I have NEVER been in, or haven't been into in over 12 years......

Well I gotta run as I have to go to work, and have a staff meeting right after.
Love you guys....and although you may not be seeing my usually comments on your pages, rest assured I am still reading them on my breaks at work!!!

Happy Turkey Day Canada!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends & family....


May your stuffing be tasty,
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
May your pies take the prize,
May your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

Ok so first off I want to apologize for not being around for like 8 days.....it's been crazy around here.
There has been a few changes in my routine and it has thrown me out of wack. Hopefully by the end of this week I will be more focused.

So what has been so crazy you ask?

I got a new job! Actually I start tomorrow. It is a Accounts Representative position with a Headhunting agency. They have been around for 25 years and well known. I am very excited. Last week was full of interviews, and one-on-ones with the staff. All in all I was offered the position on Friday, so it all happened very fast.

Then I started freaking out cause I was like "What the Hell am I going to wear?"

You see losing 60 lbs puts a damper on all of the "business attire" you own. I basically have to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe. That's the fun part, the shitty part is spending the money on clothes that hopefully won't fit me in the next couple of months. Then I am going to have to do it all over again.

What helped ease the pain of spending the money a little bit was the $100 cash prize I won in the B.O.O.B.S Back to Basics Challenge. That's right I won 1st place in my category. I lost like 8% between July & September. I was very excited to get the email congratulating me. Then I was told $105 was deposited into my paypal account.....I went ape shit!!! I figured I would get some kind of prize in the mail, boy was I wrong.....

Another positive this week was I made it past Week 1 in Shrinkvivor. Our team didn't win the idol this week, but we did lose our member Erin. I managed to get in 334 minutes of exercise and not one bite of fast food to complete our challenge. This weeks challenge was the same for exercise minutes, but the mini-challenge was to get enough sleep. I definitely don't have a problem doing that! You can keep up on my Shrinkvivor stats by clicking on the tab at the top of the page.

I have decided to start doing my "official" weigh in's on Wednesdays now only because that's when I have to do it for Shrinkvivor. When this is done I will probably move it back to Saturdays.
Let's just say so far this week I'm doing great and it's a loss. Let you know on Wednesday!!!

Ta-Ta for now as I need to start beautifying my face for Thanksgiving with the family. I'm going to have to maintain self control today, at least I don't like pumpkin pie.....that should help somewhat.....lol

Black & Orange

OCTOBER IS HERE!!!!!!.....do you know what that means??????

That's right....it's time for Black & Orange baby......this is my favourite time of the year. Oh and ps....I can carve the shit out of pumpkins. Last year one of my pumpkins made the front page of our city's newspaper. Here is a preview of some of my past pumpkins.....

Not bad for 12 hours worth of carving.....hahahahahah

Also welcoming October with a bang this morning was my red headed friend George.

Well George (or some of you may know him as TOM) has reared his ugly ginger head once again. I am crabby, cranky, miserable, and want to stab someones eye out with a red hot poker......

.....but the one thing that makes this bearable even after all that is that I have lost 1lb. Even with the bloating, and the water retention a pound loss is a great thing. On top of that my weigh in's have moved from Saturday's to Wednesday's due to Shrinkvivor so I still have 4 days to lose....YES!

If you are interested in following what I am doing for Shrinkvivor, and wondering what the weeks challenges are, I have posted a tab at the top of my page labeled Shrinkvivor. Just click on that and all will be revealed.....lol.... and by all means if you are stalking me from a competing team take a look at the tab...be afraid....be very afraid.

Now 60 lbs is just around the corner. I have to lose 1.8lbs to reach that milestone. When I do, I will be posting my measurements again as well as a new Bra & Panty comparison pic.....aren't you excited???.....you know you are, well I know my hubby is at least!

Speaking of hubby, at the moment he is making me some French Toast & Bacon for breakfast cause today is "Treat Day" so I gotta run......

Thanks for the comments, support & motivation peeps....you are what gets me going and through all the humps in this adventure.....

Shrinkvivor Week 1

Hi all, just wanted to give you my starting weight, and challenge for this week so you know what I'm up too......

This week's challenge that is posted is......

"This week’s physical challenge is to get up and get moving. As in exercising! We are going to count ALL EXERCISE MINUTES towards this week’s Fitness Challenge."

Now that isn't too hard considering I workout every other day. Guess I'm just going to have to step it up a notch!!!

This mornings weigh in is the EXACT same as it was on my Saturday morning one. I even stepped on the scale 3 times to make sure....lol.....well I guess it's better than a gain....I find I lose the most weight by the end of the week anyways.....

Good Luck to my team Blue-Berry Muffin Tops.....we can do this ladies!!!!!!!

Good Eats

I have been getting some emails asking me about what I'm eating to lose my weight. Now generally speaking I am pretty boring, and I eat almost the same thing during the week. This makes it easy to plan lunches for work.

I decided to take some pics of a regular day of food for me, just to give you guys an idea of what I consume, how often I eat, and to show that I'm not cutting anything out.

The most important thing you need to do is consume WATER.....I know you have heard this before, but this is a HUGE deal in weightloss. I consume 7 16oz glasses of water a day. That is 3 1/2 liters of water. This was calculated by my body weight. Everyone is different. If your interested in finding out how much water your body needs per day you can click here. I adjust mine for every 20 lbs I lose.

My trick is to drink with a straw, I find it so much easier

This is the most important meal of the day. It gets your body (metabolism) going. I never could eat breakfast before, and now my body craves it. All I can say is Protein, Protein, PROTEIN. This keeps you full and helps you to lose....trust me.
I usually make myself an omelette. I don't like eggs, but if they are scrambled or an omelette we are good to go. This is an easy way to get a lot of protein in.

• 1 egg, 2 egg whites
• onion powder, pinch of salt & pepper
• dill (dried is fine)
• mushrooms
• red pepper
• feta (portion control people)

When the pan is hot I toss in the mushrooms & peppers to get warm. Then I beat up the eggs with the seasonings and dump that in the pan and top with the feta. It cooks and then voila!!!!
You can change this up how ever you want. This morning I omitted the dill, and feta. Instead I added tex-mex cheese and topped my finished omelette with salsa.....IT WAS GLORIOUS!!!!!

I end up eating this about 3-4 hours after breakfast. Low fat, low cal, filling & tastes good. Yogurt & Almonds. And yes I count them out. 15 is about 100 calories, and the yogurt is 35 calories. So this would be a perfect 135 calorie snack.....Better than those 100 cal chip bags wouldn't you say?

Now this is what is going to make or break you. I find that if I eat larger at lunch, and then have my 2nd snack a few hours later, I don't eat that much for dinner and I don't crave food at night. The water consumption helps with this as well.
I will eat pasta, tuna with pickles on a sandwich thin, leftovers, wraps.....basically whatever is available. I DO NOT shy away from carbs, I just lean towards healthy whole grain ones!
This is also the meal that I will have a piece of fruit, or jello, or even a chocolate chip granola bar. I don't believe anyone should limit themselves. If you eat that stuff earlier in the day instead of late night snacking, your still satisfied but your body has time to get rid of it!

Pasta with sauce, and a cucumber salad (little salt, pepper, canola oil & wine vinegar)

This is my favourite snack of the day....I love cheese and crackers.
I just have a low fat cheese string, and 11 (per serving) whole grain Wheat Thins....and water...lol

This is where I try to keep my carbs to a low minimum. I didn't say "no carbs" but I personally like to keep them out of my dinner. If I do I tend to have them as a side ONLY....for example:

A plate of Spaghetti for dinner = BAD
Mashed Potatoes (as a side) = GOOD

See what I mean??? Good now that, that's cleared up. For me personally carbs at night are not my friend. I have learned to read my body in that aspect. I usually have some kind of meat and veggies. Or a big salad with cut up steak or chicken in it. It is very filling.
My favourite is romaine lettuce, red onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese and some grilled steak. Then I make a dressing of balsamic vinegar, canola oil, yellow mustard, salt & pepper...mix it up really good and pour.....It goes amazing with the steak & feta!!!!
I have a picture of it in my post from way back when here.

Pork, roasted red peppers, & a salad

Well that's it folks....see nothing special, no diet shakes, no pills, no gimmicks. Just real food and nothing else.....but water.

Then I wait for Saturday......which is my "treat" day

Next Stop Onederland!!!

I don't know where to begin as I have a lot to cover.....lol

First off.....



Yes that's right. 9 weeks later, with lots of sweat & hard work, I have finally completed my first major challenge. I have decided though that I think what I am going to start doing now is intervals on my treadmill with various inclines to make it harder. I prefer this much more than running for an extended period of time.

My next challenge is Shrinkvivor.


Yesterday they posted the teams. I am on Team Blue (love blue, the only one better would have been Aqua...lol.) We are working on a team name as well so if you have any suggestions please feel free to let me know.....the word "Blue" must be in the title......

My suggestion was Blue Beavers.....hahahahahah

....but we ended up going with the "Blueberry Muffin Tops"

I am with a group of 6 women and we are out to play this hard. Some of these ladies have blogs so I am going to give them some recognition by a link......

Me!!!!!

Megan

Erin @ Crazy Comma Momma

Becca

Rebecca @ Rebecca Runs

Lynette @ The Hess Kitchen Table

Jillian @ My Crazy Beautiful Life

I will definitely keep you guys posted on my weekly challenges and who get's voted off etc, etc.....my weigh in's are on Wednesday's so that means that I have to weigh in twice a week. Once for them, and once for me....

On to the weigh in. 

Well ok it was actually 225.8lbs but come on....I am not splitting hairs here. The scale said 225 something so that's good enough for me. I finally reached my next goal by losing a total of 5lbs this week. Running does wonders let me tell you.....lol

Guess I will set my next goal for Onederland. That's right folks.....my next stop is 199 lbs which puts me in the glorious land of One!!!!!! I am hoping to get there by Dec 31st.

I also sent in my last weigh in for the B.O.O.B.S challenge I have participated in since the beginning of July. They aren't announcing the winners till next weekend in Chicago, but I think I won in my category....Fingers Crossed!!!

Well that's it for this week.....I'm going to keep up my workouts, healthy eating and water consumption. I am thinking of maybe starting to incorporate some weights as well. This is something I am definitely going to look into. I have a gym membership so I might as well start putting it to good use.