I'd rather be a comma

So one of my favorite feel good songs is "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" by Coldplay. I could seriously listen to this song over and over again.. it just makes me happy.   One of my favorite lines from it is... "I'd rather be a comma than a full stop" which I have now kind of turned into a life "mantra"..... I'd rather be a comma...

The last couple of weeks have been a little bit crazy, busy, stressful, overwhelming and I had a viral infection for about a week and a half where all I did was cough all day...and I mean all day and night long, I felt awful, crappy, and even missed like 4 days of work.  I also had my roommate move out and been trying to find a new one, and dealing with all that, I have gone out on a couple of dates and trying to balance that with the rest of my friends and family, and because I have been sick, and all the other stuff, I really have not been very diligent or focused on my weight loss efforts.  Because I have been feeling so crappy the past couple of weeks I haven't been to the gym in about 2 weeks, I haven't been consistently writing down what I eat and paying attention to calories/ww points, I have ate out more than I should and haven't made all the right choices and I have even fallen back into my old habit of "over booking" myself.  With all this going on though I NEVER once thought... "I'm just going to give up, this weight loss thing is too hard"... no, it was more like "I really miss the gym, I need to feel better soon" or "I need to feel better so I can go back to planning and prepping my meals instead of going out or just grabbing something".  When I am going to the gym, doing my meal planning, writing down what I eat, attending my weight watchers meeting and and updating my blog... I feel more in control of my life, and I have missed feeling in control for the past couple of weeks!  I went to the gym yesterday and it felt AWESOME!   So even though I took a brief "pause" for the past couple of weeks.. I did not come to a "full stop"... yay!  It was also a great reminder to me of how important this journey is for me...there will be "pauses" along the way I am sure, but I don't want to ever come to a "full stop".  So, I am writing this for all of you who may be on "pause" for a bit as well as a reminder to keep going... don't stop.  I am also writing this so when I come to a "pause" again, I can remember why I started in the first place.. to feel better and more in control of my life. 

Thanks again for following my blog and all your supportive comments!  Take a minute to listen to the song, even if you have already heard it a million times, I think it deserves another listen, especially to the lyrics...

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly....

Where has September gone?  Seriously, it is going to be Fall in just a few days.  This summer has flown by.  I don't know why, but I am having writers block or something and I can't think of anything really witty or charming to say in this post, but I thought I needed to post... so, it's going to be a bunch of random thoughts...Good, Bad and Ugly

The Good:
Several times over the past week or so when I didn't want to go to the gym or track my points... I did it anyway... so whoot whoot!   There was a night last week when I didn't want to go to the gym or my weight watchers meeting but I basically talked myself into going, and then since I had already gone to the gym, I was able to talk myself into going to my weigh in, lost 1.2 pounds... so I am glad I did.  One of the good things as well, is that even though the weight loss has been slow... I am still committed to it and still going to the gym and trying (some days are better than others) to follow the weight watchers plan and track everything... but I'm still here!  Yay!   I just keep thinking that even if I only loose 25 pounds every 8 months, that is still 25 pounds less than I was 8 months ago... so, regardless of how fast or slow it comes off... it's still coming off  so YAY!  Oh, and somebody actually noticed my weight loss and asked if I had been losing weight.. so, that is also exciting and a really good thing.  I also was really proud of myself over the past couple of weeks paying better attention to serving sizes...  I had purchased this very small container (I think like the half pint) of ice cream in my new favorite flavor Black Raspberry Dark Chocolate (it is the Premium Select Brand from Smith's) and instead of just eating the container in one serving, I followed the portion sizes which was 4 servings (very, very small servings) and ate it over a week.  I know, it seems like a stupid thing to be proud of, but to me, it is proof of some of the small changes that I am making on this journey to become healthier and lose weight.

The Bad:
So I am still struggling to figure out how to still be able to eat out with friends, but stay within my weight watchers points.  I don't know why but social eating is a big thing for me and when I am out at a great restaurant surrounded by amazingly delicious food choices...it's hard for me to always choose the "grilled chicken" option.  For example next week I am going with some friends from out of town to Red Lobster...like I am not going to eat one or two of their amazing cheesy biscuits and some sort of seafood covered in butter... I only go there like twice a year and I am not going to just order the grilled chicken, that would not be any fun at all!  So friends, any ideas on how I can do better with staying within my points while eating out?

 The Ugly:
Well, at my work luncheon the other day I ate 3 desserts from Kneaders (they were however darn delicious and worth all 25 points).... I also had been craving a hamburger, for like a week and I finally broke down and went to the drive thru on one of my lunch breaks and got one of these babies... the Jr. Pastrami Burger....oh, it is like heaven, so tasty.  When people ask me what my hypothetical last meal would be it usually involves Crown Burger..although if it was my last meal I would order the Jr Crown.. but would go for the big one.. the full Crown, the heart attack in a bag.  Anyway, I digress.. I guess the good thing about my lunch date with Crown Burger would be that I recorded it in my daily points, even though I didn't want to (it's a lot of calories... and a ton of points) and I got back on track the next day.   

So there you have it friends.. my life for the past couple of weeks, well not everything about my life LOL... so thanks for following, and I always welcome any suggestions from readers or things you all have found successful in your weight loss journey. 

 

Thanks for following!

Pity Party for One...

Welcome to my "pity party for one" post..I think everyone has those days when they feel a little discouraged and throw themselves a "pity party for one".. so this blog is about my latest party...

For some reason I have been feeling a little discouraged this past week...yes, sometimes I get discouraged.. trust me, it is just as hard for me to admit this as it is for you all to believe it about me.. LOL.  Anyway, several things happened... I found out that a guy I had been talking to that I met online had recently been arrested then let out on bail and prior to that spent time in an Idaho prison, of course none of this was disclosed to me by him, I found it out by using my super duper investigation skills, and once I found out and called him on it I promptly cancelled my date and block him from ever contacting me again.... all I can say is good thing that I am a safety gal when it comes to online "dating" and do a bunch of online search to make sure they are not some sort of criminal... no matter how nice they come across or how innocent they look..my single lady friends, you NEED to do a search before you go out with them.. sorry, I digress... anyway the whole thing just left me kind of discouraged and disappointed... seriously, are there any good, honest, genuine, straight, faithful single men out there...I certainly have yet to meet any, sad but true.  To get over this discouragement I called on some of my favorite peeps to spend the weekend with....I had so much fun with each one of them and I was quickly reminded of how great my life is, and how lucky I am to be surrounded by friends who are filled with positivity, love and laughter.  I have a really blessed life..with or without a man and I started to feel a whole lot better... seriously, no party is fun when you are by yourself... and pity parties are NEVER fun... so I would much rather party it up with my peeps.

I was also feeling a little discouraged that despite tracking my food intake, not eating out for two weeks, and going to the gym my weight loss journey has been slow, very slow and it will probably continue to be slow considering that I have about 100 more pounds to lose..this is going to be a long, long, long journey... it seems like every time I have tried to lose weight in the past, I get to the exact same weight that I am at now, and I get discouraged about how much I have left to lose and I give up... and I don't want to give up this time.. Today when I was out with one of my fabulous friends we went out for lunch and I ordered a appetizer, entree and we split a dessert because I kind of had a "screw it all moment" and just ate what I wanted.  After eating all that food, it's not like it made me feel any better or less discouraged, I mostly just felt overly full and out of control with the eating.  In my mind I was also thinking about not going to the gym tonight... but then it happened.. the boost I needed.  While we were at the movie theater I ran into a friend of mine that I hadn't seen in about 3-4 months and one of the first things she said to me was "Camille you look like you have lost weight, have you".  Now this friend doesn't know anything about me and my blog, my desire to lose weight or even that I have been going to the gym... but she noticed!  Yay!  God bless Luisa for noticing and commenting on my efforts!  Seriously, I didn't think anyone could see a difference, including myself (although a lot of my clothes are even loser than they normally are).  That brief little interaction was all I needed to get me out of my "funk", and not only did I go to the gym, but I also packed my meals for the week and tracked all the food that I ate for the day...which was scary... basically I ate 80 weight watcher points today... I'm only supposed to eat 47 each day... but it doesn't matter, I tracked my food, went to the gym and prepared for the rest of the week...so I am back on track.. this "pity party for one" is OVER!  This is going to be a good week... I can feel it! 

4 Hours of Work= 1 Week of Deliciousness

LA couple of weeks I was inspired by my friend and gym buddy Jen to "kick things up a notch" and follow her example of spending one day a week making food for the upcoming week.  She has been doing this for a little while now and told me how much it helps her out during the week... plus, she has lost some weight by doing so, and I thought.. why shouldn't I give it a try as well.... so I did.  The last two Sundays I spent about 3-4 hours fixing meals for the week...all my meals for the week, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.. impressive right?  Yeah, sometimes I even impress myself with the stuff I can do when I put my mind to it LOL.  I will admit, the first week it took a lot, and I mean a lot of planning and prep work, first you have to make a menu, then put together a shopping list, go shopping, then come home and prepare everything.. and then there is the worst part of it... the clean up... but I can honestly tell you that it has been so worth it!  It has been so wonderful to come home every night and already have something delicious ready to eat, with little or no prep... and very, very, little clean up!  What has been even more exciting is preparing my lunch for the next day.. it takes like 2 minutes because again, everything has already been prepared, I just have to throw it into my lunch box and I am ready to go.  It was such a success last week that I decided to do it again this Sunday...whew.. so yesterday I did all my shopping and today, all the cooking.. and now look at my fridge... I feel like it could be pinterest worthy it's so organized.. LOL

   
I will post some of the recipes of the things I made... everything turned out delicious.. and healthy, but until then, here are a few pictures of my creations....

Roasted Corn and Tomato Soup

Chicken Skewers with Garlic Roasted Green Beans

Mini Egg Cups with Ham

Other things I made were berry cups, Charred Corn, Brown Rice & Black Bean salad, and chicken salad sandwiches.  There are a couple of tricks I have learned from doing this two weeks in a row...

1.  Go to the farmers market... so much fresh delicious produce at really reasonable prices (I go ever Saturday during the summer... it's like a tradition for me) and plan your menu around what's in season

2.  Buy stackable (if you don't have it already), reusable Tupperware so it will easily fit in the fridge and you don't have a bunch of random sized containers that you try and shove in there

3.  Cut up vegetables and bag them in individual servings so you can just "grab and go"

4.  Costco is your friend... even if you are only cooking for one... seriously, they have a lot of yummy "pre-cooked" meats that will save you a ton of time, like pre cooked bacon and chicken

5.  Line your baking sheets with tin-foil when roasting anything... saves sooo much time on the clean-up

6.  Be creative.. who would have thought to cook scrambled eggs in muffin tins... not me, luckily there is Pinterest...

Well ... I think that is all for now folks... thanks again for following.  I would love to hear from you all on any ideas that you have for plan ahead meals... and/or your tips and tricks! 

I survived week 1 of NO eating out!

So... I did it!  I survived 1 whole week without eating out!  Yay!  Now to survive week two.  I got on the scale today and I am down 3 pounds... and I am pretty sure that not eating out, and pre planning and cooking all my meals for the week is the reason why.  I have had to get really creative on getting my social fix, since eating out has always been a big part of it.. but so far so good.  On Saturday instead of eating out with my good friend Cheree, we made lunch at her house and were able to just hang out and talk... oh, and plan her upcoming wedding..and you all know how much I love to party plan... so good day!  I will admit that I have really been craving a hamburger.. and I don't really eat hamburgers all that much, but of course you always seem to crave the things that you can't have... or at least I do.  Now the trick for me is going to be to incorporate eating out... but on a limited basis and learning to make healthy choices when eating out and not using it as an excuse to "go crazy" and eat whatever I want.  So wish me luck on week two!

My name is Camille, and I am a social eater...

Yes, I am going to admit it... I am a social eater.  I have never been one to "eat my feelings", I rarely have anything in my house that would be considered "junk food".. I don't keep ice cream, chips, cookies or even chocolate in my house (never have), I really don't love fast food other than an occasional Jr. pastrami burger from Crown Burger..and a sandwich from Subway, but that is really it... but I LOVE, Love, love good food and being with friends, so I find myself eating out a lot... and way more than I should. 


Eating out with 2 of my besties... I hope they don't mind I used the pic LOL

When you love food, food becomes more of an activity than just away to feed your body.  Most people would consider me a "foodie" I could watch the Food Network 24/7, and I love trying new restaurants, I love local places, fun eateries, pizzerias and just darn good food.  I also love being with my friends... so over the years I have learned to combine my love of food with my love of friends and I end up eating out a lot, which means I spend a lot of money of food.  I also have been blessed to know a lot of really great people from different work/social circles that I have become really close with over the years, along with my core group of amazing life long friends that I have known for many years... so I have a lot of people to eat out with.  I am also a "yellow" personality I love to be social so... again, eating out for me became the easiest (and yummiest) way to spend time being with great people.   I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but this week alone (which was a typical week for me) I went out to dinner/lunch with different friends 5 times (Zupa's twice, Kneader, Texas Roadhouse, and Green Papaya)... and of course, it was fun, and delicious... but very hard to track let alone stay within my weight watchers points...  I hope none of this comes off as conceited... it sounds a little egocentric, but I am not meaning it to be.. just trying to explain why it is that I eat out a lot.

All this eating out does reflect a lot on the scales... and no matter how much I exercise.. if I don't stop all of this social eating.. I am never going to lose the weight I need to.  I have decided to offer myself a challenge... for the next 2 weeks... I will NOT eat out at all.  Yep, you heard it... I am abstaining from eating out for 2 whole weeks.  This one is going to be tough for me... really, really, really tough, and I am going to need all the support I can get from you all...and your words of encouragement.. it is going to be an interesting 2 weeks, and I will definitely keep you posted! 

Sweating the small stuff...

I know, I know, isn't it "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff"... yes, it is, but I have changed it to "Do Sweat the small stuff... why you ask...well, let me tell you.

The other night I started to have a mini pity party for myself over this boy that I had recently briefly dated.  We met online, the relationship came on pretty fast and furious...I got kind of overwhelmed that everything seemed to be happening so fast.. and I found myself really wanting to go to the gym to work off some of the stress I was feeling.  Then, several weeks later, just as fast as the relationship started, it ended.. or I think it ended... not sure, he just seemed to disappear.. and once again I found myself stressed about things (yes friends.. relationships STRESS me out) and had a desire to go to the gym to "feel better".  One night last week when I was feeling particularly bummed out about things (okay so I was having a pity party for one)... I decided to get out of the house and go to the gym instead of staying at home and wallowing in self doubt and pity.  At the gym I worked out hard, probably harder than I have in the past couple of months... I had my music blasting, and I kicked butt on that elliptical and ARC machines... when I was done, I felt AWESOME!  I felt strong, proud, and in control, I guess I would say that I felt empowered.  I walked away with a new perspective on things and feeling happy (I also spent 15 minutes in the massage chairs...which might have helped as well).  So instead of turning to food for comfort, I turned to the gym.  Go me!  Yay!  When I got home I went to fill out my exercise log that I have been keeping and noticed that I had made it to the gym 4 times per week for the past 7 weeks!  I have formed a habit!  So instead of spending the night feeling rejected, sad, lonely, and angry... I spent an hour at the gym and and the rest of the night feeling empowered, strong, in control and accomplished... a way better option that a pity party for one.  In essence, I literally "sweated" over some small stuff in my life... and felt great.. so, my new motto is "Do Sweat out the small stuff". 

I think I might have actually made going to the gym a habit, and a priority, and in doing that I have been able to maintain my weight loss over the past couple of weeks even with a road trip, the beginning and end of a new relationship, craziness at work, and two weeks of my sister and her family being in town which included a lot of potlucks and access to sweets and chips...  during all of that, I still made it to the gym, and as a result, stayed the EXACT same weight.  Maybe the gym is becoming my new "comfort food"...  woot woot!  I guess this means that I am progressing on the "real changes" I need to be more healthy and lose the weight.. and I need to start a new exericse log! 

Anyway, thanks for your support everyone and for letting me ramble on!  Love you all!