day fiftynine

Project, what project ?

Had a crazy amount of fun at Brad's for Oscar night. I had anticipated laying off the alcohol for a couple of months may have lowered my tolerance. We started with Limoncello and champagne cocktails, moved to G&Tees then hit a couple bottles of wine. Oh dear. Food was remarkable... stuffed lamb roast, rosemary potatoes and a cheeseplate that would make you blush.

The cool thing is I felt really in control cuz I had planned for this evening of (over)indulgence. I'm making choices all the time now that just don't involve: "oh look, something edible, better eat it".

Back to the grindstone tomorrow renewed and refreshed... and hopefully this hangover will be gone :)

day fiftyeight

Thought I'd be able to blog from Brad's ... and I certainly could have ... if it hadn't been for the great food and HUGE amounts of alcohol. I'll catch up with y'all tonight. And woot woot Colin

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day fiftyseven

A good night but certainly not as much fun. It looked like a complete washout then the folks started pilin' in and we were hoppin'
Didn't expect it to snow for as long as it did tonight but it sure was beautiful. The drive home was gorgeous... York Rd can be awful pretty :)

Not too much on the Project front tonight. Did have a minor NSV when a guest who doesn't know about the Project commented that I looked smaller. Not gonna lie - that felt pretty good.

Had an interesting conversation with a friend the other day that led me to a small epiphany. It was about taking the weight off slowly so that it wouldn't come back: was this causitive or correlative (sp?). I was undecided at the time but now I realize that the weight doesn't stay off just cause it took longer but because in that time I'm learning habits to make sure it stays off. Thanks RB, I got it now :)

Now I leave you with the immortal words of Billy Crystal "it's time for Oscar, Oscar, Oscar". Of course for that to work for you at all you'll need to imagine him singing that in one of his classic openings...

day fiftysix

Had a most excellent night at work. Sometimes it all just comes together : the right mix of staff, guests... it all works. This might be why I'm not tired at 3ish a.m. What I really ascribe the not tired to is the incredible energy I have these days. Well, these last fifty six days (not to put to fine a point on it!).

I know I've spoken of this before but I still can't get over it. If absolutely nothing else comes out of this project, the realization (and integration) of the notion that eating healthy gives you more energy will be totally worth it. I feel like I have more to give to every part of my life and that necessarily includes my job. Just being more present makes the whole endeavour way more enjoyable. I figure I'm lucky cuz I love what I do anyway... the energy to enjoy it reminds me why :)

One more close then OSCAR NIGHT!!! Will there be lambs with paper crowns? Will Colin win the Oscar he deserved last year? Who will wear what best? CAN'T WAIT.

day fiftyfive

Just came back from the most ridiculous amount of fun... bowling!! Spur of the moment-ish, random-ey and yet soooo fun. I highly recommend it. My MFP tells me that 60 minutes of bowling burns 245 calories. I'm not gonna lie... I totally feel it in my legs. I believe this is due to my exquisite form.

A very good today where I made the right choices not just about what to eat but when to eat. I knew the bowling was happening but wasn't sure of all the details. Usually I wouldn't bother to make sure I had a healthy filling lunch on the off chance dinner wasn't going to materialize. Today I did just that and really felt like I had my head in the game.

Two closes coming up... I think they'll be fun :) Then OSCAR NIGHT!!! Can't wait!

day fiftyfour

Got Friend Sara to the airport and last heard from I believe she's safe and sound in Jamaica.

Started the Jillian Michael's 30 day shred tonight. I'm not up on my fitness terms but I believe "shred" is the correct term. I do, in fact feel quite shredded although I think I may have the meaning of the word wrong :)

I love fruit... that's all, just an honest and open declaration of my love for all things fruit.

OK, I'll keep you in the loop re: the shred business. It will not replace my super favourite swimfit (yay water!!) but it's a handy thing to have on nights like tonight when lateness at work make me miss.

Every day a new day y'all !!

day fiftythree

Now where did this day go?

As uber veg as yesterday was, today was uber busy. Got up early for laundry... no, I have no idea either how I create so much laundry. Off to swimfit (awesome) then to the grocery store to buy for the dinner I was having this evening. It's my cousin's birthday tomorrow so I had her and mom in for dinner. I decided to cook beef stroganoff, so I took the time to make healthier choices. Trimmed all fat from the roast, used low sodium beef broth and egg noodles with no yolk. Also replaced sour cream with greek yogurt. Since it was a birthday theme, I found this great recipes for carrot cupcakes. Super low fat replacing the sugar with splenda. They were also very yummy. A good time was had by all !

Off to bed now cuz I'm getting up awfully early to drive friend Sara to the airport so she can fly to Jamaica and hang out with her husband.
Back to work tomorrow and need to come up with an M word :)

Keep on keepin' on...

day fiftytwo

Where did this day go?

Uber quiet veg day for me. Laundry, vacuuming, knitting, dog playing, dinner, walking and now it's past 11.
Absolutely nothing to talk about tonight. Looking forward to tomorrow cuz there was no swimfit today on account of the holiday.
I did try a new exercise dvd today and I'm not gonna lie... it confused the hell outta me. Figure I need to watch it a couple of times to get the moves down.

Ummmm, yeah. That's it for today: onward to tomorrow :)

day fiftyone

Seems the snow has returned with a vengeance... I don't imagine it'll stay long.

Full disclosure: I made it all the way to day 51without succumbing to crappy eating. Today was some crappy eating. I won't bore you with the gory details... suffice to say I actually had a pop for the first time. What makes me happy (and hopeful) about the CE day is that I don't feel like "I ruined everything" or "why do I have no willpower". I know it was a one off: hardly a blip on my radar. I'm ready to kick the stuffing out of next week and give 'er :)

Side note... Black Swan, really? But I had to see it and only have 2 more to get to for Sunday. For those of you unaware of my Oscar obsession, I'll tell you it's my Superbowl, 7th game of the Stanley Cup and Sunday at the Masters all rolled into one.

Alright my friends... heading into Monday and let's keep on keepin on !!

day fifty

Really... 50 days?? Seems impossible, but here it is :)

Did you see that moon tonight... faaaabulous!

I'm not a big one for motivational quotes (who am I kidding of course I am... I carry a quote from Robert Kennedy in my wallet "only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly") but I came across a quote from Winston Churchill today that really struck a chord:

Success is not final. Failure is not fatal: it's the courage to continue that counts.

Got me to thinking about how many of us on this journey  focus solely on success or failure. Good day or bad day, we've made the decision to continue and I agree: that's where the courage is. There is a tendency to focus on minutiae of food in, exercise out and to coin another phrase we end up not seeing the forest for the trees. We've made a decision to live healthier, not perfectly and I'm awfully proud of myself for making it fifty days and awfully proud of my comrades for soldiering on.

Y'know maybe Churchill was a good quote to find today... and the next time we "storm the beaches" we'll be in cute swimwear :)

day fortynine

What a spectacular spring preview for the last couple of days, eh? That said, when I went to work it was a balmy 8 degrees and sunny. My return home (2:30 a.m) was fraught with crazy high winds and blowing snow. I love it !!!

Not much to report tonight. Pretty quiet on the 50X50 front. Eating is going well, but as usual a big challenge with a couple of days off coming up. Also no Swimfit til Tues cuz of the holiday so looks like Vito gets the manic walks for a couple more days :)

Not stuck, just kind of floating in a warm bubble of contentment right now. Possibly cuz it's 3 a.m. and my body is asking if we can go to sleep soon. Yes, soon... soon.

day fortyeight

Well, this has been my week for lovely surprises. First there was cupid in my mailbox and tonight at swimfit an old friend showed up. Feels odd calling her an "old friend" cuz I've known her pretty much since she was as old as her daughter is now :) It really made my night... now if had just made swimfit easier...

Brittany the Beast decided to start with "arms" tonight. OK here's my point... I carry alot of weight around all day so of course my legs are ridiculously strong. My arms on the other hand: suffice to say that some days I find holding the blowdryer a bit of a chore. Oh dear God... so evil and painful. Must stop typing... hurts too, too much...

(yes, I am that much of a suck!)

day fortyseven

Look up... look way up. Yep, see that ticker up there? That's 9 lbs people. That means I am 1 lb away from 10 lbs and you know what happens then? Only 4 more 10 lbs to go :)

Another excellent today. Really did a whole lot of nothin', went to swimfit, and now I'm ready for a refreshing night's sleep and excited for work tomorrow. I'm not being disingenuous here... very excited that 2 days of work garners me 3 off... very woot woot.

Today I went to the mailbox and found a terrific surprise. Some super adorable person sent me a Valentine and signed it "Cupid". I can't tell you how that made my day.

Dear God... am I really this effin' upbeat?!

Yes, yes I am :)

day fortysix

What a glorious day today!!! All that sunshine... yippee. Had a wonderfully productive and rejuvenating day. Cleaned my poor house and did a couple loads of laundry. Yes, I actually found that fun :)

Managed to sneak in 2 waterfit classes and hope to do the same tomorrow. Also tomorrow wants to be a cooking day so I'm gonna try REAL HARD  to make that happen.

Got to do a fun thing tonight which was catch up with my friend who is also on the journey. Lots of chatting about this and that but one thing that stays with me is the idea that this process is somehow made a great deal easier this time cuz of all the support. Her for me, me for her, all kinds of people I can name. I think the important thing we've done this time is reach out for the support. Sometimes before, it felt like it was necessary to do this alone: it was all willpower and inner strength. Reaching out this time and asking people to help me is the smartest thing I could've done!!

Keep on, keepin' on my friends!!

day fortyfive

Ahhh... two glorious days stretched out in front of me. Wheeeeee !!! Now, one of those days needs to be filled with house work, laundry, etc. but I'm all good with that.

Happy Valentine's to y'all. I had a little chocolate hit (thank you Jeff) courtesy of a lovely box of Walker's chocolates. Two things here: if I'm gonna have a chockie I want it to be GOOD chockie. Also, it was gratifying to have 2 and call it a day. Yummers !!

One thing I'm definitely doing on my days off is heeding everybody's advice and doing some big cooking that I can portion and have when I need. Just so ya know, Casey came through with the vegetarian chili and it was MONSTER GOOD. Definitely gonna try to make that :)

Energy high, motivation high... looks like a good week :)

day fortyfour

Had a pretty enjoyable day celebrating Mom's birthday. Out for breakfast at Two Cougars and a Cafe, afternoon nap, dinner at mom's. I, of course, could have spent the entire day on the afternoon nap portion of the program but no such luck. One more work day then two off... yippee !!

Not too much to report. Tried on all my slightly snug golf shirts and they all fit, so that made me smile. The cool thing is when they fit better now, I just get to thinkin' what about next month, or next month... Hee hee hee. I don't even get depressed when the stuff I hope will fit (I'm talking to you Canada hoodie) doesn't cuz I know soon enough it will.

Alright, marching on into another week. I foresee cooking... lots of cooking :)

day fortythree

I'm posting early tonight cuz if there is a loving and merciful Supreme Being, I will be asleep in about a half hour.

I've been reading a little on the effects of calcium on the weight loss progress of "women of a certain age". Turns out it's a handy thing, this calcium. On my MFP site I track the usuals: calories, fibre, fat and sugar but I also track calcium cuz I fear I don't get enough. Wading through my food journals the evidence is clear... nowhere near enough. Remember when we were kids and a jug of milk lasted maybe a day in the house? I had milk at every meal and sometimes just for fun. Now if I drink milk my esophagus closes and it is altogether unpleasant. I know I can get calcium from other sources, but somehow it's still not enough.  So I've decided to take a calcium supplement. They come in these nifty chews.

I'll keep you posted but in the meantime the next time you see me I may have a lovely shiny coat... ummm... I mean, strong bones and teeth :)

day fortytwo

I am all kindsa tired tonight. Better day at work, really just plain old fun again :)

Pretty good food-wise but I'm trying to up the exercise quotient. Played around a bit with some kettlebell workout and I got an idea in my head that I might use a Wii fit or some X-Box Kinect action. Seems like one could be picked up fairly cheap ... holla if you love kijiji !! Anyway, that's just something floating around in my brain pan. Not a fully formed plan yet, but if anybody has any experience with these things please feel free to advise.

One more day then I have a day off... woot woot is all I can say about that :)
Keep on keepin' on y'all

day fortyone

The universe has a funny way of getting your attention sometimes. So yesterday I wrote that work kicked my ass. Apparently the universe read that and said, "listen sister... you have not SEEN ass kicking". Today I took an ass kicking of biblical proportions. *Yipes* Yes, there was crying.
Then Sara texted to say she would not be able to Waterfit tonight due to work. Hmmmm... what to do, what to do... curl up in the fetal position on my couch or head to waterfit anyway. I knew it would be a session with Brittany the Beast so I admit to a bit of waffling.

Enough suspense... not only did I go to waterfit but I stopped at Curves beforehand to see about maybe starting their circuit training. OH YEAH UNIVERSE - you're not going to beat me that easily !!!

On a side note - does it bug anybody else that Curves isn't open on Sunday cuz the corporate head office thinks Sunday should remain as "a family day" ? Just sayin'...

day forty

Well, work certainly kicked my ass today. It would have been much easier to come home and curl up, so I'm pretty proud that I made it to waterfit.

Thanks to all with the food tips: very sensible and Casey... I'm waiting on that chili!! I think I misspoke a bit tho. Cooking is certainly a challenge for me, but the problem some nights is I'm not getting home from Waterfit til 930 and for me that's just to late to take in dinner size food. I'm going to have to be better prepared on the nights I know I'll be home late and make sure I get my dinner in a bit earlier. I hadn't planned for that this week and found myself going without an evening meal which I'm trying to avoid.

I will say that this trying week work wise (... really ? urinals falling off the wall ? really?) is made a great deal easier by having better energy. That said I'm off to bed cuz tomorrow is simply more of today...

day thirtynine

Not much tonight...

Just cruisin' along and enjoying the ride. I really am looking forward to golf season this year cuz I find the waterfit is helping with all kinds of flexibility. Surely that can only help! We're going to try another waterfit class tomorrow night (Dalewood) cuz we're finding the Bennetto class too easy. Never thought I'd think that when we started.
Water consumption on track but having a harder time with the home cooking. This week I'm rushing home from work, letting the dog out, jetting to waterfit then getting home by 930 when cooking is certainly not on the agenda. Ah well, something to work on :)

See ya tomorrow...

day thirtyeight

My wish for tonight. I wish that all of my friends could see themselves through my eyes for just a day.

A huge thing I've learned during this undertaking is that for all the worrying about calories and workouts and carbs and "ose" endings and emotional eating... could the list be any longer... for all that, it's the simplest word from a friend that pushes me forward. And not just the encouragement from others but the knowledge that I'm helping them on their journey. The friend who notices my jeans and takes the time to tell me, the one who shows up for swimming even tho her life is so full right now, staying home would be easier, the one who shines a new light on the process with her own diligent and insightful blog. These people blow my mind and keep me on track.

I wish all these people, when faced with their own challenges just tried to be "Cath" for a minute and realize how tremendous they all are.
If they could do that they'd see a remarkable group of people: strong, talented, loving, supportive, funny... a really great crew!

day thirtyseven

A little late tonight due to Superbowl. I had a most excellent time with some most excellent friends!

Another week wraps up and I feel like I ended on the upswing. I'm really enjoying myself and this journey to me. I love feeling healthier, more energetic and really... more involved in my own life. It's the difference between being proactive and reactive, I suppose. The further along I go the stronger I feel: like why would I stop now when I've put in thirty seven hard days. Imagine how I'll feel at forty seven days, or eighty seven. Hopefully exactly the same.

Heading into another week I pledge to myself to keep up the water (altho I thought I'd drown tonight), and also pick up the cooking pace. I got this!!

day thirtysix

A most excellent "good today".
I got my motivational mojo back and all it took was a pair of jeans. We all have them... the jeans that had to go out of rotation because we "grew out of them". For the record I have 3 such pair of  jeans ... WAIT... that should read TWO such pair of jeans.

Yep, I've been feeling a bit melancholy over my perceived lack of progress (the perception being all my own, you understand). The crazy thing was that every morning I'd get up feeling really great, like my body was actually starting to change. So this a.m. I get up, shower and start to dress for work. Underwear on and I think "what if... surely not...well it can't hurt to try". So out come the benched jeans and lo and behold the little buggers fit. That's what I'M talkin' bout... FIT. Didn't that just put a shine on the apple of my day :)

So... a "good today" for which I am thankful and here's to a "good today" tomorrow !

day thirtyfive

Not too much today. I'm mildly put out cuz I have a stye on my right eyelid. I'm doing the teabag thingamajig but every time I blink it feels like somebody punched me. Small annoyances...

Felt ridiculously good today energy-wise and I'm kinda getting what the exercise junkies talk about cuz I missed swimming today. I think I physically missed it. Odd. I've often said that if money was no object I'd TOTALLY have a lap pool in my basement. The dream lives on.

If I'm falling down in one area it's my water consumption. I mean I was going gangbusters at the start but have steadily declined. It's easier to drink water at work... I guess I think of it more often, so there... just like that I've found another challenge - water water water :)

day thirtyfour

What a stunner of a day today. I always think the gorgeous sunny day that follows a big snowstorm is a reward... and Vito and I claimed it today :)

As hoped I managed to get in 2 waterfit classes today. By the end of the second one I was definitely draggin' but laughing with Sara kept me going. The next challenge is my upcoming schedule. I want to be motivated enough to go in the evenings after work. That seems like a simple goal sitting here at my keyboard but we'll see how I've done 10 days from now.

I belatedly realized I'd forgotten to post my weight loss yesterday. I'm sure there's some psychological underpinnings cuz the truth is I didn't lose this week. Stuck at 5 lbs. Didn't go up - so yea for me- but oh well I'll just keep at it...

I close tonight with a tiny shout out... I think computer nerds are good for all kinds of things...

day thirtythree

And what a delightful Groundhog Day it was !!

Luckily I had to do two fairly strenuous bouts of shovelling today cuz the pool was shut due to the weather. I'm hoping to double up tomorrow and do sessions with my two fave swimmies (one at Pinky Lewis and one at Ryerson).

That business about turning my brain on again... not so much.

I need to blather on a bit more about the fab app on my phone. It's called My Fitness Pal and I'm lovin' it. It does so much work for me and all I have to do is remember to input all my food and exercise. The database on the thing is NUTS. It has something like 10000 items all set out with nutritional info. Brand names, home made... it's crazy. So it tells me I have x number of calories left for the day, minuses each food item then credits me with exercise calories burned to get a net number. Everybody says it's really important to track your food and this makes it super simple. Are you getting that I love it ? :)

Looking forward to taking Vito out for some snow surfing tomorrow... his favourite past time after swimming and sleeping. I had a good today.

day thirtytwo

What I'm currently wondering is how many calories I just burned from the white knuckle drive home from St. Catharine's. Yipes... pretty much every muscle in my body was clenched so I'm pretty sure it was a quality work out. Home and safe now but not looking forward to the drive to work tomorrow.

It's great when your friends support your endeavours. Brad made ridiculously good mussels with my Project in mind and they were yummers. By the time he evilly brought out the 4 layer nachos I was full enough and wasn't really tempted.

On the Oscar front I am 7 down and 3 to go.

I think I made it through my "unstructured" time pretty well. Sleep now, shovel tomorrow :)
Happy snow day everybody!!!