Everybody's Workin For the Weekend

...so why does it have to go so fast?

Well I started off my Friday with one of my favorite treats. I say TREAT because it was starbucks-- it's probably not good for me at all, and also probably a big waste of $$, so I am trying to only have it ONCE a week. Here I am, enjoying my tall, iced, 1/2 sugar free vanilla, 1/2 sugar free caramel, soy latte! (I know, can you say complicated?!? I never intended to be a coffee snob, i swear. But when you live in the Seattle area, it just becomes a part of you...)

Friday night was girl's night at my friend Colleen's house. She made chocolate chip cookies and we watched All About Steve. NSV- I ate ONE cookie, although the things were freaking DELICIOUS. Luckily I had prepped myself before I left with a nice, healthy dinner!

On Saturday morning I decided to try another recipe from HG's 200 under 200 cookbook. I tried the "chocolate chip mini pancakes."

Here is my PRE creation:
And the final product:Ok. Notice anything? This is the ENTIRE batters worth of pancakes. You are supposedly supposed to get "four mini pancakes" out of this recipe. The TWO you are looking at are probably the size of the top of a glass--pretty small if you ask me. (they are on an appetizer plate above)

My opinion? Eh. First of all, this would not really fill me up. There's oatmeal in it, which kind of makes it kind of dry tasting. It did however fulfill a chocolate craving. But I'm not sure I'll be making this again.

While I was making the pancakes, Kellen had a little to much fun with my camera. I had literally just rolled out of bed and done NOTHING to look decent...thanks, hun!Check out the flour on my shirt, I am a MESSY cook! haha

After BFAST, my friend Olivia and I headed to the Healthy Living Expo in our local town. I was SUPER excited cause I thought I might get to talk to some local dietitians and possibly do some "networking." Well, unfortunately we didn't see any dietitians there...but we did get a chance to check out some other cool stuff! We even got a free pass to check out a "Power Pump" class at the local gym.

Olivia and I then headed out on a walk/hike nearby. Gotta love the pacific northwest since there are tons of beautiful forest paths/places to hike around here. It was a great workout, but I had forgot my camera :(

That night we made Spaghetti Carbonara at their house. Healthy? I think not. Did I have workings in my mind of how to MAKE it lower calories? Of course! (You know I did, Olivia!)

The original recipe called for:
-spaghetti
-1/2 cup half and half
-3 eggs
-1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
-8 slices of bacon

It was delicous, but at 681 cals a pop, this dish is going to HAVE to be renovated to make it as one my regular recipes!

and here is what my mind is thinking:
-whole wheat spaghetti
-egg whites
-low fat Parmesan cheese (does this exist?)
-fat free half and half
-Turkey bacon and/or replacing the bacon with chicken

I'm excited to try this out maybe this week sometime. We also had a super yummy raspberry spinach salad with it.

We wrapped up the night with some homemade caramel popcorn. Now, I am not even going to TRY to think about how many calories this was (honestly, probably an entire days worth). But after three months of eating healthy, this was definitely a treat that I used a "get out of jail free" card on. It was SOOOOO good!

It's Sunday. Our day of rest. I've been listening to Oprah's "Better Life" webcast series and doing the dishes...all day. Is it weird to say cleaning is becoming therapeutic? Yikes...who am i?!

Dear Dog Owners,

I really do not appreciate when you completley disregard the "Keep Your Pets on a Leash" sign. It is common sense that when you are in a public place, you should keep your dog on a freakin' leash. Hello, there may be small children around. I have a very excitable husky puppy who would love nothing more than to distract me from my vigorous running workout by pulling me towards your unleashed dog. PLEASE make things easier for me and keep your dog on a leash, so I can continue my run around the path instead of having to cut through the middle of the park just to avoid you. You are being very inconsiderate and rude.

A frustrated member of your community,

Nicole

A fish out of water?!?

Last night I went swimming at my local community pool for the first time. It was lap swimming. When I headed out I thought to myself...well this will be fun! I used to LOVE swimming as a kid! It will be easy!!

WRONG.

OMG! Have you ever tried swimming laps before? It is definitely an ALL body workout...to say the least. I think I only made it through about 10 or so laps before I decided to call it quits.

However, I DO want to do it again sometime. Maybe not at this pool, because it's super small and 5 people were sharing one lane! (I know, it was awkward and we were all squished).

No pictures today as I have been LACKING on my picture taking. Better get to it ASAP!!

I am the Tortoise.

This post will definitely not be as interesting as some of my last couple posts, but it's needed.

I'm kind of worried. On Saturday I ran 28 minutes for my C25k program. I was really proud of myself for making it that far...until I measured my distance. I ran only 2 miles in 28 minutes! That is 14 minutes miles! AHHHH

I'm kind of embarrassed to even admit that. At that rate, my MINIMUM time at the 5k I am doing in March will be 42 minutes. I was shooting for anything below 40, but 42 would be kind of embarrassing. I feel like most people walk faster than I "run"

Not really sure what to do about this, as I have TRIED to run faster, but I just can't last that long going at a faster speed. I should be finishing my c25k program within the next two weeks, and then I will focus on speed I think.

In other news, I drank an "ogre" or "green monster" for breakfast this morning:
This one was inspired my Kristen @ Change of Pace
It had peanut butter, banana, soy milk and spinach. Sounds gross but you can't even taste the spinach- its like a peanut butter milkshake! I didn't use any protein because I don't have any, but I might pick some up from the grocery store this weekend.

I don't feel like moving this morning at all. I woke up way too late and am just feeling lazy. GRR!

Tag! You're it!

So how many of you have have ever been "tagged" in a facebook photo??

How many of you have cringed at that picture??! I'm guessing a lot! I know I have. Out of all the photos on facebook that have been "tagged" of me, I rarely see one that I'd like to "write home about." Usually the process goes like this:

You see in your email that so and so has tagged you. You hurriedly rush over to facebook to see the picture. You cringe a little bit and quickly untag yourself, but the damage is already done. You know all your friends have seen the picture. And beside, even if your not tagged, the picture is STILL up on facebook for all the world to see.

Here are a few pictures that would describe this series of events for you...my all time worse "tagged" photos!

Here I am at my friends wedding about 1 1/2 years ago. (I'm on the left with the open mouth) (PS- why do cute girls always look ADORABLE in "silly" pictures and I always look like a freak?!)
This one was taken last summer. Me on right. And this one's the kicker for me. This is me at a parade last May in my town. They had a 5k run that morning that I thought about doing. And by thought, I mean "huh...that would be nice...where's my breakfast!?" haha.
Well all I have to say is NO MORE, blogger friends, NO MORE! Today I experienced a FACEBOOK REVELATION--it went a little something like this:

I logged onto my email. "Laura has tagged you in a picture" I read. I rushed to FB. I opened it....and guess what I thought?!

WOW, I AM SKINNY!

And just because I like to celebrate myself and I know you all are the supportive bunch...here it is!

(That's me on the left boogying down) (teal shirt)(photo taken on last Friday night)
Yes, i have a slight double chin. Yes, I have a few visible fat rolls. But DARN IT, I LOOK GOOD!

Ok, I'm off my bragging box. Just thought I would share a little moment that made me happy. And let's be honest, how many people really ever feel that way when they are "tagged"???

What's holding you back?

This morning I have a confession to make. It may be holding me back and it may be hindering my weight loss progress- so it's time to confess.

I don't measure my tablespoons!!
*please disregard me in my bathrobe here...
THERE! I did it. I Confessed. I really have no idea why I am having a hard time letting go of this. I am telling you now, the problem is mostly with peanut butter (which I eat quite a lot of). How many EXTRA calories have I consumed because I continue to deny this one important step?!!?

Luckily, I am taking steps forward. Last week I purchased a food journal to record what I'm eating. I was previously using sparkpeople, but found it hard because I couldn't be at a computer 24/7. I just carry this around in my purse and record the food right when I'm eating it!
Using this journal, I'm going to try and crack down on this measuring problem. I certainly don't want to have "1 tablespoon of PB" written down when it was actually 2 1/2!!

With every thing I need to work on, I like to point out something I do well too.
I've been having fun pre-portioning things. Although I have problems with tablespoon measuring, I still like to pre make food for the week and divide it into small portions for grab n' go!

Here's a pic of my pre-portioned hummus and brown rice:
Another kudo to me is that I am trying to be blantantly honest in this journal. So far, I have written down ALL calories (even guessing at my TWO sweet and junk food splurges this weekend). I am hoping to look back and see trends in my eating, and then use this information to change for good.That day was a bad one! (P.S.- taco bell diet- SO not worth it!)
(also I probably underestimated my calories for some of the unknowns...don't judge people!)

I am working through this tablespoon problem and hope to conquer it ASAP.

What little faux pas might be holding you back??

Weigh in Week 12: HALFWAY THERE!!

OMG OMG OMG! Today I weighed in at 20 pounds down! HALFWAY, BABY!

What else does this mean?

*I have lost 10% of my initial body weight
*I weigh LESS than my skinny-bean husband (he laughed yesterday when I finally admitted this has been one of my goals)
*I got to try on my MOTIVATION JEANS this morning! WAhoo!

I was ECSTATIC to try on my pile of jeans this morning, can't you tell?!Some of them would zip...and others wouldn't. But THAT"S OK!

I scored TWO pair of jeans this morning. I am happy with that. The rest of my ginormous pile will be put away to try on in another 5 pounds at 179.

BTW, here's my booty in one of my new pairs:I am super excited and pretty dang proud of myself. I by no means consider myself an inspiration (yet!) but I thought I would share with you guys some of my most favorite weight loss tips that I've discovered so far that work for me!

- Eat often. I eat 5-6 small meals (100-300 calorie) meals a day. I have very rarely been hungry in the last 3 months.
- Don't deny your cravings. I haven't denied myself anything on this journey so far, I've just done either one of the following:
-find a lower calorie replacement
-eat a smaller portion really slowly, then fill up on
something else healthy!
- Exercise: start slow! I still don't even excercise a crazy amount. In fact, I do the opposite of what most people say....I DON'T set a rigid schedule! I really just try to do it every day, and if it doesn't happen, OH WELL. I don't feel so pressured that I just want to give up!
- Stay focused- read blogs, read books, magazines, talk about it often. I would say this is a healthy obsession. You need to start teaching your mind and body that this a life time change, not just a quick fix.

I can't wait to get to leave this weight decade. I'm pushing forward and am so excited to share this journey with you all. We can do this!!

Check out this awesome...

giveaway! By the hilariously honest JewliaGoulia- she's awesome! Check it out!

My Weekend with the Hubs and the Cone Head

Well this weekend has been pretty fun! I've been starting out my mornings with a cup of coconut tea. Since I don't have an infuser, my lovely husband helped me invent something in it's place--its a coffee filter held in place by a refrigerator clip! Genius! This was made using my adorable tea kettle from Target that I received from my wedding. Between hot coco and tea, it gets a lot of use around here:

As for my exciting Friday night, it started off with a pampered chef party at my friend Hollie's house. I asked Kellen to take a picture of me before I left, and apparently the cone head (aka Chloe) wanted in on it as well!I decided to make the best of it...for her sake!
I had to jet right when I got home so kellen had to make dinner for himself...*dun dun dun* (que horror music now!)
Here is a pic of his spicy pork and rice creation:
And the verdict is.....
Sexy and delicious, apparently! Haha

It was mine and kellen's "dating anniversary" on friday. Who says you have to only celebrate wedding anniversaries when you get married? We've been together for 5 years!!
This is us four years ago. I love him!!

In health news...I am excited for my weigh in tomorrow. I went running on Saturday and set a new running record: 28 minutes straight. I'll be updating later this week on my running. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Feeling QUEASY

Ugh...I am pretty sure I just accidentally took my multivitamin twice. This is definitely not good considering one already makes me feel nauseous. I hope this feeling passes SOON because it's almost Friday night!!

Poor, Poor Puppy!

Well my ChloeBear came home from the vet today and is just so, so sad. She is forced to wear a cone when she goes outside and she has little bags on her feet over her bandages (they removed her duclaws). She looks like a bit of a wreck and is acting like it too. Here are some shots I got of her moping about:This one is not such great quality, but I took it through our back window. She was SO sad to be wearing the cone that she literally sat there and stared at the back door for about ten minutes looking up at me."I feel trapped!!"This is my purse that I've been using lately. I pack it full of yummy snacks for the day and also my resistance bands in case I get a chance while the little girl I watch is sleeping to get some exercise in. I really wonder if her parents might be a little worried as to what was in my purse if they ever saw them in there, but they've never said anything! haha

Today I snuck one of these bad boys from my nanny family's pantry. I checked the label and almost had a heart attack. ONE OREO is 53 calories!!
Yikes! I don't think I will be splurging on this treat again anytime soon.One tasty treat I didn't feel guilty about today was this organic unsweetened applesauce. I LOVE this stuff, and at only 50 calories a pop, it is less than one oreo...and good for you!Dinner was literally thrown together tonight. I had no recipe and wanted to give as little effort as possible. Plus we are running SUPER low on groceries. So here is my creation:

Don't be TOO impressed- it was really not as good as it looks :( It consisted of whole wheat pasta, cut up chicken breast, onion, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, white wine, feta, and various seasonings.

Unfortunately, no work out today. Between running Chloe to the vet and other household chores, I couldn't do it. And I was disappointed today to hear that Chloe can't exercise with me for at least a couple of weeks :( I need my running buddy!

Now I am just blogging while the hubs watches the U of WA basketball game and the pup catches some Z's. I'm ready to hit the bed myself.

Photo Diary Begins!

This morning I had to drop my little ChloeBear off at the vet:

She is getting fixed! I'm kind of hoping this will calm her down just a bit...but we will see...haha. Plus I can't wait to take pics of her with one of those big cones on her head!

Yesterday I went to my MIL's to get some coconut tea:It smells AMAZING! Exactly like coconut. Just add a little milk and sugar and it's a dessert all in itself. YUM!

I also picked up these babies on sale at wal-mart yesterday:They are Women's One A Day Multivitamins. I have been feeling REALLY tired lately and I've always known that the iron in multivitamins really gives me that extra boost I need. Unfortunately, my giant costco bottle has been expired for a while, so I decided to pick these up! So far they are ok, but I've gotten kind of quesy from them :( I'm going to give it a couple of weeks and see if my body gets used to them!

I wrapped up my night with my all time favorite snack:So you may be wondering..."Nicole, what's up with all the pics all of the sudden??" Well...I am from now on trying to make more of an effort to upload pics from my everyday life for you all!

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

People ARE noticing!!

I have to admit that I have been WAITING for the day that I could write this post. Please do not take this as "bragging"-if anything I want this post to be an encouragement to you all that you CAN do this and that people WILL notice and it feels wonderful.

The comments began about two weeks ago. It started with people who already knew that I was working on losing weight....my mom, my grandma, my dad. I was super happy that they were noticing, but I also just thought to myself that they were trying to be "secretly" encouraging and that they really couldn't tell too much.

Then my husband started his comments this last weekend. He even said something along the lines of "WOW, it's amazing how much you can change in just two months!!" This made me uberly happy.

Then this weekend, I went to a service at church that I hadn't been to in a while! I saw my sister in law there and she said to me: "You look like you have lost a TON of weight!" (she's 15 so not the most careful with her words haha). Anyway, I didn't care, it made me really happy. I told Kellen what she said and he asked me what I said back, which was "Oh yeah, I've lost a bit." At this he said "Nicole, a bit?! You need to be proud and tell everyone you have lost almost 20 pounds!!"

:)

Then today. After trying on some more pants that were in the back of my drawer I found (3 more pairs that fit!) I met up with one of my best buds at starbucks. The first thing she said (even though she sees me like every other day) is "OK, you look visibly skinnier today. Like really!"

I don't know what it is, but it's almost like within the last week my body must have gone through some transformation as everyone seems to be noticing all of the sudden....I have to admit...it feels pretty darn good!

You can ALL do this!! I am so proud of all my blogger friends that are working hard. You are all such great inspirations!

Weigh In Week 11: Party at 7:17!

Ok, I'm about to admit to you all that I am a giant dork...and here's why:

When I was a little girl my favorite number was 17. This was mainly because my birthday is March 17th and also because it was my favorite channel on television, Nickolodeon, hello! (Told you I was a dork).

Ok, here is the dorkiest thing about it. I also really liked the time "7:17" because of this. Everytime I saw this time on the clock, it was like my own individual little "party time" and I would do a little 7:17 dance. I still to this day get a little happy when I see this time on the clock.

SO why am I admitting this geekiness to you all??!! Well I will tell you...I've been thinking about my Monday weigh in post for a couple of days now, and fully expected to see my FAVE numero as my weight loss today. But guess what?!?! I LOST 18 as of today!

Oh well, I was still doing my 7:17 dance this morning on the scale. And I'm so happy with myself, I think I might just celebrate on 8:18 this week too!

Life Eating

random: Can I just say that even more amusing than a funny movie (think Chris Farley) is watching my husband watch it?! He is literally cracking up right now. So funny!

This weekend has been pretty decent so far!

Kellen and I headed to Chinese food for dinner on friday night. This is the first time I had had this since starting to eat healthy. I ordered the broccoli and chicken and made sure to only eat until I was full. I felt I did well (other than a bit of a cheat on a not so healthy egg roll! I couldn't resist!)

Yesterday was just weird eating wise, as it always seems to be on saturday since there is just no way on knowing what we will be doing/eating. We ended up eating at home for breakfast, then having a late lunch/dinner at Central Market.

You may not have ever heard of Central Market because I think it's actually a one in only in my area (I think there may be one in Texas but it is not related). Anyway, this store is AMAZING! I love it! It's like a giant organic/health food store with a hot food bar, salad bar, coffee, homemade pizza, etc. They have tables set up inside so you can buy your food and eat there.

Needless to say, they had some KILLER Indian food in the hot bar yesterday and I couldn't resist. I have absolutely NO idea how much Indian food is in calories, so I REALLY tried to watch my portions. I am proud of myself because this is life eating...sometimes you just won't know the calorie count!

That night we headed to our friend's house to play Settler's of Catan and hang out. I picked up some Pop Chips to eat as a snack there. This is not an official review of the product...but I really didn't like them! They were kinda airy and almost rice cake tasting. I feel like there are better replacements for regular potato chips!

We checked out their wedding pictures at their house last night (they got married in July this last summer). I kind of cringed when I saw some of the pictures....they will definitely serve as great "before" pics when I feel that I am at that point to show you all. For now I will just show you one that I am semi-unhappy with:

This is taken with the grooms sister, another of my good friends:

I wanted to share something that made me really happy yesterday! I was at home with my workout gear on ready to go running...and my hubby said "WOW! You look skinny!" This may not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but Kellen is not always the best on noticing my efforts to transform my body and to finally have him say something felt pretty darn good!

A Big Pile of Motivation!

I've been waiting to do this post since I got back from visiting my mom in Seattle in December JUST so I could post this pretty picture! :) What is that, you say? Well, I am very happy to say that my mother "took pity on me" and my measly wardrobe and donated a bunch of pants that I could have. Luckily my mom is one of those "hip" ones and buys her pants at really super nice stores (like nordstrom's). HA! I usually won't spend more than 20 bucks on my jeans (hence the reason I only have like 2 pairs). Anyway, she donated all of these "gently used" jeans to my wardrobe! WOOHOO! The catch?!? THEY DON'T FIT! But that's ok! They are mostly size 12 and 14. I have made a vow with myself that I won't try again until I am 20 pounds down. This is pretty big motivation to get my booty in gear so I can show it off in these new cute jeans!

If you like laughing at dog's eating peanut butter...

You should check out my other blog!

http://rebelphotolove.blogspot.com/

I think it's kinda funny :0)

A Spiteful Attitude

Today I read a post by Tiff @ Project 365 that inspired me to start thinking of reasons why I have let myself "go"- in a sense.

I have always struggled with thoughts on wanting to lose weight. I can remember these from when I was a little girl. I remember countless nights in high school where I literally could not sleep because all I could think about was how fat I thought I was.

Out of love, my mother and grandmother have always tried to "encourage" me to lose weight. I know this was out of love because they themselves knew what it was to struggle with this. My mom got Thyroid disease when I was young, and never seemed to be able to get the weight off. Finally in 2007, she had the lap band surgery, and today she is 80 pounds less than when she went in.

I have also had friends who have tried to "encourage" me to lose weight. One friend in particular was similar in size to me, but because of what I see as emotional abuse and pressure from her own mother, finally lost probably close to 50 pounds. After this, our relationship changed. She even wrote a blog entry about how she had had a dream about me and that she "didn't even recognize me because I had lost so much weight and I looked so good."

Another person to mention in this story is my sister in law. At the same exact height as me, she weighs around 70 pounds less than I do. Weight, for some reason, is something that has come up in our conversations often. If any of you have talked to someone who has really NEVER struggled with their weight or knows nothing about it first hand, you may know how frustrating it is to talk with that person about this subject. They always act like "Oh, just do it! It's so easy"

All of these people were, in a sense, trying to help me with my struggle. But they didn't. In fact, I would say looking back on the conversations I've had with them, much them are just painful memories that made me slip into even more of a depression over something I felt like I couldn't handle.

Other times that I have attempted to start a weight loss program have all failed. I know now that in my head I almost wanted to "spite" these people for even thinking I needed to lose weight...so I went in the opposite direction. I made a conscious decision to overeat, almost as if to say "HA! there! I KNOW what's best for me, not you!" And because of this, I always fell off my weight loss bandwagon, ending up overeating, and feeling even crappier than before I started.

I'm not sure if this kind of thinking even makes sense to anyone else. I just wanted them to realize that no matter how many "encouraging" words they may tell me, it all just equated in my mind to "YOU'RE FAT, get off your lazy butt and do something about it!" Then, when I over ate, it was like me saying back "NO, i can do what I want! (insert tongue hear)"

I now realize this thinking is well...absolutely ridiculous. The only person I was really harming in the end was myself. But I also realize now that the decision to lose weight and change my life couldn't have come from anyone else but myself. I am pretty sure that if the entire world would have told me I was fat it wouldn't have motivated me to change. I don't know why that lightbulb clicked inside myself, but i am sure glad it did.

Umm excuse me life....can't you see I NEED TO EXCERCISE!

Life is really being a giant buttface lately. Or maybe I am just being a lazy one.

We'll go with the first option. Because of scheduling conflicts and a never ending downpour of rain, I haven't been running since Friday.

The scale is sticking.....the dog is anxious....and I'm going stir crazy. All these evil thoughts keep popping into my head like "OH you're not a real runner anyway, and this 5 day break is just the beginning of a downhill battle with exercise!"

Agh. I also keep feeling like if I go to long without it, I will "lose" the endurance I have already built. Can any runners weigh in on this one?? (i know it's only been 5 days but I'm freaking out here!)

My husband sometimes plays soccer with a guy we call the "WAWA" player (prounounced like a kid crying). He always fakes injuries and does these massive rolling falls on the ground so the referee's will call a foul on the other team.

I kind of feel like a WAWA player right now. I just want the ref to call a foul on life for me right about now.