trying to stay optimistic...

Today has the possibility of being a bad day...if I let it.  1. I think I'm getting a migraine and I don't have any imitrex with me.  2. I'm almost positive I lost $40, I've looked everywhere and I can't find it.  3. It's a rainy, snowy, sleety mess outside and I didn't bring boots.  4. I just went through my mail and there's lots of bills in there, a bill day is always a bad day.  But like I said, hopefully if I stay positive it won't get the best of me.  Although a migraine is probably the one thing I can't overcome with positive thinking...


Tuesday was a new day.  I finally woke up feeling rested.  I finished off the last of the bacon & sandwich thins making my breakfast = 299 calories.  I also had a glass of Trop 50 = 50 calories.  I really enjoy orange juice and used to have a glass every morning, then the trainer that teaches kickboxing told me limit my intake because it's high calorie.  I was pretty bummed about it until Joe found me Trop 50, not only is it half the calories of regular oj but I personally like the flavor & consistency better.  It's a little more expensive then the regular so we don't always have it in fridge but Joe makes sure to pick some up whenever it's on sale.

The construction is starting on our office so things are getting a little hectic.  People's desks are being moved all over the place so the dynamic is a little different because cube mates aren't as close by.  We've all started communicating more by text.  Take for instance this picture message I got from Jocelyn while she was unpacking her stuff upstairs, it's her Medline barbie wearing the mini sombrero I brought back from our trip to Mexico.  We've been affectionately referring to her as illegal immigrant barbie.

I really wasn't in the mood for my yogurt & fruit at lunch time so I had a 3/4 of a leftover turkey & cheese sandwich from our luncheon the day before with my 100 calories chips ahoy cookies = 320 calories.  I also finished off the gummy worms in my cabinet = 130 calories.

Angela & I had plans to do a 3 mile training run after work, I was hoping to run on the bike path since it was close to 40 degrees out!  I wasn't sure if Amanda & I were meeting up or not, our workout schedules have gotten all messed up because of the changes at the gym.  I got a text from her as I was leaving work that she was planning on doing 45 minutes in Ventnor with a couple of her friends.  I get a little nervous about running with people I don't know because I'm not really about speed and I hate feeling like I'm holding anyone back.  Anyway, Angela & I walked down to the bike path for optimal calorie burn, ran a mile & a half up to Linwood ballpark then turned around and headed back.  Apparently when we turned around I hit pause on my sportypal application because when we got to the end and I went to check our time is was still paused on 1.5 miles!  Luckily, I remembered that we started at 5:50 so stopping at 6:22 made for a 32 minute run which is about a 10.7 minute mile, pretty good!  We discussed dinner options on our walk back, Rob coaches wrestling on Tuesday & Thursday so Angela is always game for dinner those nights.  Plus Joe was at the Flyers game with John using the tickets I got him for xmas.  Here's a picture he sent me from the game.  I had hoped the seats would be closer to the ice but he assured me they were plenty good enough.

I know I said I was going to eat at home all week and technically I did eat at home, we just ordered in.  I'm not sure why but I'm just really not feeling like cooking lately and Angela really like the chinese place we order from so it wasn't hard to twist her arm.  I had my usual, chicken with broccoli, cheese wontons, egg roll & fortune cookie = 681 calories

We hung out for a little while watching tv and whining about various weight loss issues.  If there was anyone else around they probably would have told us to shut up about it already.  We parted ways around 8 and I headed up to bed around 9, I'm such a party animal lately.

How did I do on my January goals?

1. drink 64oz of water every day: check, every day total

2. track all my food & burn at least 500 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2385 burned -1480 eaten = 905 total burned, 19 days total

3. 1000 fitness minutes, not allowed to count walking at the restaurant: 50 minutes today, 737 total for month

4. run 20 miles: 3 today, 24.6 total

5. 15 spend free days - I bought a jewelry cleaner, underwear & dinner, 7 days total

My jewelry is really dirty and scrubbing at it with that little brush isn't working very well.  This cleaner has great reviews, so fingers crossed I'll be sparkling like new in no time.

Don't Worry Be Happy

I've been sitting here for a while trying to think of a clever post title and opening paragraph but nothing is coming to me.  Things are fine, I just don't have anything to celebrate or complain about.  It's definitely not a bad thing, I'm extremely happy with how my career is looking, Joe and I are happy, my bills are getting paid, my arms are sore from group power last night...things are good...and with that, Monday's recap...

Well, going to bed at 10 on Sunday night didn't do much to battle my exhaustion from the previous long but fun week & weekend.  I really did not want to get out of bed and ready for work, Joe suggested I call out sick since he already had the day off, he's such a great support & motivator, lol.  But I persevered, made it out of the super bed & into the shower.  While I was getting ready Joe went downstairs to make me breakfast!  I came down to find him slaving over the stove.

He made me a 2 egg omelet with precooked bacon, a laughing cow cheese wedge & sliced tomato = 269 calories. 

The morning flew by at work.  We were having a luncheon to celebrate my director winning a customer service award and to kick off construction on our office.  That's right, I'll have an office when it's all said & done; only a year and a half later then promised, lol.  They brought in sandwich trays from a local breakfast/lunch shop. 

I had a chocolate chip cookie, 1/2 a turkey & cheese on rye and 1/2 a ham & cheese on a kaiser = 383 calories

Unfortunately, I had to eat & run because I was supposed to be in a meeting from 12-1:30 at another location.  The meeting was informative and I got to see some of my favorite people from throughout the organization.  When I returned from my meeting I was greeted by a goodie bag from the construction kick off, it wasn't a total surprise, I worked with my boss to order some of the items included.  But look how cute they turned out!

Each bag was different but here's what mine included: a home depot apron, 3 packets of tool shaped gummies, 2 construction duckies, a screwdriver, a flashlight, a measuring tape and a container of bubbles shaped like a tool.

Our department is working to put together a basket to for an upcoming raffle, we decided to have a romantic night theme.  I totally forgot that it was my responsibility to provide the movie and we need to turn everything in by Wednesday!  It was going to be hard to find time to pick one up with my work & gym schedule so I asked Joe if he could grab one in his day off travels.  When he asked for examples of what movie to get I said "The Notebook" or "Casablanca" something along those lines.  He said he would so his best.

Towards the end of the day my boss asked if I would mind dropping her off at a car dealership on my way gym because her car was being worked on.  Of course I said no problem and we chatted about my MBA research while I drove, I think she was pleasantly surprised I had taken her advice seriously.  Once we parted ways, I headed on to group power.  It was nice to see Amanda, it had been more then a week since our last workout together.  Isn't it funny how that happens, I'll see one of my friends all the time and then schedules shift and poof, nothing lines up for a while.  Anyway, I tried to go up on weight for most of the tracks.  I haven't really been sore in a while and it always makes me feel like I'm accomplishing more when I'm in a little pain.

Joe had gone to meet Tim at The Library so I was on my own for dinner (stupid vow to eat at home all week).  I was greeted by the movie "Maid in Manhattan" & a Heath Bar when I entered the kitchen.  I don't know if you can read the note, it says "This was the worst movie I could find.  I hope you have some calories left for the Heath Bar.  :-)"  He is just too darn cute.

I really wasn't very hungry or in the mood to cook but I knew I had to find something.  I toasted one of the 5 cheese, garlic bread pizzas we bought from John's niece's school sale = 420 calories.  Plus I had to eat that Heath Bar = 210 calories.

I spent the rest of the evening watching tv & playing around on Facebook.  I made sure to go up to bed around 9 though, still trying to catch up on some sleep.

How did I do on my January goals?

1. drink 64oz of water every day: check, every day total

2. track all my food & burn at least 500 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2287 burned -1412 eaten = 875 total burned, 18 days total

3. 1000 fitness minutes, not allowed to count walking at the restaurant: 60 minutes today, 687 total for month

4. run 20 miles: 0 today, 21.6 total

5. 15 spend free days - didn't buy anything (woohoo!), 7 days total

A weekend off?!?!

I have high hopes for this week!  After being up almost 4 lbs at the end of last week I was really bummed about my progress; as of this morning I am only up 2 lbs but that's still not good!  I think it definitely has to do with the fact that I ate dinner out EVERY SINGLE NIGHT last week.  I am planning on eating dinner at home Monday-Friday (or at Nicole's should we be invited (as long as the food is home cooked it counts)), I can't make any promises for the weekend though.  Plus, I'm still pretty tired even though we tried to get to bed early last night.  I think it's just going to take a few days of good sleep to get me back on track.

Sunday was full of ups & downs.  I didn't sleep well Saturday night, I had gone to bed much later then usual and was just very restless.  I got up and got ready for work but ran out of time to make my breakfast.  It was so cold outside, like 14 degrees!  Once I got to the restaurant I was complaining that I was hungry so Mike told me to go home and eat something; we don't usually get any customers for the first hour anyway.  I ran home & made a quick sandwich (299 calories) before sprinting back across the street.

I enjoyed my breakfast while we chatted about the news, life and how I was taking the following Sunday off to spend with Joe.  Then he offered to let me take Saturday off as well!  I was a little slow to agree, I hate missing out on making money!  But then we remembered I hadn't cashed a restaurant paycheck in almost 2 months so that money will totally make up for any I miss out on by having the weekend off!  I'm really not sure what I'm going to do with myself!  Well that's not true...Joe & I were already thinking about going to the car show in Philly with my dad & Shana/Bill on Sunday but now I will have all day Saturday to myself because Joe's working! 

We were pretty steady all morning and into the early afternoon.  Angela & Rob came in for a late breakfast and I was asked to try to limit my talking to them while there were a lot of customers around.  I was extremely annoyed by this, I pride myself on being a good server but also on creating a rapport with the patrons, I never neglect any work with mindless chatting.  This is just another reason I'm beginning to think about when I will stop working a second job.  I need to start work on my MBA and I know I won't be able to work out regularly, go to class/complete assignments & work 2 jobs.  While I love the cash the restaurant provides me it seems like recently I'm not having as much fun there as I used to and the stress it creates isn't worth the money.  Anyway enough angry rambling, I was starving around noon so I had this piece of rye toast with butter & jelly = 127 calories.  I made just under $100 but didn't get home until after 2.

In one of the few moments I managed to talk to Angela while they were eating, we decided to reschedule our 5 mile run for the following Saturday now that I'm off.  It was just too darn cold outside to attempt the bike path and I really don't want to run more then 3 miles on the dreadmill.  Luckily I padded my training schedule with lots of extra time so we can move runs around without screwing everything up.  I tried to take it easy the rest of the afternoon.  I took a long hot shower and hung out in the bedroom folding laundry, blogging & cleaning out the DVR.  I also managed to really finish off that caramel corn = 122 calories.  I hadn't thrown away the tin yet so I decided to eat the last few handfuls of broken pieces, not my finest moment...

We had plans to meet my mom, Shana & Bill for dinner at Outback Steakhouse for dinner to discuss options for a trip we are planning to take for her 60th birthday.  It's looking like we're going to head out west for a week in mid-August.  We're talking about maybe staying at a ski resort and visiting national parks that are close by; Joe is going to do some research, he's really good at finding awesome travel deals.  I remembered to take a look at the restaurant's website before leaving but it wasn't nearly as helpful as some of the others.  I ate...

 about 1/5 of a loaf of honey wheat bread = 40 calories

 about 5 small bites of a bloomin' onion = 157 calories

tilapia with crab meat and a side of broccoli = 539 calories

I have to say none of it was particularly good.  I mean it was ok but nothing that would make me want to go back again anytime soon.  I probably should have had a steak and mashed potato.  We were home around 9, watched a little tv and headed to bed just after 10, I was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.  I had really been hoping to get to bed earlier for more sleeping but there just aren't enough hours in the day...

How did I do on my January goals?

1. drink 64oz of water every day: check, every day total

2. track all my food & burn at least 500 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2346 burned -1284 eaten = 1062 total burned, 17 days total

3. 1000 fitness minutes, not allowed to count walking at the restaurant: 0 minutes today, 557 total for month

4. run 20 miles: 0 today, 21.6 total

5. 15 spend free days - I put $10 in for tip at dinner, 6 days total

One Man's Trash is Another's Treasure

On Saturday night we were hosting an Unwanted Gift Exchange.  The basic premise was for each person to bring one gift they had received over the holidays but did not want.  The gifts didn't have to be cheesy or crappy (although those are more fun), just not your style.  Our friends had been slow to rsvp, on Monday we only had 2 guests attending, by Wednesday we were up to 23.  I was prepared for a long day, after an already long week.

I didn't wake up easily but I made it downstairs with enough time to put together a breakfast sandwich = 299 calories.  I went over to the restaurant and got my day started with a cup of hot chocolate in hopes the sugar would wake me up = 120 calories.

I was busy early on in my shift, made about $75 and was home by 1pm.  I had a few handfuls of chex mix while I made a grocery list & cleaned up the house = 120 calories.

I spent the rest of the afternoon cooking & cleaning, getting the house ready for the evening's events.  Here's a run down of the food we had at the party. 

 crab dip with crackers

 Vic & Tammy brought 100 McDonald's Chicken McNuggets, huge hit!

 I made a few loaves of banana bread

 Sarah brought clementine cupcakes

 we had a mixed fruit bowl

 and a veggie tray

 it wouldn't be a party at our house without buffalo chicken dip

 Joe picked up these sausages, franks & meatballs from BJs

 I also picked up 3 plain pizzas from work.

I tried a little bit of most of the food.  I totaled my calories at 1478 and that's without any alcohol.  Luckily, I did a lot of walking at work and around the house all night so I managed to still burn calories.  I think everyone had a good time.  We handed out the presents "Yankee Swap" style.  Each person took a number and then picked a gift in that order, you could choose a gift from the table or steal something from someone before you.  I wish I had more pictures of everyone with their gifts but I was running the event & really just didn't think about it until now.  Here's a variety of pictures I did manage to capture.

 Mark, Kate & Anna

 Luke finally getting at Beans with help from Nicole

 Shana & Edra

 Tammy & Vic who's Chia Pets were a poplar gift

 Rob, Nicole & Angela

 Sarah & me

 Stephanie & baby Mario

 Jack with his awesome new hat

 After most of our friends with kids headed home we decided to break out the wii.  They started with some home run derby but after everyone else got bored watching "baseball" we decided to break out Smarty Pants.  It's a really fun trivia game that's usually a crowd pleaser.  You'll notice who won the first game, me!

 I thought it was adorable that Rob & Angela played with their arms around each other, hands in pockets.

 Not the best picture of Joe ever taken but it was the best of the 5+ I took.

Team black & teal...I'm not sure how much their matching outfits helped their score though.

I headed up to bed around midnight while there were still about 10 people downstairs.  I'm not sure what time Joe came up but I knew I'd be a waste in the morning if I didn't get to sleep soon.

How did I do on my January goals?

1. drink 64oz of water every day: check, every day total

2. track all my food & burn at least 500 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2618 burned -2017 eaten = 601 total burned, 16 days total

3. 1000 fitness minutes, not allowed to count walking at the restaurant: 0 minutes today, 557 total for month

4. run 20 miles: 0 today, 21.6 total

5. 15 spend free days - I spent money on food for the party, 6 days total

Longest Week Ever

This was seriously the longest week ever.  Here I am on Sunday afternoon at 5pm and all I want to do is go to sleep, for a week.  I don't think I had one hour to myself in the last seven days.  I had a workout & dinner plans every single evening and then our unwanted gift exchange on Saturday night.  I was talking to Angela about plans for the upcoming week have decided I need to spend more time at home, if for nothing else then to save my sanity.  I hate to say it but I really feel like I just need to lay around for a little while.  Unfortunately, I'm going to have to start this plan tomorrow because we have vacation planning/dinner plans with my mom & sister tonight, lol.

Let's go back to Friday though...in comparison to the upcoming Saturday recap this one is going to be super quick and easy.  I wasn't hungry when I got up and packed for work so I grabbed a granola bar and a clementine on the way out the door.  After being at work for a few hours I did start to get hungry so I had the clementine = 35 calories.

I honestly don't remember anything about the rest of the morning.  I really need to start writing Friday's post before I go to bed that night.  For lunch I had 322 calories. 

My hunger was back with a vengeance later that afternoon so I had the peanut butter granola bar I brought for breakfast = 190 calories.  I don't really feel comfortable posting a lot about it online, especially because there aren't a lot of definites or details yet, but I had a great meeting with my boss at the end of the day and I'm really excited for 2011 career wise!

It was pretty cold & windy all day but Angela and I were still planning to try for our outdoor 3 mile run.  We were planning to meet at my house as usual but when I got home and walked to the mailbox I almost froze to death.  I texted Angela that I was vetoing running outside and asked what she wanted to do.  Well, she decided to rejoin my gym!  We went over, renewed her membership, then hopped on the treadmills.  After we finished our workout we were starving!  I love the mexican place by the gym, Chido Burrito and Angela had never been so we went over in all our sweaty glory.  I was so excited I totally forgot to take a picture of my meal until I was almost finished = 789 calories.  

After dinner we headed back to the house, Rob had someplace to be so Angela was on her own for a few hours.  I jumped in the shower so I'd be nice and clean for work in the morning while Angela figured out our dinner calories on Moe's website, the restaurants are pretty similar.  Seriously, I've got to start checking websites for nutritional information before going out, they've really come a long way.  

Sarah came over a little while later to go through some clothes I was planning to donate.  We hung out upstairs for a little while, me folding laundry, Sarah sorting through boxes & Angela looking through my shoes and other stuff I keep in our spare room.  They both headed home a little while later, we were all excited for the next evening's festivities!

How did I do on my January goals?

1. drink 64oz of water every day: check, every day total

2. track all my food & burn at least 500 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2438 burned -1336 eaten = 1102 total burned, 15 days total

3. 1000 fitness minutes, not allowed to count walking at the restaurant: 40 minutes today, 627 total for month

4. run 20 miles: 3 today, 24.6 total

5. 15 spend free days - bought my burrito, 6 days total

Getting back on track...

Seriously, I need to get back to it, I'm going to consider yesterday the end of one chapter and today a whole new page.  I was looking at my goal spreadsheet for January and I'm not sure how many of them I'm going to achieve.


1. My water, ok, this one I've got.
2. My calories, I don't have a problem tracking everything that is just part of my routine now.  But I can't have any more less then 500 calories burned days.  Plus my weight is up because I've been cheating and eating junk pretty regularly.  Maybe February's goal will be 750 burned...
3. Fitness minutes, I just plugged in every workout I have scheduled for the rest of the month, if I do them all I will still be 18 minutes short of my 1000 minute goal.  Guess I'm going to have to add in another workout on one of the 4 days I have scheduled to rest.
4. Miles run, this one is already accomplished and with the runs I have planned the rest of the month I should total 35.6 miles!
5. Spend free, there are only 11 days left in this month, I've only had 6 spend free days so far.  I can only spend money 2 more days this month if I want to accomplish this.  The problem is we're having people over Saturday night and I'm going to have to get supplies, there goes one day.  Basically, I've got one more day in the next week+ that I can buy anything :-(...something tells me this one isn't happening.


Now let's take a look my last day of half assedness (pretty sure that's not a word).  As I said yesterday, I was running crazy late.  I changed clothes a half dozen times, didn't have time to make myself breakfast and barely got to work on time.  I went barrelling through the office to my cube where I stopped in my tracks coming face to face with this guy...

One of my coworkers had taken the pirate joking just a little bit further.  He is apparently part of a collection though so I couldn't keep him, bummer.  We also noticed he isn't even wearing boots, more like pilgrim shoes.  I really think I'm going to be pirate for Halloween or maybe puss in boots if you read my mom's comment...  Anyway, I started to get hungry a little while later so I ate the yogurt & clementine I threw in my purse on the way out the door = 145 calories.

I seriously cannot wait for this week to be over!  Every day is a little more irritating then the one before.  I think someone said it's a full moon too.  People were really driving me crazy all morning.  I couldn't wait to get away from my desk & was also pretty hungry by the time noon rolled around.  I know you're all going to be shocked, I ate leftovers for lunch = 244 calories.

It was one of the warehouse guys birthday so we had homemade devil's food cake = 234 calories.

I was super excited when 5pm finally arrived, it was time to get my hair cut & colored!  I always feel so much better all freshened up.  I forgot to take before & after pictures last night so here's one from just now.

It isn't too drastic, not even a new style or color (just a little shorter & darker), but thankfully I can see again and it's stopped flipping up on the left side.

I met my sister, Bill, Dad & Joe at JoJo's in EHT for dinner after my appointment.  I split an eggplant rollatini appetizer with Shana.

My dinner came with soup or salad, I went with the waiter's recommendation and got a cup of new england clam chowder.

For dinner I ordered chicken compagna which is grilled chicken with mushrooms, sun dried tomato & fontina cheese plus I subbed the pasta for broccoli (I only ate half the meal).  You may notice the same thing I did, this is pretty much the same thing I had at Applebee's on Tuesday...  I totaled everything at 873 calories.

It somehow turned into a gift giving night as well.  Joe and I had made sure to bring the housewarming gift we got for Shana & Bill.  I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it, we had a photo that Joe took of the sunset behind their old house blown up onto a canvas print.  It really came out nice!  My dad had gifts for the four of us too.  A friend of his made these likenesses of each of us.  Here's a shot of mine & Joe's.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of all four, Bill's is surfing while thinking of a computer and Shana's is teaching with a cat.

We had a really nice night, it's good to meet up sometimes for no reason.  We were home by 9:30, watched a little tv and got to sleep at a decent hour (in the super bed).

How did I do on my January goals?

1. drink 64oz of water every day: check, every day total

2. track all my food & burn at least 500 calories a day for at least 25 days: 1945 burned -1496 eaten = 449 total burned, 14 days total

3. 1000 fitness minutes, not allowed to count walking at the restaurant: 0 minutes today, 557 total for month

4. run 20 miles: 0 today, 21.6 total

5. 15 spend free days - I spent money getting my hair done, 6 days total