Goal Weight hit this week!

It's been since last Saturday and now I have a full week to catch up on.  Since my last post was about how anxious I was about the brunch buffet I will start there.  It was deeeeelicious!  There were so many healthy choices there that I never felt tempted to really cheat or go off the diet at all.  Even when Brian and Paxton were saying how the waffles were the best they've ever had, I was just perfect with my jumbo shrimp cocktail, sea scallop ceviche, tuna tataki, and various salads and cheeses and nuts pairings.  I had 2 turns at the buffet but I didn't do any bread or anything too oily.  I even managed to have desert because they had these adorable teaspoon sized deserts to satisfy a sweet tooth without cheating too badly.   Our server was awesome!  If you go to brunch at Oystercatchers ask for Don, I know I will when I go back.  He even took our picture and emailed it to us.   We were hoping you'd be able to see the water and beautiful blue sky out the window, but it was too bright.  That's OK, at least we look good :)
 
That is Brian's best friend Paxton in the pic with us.  He is a dear friend to us both, and if there are any single ladies out there who would like to meet him and join us for the next affair, message me and I will play matchmaker (even though I swore to God on earth I would never do matchmaker crap ever again).  OK, anyway... We went home and napped off the champagne (also since we worked the night before we were only running on 4 hours of sleep).  Then we got up and showered and went to have Brian's birthday dinner at Capitol Grill.  Splurge day for us!  We each had a salad, and we shared a 10 ounce fillet.  It was like 7 ounces Brian, 3 ounces Sara.  It was perfect.  Then we went to the late movie and saw The Adjustment Bureau.  It was excellent. 

Wednesday was my check in day at Garcia Weight Loss.  Somehow this week, with all my not exercising as much as I planned, and all my restaurant splurging, I managed to lose 3 pounds to get to my goal weight, 125!!!  All I hoped for was to not gain, so needless to say I am overjoyed!  I've not talked much about the program here or how I lost my 17 pounds, because this is the new me and I'm focusing now on how to stay here, not how I got here, but if anyone has any questions at all I would be happy to answer.

Wed night I was back in the gym.  My friend Tanya was subbing the 5:30 class and I didn't know.  It was a nice surprise.  She has a great kickboxing class that I enjoy.  I used to love to do Tae Bo videos so this is like taking it old school.  No weights or resistance other than your own body.  As long as you've got good music you can still work hard and feel nice and sore the next day.  I was  hoping to get up and do her class today at 9:30am, and I did wake up at 9, but since I had gone to bed at 3:30 I was just a little too sore and too sleepy to make it.  Darn working late nights on the weekends.  I wish I didn't love the money so much.  There is just so much I want to buy, I need to work to earn it.  And this is pretty decent money.  I'm not looking forward to tonight at work at.all. because it's not my usual team who can "bang it out" while looking forward and not complaining.  But Sunday night it's back to Easy Street and then I'm off Monday!  I am going to go to my 5:30 class at the gym, but not before going to Goodwill to find some black pants for work that fit me!! 

Laundry Day

This is going to be a very boring post.  I don't have any exciting news.  No pictures here.  (although, I have a very cute photo op next to me that includes Pekingese face)
This is me airing my in-my-head dirty laundry while I'm between loads of real life dirty clothes laundry on this beautiful sunny Saturday.  This post is just a journal entry in my food battle I suppose.  Because I'm feeling anxiety right now.  I'm just  beginning to enter the "maintenance" stage of life reguarding  my diet. I no longer need to lose weight on the scale to feel good, I have a 3 pound buffer.  I have a meeting with my new long term nutritionist on Wed the 23rd and until then I'm still following the protein and carb plan, not yet adding starches, nuts and what not (what nut?).  But now I'm "weening" back in by adding new veggies like black beans and tomatos, and for protein I am adding Greek yogurt (YUM) and soy burgers!! (which sounds exciting but I've yet to bother with them because my chicken , turkey and eggs have become so routine and I can forsee a regular burger without a bun, but a soy burger?  C'mon, this particular patty needs a vessle)
I've been doing diligint for 6 weeks now, and I feel SO.MUCH. better in every aspect of my life.  I have more energy.  My belly issues are a thing of the past.  I am stronger.  My CLOTHES fit better.  I am getting comments 10x's a day about how great I look.  I am getting things done that I have been procrastinating for years (floorboards are looking good!)  All of these things give me 2 results.  They actually do make me realize how "not great" I was looking / feeling prior to this change. And they all motivate me to stay this way.  But I have a few obstacles to get through before I'm certain I have this in me long term.  Tomorrow we are going to brunch.  At Oystercatchers.  All you can eat, all you can drink Mimosas, champagne and Bloody Marys.  I love me some Mimosas.  Seriously.  The old me could go tomorrow and drink 6 of them.  I'm not a huge splurge-for-breakfast person but come Sunday brunch I do love "the waffle".  Brunch buffet to me means 6 Mimosas, 2 enormous plates of peel and eat shrimp, and a gigantic waffle with strawberries and cream.  Tomorrow it means control.  I will leave out the orange juice and have just champagne.  2 glasses.  (Maybe 3...I do have to get my $46 worth after all, and we are celebrating the hubbys birthday so I see many toasts to him because I love the man and he deserves a few toasts; he works his ass off, and he has been so good and supportive of me.  Even when I was looking frumpy and feeling down he still loved me).  I will have an egg white veggie omelette, and 5 ounces of peel and eat shrimp.  I've been weighing my food for 6 weeks already so I've got a good concept now of what an ounce looks like to the hungry eye.  I will skip the waffle.  If this were next week I would fit in a waffle. But I'm not there yet and I'm going to do this right.  I cheated last week with the Wasa crackers (and lots and lots of extra protein and veggie servings) and last week I gained 4 ounces.  Not the end of the world, but a reminder.  Weight happens.  If I were to gain 4 ounces a week every week for a year, this time next year I am up 12 pounds.  My clothes don't fit again, and so on and so forth. 
That leads me to my next problemo.  I only gained 4 onces while cheating because I worked out intensely for 4 1/2 hours that week.  My body needed the extra protein to sustain my workouts.  Also, the gain was likely muscle, because while I gained the ounces, I still lost 1% body fat in the same week.  The extra protein I added was strategic.  It was pre and post workout, and I was attempting to turn it into muscle.  So even though the scale went up, I considered it a successful week.  (BTW, my weeks are Wed-Tues).  I reached my goal of maximum acceptable body fat...  25%!!!  But I reached this because I exercised my ass off (pun intended).
This week I am sticking to the diet, but I have worked out ZIP.  I skipped my 2 hours on Wed because the Oak pollen is killing me and I am borderline miserable with the allergies.  I don't want to cross that line and feel full blown sick.  Thurs, Fri and Saturday are work nights.  See the post below where I whine about my work routine.  Sunday when I usually go to the gym...  buffet day.  (insert dramatic music of your choice here).  Monday I will hopefully resume my healthy exercise habits, but it is Brian's birthday and it is his choice of what we do.  I'm betting he'll want to hop on the MTB trail at some point, but I wonder if he remembers what I told him last year about the  holiday his birthday shares a date with .   Hmm that could potentially involve muscle building.  But that's another blog entirely ;)
Wow, would you look at that time fly!  I have a load of whites to put in and darks to fold!  Happy Friday my 12 blog readers!  (It's Saturday for you normal folks, but for me with my funky service industry lifestyle, it is TGIF!!)  Yeay baby!

Pampered Pups!

This post is a few days over due and since I'm anxious to put it up I don't have the best pics, but I will update it later if I get some more good ones.  Right now the pups are just wayyy too excited to sit still for a photo session after their fancy spa day.  (I also wish I'd gotten a before pic, because this morning they were not pretty.  Matts in their fur, and pollen hanging off their tails).  So you've deduced that the pups got their furs cut today.  New girl at Petsmart did a great job (should have, it was 5 hours!!!)  Here they are on the drive home!   
Stifler...

and Dolce...

I am pretty sleepy because I got to bed very late and had to drop them off early, so I let Stifler drive for a bit...

(OK, really we were just at a very long stoplight)  I swear I don't drive with him on my lap 0:-)

Usually they get Milkbone biscuits for a treat, but on special occasions they get Bonita's homemade special treats which make them freak out!!!   These pics don't do them justice, so stay tuned and I will get more.

Bonita is a wicked awesome chick I work with who makes these natural healthy biscuits with love and if you want some she makes them for all seasons and sizes and allergy needs, etc. and I can hook you up with her  info. and I can also show you an awesome pic of her doing the thriller dance at my wedding .....  OMG BONITA IF YOU ARE READING I WANT TO SO BAD:)  She might be mad at me though and that would be a sad day.  (What if I made it really small?)  See she untagged herself from this pic on my Facebook because she is also a photographer and prefers to be on the other side of the lens, but this was such a good memory for me that I kinda love the pic.  It was just so fun to see her let loose, free from the confines of the Cheesecake whites :)

Bonita I love you and you are awesome and beautiful and an honest true soul.  I'll remove the dang picture if you want me too :)  But I won't like it! 

Thanks for feeding my pups, they are very happy today!

Molly Moo!

I'm practicing uploading video.  Probably not good quality, but I'm a beginner!This is my beautiful amazing neice Molly pitching yesterday!

Cozy up to the bar?

We got barstools!
Finally!
We went to the Macys Furniture Clearance store today and found these gems for $89 each!

My cabinets are the ugliest ever, so hopefully it won't be too long before this blog will document the installation of new cabinets!  And new floors in the living and dining rooms!  And a new roof!  And a mantle.  and windows.  and landscaping.  oh god I'm officially carried away.  Why did I want an older home again??

Mashed Cauliflower = Fail

Well my first attempt didn't turn out all that well.  I boiled a head of cauliflower florets in broth with a clove of garlic until tender.  Then I drained it and added salt and pepper, fresh minced garlic, about 1/4 c fat free plain Greek yogurt, Parmesan cheese, and chopped green onions, and mixed with a hand mixer.  I didn't like it at all.  Brian ate it all and his only complaint is "too much garlic" which was absolutely true.  I would have added as much garlic if not more if it were real potatoes, but the taste stands up strong to cauliflower.  I will leave it out completely next time.  The brussel sprouts were fantastic as usual.  The chicken on the grill, fantastic!  Good protein and carb combo for dinner tonight!  Good circuit training class at the gym tonight, and settling in to watch this weeks episode of V before bed.  Friday night off from work and relaxing at the house = Win.

Getting so close!!

I can't believe I weigh 14 lbs less than I did on January 1st!  I am so close to my "goal weight" that I can practically get away with saying I am already there!  I  had honestly given up all hope that I could ever be that weight again, and here I am, feeling better than ever!  OK, I'm good on exclamation points for at least a few sentences now...
Yesterday I did the same Wed gym routine that I did last week.  5:30 Just Pump and 6:30 Yoga/Pilates.  One move in Marcia's Just Pump class was super tough for me, but also made me ecstatic and motivated.  After we finished with a tough arm segment using 10 lb weights and a combo of squats and lunges, my arms were exhausted.  We cooled down our heart rates by going down to sit on our benches, feet up like we are in a kayak.  Then we took our 15 lb bars and "rowed".  It was pure hell for me, my arms could barely lift the weight.  This is when it hit me.  (Here come the exclamation points...) THAT BAR IS THE AMT OF WEIGHT I LOST!!  I lost 10% of my body weight! 15 pounds!  (minus 1)  That bar at that time in that class was the heaviest thing in the world, and that is the extra weight I was carrying around for the past 2 years.  No wonder I was slightly depressed and frustrated.  Marcia has been with me at the gym since the day I joined and she knows how frustrated I was getting and she's seen me working my ass off in her classes.  Yesterday we passed in the restroom after her class and she commented on how much I've trimmed down  She's said that before on days I've had a good workout and I would tell her "actually I'm up 2 pounds...hopefully it's muscle).  This day, though, I could honestly say "thank you!!  I FEEL great too!"
I came home and Brian was in the garage trying to figure out what is wrong with his mom's car.  It's an older Cadillac and he's pretty sure the radiator is going to need to be replaced, again.  I came in and after a snack of fat free cottage cheese to get my post workout protein, I made Brians favorite vegetable, roasted brussel sprouts with canola oil and kosher salt.  YUM!  he grilled up some lean pork chops and we each had a glass of Malbec with dinner while we watched American Idol. 
Tonight I work so I'm having lunch before I go in.  I got some Boars Head barbecue chicken breast from the deli, sliced thick.  I bought some fat free Dijon Vinaigrette dressing from Maple Grove Farms of Vermont Organics line.  Delish!  Also I'm slowly adding in other elements to my diet and while I'm not ready for bread yet, I bought these 100% multi grain crispbreads called Wasa.  I don't know how to link pics yet...boo, but here is a link to the website. http://www.wasa-usa.com/multi-grain-bread.aspx  They have Oprah's "bestlife aproved" stamp on them so I know they are good.  Sidenote...I'm embarrassed to admit this but it's true, if I see the "bestlife aproved" sticker I feel pretty good about the product. This adds a great crunch to a salad instead of the fattening croutons.  Here is my lunch.


2 cups of green leaf lettuce, one green onion sliced,  2 ounces chopped chicken breast, 1 ounce 1 1/2% mild jalapeno cheese, 1 tbsp fat free dressing, and then sprinkled with cayenne pepper for deliciousness.  Paired with 2 wasa servings (one slice each), and 32 ounces of water.  Desert will be a juicy peach (the plums will sit a few more days before I risk eating them again) with a protein powder in my water.
I will snack on a protein bar at work tonight, and when I get home from work around midnight, I will have a similar salad as I have now.  Unless I get a kids grilled chicken meal from work.  (3 ounces of grilled chicken breast and I will substitute the mashed potatoes and carrots for broccoli and spinach).  That is $6.  The salad is free, so we will play it by ear.  Probably the salad.  With another glass of Malbec (can't let the open bottle sit too long!)  Day off from work tomorrow with the husband.  He'll probably work on the car and I will likely repaint the office room.  Nothing like a fresh coat of paint.  Happy Thursday!