Mission accomplished!
My weekend with my two sisters, Donna and Karen, was fantastic! A memory-making filled weekend. Here's a brief (Okay, not really, but it sounded good! I mean seriously, am I ever brief?) synopsis of what I did this weekend and what I ate!
Friday day: I met up with a friend of mine, Shirley, at Granite City Food and Brewery in Maple Grove. I ordered the Southwestern Chicken Salad minus the cheese and the tortilla strips. It came with a tequila lime vinaigrette. It was awesome. Oh, it also came with a small, and I mean small, bowl of soup. I didn't make the best choice, but it was fantastic. It was similar to beer cheese, but they called it something different and it had a couple of croutons on top. Really, truly, it was great.
I also downed a large (venti) skinny frappuccino with sugar-free vanilla at Starbucks. I had a gift card from there that I got for Christmas and there isn't any Starbucks by where I live. It was worth five bucks, which is why I opted for the large. And let me tell you, it was worth every penny! Num-Num!
Friday night: My sisters and I met up with our brother, Mike, and our sister-in-law, Kim, at Khan's Mongolian BBQ in Bloomington. This is an Asian-style create-your-own meal kind of place. I had nothing but veggies! It rocked. I loved it. These types of restaurants are one of my favorite places to eat at because you can make it really healthy! I did eat two fortune cookies, though! They were actually pretty good.
Saturday day: I had my typical breakfast of yogurt, Fiber One cereal and Vita muffin (yes, I almost always bring my breakfast with me when I travel anywhere). We made it to the mall by 10 a.m., which is right when they open. My first task? Finding a new pair of jeans. Most of my jeans come from either Walmart or Kohl's, so I decided that I was going to splurge and get a nice, decent, semi-expensive pair. I chose Macy's because my sister had coupons! Gotta love coupons. Anyway, nearly 20 pairs of jeans later (trying on that many pairs of jeans better count for some kind of exercise!) and I found one that fit perfectly. Now here's the funny part and once again, reminds me that size really does not matter. I was fitting into jeans ranging from size 10 to 6. I ended up with the pair that were a size 6 - and no it wasn't because of the number on the tag. They truly were the best fitting jeans and the most comfortable. They were Ralph Lauren. After I found my jeans, I wondered aimlessly about the mall for the next hour and a half. I think I made it around level one at least once, if not twice.
My sisters and I met up for lunch at about 12:30 p.m. (We often don't shop together because we all have different tastes.) We ate at Ruby Tuesday, which I absolutely love! Every time I eat there, I only have the salad bar. They have a low-fat balsamic vinegar dressing that is out-of-this-world delicious and all the veggies are so fresh tasting. I also ate a handful of the croutons, which I think they make homemade with rye bread. They are OMG good.
After lunch, we separated again and the plan was to meet back at Cold Stone Creamery at about 2:30 p.m. Again, I set off walking. And again, I headed to Starbucks. It was so good on Friday that I just had to go back for round two. This time, I only ordered a medium (grande). Afterward, I just started walking. I made it around level three maybe once or twice and I think I may have completely level two once or twice. The Mall of America is so big and everything kind of looks the same to me, it's hard to tell. All I know is that when I got to Cold Stone, I was happy to see an empty bench. I wasn't there very long and one of my sisters showed up. We were both pooped. I even took my tennis shoes off while we waited for our other sister! We had our ice cream, which, as usual, Was. To. Die. For. We made our way back to the hotel for a rest before dinner and our night out at the Orpheum Theatre to see Mamma Mia!
Saturday night: We opted to eat at Houlihan's in Richfield so we could meet up with our brother Steve and his family, including his wife, Lori, and their children, Trevor and Chelsea. I decided to kind of splurge on supper - I ordered the enchiladas, which came with chipotle-smoked chicken with queso
fresco, pico rice, black beans and napa cabbage. I ate all of my one enchilada, one bite of rice (it was too spicy for my tastebuds!), a couple bites of the napa cabbage (it was just alright, I guess) and nearly all of my black beans (they were delicious!). I was actually very full. Because we were celebrating two birthdays (Karen and Trevor), the waiter said we could pick three desserts! Oh my! All three were very small, but rich and good. I had a couple of bites of the chocolate cappuccino cake and a couple of bites of the strawberry cheesecake. I opted not to try the Snickers crunch ice cream dome! Not sure why. I was really, really full.
We made it to the play on time (we thought we were going to be late!) and it was fantastic! I loved it way better than the movie starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan! Seriously, the movie was just okay, but I didn't really care for Mr. Brosnan. He's a better James Bond.
Anyway, when we got back to the hotel, we all crashed - we were exhausted!
Sunday: We got up early (too early!) and my sisters got ready and then we headed downstairs for breakfast. Again, I brought my own and ate that. They left shortly after that. I stayed behind and took my time getting ready. I then met a friend of mine who used to work at the paper. She now lives in the Twin Cities. Erin and I met at The Tea Garden in St. Paul to visit and sip on some tea before we headed to Run 'N' Fun - an awesome shoe store on Randolph Avenue! This is where Erin goes and she thought she could get a discount for me as her running club members buy their shoes here and they all get a discount. How awesome is that! The Tea Garden was superb...I even bought some loose leaf tea that was seriously, the best tea I have ever had!
Well, I accomplished my second mission or task for the weekend - buying a new pair of running shoes. My last couple pairs of shoes have been Asics, which I love. But I didn't buy Asics this time. The guy at Run 'N' Fun was very helpful and knowledgeable and told me that I have semi-flat feet, which surprised me for some reason. I found out I need shoes that have a lot of support. That was kind of cool to know. Anyway, I tried on several pair, including a couple of Asics and for a moment, it was a toss up. But, I eventually ended up with a pair of Brooks. OMG, they were sooooooo comfortable and light. It was almost like walking on air...seriously. I was happy. And, I did score a 20 percent discount. That rocked.
I finally headed home around 2 p.m. It was a fun-filled weekend. I didn't make it to the hotel's fitness center either day, but I think I made up for it with all my walking around the mall. I am happy with how the weekend turned out. It wasn't stressful - food-wise, I mean. I didn't necessarily hard-core exercise, but that's okay. I spent time with my sisters, my brothers and my friends. It was a wonderful time that I will treasure forever!
Oh, by the way, I didn't enter anything in my Weight Watchers log all day Friday, Saturday and today! That's the first time I have done that since I started Weight Watchers back in November of 2008. I can't wait to start logging again tomorrow! Believe it or not, I kind of missed it. Crazy, huh?
Just for fun, here are a couple of pics for your viewing pleasure - enjoy!
Karen, me and Donna at Khan's Mongolian BBQ on Friday night.
Donna, Karen and I at Houlihan's on Saturday night.
My new running shoes!!!!!
Whew, so much for being brief, huh?
Posted by: Confessions of a Fat Girl on 3/14/2010 at 9:15 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: alexandria, eating, exercise, food, health, points, running, shopping, weight watchers
Can't wait for the weekend
I am leaving this morning for a fun-filled weekend with my two sisters in the Twin Cities. A weekend filled with shopping, eating and taking in Mamma Mia! at the Orpheum. I cannot wait!
Last year, when we did our sisters weekend, I was nervous about the eating part of the weekend and worried about the "damage" I would probably do. This year, I am not. I know tonight we will go out to eat, not sure where, but I am sure it will be somewhere good. Here's the thing, though, I know I have the willpower and the confidence to make better choices this year than I did last year.
I know tomorrow we will spend the day at the Mall of America and I know I am going to eat some ice cream at my favorite place. Can't wait. (I have to, I promised my one sister we would go there!) Tomorrow night, we will once again be going out to eat. And once again, I will have to make some choices, but I know I can do it. I am not apprehensive at all. I am not nervous. I am excited.
And if I do make a not-so-great choice, I know it will be okay because this morning, I did a 50-minute workout on the elliptical and tomorrow morning I plan on checking out the fitness center at the hotel. Plus, like I said, I am going to be walking around the mall all day long...that will be a lot of walking and I am counting it as exercise!
On Sunday, I am meeting up with a friend I haven't seen in quite some time. She is taking me to Run 'N' Fun in St. Paul to look for a new pair of running shoes. She thinks she can score me a discount! Excited about that. Afterward, we are going to have tea and catch up with each other. I can't wait.
So, I have a big weekend ahead of me, but I feel really good about it. I definitely feel a lot better about it than I did last year. I can't wait to spend some time with my sisters - Donna and Karen. We always have a great time and I love them so much!
I will let everyone know how it went when I get back Sunday night. Take care and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
P.S. I may post little snippets on the Confessions of a Fat Girl Facebook site over the weekend, so check it out, become a fan. I would love to have you!
Posted by: Confessions of a Fat Girl on 3/12/2010 at 7:55 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Tags: alexandria, eating, exercise, shopping, sisters, weight
Made the right choice?
Tuesday, my son and I headed to St. Cloud to pick up a pair of "throwing" shoes for him. He's throws shot put and discus in track. On the way, my car broke down. Fortunately, it was five minutes from an exit. It was my water pump - it seized up causing the belt the get all mangled up and the tensioner pulley to melt. I was not a happy camper.
Luckily, they had a loaner car that we could take to finish our trip to St. Cloud. After we were done in Scheel's, my checking account $85 lighter, my mood was still less than great. My son had mentioned earlier that he wanted to go to PretzelMaker, one of his favorite places. I started heading there and he said we didn't have to, but I told him that after what had just happened with my car, I was definitely in need of a treat.
I usually get the pretzel bites with parmesan cheese sprinkled on them and then cheddar cheese for dipping. I knew I was really not in the right mind set to be going somewhere so tempting, but at that point, I didn't really care. I ordered the small bites with parmesan and the cheddar cheese and then at the last second, right before she grabbed the cheese, I switched it to the plain red sauce instead. I knew that the cheese was at least three WW points and that the sauce was zero WW points. Although I still got the parmesan bites, I was happy that I switched to the red sauce instead of the cheese.
The next day, I had to go back to Albany, where my car was being fixed and pick it up. Work was stressful that day and I was still kind of in a rotten mood because of my car. As I was driving out of town, I really, really, really wanted to stop at the Dairy Queen for a hot fudge malt. But I didn't. Then, I thought I would just stop at McDonald's for a Shamrock Shake. But I didn't. I drove right by both places and made my way to Albany.
After I picked up my car and paid the bill - OUCH! I was told it would be about $375 and it ended up being $438! - I really, really, really wanted ice cream. Bad. Again, I was going to go to the Dairy Queen. I had a pretty intense conversation with myself. Seriously. I didn't go to the DQ, I made my way back on the Interstate.
When I got back to Alexandria, I made my way to Walmart and drove past Wendy's. I really, really, really wanted to stop and get a chocolate shake and French fries. But I didn't.
Instead, I went into Walmart and bought a bag of sugar snap peas, an apple and the new red velvet cake flavor of Yoplait light yogurt. I crunched on those peas all the way back to the office and gosh they tasted awesome. Poor peas, I took my frustration out of them! I worked for about an hour and a half. I finished off the bag of peas, ate my apple and savored every bite of the yogurt.
I was so happy and proud of myself. Really, I was. I knew the ice cream would have tasted great, but it definitely wouldn't have made me feel any better about my stupid car. And after eating the peas, yogurt and apple, I did feel better....because I made the right choice.
Now that's not to say I will always make the right choice, but this time I did and I was very happy about it. Although I am still not happy about the $438 car repair bill!
P.S. Don't forget, you can get more of the Fat Girl by looking me up on Facebook! Become a fan!
Posted by: Confessions of a Fat Girl on 3/11/2010 at 6:30 AM | Comments (5) | Permalink
Tags: alexandria, choices, eating, food, health, weight, weight watchers
A weight loss snob?
Am I turning into a weight loss health snob? Because I sure feel like it. Sometimes.
First off, I am by no means uber fit and trim. I still have plenty of belly jiggle and wiggle and fly-away flabby arms, but I feel good. I feel healthy. Or at least a lot healthier than what I used to be. I am actually pretty darn happy where I am at...for the most part anyway. Yeah, that whole toning up thing is what I am aiming for now. Less flab and more firm. I would love to be toned and a little muscular looking. But not Jillian Michaels muscular. That's too much for me.
Second of all, I am by no means an expert when it comes to health and fitness. Although at times, people may think I am and I would love to be, but I am so not. I have come a long way in the last year and a half and I have learned plenty about portion control and eating the right foods and exercise, but I still make mistakes. Often.
But see, here's the thing. When I watch TV and see ads for weight loss programs or God forbid, quick-fix diets, I cringe. Bad. Sometimes, I even talk back to the television. For instance, when Sara Rue comes on and talks about how much weight she lost in such a little amount of time, I sneer and wrinkle up my nose. I ask her, like she can really hear me, "Yeah, so what's gonna happen when you get off the plan? When you have to eat real food?" Seriously, like she's gonna answer me.
And it happens when I hear people talk about other plans, like the kind where they drink stuff and take pills. I try to be upbeat and not question their enthusiasm or commitment. I try to be positive and congratulate them for doing something, although I may disagree wholeheartedly. I really hope I don't come off as some kind of know-it-all-snob, because I really don't want to. I am just so excited about everything I learned and how it worked for me.
And the thing is, I have done those things. I have been in their shoes. And yes, it does work. Temporarily. That's the whole kit and kaboodle. It is always temporary. Always. I wish I could scream from every mountain top that people need to learn how to eat in the real world, in real situations, with their family, their friends, their co-workers, at home, at a restaurant - whatever and wherever.
I am not saying I am perfect or that what I am doing is the "right" answer. I realize that everyone has to find what works for them, but really, come on, you can't live on pills and shakes or prepackaged foods forever. But you can live on real food...healthy food (of course you have to mix in a little naughty food from time to time!). Foods from the basic food groups, you know, the ones you learned about in elementary school.
Okay, so maybe I am turning into a weight loss health snob. But you know what, maybe deep down inside, I kind of like it. Maybe this is my calling. Maybe.
Posted by: Confessions of a Fat Girl on 3/08/2010 at 8:18 PM | Comments (5) | Permalink
Tags: alexandria, eating, exercise, food, health, weight, weight loss
I wanted to run out of the store
Yesterday, my hubby and I were doing a little grocery shopping and about halfway through, I wanted to run out of the store - literally.
We stopped there after work and before we had supper. Yes, my stomach was empty and yes, it is always a bad - very bad - idea to go to the grocery store when you are hungry. We had to pick up some provolone cheese for our French dips we were having for supper. Did you know that Sargento cheese (my sister will love me for this one - she works for Sargento) makes a reduced fat provolone cheese that is only one WW point per slice. I was pumped. Also, did you know that making French dips on Arnold Sandwich Thins are really, really good! We used a very lean sirloin roast, which was also very tasty.
While we were at the grocery store, we also picked up items for our fondue night tonight with our friends, Brad and Linda. About once a month, we have them over for food, fun and games. They are way cool and we always have so much fun with them.
Anyway, as we were making our way around the store, all the bad-for-you-foods started jumping out at me and tempting me. Seriously, it was awful. I was starting to get really hungry by now; it was nearly 6 p.m. We happened to go down the chip aisle - my husband wanted to get some pretzels. The caramel puffcorn nearly jumped into our cart. The Doritos were begging me to take them home. And the Cheetos, seriously, it was like I had to quit staring at them (I think I may have drooled a bit) because it was like they had these puppy dog eyes and and they were so sad and needed a home. No chips came home with us. Thankfully.
I told my husband it was time to go. I didn't tell him I thought I was maybe going a little crazy. Then, my cart turned down the ice cream aisle. Not sure why. Again, this feeling came over me and it was almost like I was starting to feel a bit panicky. I didn't like it. I could seriously feel all my willpower starting to fade away. I felt like a drug addict in search of one more hit. It wasn't the best feeling in the world. And it was a feeling I haven't felt in a really long time. The yearning for fattening foods.
We made our way out of the ice cream aisle free and clear. Now, it was onto the bakery department, well, actually the bread section of the bakery department. We needed to find some kind of bread for the cheese fondue we would be having tonight. I got seriously excited when walking down the bread aisle and I found the Thomas Bagel Thins I knew would be coming out. They are like the Arnold Sandwich Thins, but are bagels. I tried them a couple of weeks ago and have been waiting very patiently for them to hit our stores and there they were. I was ecstatic! By the way, they are also only worth one WW point.
Walking through the bread section of the bakery, the baked goods, of course, caught my eye. The drool started again when my husband showed me some kind of chocolately, fudgey, cake thing. I did almost kick him for doing that, but I didn't. After he set it back down and walked away - easily, I might add - I picked it up and starred at it for awhile, examining it, drooling over it, really wanting to put it in my cart. At that point, it would have been very interesting to see what my blood pressure would have been. I bet it was high. The dessert stayed on the shelf. Thankfully.
I told my husband again, for probably the third or fourth time, that it was time for me to go. NOW. I had to get out of the store before our cart was filled with foods I know I would have regretted buying. It really wasn't his fault that we hadn't left the store yet, I kept finding things to look at as well. But I knew this time, it really was time to go. My willpower was almost down to nothing.
We made our way to the checkout and of course, what is at every single checkout lane? Candy bars and other tempting junk foods. Seriously, does that stuff have to be there? I don't think so. One item did jump - almost leaped - into our cart. But it wasn't that bad. Actually, it was really good. It was a small bag of smoked almonds. And, yes, I shared the bag with my husband.....although I really wanted to hog it for myself. By the way, nuts are a good source of protein and when eaten in small portions, are good for you.
Other than that, we, or should I say I, made it out without any bad-for-me-foods. I was happy and proud. And as I walked out of the store, almonds in hand, my willpower skyrocketed right back where it needed to be. Thankfully.
Posted by: Confessions of a Fat Girl on 3/06/2010 at 10:05 AM | Comments (3) | Permalink
Tags: alexandria, eating, food, grocery store, shopping, weight, weight watchers
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