Should've Been a Super Villain...

Weekly Weigh in #2

2011-10-09T12:36:00.000-06:00

Last week: 231.4lbs
This week: 232.4lbs
Overall: +1lb

A gain is never what you want to see on a weight loss journey. I know it's only a pound, but I was really hoping to break into the 220's, and now I've gained. FRIG!

The challenge continues, I'm 100% on plan, eating all the food and drinking all the water. I'm in this for the long haul, a 1lb gain is not going to derail me.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the other Canadians out there!

Habits

2011-10-05T09:30:00.001-06:00

Before I found my current job I was a substitute teacher. This in an of itself is horrible. Kids are not what they used to be. Technology seems to have made them strangely detached, and this has led to increasingly poor behaviour, especially if a substitute is present. Now enter an obese substitute into the picture. It's not pretty. Kids are mean to their peers, but their even meaner to obese substitute teachers. They call you names, say offensive comments, and draw cartoons of you. It's not a fun time, and caused me a large amount of stress.

Thankfully, well not really, but sort of, subbing here is mostly part time work. So, you're not in the classroom everyday. But this in itself is a problem. If you're not working, you're not getting paid. And if you're not at work, what are you doing with your time?

I used to tell my mom that I was going to the gym. I'd get dressed in my gym clothes, fill a bottle of water, make a show of putting my headphones in my purse.

I'd get in my car, drive down the highway, and end up at the movie theater. I would buy the largest popcorn, smother it with "margarine" and sit in the dark theater by myself eating. I saw all the movies. Even the terrible ones. My desire to eat was horrible. I branched out from popcorn to chicken tenders and fries, covered in honey mustard sauce. It wasn't even delicious, it was just a habit that I had that I couldn't break.

I really don't know what my mom thought I was doing at the gym all that time, I wasn't losing a single pound. And some of the movies that come out are just sooo long.

I'm on vacation from work this week... for the first few days all I wanted to do was go eat some popcorn. But I remember last weeks 6lbs. It's not worth it. The 2 hours of munching will not make me happy. Today, I will get my stuff together and drive to the gym. Fulfill some of the exercise component of this challenge. Exercise will be my new habit.

Weekly Weight In #1

2011-10-02T09:00:00.006-06:00

I've been on the plan for a week.. the results are in.

Starting weight: 237.0lbs
Current weight: 231.4lbs
Loss: -5.6lbs

Awesome way to kick this off. I'm itching to get into the 220's - I've got my eyes set on breaking 230 by next week.

Day 4

2011-09-29T21:42:00.000-06:00

Food and water down the hatch. I'm watching comedy night thinking about popcorn. But I've already eaten all my food. So no popcorn today. It wouldn't be the same anyway, I'm having visions of butter smothered, ultra salted popcorn. And since that's no longer an option, I think I'll just shelf the popcorn for a while.

I'm toying with the idea of going on a trip next week. Banff maybe.

Sheesh it's been forever

2011-09-26T20:37:00.000-06:00

But I'm back. I've gained some weight back. This is what happens when you stop following your plan. Or stop following your plan and start shoving everything in sight into your mouth.

237 lbs is my starting weight for the Triple Dog Dare Challenge. Way higher than I was when I left here in May, but no looking back now. Only looking forward to weighing 195 lbs on January 1, 2012.

Day 1 is down... a bunch more to go... but, worth it in the end.

Phase 6 - Day 2

2011-05-10T22:48:00.000-06:00

Day 2 is over and done with, on to day three.

All these liquids are causing the weirdest stomach growls I've ever had. They're long and low and it almost sounds like you can hear the liquid sloshing around in there.

Peristalsis with nothing to move around...

Meanwhile, at work, all I hear is click click crunch crunch

I'm ok with the click click typing, it's the crunch crunch nom nom eating something crunchy noise that's driving me a bit mad.

Though, the no cooking is a definite plus.

Phase 6 - Day 1

2011-05-09T20:33:00.000-06:00

Things I've learned on day 1 of the Phase 6 challenge:

1. My stomach is able to emit grumbly sounds all day long
2. That dull hunger pang just does not go away
3. One serving of Jell-o is not very much Jell-o.

Allan wasn't lying when he said this was hard. Time for willpower to kick in.

Drinking my fluids and staying strong..

Couch to 10K Week 2 Day 2

2011-04-27T21:18:00.001-06:00

If you see someone hobbling down the street, it's probably me.

I am so unbelievably sore.

On the plus side I shaved 35 minutes off my commute home by trying a different bus route. I have to walk 2.5 blocks, which is no big deal, except when you're practically crawling down the street.

I'm starting to think that I should have done the 5K, oh well. I'll just repeat weeks until I can move on.

I'm getting shin splints from the running, does anyone have any advice for that?

From Oblivion to Couch to 10K

2011-04-25T22:59:00.000-06:00

If this were Wheel of Fortune, that title would be in the Before and After category.... this is why you don't let your grandma pick the shows you watch.

I've started the Couch to 10K. I was going to do the 5K, but I thought, stupidly mind you, if I'm going to do 5K I may as well do 10K.

Today was day 1 of week 2 and I almost quit about 14 times on the treadmill. I really have no idea why I kept going. My usual pattern is to just quit half way through and say "good enough."

But I didn't, I finished. I think I'll have to repeat week 2, I'm not used to this much running. And frankly, I don't like running all that much to begin with.

Then as I was blog hopping I saw this quote:

"Your biggest challenge isn't someone else. It's the ache in your lungs and the burning in your legs, and the voice inside you that yells 'CAN'T", but you don't listen. You just push harder. And then you hear the voice whisper 'can'. And you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the one you really are."- Unknown

I don't remember where I saw it, as I peruse a lot of blogs. But it was just want I needed to read.

We'll see how Wednesday and Friday go.

Daylight Savings - I'm against it

2011-03-14T22:30:00.001-06:00

I am not a fan of daylight savings time. I cherish sleep, it's my favorite time of the day. And losing 1 hour, though it doesn't seem like much, really really screws with my system. It's like super jet lag. I don't know why it affects me so much, I just hate it.

This morning I was on the bus and I was wondering if losing the hour affects others as much as it affects me. That's when I noticed the bus was about half a foot away from hitting a pedestrian. Apparently the pedestrian noticed too because she stopped walking. The bus driver didn't seem to notice until we were through the cross walk, where he stopped, seemed to ponder whether he should apologize to the woman, and then just drove on.

So, apparently the answer is yes. Daylight savings time is clearly evil.

Lunch was worse. I went to the store to buy some groceries. I got what I needed, when I went to pay, I realized I had lost my mittens. My glorious raccoon mittens. Frantically I searched the store, no luck. I asked the cashiers and customer service, no luck. All faith in humanity was lost as I realized someone had scarfed my mittens.

I called them later in the day to see if they had been turned it. They had been! Faith in humanity restored!

When I got to the store the line at customer service was huge. But the guy saw me, waved and said "are you looking for raccoon mittens?" I nodded enthusiastically. He waved me over and passed them to me. I thanked him a million times. I think my raccoon hat tipped him off.

Weekly Weigh In

2011-03-14T07:07:00.000-06:00

Down another 2 lbs this week. Initially I was frustrated with only 2 lbs a week, but it really does add up. Though I knew that logically all along, I'm really starting to be pleased by that.

More later, I actually feel like blogging again.

Phase 5 - Weigh In

2011-03-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. Time kind of flew by ...
Anyway, 2lb loss this week.

I tried out that new gym that was much closer to home, it was horrible. They didn't even have a treadmill. This is the #1 fitness facility in the city??!? Insane.

Since then I've found a better gym downtown. 7 blocks from work. I've been taking the bus in the -30 weather, but when it warms up I'll start walking there.

Phase 5 Day 7 - Weigh In

2011-02-13T23:16:00.000-07:00

Ugh this week has been tough. I'm down 2lbs. I was hoping for more, but I did have the flu for a couple days and ended up not getting in the exercise on those days. Or all the water, hard to drink when you're asleep.

But, week 2 is starting, and my water bottle is filled and ready for the morning.

I'm trying out a new gym tomorrow. It's only a 5 minute drive, as opposed to the 30 minute one I'm currently making. It's got a pool and all kinds of other facilities. I'm hoping I'll like it. Currently when I go to the gym it takes so long to commute it's a total turn off, I go, but I'm never happy about it.

Phase 5 Day 2

2011-02-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

I've had a really blah day. Went to work but came home at lunch with flu symptoms. Bleh I hate being sick. A day of sleep seems to have helped, though it's tough to get in the water when you're asleep. I've got it almost all in, just a bit of late night chugging and I'll call it a night.

Food on plan, exercise is done. Fever possibly broken.
Hopefully tomorrow is better.

Phase 5 Day 1 - Part 2

2011-02-07T22:09:00.000-07:00

I suppose the only thing more fun than working out is working out with a shoe full of ice.

In case you are wondering, it takes 10 minutes of walking and 23 seconds of jogging for a shoe full of ice to melt and soak your sock, numb your foot, and drive you completely mad.

Add another minute and you start to wonder if your foot has fallen off because you really can't feel it anymore.

Two more minutes and you realize that you're going to be cold for the rest of the night. There's no warming up after this.

Lesson learned - don't keep my runners in my trunk, have a bunch of snow fall in then let the snow melt and refreeze in the shoe. Shoes go in the house.

On the plus side, I didn't think I'd be able to do the jogging in the plan, but I did it all. And it wasn't that bad. OK - it was pretty bad, but, it was doable.

Water in, food on plan, exercise in the bad. 119 days to go.

Phase 5 Day 1

2011-02-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

First day of phase 5 and my first post from my iPhone. I find typing on this thing really annoying, but I probably shouldn't be blogging on my work computer (it's lunch so the phone is allowed lol).

I lost 1.5 lbs last week, by since Allan doesn't do half pounds, I reported a 1lb loss.

Starting challenge weight, 233lbs.

More later, phone typing is driving me crazy

Weekly Weigh In - Phase 4 Week 4

2011-01-30T22:17:00.001-07:00

Well the results are in, down 2 lbs this week. Kinda disappointing, but, I started the week not really focused, but with all the support I received, the rest of the week went well. I've got my motivation back in spades, to be honest, I didn't think I was going to lose anything this week because of how it started off, but when I saw a drop on the scale I was overjoyed, and I'm ready to see a lot more losses.

This week is going to kick ass - it's shape up or leave the challenge, and I don't want to leave, so, 1200 cals, zillions of ounces of water, and nothing else, except the exercise that is.

Let's have a great week everyone!

And thanks to Debbie and Fat2Fit for two more Stylish Blogger Awards!

Brownies and Cookies and Pastries - Oh My!

2011-01-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

Brownies, cookies and pastries are only a few of the things that are currently being carted in by the caterers. I ate none of these things - I usually go for the veggies, but as there were none today, I had nothing. Just the sandwich and apple that I brought for lunch. That was enough anyway.

I'd like to sincerely thank everyone in the Challenge who reached out to me. I've never had to many emails in a day - unless we're talking about penis enlargement ads and offers to help princes in far off countries.

When I first saw my name on the list of people needing help I was embarrassed, ashamed, and kind of horrified. I knew I hadn't been doing well, ok, terrible, but seeing my 0.8% really put things into perspective. I really don't want to be the person who signs up for a weight loss challenge, who writes a weight loss blog - and doesn't lose weight. It's say, and it's not going to be me.

To be honest, the emails I received were nothing short of amazing. I teared up in the lunchroom and got quite a few odd looks.

While I felt like a complete disappointment after reading them, I was also incredibly inspired. I know what to do to lose weight, it's just really time to start doing it.

I made the trek to the gym yesterday, I attempted to take the LRT there, big mistake. The stop is really far away from the gym, normally, that's awesome b/c it's a bit of extra walking, but, through huge piles of mushy snow, it's just a huge pain in the ass. I'll be driving to the gym tomorrow, assuming I don't get stuck in the alley, which happened a few days ago.

Side note: if you have to get stuck in the snow, make sure you're blocking the whole road, that way people are forced to help you if they want to continue on their way!

Weekly Weigh In - Phase 4 Week 3

2011-01-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

Down 1 lb this week, landing me at 236lbs.

Tomorrow I'm going to venture to the gym. Adding that to the exercise that we're expected to do for Phase 4, I'm hoping it'll give me a boost to have a good loss this week.

We've been getting catered food at work. I've skipped all of it except for a couple pieces of fruit, and a bunch of celery and carrots. Most people have been complaining of stomach aches after eating it anyway - so, it's a good thing I'm not indulging in it.

The Worst January Since 1974...

2011-01-17T21:33:00.000-07:00

... well isn't that just great.

The snow piles are taller than me, my legs are popsicles and my patience has run out with this snow. As I was shoveling the drive way, I had to stand and ponder for a few minutes, I couldn't figure out where I was going to put the snow. There's so much, I don't have any more room in my yard. It's insane.

Lets not even start with the topic of having to pee while shoveling and then having to take off your boots 3 times. What a pain in the ass. Flipping water.

I ended up eating supper at 8pm tonight. Way later than I normally like to eat, but with all the shoveling, there was no avoiding it. I'm extremely full. I can't imagine binging on this plan. I'd explode immediately.

Phase 4 - Week 2 Weigh In

2011-01-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

Down 2 lbs this week, sitting at 237 lbs.

I've been following the plan, but I didn't get all the walking in. It's been -36 here with the wind chill, we have mounds and mounds of snow, and it just didn't happen. I got in 2 of the 3 days of walking, but they were stretched apart. I got in all the strength training though.

Did anyone watch the Golden Globes? I watched part of it, I love watching all the gorgeous dresses. I want to lose weight for my health, but to be honest, I'm really really really looking forward to the clothes.

How gorgeous is this dress? Stunning, I think it was my favorite of the night.

On another note - now that I've started working full time its about 1000 times easier to get all my fluid in. A 16oz coffee in the morning, followed by just over 4 liters of water.

I've also noticed that while I'm filling up my 32oz bottle 3 times while I'm there, coworkers only fill up a mug, and some of them don't even drink a while mug during the day. No wonder by the time the afternoon rolls around I'm running to the washroom ever 40 minutes and they sit contentedly at their desks.

Zomg!

2011-01-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

Kelly over at Life in the Fat Lane gave me my first ever blog award! This of course increased my guilt of not being around here that often lately exponentially, but, still, an award!

And here are the rules!

Post and link back to the person who awarded you this award.
Share 7 things about yourself.
Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers (or as many as you can).
Contact the bloggers and tell them they won!

7 things about me, hmmmmmmmm

The only thing I like about winter is my raccoon toque.
I don't really mind being single - I can't imagine being in a relationship at the moment.
I'm a complete night owl - AM is my arch nemesis
I really want to run a marathon - I was told by someone I could never be a runner, and I really want to prove him wrong
My brother and I go to all the Harry Potter movies together - we're planning on going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter together too
I love public transportation
I'm addicted to HBO

Awards:

Phase 4 - Week 1 Weigh In

2011-01-09T22:09:00.001-07:00

Up 1 lb this week. Sitting at 239 lbs.

I think it's the increase in water, definitely not increased calories. Also - I'm completely plugged up - I tried eating prunes (my first time - delicious!) but I haven't had the expected prune benefit.

I forgot how fast weekends go by. And how much people dread Monday.

We're in blizzard weather here, tonnes and tonnes of snow. Shoveling every few hours to keep it manageable.

The new job is alright - though I'm not a fan of waking up super early :(

Phase 4 - Day 1

2011-01-03T23:21:00.000-07:00

Day 1 is in the bag. Calories came in at 1185, walking done, strength training tomorrow.

In other news, I'm half moving tomorrow. To be closer to my new job, but I'll be coming home to my parents house on the weekends because I'm sure my mom will be having empty nest syndrome, and also I'll completely miss the dog.

The job starts on Wednesday, I don't know if I'm excited or not. Kind of I am, but, it's a little tricky going from super part time work to full time. I'm used to sleeping in and kinda being in vacation mode, so, pretty much I've gotten really lazy. This will definitely be a shock to the system for the first bit.

Excited for tomorrow - bring on day 2!

Starting Over

2011-01-02T00:50:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to write this post for a few days now, but the words are not really forming properly in my head.

I ran into my old boot camp instructor a few days ago. I had to leave boot camp for monetary reasons, not the lack of desire to go, but at $200 a month, it was out of my price range while working so infrequently.

When I left, I of course had every intention of continuing to get in shape and lose all the weight I need to. I envisioned that the next time I saw him, I would be thinner, happier and proud. This, of course, did not happen.

When I saw him my whole face turned red. I was mortified. Still fat, fatter than I was when I left boot camp, just pure horror running through my veins. I wanted to run away, hide, more ashamed than I've been in a long long time.

Phase 4 of Allan's Challenge starts in a couple days. I'm excited for it. One of the main rules of Allan's Challenges is No BS.

If I'm completely honest, up until now, I've been, I'd say, 43% full of BS.

Phase 4 is 100% BS free. 100% commitment. 100% of what I should have been doing since Phase 1. No more excuses, no more BS, no more whining - just eat less, drink more, move more, and lose it all.

Why Me?

2010-12-21T01:24:00.000-07:00

A while ago a friend of mine signed me up for a dating website, in the hopes that I too would find love in the same fashion she did. While I think it's great that she found her mate, I find it hard to respond to messages as most of mine turn out like this:

Me and my buddy are just sitting here browsing pof and we both REALLY like your pics, you are a gorgeous woman!

We're both good looking single guys, 28 and 31, normal, sane, non smokers, no drugs/diseases.

We would love to meet you and give you a massage sometime - if you think a massage from 2 hands feels good, think how good a massage from 4 hands would feel!

Let us know if you're interested :)

Ok, this is the weirdest, but, a lot of them aren't much better :P

My dog's favorite pastime

2010-12-14T20:11:00.001-07:00

I think I need to take some advice from my dog.

Panic Craving Carb Cruncher

2010-12-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

It's been two weeks since my pre-interview for a job I sort of applied for. I finally heard back today and am going for an actual interview on Thursday. At first I was extremely excited, it's a really tough competition, but getting an interview is a great sign, there are only a couple of people who are getting one.

Now I'm kind of panicked. With panic I usually just stuff my face, crackers, chips, something salty and crunchy. As I type this it's turning into complete anxiety. I've needed a job for so long, it's a little overwhelming.

At least the typing kind of sounds like crunching, the salt I can do without, and instead of carbs I'm having water.

Lately I've been eating some kind of fiber cereal for breakfast, 110 cal for 3/4 cup, Fiber Plus maybe? Anyway, I ran out, wrote it on the list, but the wrong cereal was brought home. This new one is 260 cal for 3/4 cup. No way - that's not happening.

Instead I had Rice Krispies, something I've always loved. 110 cal for 1 cup, plus 1/2 cup skim milk for 45 cal. I feel unsatisfied. I'm hungry, stomach growling. Banana time I think.

Shrinking - Weekly Weigh In

2010-12-12T12:50:00.001-07:00

Down 4 lbs this week!

This is amazing, I survived the movie theater and a cookie exchange (with soooo many delicious looking things) - which I should not have signed up for in the first place.

So 2 NSV's and a 4 lbs scale victory! Woot!

As for my weight. Well, I've decided to go by what my scale says, and assume that my starting weight was actually 8lbs higher than I thought *shudder*

So my new weight is 240.5 lbs (232.5 lbs if you subtract that 8)

NSV - Tangled

2010-12-11T23:51:00.001-07:00

Tonight I went to see the movie Tangled. A friend and I were supposed to see it on my birthday, but it had sold out by the time we got there, though we were quite early. Anyway, we finally got around to seeing it.

All I can really say is that is was delightful. The plot was great, the little chameleon, Pascal, was super cute, the animation was great. Overall is was extremely enjoyable. I had always wondered why Rapunzel had such long hair, and now I finally know.

My NSV - well, first off, my favorite thing in the world is popcorn. If I had to choose anything to eat it would be warm popcorn with butter and salt. Yummo. Movie theater popcorn is pretty much the popcorn supreme. Normally the smell of the theater completely overwhelms me when I walk inside - but tonight, no effect! I wasn't even remotely tempted, I walked by the concession, sat in my seat and pulled out my 1L bottle of water and sipped through the movie!

I've Got a Problem

2010-12-10T18:50:00.001-07:00

Well I've ignored my blog for almost 3 weeks ... sorry guys. I just got lazy for a while.

I've been following Allan's Challenge - and things are going great so far.

I've been losing, haven't been cheating. Things are going well.

Up until a couple days ago. On Sunday I weighed in at 236.6lbs, down 1lb from the previous weigh in.

Now here's the problem, the next day I went out and bought a new scale, as the one I had wasn't that great. I used the new scale the next morning, and it added 8 lbs to my weight! I thought maybe it was just an irregularity, so I checked again the next day, and the next, I'm now down 1 lb from the original 8 lb "gain". I'm thinking maybe my original scale had my weight wrong this whole time ... but now I'm not sure what weight to use. Should I just use the number on the new scale? Or should I subtract 8 lbs from the new scale weight?

I try not to weigh myself other places, like the gym, because it's not first thing in the morning, and the little gain from the water and food usually bums me out so I avoid it.

Any advice would be appreciated :)

*EDIT: I just wanted to be clear that this is not a BS post where I actually went mental and ate 8 lbs worth of calories, I've been sticking to my 1200 cal and drinking all the water.

Weekly Weigh In

2010-11-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

Well I'm stalled at 237.5 lbs - no loss this week.

I'm not really surprised, I didn't get in all my water for a couple of days, and I ate a couple meals that were really high in sodium. I'm kind of depressed about it - but, I'm on track again today.

So Today is like day 1 all over again. Getting in all my liquids, eating no more than 1200 cal.

I've signed up for part 3 of the Challenge, and I'm excited for it.

I haven't been blogging b/c we're having an issue with our internet at the moment. But it's cleared up (as far as I know anyway).

On the plus side, I've finally got a lead on a job - so I'm really hoping I get it. Haven't gone for an interview yet, but my pre-interview went well. And I did good on the assessment exams. So, fingers crossed!

Waking Young and Feeling Old

2010-11-22T08:37:00.001-07:00

Well it was my birthday on Friday - the big 28. I always find it to be bittersweet. It's kind of like the feeling you get at New Year's when you realize you're still fat and didn't lose any weight. I don't make New Year's resolutions, but I pretty much psych myself up that next year I'll be skinny on my birthday.

The pants on the left are the pants I am currently wearing. I hate them. They're a size 22, and I hate everything about them. The way they fit, the color, the size, the way they look.

The pants on the right are my goal pants. They fit me 10 years ago. They're my lucky pants. A lot of things went downhill after those jeans stopped fitting. I know I've said it before. But this year is going to be different. I'm dedicated to losing this weight. And on November 19, 2011; I will be posting a picture of me wearing those jeans. They're not even stretch jeans, they regular, before I was fat, real denim jeans. With a butterfly patch covering a hole in the knee caused by a rollerblading accident, yup, from exercise.

Weekly Weigh In

2010-11-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Down 2 lbs this week, sitting at 237.5 lbs now.

It's much easier to drink the water these days ... but I have had a couple days where I didn't want to drink anything at all, and it was a chore all day to drink.

More later ....

Chip Eater

2010-11-16T23:04:00.003-07:00

During my final year of University, both my brother and I were living with my grandma. I was kind of living there on a part time basis, driving to and from my parents, and my brother was there full time. After my first degree, it was deemed that my time was up, and my brother got the basement suite I had been living in.

Anyway, one evening, my brother, my grandma and I were sitting around watching TV. This was a pretty standard evening. Out of the blue, my grandma says, "Stephanie ... there are two types of people in the world." My heart catches a little bit, because it's usually this kind of opener that leads to a slightly - if not significantly - racist remark, but give her a break, she's elderly and has been through a lot. (Though I do often end up yelling at ~~some~~ most of her remarks).

Then this happens: "There are two types of people in the world ... tea drinkers and chip eaters. Dan and I are tea drinkers, but you Stephanie ... are a chip eater."

I should mention that I was NOT eating chips at the time.

At the time that this conversation took place, it seemed like one of those "grandma" moments, but looking back I see a lot of wisdom in the comment. My brother, tea drinker, didn't eat chips - he was on the University soccer team (starting goalie - so proud!), totally fit, exceptional grades (now in medical school). My grandma - though not in her healthy weight range - eats mostly healthy things, she does love pizza .. and butter. And while both of them do eat chips on occasion, it's rarely a whole bag at once.

It's four years later (approximately - counting is hard) and this conversation still resonates with me. I AM a chip eater! I love them. I love a lot of crunchy things that are terrible for me, but chips top the list. BBQ especially. But not this new age mesquite bbq business, I like the old school flavor that is now only found in the boxed version of Old Dutch.

We're veering off topic and I might be drooling a bit - With Allan's Challenge, and my previous attempts to lose weight, I have, obviously, given up my chip eating ways. Tonight I thought, if I'm no longer a chip eater, maybe I can be a tea drinker?

One of my University habits (along with daily exercise) was a cup of Sleepy Time with a tiny bit of maple syrup (invented when I ran out of honey) - but this only lasted a couple years, and was early in my first degree, before my full fledged chip eater days. Anyway, tonight I decided to revive my tea drinking days, with half a teaspoon honey (30 cals - not sure it was worth it to be honest, but maybe I just didn't steep enough).

So here I am ... Stephanie - Former Chip Eater ---> Current Tea Drinker

A Night Out

2010-11-16T17:20:00.000-07:00

I'm braving the cold temperature to go see Dan Mangan tonight. I've heard great things about his live show, so I'm looking forward to it.

Have a good one!

Weekly Weight In - late!

2010-11-16T02:23:00.001-07:00

I'm down 0.5 lbs this week, landing me at 239.5 lbs

ugh.

Movies, Water and Food - Oh My!

2010-11-13T00:12:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, I went to see an advanced screening of Morning Glory on Monday night.

I expected a typical, follow the numbers, kind of movie. But I was pleasantly surprised. I guess that's what happens when you go in with low expectations.

The plot was a bit predictable, but was acted well and was a lot funnier than I thought it was going to be. I figured I had seen all of the funny moments in the movie trailer on TV, but that was not the case at all. Definitely a chick flick - but overall enjoyable.

I never realized how much I missed Jeff Goldblum - why isn't that guy in more movies? Or why can't I remember him in more movies may actually be the case. He was delightful in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.

Son of Double Dog Dare You Challenge News

I've noticed from all my blog reading that a few people doing the challenge have seen a gain so far this week. That's the case with me as well. Originally I was up 4 lbs. I almost fainted when I saw that number on Tuesday. Currently I'm 2 lbs over my Sunday weigh in weight.

Does anyone know why this might be? Is it just the body adjusting to the increase in water?

In any case, I'm sticking to my 1200 calories a day and drinking all my water. I'm not going to let my evil scale win this time. I'm not giving up - I'm sure the scale will start to fall in the right direction.

Daily Totals:

Water: 128.3 oz
Diet Root Beer: 12 oz
Calories: 1243

Late Night - Can't Sleep

2010-11-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

Today was better than yesterday... it's much easier to suck all that water back, you start to crave it, well, I do anyway.

My water was split into 2 sections. 2L between 8am-3pm then 2L between 7pm-11pm. I don't recommend drinking so much water near a time you may be thinking of going to sleep... I can't sleep, I just pee.

But, I fell asleep on the couch, my dog kept me up last night, so, not much sleep took place. It never fails, if I have to get up early, she needs to go out in the middle of the night. *insert sigh here*

Anyway, totals for the day:

Calories: 1111
Water: 135.2 oz
Milk: 12 oz
Diet 7-Up: 12 oz

Fluid Total 159.2 oz

My weight is up a couple pounds, I'm hoping this is from the increase in water, I've been eating in my calorie range, so that's not it.

I went to an advanced screening of Morning Glory on Monday - I'll post a little something about it tomorrow (today I guess, you know, during daytime hours).

Waterblogging

2010-11-09T23:48:00.000-07:00

I stole my title from a comment I read on someone's blog - but I can't remember where.

The guru Allan has spoken. According to Allan I need to consume a minimum of 111 oz of water a day or 131 oz if I want to maximize my weight loss.

So how did Day 1 play out? Well. I ate my 1200 calories. I drank 118.3 oz of water, 8 oz of milk, and a can of diet Root Beer (12 oz approx).

I had to force myself to eat supper I was so full from all the water. I'm usually pretty good at planning ahead for meals, but lately I've kind of lost the desire, but I really need to focus on that again this week, seeing as I didn't see a loss last week, and that's probably part of the problem.

Tomorrow should be interesting ... it's my first day working having to consume all this water. When it was just the 64 oz I would drink 32 oz during work, then save the rest for the evening, but there's no way I can do that with the increase in fluids. So it should be interesting. I know the school, and the room I'll be in is, thankfully, right across the hallway from the staff washroom. As a sub I hate leaving students alone, so I'll try to maximize break times, but I'm sure I'll have to pop out for a few minutes.

Hope everyone had a great first day, and an even better second!

DDDY Weigh In #2

2010-11-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

Well I maintained my weight this week, still sitting at 240.0 lbs.

While I'm sad I didn't lose, maintaining is actually better than what I was thinking would happen. The dreaded TOM is here, and I usually gain, not to mention feel the need to eat everything in a 5km radius.

Part 2 of the challenge starts tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully I'll see a few pounds fall off this week.

There is still time to join the Double Dog Dare You Challenge, if you want, go check out Allan.

Small Victory

2010-11-04T00:51:00.001-06:00

First off: Hello to all the new followers! Thanks for following! I hope you enjoy the blog :) I swear, whenever I see the tally of people following grow I get happier and happier :)

Second: I'm staying at my grandma's again tonight. It's been a long 6 hours ... I know that sounds harsh, but I'd say 95% of the 6 hours has been her trying to get me to eat Halloween candy, chips, ice cream, crackers, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

Normally I'm ~~kind of tempted~~, ~~moderately tempted~~, completely tempted, but today, all I could think about was how full I was from all the water I was drinking. I must have walked by the Halloween candy about 30 times. So if we're keeping a tally, 1 point Allan, 0 points grandma. Small victory for me!

Third: I found a career fair to go to, it's put on by the city, so I hope it'll be alright. It's being held on my birthday, so maybe I'll get a bit of birthday luck and something will pan out.

Despite my depression/anxiety the past few days, I took a look back at the past couple of month and realized that this year has been my busiest for subbing. I'm getting way more jobs than I usually do, so I just need to relax a little. Stress is bad for weight loss so I need to calm down before it starts to show on the scale.

Speaking of scales, I was telling my mom about Allan's challenge and she's intrigued. Now a normal person would simply give her the link to Allan's blog, but, as I've kept my actual weight a secret from her and the rest of my family, as well as this blog (which has been a secret since it started, they know I write it, they just can't view it) ... so, instead I'm feeding her the information. I think she may try to play along. She wants to lose a bit of weight, but honestly, she really doesn't need to lose much.

This is GREAT news for me, because it means that there will be 2 of us (out of 3) that will be trying to hit 1200 calories a day... which should make for less temptation in the fridge and pantry, as well as balanced meals no matter who's doing the cooking.

November Goals

2010-11-01T23:46:00.000-06:00

I've been feeling extremely anxious and depressed today. It all centers around the fact that I'm only working part time.

I'm a substitute teacher, desperately wanting a full time job, but those are few and far between, and the ones that become available have such a high competition rate that it's pretty much swinging in the dark. Really the only choice I have if I want to be a teacher is to move to some small town. So I'm going to start looking into that. It's not something that I particularly want to do, but, I don't really see another option at the moment regarding teaching.

So my goal for November, is to seriously look into finding an out of town teaching job. Also, I'm going to start applying for City and Government jobs. I must be qualified for something, I have a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Education.

It's frustrating to me, and when I get like this I want to eat a truckload of candy/chocolate/chips - anything I can shove in my mouth really.

I know that if I had stability in my career life the weight thing would be a lot easier. When I was doing one of my student teaching rounds, I lost 15 lbs without drastically changing my diet or adding exercise. When I have a routine I just naturally eat 3 meals with a light snack.

So November goals:

stick to 1200 calories a day
drink a minimum of 64 oz of water a day
attend a career fair
look into teaching out of town :(

DDDY Challenge Day 8 - Weigh In

2010-11-01T11:38:00.000-06:00

Well, after a week on Allan's Double Dog Dare You Challenge I have lost 2 lbs. So I'm down to 240 lbs! Now, those that have actually been following my blog will probably remember that I seem to be gaining and losing the same 2 lbs, which is discouraging. But I think week 2 of the challenge will get me out of this slump.

Hope everyone had a great weigh in, and has a great day!

Monster Ballads and the Stations of the Cross

2010-10-31T23:12:00.002-06:00

As expected, the Josh Ritter concert was nothing less than phenominal.
It was my first time attending a folk/rock concert in a church. The McDougall United Church was a lovely venue, but the next time I go see a show in a church I'm bringing a pillow for my bum (which was numb after about 30 minutes). He played 99% of the songs that I was wanting to hear, which is always a nice thing. Highlights for me included: Monster Ballads, The Temptation of Adam, Harrisburg, and Other Side.

One thing that always seems to make Josh's shows stand out from other live acts is how incredibly gracious he is to his band, and how grateful he is to the crowd for attending. He's continually saying thank you, and pointing out band members to ensure that they're applauded as well (with good reason as they're amazing musicians). At the end of the show, which was a solid 2 hours with no breaks, he put his arms around his band-mates and they bowed. I haven't seen that in a long long time.

Also delightful is just how random the show actually is. During "Wolves" he got down on his knees and started baying at the moon ... during another song, he insisted that everyone in the church stand and slow dance with the person next to them (boy or girl, it all works) for 30 seconds. It's so random and amusing. He danced with his guitar, goofy, silly and amazingly amusing fun.

He left with promises of returning in the summer ... I'm guessing that means the Folk Festival ... I'm hoping he plays both Edmonton and Calgary, so I can go to both!

DDDY Challenge Update:

I am still on plan! Coming in very close to 1200 calories a day. Drinking a minimum of 2L of water a day... though now that I'm consistently drinking 2L I've found that it's not always enough, and am getting closer to 3L a day.

I'm nervous about tomorrow's weigh in, I had a spike in my weight today, but I'm 99% sure it's due to some extra sodium yesterday. Let's hope it just falls off again.

"It's nice to start the day with a nature video. It makes things seem really good no matter how bad things are. At least you're not a gazelle ... those guys have it rough."
-Josh Ritter

2010-10-30T18:00:00.008-06:00

I've been waiting for tonight for a long time. One of my favorite musicians, Josh Ritter, is gracing Edmonton with his presence.

This will be my third time seeing him live - the first time after just discovering his music, and being treated to an Amazing live show - full of so much energy. The second at the Calgary Folk Music Festival a few years ago, which I went to basically to see Josh Ritter as well as Andrew Bird (who may not float everyone's boat - but, is soo talented).

Anyway, here's a taste:

Double Dog Dare Day 3 - Part 2

2010-10-27T21:46:00.000-06:00

I should buy stock in a toilet paper company or something - I've never peed this much in my life. Clearly I've been slacking off in my water consumption up until this challenge.

Today was pretty good, not as good as yesterday, but I'm clocking in with 1246 calories (46 over) and 72 ounces of water so far.

I skipped out on the gym again, but I'm feeling better, so gym for sure tomorrow. I always feel better when I go anyway, well, not during the actual exercise, but after it's over. Maybe it's just relief that it's over lol.

It's 9:45pm, I really feel like eating something sweet. I think I'll drink some more water instead.

Double Dog Dare Day 3 - Part 1

2010-10-27T13:09:00.000-06:00

Good news bloggarino's - the scale is once again moving in the right direction! Woot - I'm feeling happy and full after a 320 cal breakfast. I know, I'm eating breakfast pretty late, but I slept in because I'm still not feeling well. Stupid sinuses.

Time to run some errands, then off to the gym, or maybe just some time on my treadmill at home. We'll see.

Hope day 3 is going well for everyone!

Double Dog Dare Day 2

2010-10-26T22:05:00.000-06:00

Well it's day 2 of the challenge. Things are going relatively ok - I woke up to a half pound gain ... so, lets blame that on - I dunno - the position of the moon, considering I was totally on track yesterday. I am feeling a bit under the weather, this is my second cold in the past 2 months. *insert huge sigh here*

OK moving on - not letting the half pound get to me - I'm completely on track again today, coming in at 1174 calories and 64 ounces of water. I feel full and content.

I finally tried one of the Skinny Cow Vanilla Ice Cream sandwiches... so yummy. Expensive but delicious.

I haven't been to the gym in a couple days, so I'll be going back tomorrow. I hate exercising at the best of times, and exercising while being sick is worse, so, I put it off. But tomorrow I'm going for sure.

Hope the challenge is going great for everyone!

Oh Hey It's Monday!

2010-10-25T01:21:00.002-06:00

So - here we are - Monday - somehow I'm at 242lbs - I don't understand this at all. I haven't been cheating, so I'm kind of flabbergasted. But most of all, I'm pissed off!

Normally - I'd eat a bag of chips - I can't help it, I love them.....

Tonight - I'm thinking about how much exercise I'd have to do to burn the amount of calories in a bag of chips - it's not pretty.

So instead of eating all those chips, I'm blogging - and it helps, it really does...

http://almostgastricbypass.blogspot.com/

I've decided to officially cancel my challenge - and instead I'm joining Allan's.. his makes way more sense and really accomplishes what I wanted anyway.

I'll update more later... I'm finally sleepy...

Scale-athon #5 - 15/30 Challenge Week 1

2010-10-22T18:25:00.000-06:00

I was terrified of stepping on that scale this morning. I felt like week 1 of this 15/30 challenge went pretty well, but, at the start of it I had gained 1 pound and was at 243 lbs, that, plus knowing in order to get to 15 pounds in a month I'd have to lose 3.5 lbs a week just stressed me out.

Happily, I am down 2.5 lbs and am sitting at 240.5 lbs. I didn't quite make it to 3.5, but I'm certainly happy with 2.5, and I'm even happier that the scale is finally moving in the right direction again.

It occurred to me today that I have no control over time (yup, I know that's completely obvious :P). In a year it will once again be October 22, roughly 6:20pm. And in that year I can choose to do nothing, and be this weight next year, I can choose to stuff my face with all kinds of treats and probably be twice my size by next year, or, I can do something about this, and be fit and at my goal weight.

I think for me it's about getting through one day. One at a time. Make all the right decisions about what I'm going to eat and what I'm going to do at the gym.. then make the same decision the next day. And before long they won't be decisions anymore, because it'll be my norm.

Update

2010-10-18T17:49:00.000-06:00

Well because of my 15/30 birthday challenge, I'll be weighing in on Friday's instead of Monday's for the next month.

I've been thinking about the challenge a lot these past few days. It really should be 10 lbs in 30 days to be more realistic. I think I was just trying to get myself really revved up about it. Well, we'll see how it goes. Maybe it should just be lose between 10 and 15 lbs in 30 days. lol

The exercise has been going well. I'm good until about the 13th minute, then I kind of hit a wall and don't want to exercise anymore, but I've been sticking it out to 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer and burn around 430-440 calories each time I go. And after I always feel soooo good.

Hope everyone's doing great!

It's 12:35am - are you eating?

2010-10-16T00:40:00.000-06:00

I can't sleep - I keep thinking about food. I'm staying at my grandma's tonight. From 7pm until 11pm (which is when she went to bed) she harassed me to eat food. I declined everything. I feel good about that.

I went to the gym today.. 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer, 420 calories burned. I feel like I had a way better workout then what I do on The Shred, the sweat was dripping off.

But here I am, 12:39am now - thinking about eating. I"m not going to. The freezer has these potato wedges from M&M that are so delicious.... I finally looked at the nutrition, 170 calories for 5 wedges! OMG! Who eats 5???? No one!

I Got Troubles oh but, Not Today - 15/30 Challenge!

2010-10-15T15:09:00.002-06:00

I've been feeling pretty depressed about my weight lately, I started off losing fairly well, but I've stalled and I'm really aggravated by it.

Normally I'd sit myself down with a large bowl of chips, maybe some chocolate, definitely some root beer. Today, I decided to challenge myself. My birthday is November 19th, 30 days away. I want to lose 15 pounds by then. That's roughly 3.5 pounds per week. To do this, I'm going to base my LA Weight Loss foods around consuming 1200 calories a day. And I'm going to start going to the gym. Up until now I've just been doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred - level 2 has been kicking my butt, and I'm getting really discouraged by that. So I'm going to go to the gym daily, and cut back on The Shred to a few times a week. Hopefully it'll help get me out of my exercise funk.

If you'd like to join me in this 15/30 Challenge, leave me a comment! Every Friday I'll be weighing in, and if there are others who want to join, leave your progress in Friday's posts and I'll put your progress in the sidebar!

Questionnaire

2010-10-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

I found this on 42 is a Magic Number and thought I'd give it a go.

1. What was your highest weight, what do you weigh right now and what is your goal weight?

My highest weight was 256lbs. I currently weight 242lbs, and my goal is 140lbs.

2. What is your #1 motivation for losing weight?

My health - I found out that I have PCOS, so I need to lose weight if I want a better chance at having kids. I also have a fatty liver, I don't particularly want it to turn into liver cancer, so, I may as well deal with it while it's reversible.

3. Have you always been overweight?

No - I gained my weight starting my second year in university, I was in an emotionally abusive relationship, and food became my comfort. Up until then I was relatively healthy, within my healthy weight range, worked out.... but the past 9 years have not been so great.

4. When you want to give up what inspires you to keep going?

The idea that my liver will give out, and I'll die.

5. What is the #1 thing you look forward to when you hit your goal weight?

The clothes! I know I should say health, but darn, I just want to look cute for a while.

6. Do you have support on your weight loss journey?

Yes - all the people who read this blog, and maybe it helps you a little... friends, not so much, family, sort of ... if they'd stop asking me to bake for them it would be easier lol.

7. What is your favorite exercise?

Swimming - though, currently I won't go near a pool.

8. What is the most important thing you have learned on your weight loss journey?

Don't stop just because the scale has... keep going, the scale will catch up with you.

9. What is one thing you have given up that you miss the most?

That's a hard one - chips I think.... ok wait, popcorn the way I used to eat it... lots of butter and salt. Yup, salty buttery popcorn.

10. What is your strategy for losing weight?

Following my LA Weight Loss plan, exercising and believing in myself (it's been a while)

Scale-athon #4

2010-10-11T23:52:00.001-06:00

242.0 lbs

No change.

This I find frustrating. I've been on plan, I've been exercising and no change! I understand if I veer of plan, that's fine, that's something I did and shouldn't have. This is just frustrating.

10-10-10

2010-10-10T20:51:00.000-06:00

Well I did it, I got through our Thanksgiving meal without going food crazy. I mostly filled up my plate with salad and some roasted veggies that I made. Added a little white meat from the turkey, bypassed the potatoes, stuffing, gravy and perogies, and felt satisfied at the end.

Unfortunately, I missed my 30 Day Shred today, so I'm pushing back moving to level 2 by one day. So my Shred will end on Oct 31 instead of Oct 30 as originally planned.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving if you're in Canada, or just a great weekend!

Day 9 of The Shred

2010-10-10T00:07:00.001-06:00

To be honest, I wasn't really sure I'd make it to day 9, especially after I did the DVD on the first day. In all reality, I'm not sure I've lost anything so far, my weight has been bouncing around, but my endurance is definitely increasing, so that's positive. I don't know if I'm ready to move onto phase 2 of the shred on day 11, I'm a little nervous about it. I think I'll try the second workout on day 11 and then decide.

One thing I should have done, and will do tomorrow, is mark the place on the floor where I'm standing for my pictures. I guess it won't make that much of a difference, but I'd like to do an overlay, so I need them to be the same size.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in Canada - my first official holiday while trying to lose weight. I'm a little nervous about it, as there will be an abundance of food, but I think I can manage ok.

Half Remembered Dream

2010-10-09T01:13:00.000-06:00

When I dream I am skinny. It's always a little sad to wake up and see the real me, or the me that I've become. I guess in my dreams I'm the old me, the person I was before I gained the weight, before I was insecure.

I ran into an old friend at the dog park today. It was nice to catch up. We met last year when we both joined the same boot camp.

You see, last year I had the great idea that the way for me to lose a bunch of weight was to join a boot camp. My family figured I'd quit after a couple days, but I lasted 6 months. 3 days a week for 6 months. Guess how much weight I lost? 10lbs! that's it! After all that incredibly hard work, I lost 10 lbs. Normally I'd be happy to lose 10lbs, but at $200 a month, 10lbs didn't seem like a great pay off.

Anyway, we lost touch shortly (immediately) after I had to quit the job she had offered me, b/c my current job was able to offer me more hours. Which is the reason I didn't want to take the job to begin with, I was afraid it would wreck the friendship, and I was exactly right. She stopped returning my calls, and I eventually gave up.

So, it was a bit awkward seeing her today ... she's 8 months pregnant! Due 4 days before my birthday ... apparently she didn't call back b/c she didn't have my number as something (not sure what) happened to her cell phone. Anyway, she gave me her number again and wants me to call her for a get together. Which is great, b/c she has 4 small dogs, and my dog is small (mini-schnauzer) and most of my friends have large dogs, mostly she pays with 2 great danes, so, a huge size difference. Though it's cute, she's getting more and more used to them, and will now chase them around and kind of jump up on her hind legs so she can smell their faces. I should take a picture of that.

OK - it's late, I need to regulate my sleeping times I think, I've heard that's helpful for weight loss. Tomorrow will be a super food/exercise post.

CNS Giveaway

2010-10-05T19:56:00.000-06:00

Clyde over at The Clydesdale Project is giving out 2 $25 CNS gift certificates ... check it out!

Scale-athon #3

2010-10-05T15:20:00.000-06:00

242.0 lbs (+3 lbs)

This is disappointing... but not surprising. I did Take Off again last week and I gained 3 pounds from that. I talked to my counselor and we decided that for the next month I would skip Take Off, as I always seem to gain when I'm on it.

This week I'm going to be extremely rigid in what I eat and not veer from my plan at all. Hopefully I'll be able to see a loss by the next weekly weigh in.

I'm still doing the 30 Day Shred Challenge. Today is day 5, I'm already finding that my endurance is increasing, so that's encouraging at least.

Postponed

2010-10-04T11:04:00.000-06:00

My weekly weigh in will be moved to Tuesday. I spent Sunday night at my grandma's house - she doesn't have a scale... well, she does, but you can put a 10 pound bag of potatoes on it and it will tell you it weighs 30 pounds. So, not reliable.

My grandma's house is pretty much like walking through a store called Temptation. She's got everything you could want to snack on - salty, sweet, salty and sweet... I forgot how tricky it is to be at her house.

She's also the kind of person who is always offering you food. From the minute you get there, until the minute you either leave or go to bed, she's trying to get you to eat something.

I lived with her when I was completing my first Bachelor degree. The surprising thing is that instead of gaining the freshman 15, I actually lost 15 pounds in my first year of University. I was thinner than when I was in high school. I ate regular meals, a portion of chips a day, veggies, all kinds of things. I even got in my head that I should start going to the campus gym. So clearly I have not always hated exercise, I guess that's a more recent development.

Sadly, after my first year of University, the weight started to pile on. Ultimately, I'd like to get down to the weight I was when I lost those 15 pounds.

Shredding

2010-10-03T01:30:00.002-06:00

I've been lacking in posts lately, I apologize. I have good intentions about it, and then don't really follow through. This is probably one of the main reasons my weight is as high as it is. I have good intentions to start diets, start exercising, but then usually find reasons not to.

Well not anymore ... I have signed up for Syl's October Challenge ... To do Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD every day in October.

I did the DVD yesterday, today I was so sore I could barely move. I procrastinated today's workout, and finally felt super guilty and actually did it, Late in the evening, but I did it. I'm about 99% sure I'm not going to be able to walk tomorrow, which should make the DVD that much more challenging LOL.

Starting pictures will be posted in my Photos section, and will be updated every 10 days this month.

Scale-athon #2

2010-09-27T12:13:00.000-06:00

239.0 pounds (+2 lbs)

I wish I could say I was surprised by this gain, but I'm not really. I've been sick for the past 5 days, hence the complete lack of posts, and have been completely off my plan, eating mostly toast and drinking 7-UP.

I've been finding it hard to keep other things down, including water, which I tried to drink a number of times with discouraging results.

On a positive note, I did manage to almost meet one of my goals for last week, which was going to the gym 3 times. I made it there twice before I got sick. This week I will definitely get there 3 times... I'm going right after I finish posting this.

So while this gain could be disappointing, I'm just going to shrug it off to the fact that I was sick and couldn't eat all the food I was supposed to.

Time to move on.

The Social Network

2010-09-21T01:52:00.001-06:00

A friend of mine has a friend who has a job promoting movies (how cool is that?). So I was able to go to a free advanced screening of The Social Network tonight.

For those of you that don't know, The Social Network is the story of how the extremely popular social networking site Facebook was created. The movie is an adaptation of Ben Mezrich's novel: "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal."

Jesse Eisenburg plays Mark Zuckerburg, the creator of Facebook. I have to say this, he was fantastic in the movie. There's a scene at the beginning of Zuckerburg with his then-girlfriend Erica having a conversation in a bar. After this scene I was astonished by how much of a complete jerk Zuckerburg seemed to be. Very believable performance.

The plot is one of controversy. Who really created Facebook? Was the idea stolen or was it stolen from fellow Harvard students who had hired Zuckerburg to create a website for them. I really wonder at how valid this movie is, as it is a tale of two sides. Also discussed is the relationship between Zuckerburg and his friend Eduardo Saverin, the co-creator of Facebook.

Overall, I thought the movie was great. Very entertaining and well acted. The vuzz is that it's Oscar-worthy. It left me wanting to know more about the whole subject, which is a great feeling. I'm tempted to purchase the novel and see if there is any additional information in it.

Scale-athon

2010-09-20T23:33:00.000-06:00

The last week went by really fast. I can't believe it's weigh in time already.

Losing weight really is a marathon, and definitely not a sprint, not that I could sprint at the moment, but anyway.

Current weight: 237 lbs (-3 lbs)

3lbs! Yay!

I now feel pretty guilty about having popcorn at the movie I went to tonight (The Social Network - advanced screening).

Goals for the week: eat all my food (yes, I do see the irony that an overweight person has to set a goal to eat more food) and go to the gym 3 times (a major increase from my current 0 visits a week).

An All Time Low

2010-09-18T21:06:00.000-06:00

A couple days ago I woke up, and like every day, immediately strolled up to my scale and hopped up. 236.5 lbs! I was ecstatic. Then, the next morning, back up to 240 lbs. What?!?!

I'm so sick of these random fluctuations.

The program I'm doing is LA Weight Loss. Every two weeks you have to do "Take Off" where you eat a limited amount of protein and drink their juice for 2 day. These fluctuations happened while I was doing take off, so I think I'm going to skip the next one and just do it once a month instead of twice a month and see if that helps.

Tomorrow I'm committed to actually starting a gym routine.

Updateatron

2010-09-14T21:53:00.000-06:00

Well - I was sick all weekend. It's amazing how quickly you forget about your diet when your nose plugs up.I lost 1 pound this week, which is extremely disappointing, though I spent 4 days off my diet, not really eating much. I tend not to eat when I'm sick, other than toast.I'm back on plan, hopefully this week will yield better results.

Push Push Fall Fall

2010-09-09T23:25:00.001-06:00

I went in to see my counselor today. Bad news, I've only lost half of the weight I should have by week 8 in my program. Bah!! I should be at 16 lbs lost but I'm only at 8 lbs. My counselors (yup, it's kind of random which one you get when you go there) keep telling me to be positive. Just stick to the program and the weight will come off.

They say my biggest problems are I've been eating too late in the evening, I agree - I've been having a snack at 9pm, way too late! And my other problem is I haven't been mixing up my food enough. Not enough variety apparently. This poses a problem for me... I've only taken up cooking recently and am not exactly an expert at it. I prefer to make things that don't take very long, and don't have much clean up at the end. So I've pretty much been eating the same things everyday. I was actually ok with this until they told me I need to mix it up.

They also told me about this one client they have who lost 100 lbs since January! January! That's 8 months! Holy! Insert jealousy here.

Oh well - I guess it's just baby steps for me.. I think I need to baby step my way to the gym and try exercise on for size.

Over and Over ... I Never Learn

2010-09-08T18:33:00.001-06:00

In January of 2009 my best friend told me she got engaged. Naturally I was thrilled for her, and horrified for me. Not because I'm single and have no romantic prospects ... but because all I could envision was me standing next to her at the alter, with skin hanging out of my bridesmaid dress.

She scheduled her wedding for August of 2010.. and I thought, "great, this gives me tonnes of time to lose some weight and look good in a dress." So what did I do? I gained 10lbs. The wedding was creeping closer and closer ... and every day I'd stand on the scale and think, "what am I going to do? The dress I ordered fit, but was snug, it's not going to fit my new weight."

With the stress of not fitting into my dress, added to the stress of teaching summer school.. I ate pretty much anything I saw... this, obviously, did not help the problem. Near the end of July I finally really realized "Stephanie... you will not fit in the dress," and really did something about it.

Limited foods, increased water, walking, and by wedding time I was down to the weight I was when I tried on the sample dress. Our dresses came in 4 days before the wedding (talk about last minute) and... moment of truth... the dress fit. It was extremely snug, clearly the sample had been stretched a bit.

I had them let the dress out half an inch (the most it could be let out) and this helped. On the day of her wedding, we got all dolled up and prepared for the most important day of her life. I pasted a smile on my face, sprayed sparkles in my hair... and masked my broken heart. Here we were, the day I had set a goal on. I had given myself a year and a half to lose weight, and I was still the same, down to the ounce.

And while a lot of people came up to me and expressed how great I looked, all I saw was a big girl squeezed into a purple strapless dress. And after all that disappointment, all I can do now is look forward, and finally do what I had intended to do. I have to lose the weight, all 107lbs.

It seems like such a long way to go, and it is. It was so easy to put on. But, it's so ridiculously hard to lose.

Freedom Revoked

2010-09-06T00:24:00.003-06:00

Well - it was short and sweet, and I miss it already. I had the house to myself for a week while my parents moved my brother back to Manitoba for his second year of Medical School. Yes - it's true, I'm 27, living in my parents basement. I am a cliche of epic proportions.

While I do love my parents, I need to get out of this house. So since my "career" isn't really taking off, it may be time to start looking for alternatives. I'm thinking Government Job. *fingers crossed*

9:30 Senior Skating

2010-04-06T19:07:00.005-06:00

I've never been to the mall at 9:30am before. It's a weird thing, people are lining up outside stores that haven't opened, people are opening up those annoying little kiosks in the middle of the aisles, and there are senior skating around the ice rink (which is neat).

I really had only one purpose for being at the mall - a trip to T&T Supermarket to purchase some Panko Breadcrumbs. This Asian market is delightful, I'm always in awe of how many products have Hello Kitty pasted all over them. The one in the picture actually has little Hello Kitty shaped veggies (I think - maybe seaweed?) in there.

I have a tendency to buy odd items when walking through unfamiliar markets. The foreign writing fascinates me and the pictures, oh the pictures. I settled on these guys - Green Peas Snacks. They were possibly green peas, as that was the #1 ingredient. but they didn't resemble anything I've ever seen before.
They were very strange - crunchy but soft, and they kind of had an aftertaste of green peas. Well at least I didn't get sick from them, not that I ate that many.

it says a year, but it feels like a week

2010-04-05T01:45:00.006-06:00

Well, if Blogger says it's so, then I guess I must believe it. One year, well, over a year actually since my last post.

Somehow this saddens me just a bit, not a huge amount, but, still.

And while it's been a year, I still seem to be stuck in the same place, some of the variables have changed, but the total is the same.

The redundancy is really starting to get to me.

On the meme train

2009-03-18T10:46:00.005-06:00

Taken from the lovely Barbara: answer the following questions with a song title from ONE artist.

Artist: Matthew Good/Band

Are you male or female? Carmelina

Describe yourself: I'm a Window

How do you feel about yourself? My Out of Style is Coming Back

Describe where you currently live: Suburbia

If you could go anywhere, where would you go? Bright End of Nowhere

Your best friend is: In a World Called Catastrophe

Your favorite color is: Vermillion

You know that: 99% of us is Failure

What's the weather like? Change of Season

If your life was a TV show, it would be called: tie - My Life as a Circus Clown & 21st Century Living

What is life to you? Empty Road

What is the best piece of advice you have to give? Look Happy, It's the End of the World

If you could change your name, what would it be? Odette

Your favorite food is: Truffle Pigs

K-I-C-K-A-S-S

2008-06-22T22:06:00.007-06:00

Last night was a treat. It's been a long time since I've seen a concert in the Jubilee Auditorium, and it is as great a venue as I remember. What I especially like about the Jubilee is the announcement of how long the wait is until the show is starting. Excellent.

It's been years since Matthew Good has toured with a band, and my anticipation level was at an all time high. Don't get me wrong, I loved the acoustic tours, but there's something truly spectacular about watching Matthew Good perform with a band.

As the lights dimmed and the first chords of Champions of Nothing were played a huge grin spread across my face... then in true concert spirit, he forgot the lyrics. One of the great moments of the night was the ending of A Single Explosion, which I found to be incredibly delightful.

A personal favorite, Avalanche, was played, but it didn't seem as tightly played as the last time I saw it in full band. Odette and Giant were really wonderful to see played again. And to my extreme joy, Girl In the War was played last. It was a great cover and truth be told, I shed a couple tears during it.

After the show I finally completed my collection of autographs getting In A Coma, White Light Digipack signed, courtesy of Gina. And I got Lo-Fi B-Sides and Loser Anthems signed. Yay! Maybe I'll take a picture.

Overall, a very memorable Matthew Good Rockgasm.

★ ★ ★

On another note, I spent the whole morning in a medi-clinic. After spending 4 months of this year with pink eye, after seeing a specialist to finally get rid of it, one month later it's back. And it's worse than ever. I took along the drops the specialist gave me and requested a refill, which resulted in the doctor telling me that he didn't think I had pink eye. But I had spent a long time in that sitting room and I was pissed off. Four months my eyes looked exactly like this, yes it is pink eye.

In the end I got my drops and am looking forward to white eyes on the horizon.

What My Dreams Are Made Up Of

2008-06-18T16:48:00.004-06:00

Just like the image says, "The iPhone You've Been Waiting For". Yes, Yes I have been waiting, and waiting and waiting. And now with less than a month to go my heart is starting to swell with anticipatory joy.

Oh Apple, you are my drug addiction. Once you start you just cannot stop. iPod, MacBook Pro, new iPod.... iPhone! Huzzah!

It's possible my now unstoppable drool response is also due to the upcoming concert season. Oh summer, you have not failed me this year. Except for the sunburns I have already acquired; I'm not so happy about that.

Must Have Lost My Mind When I Lost the Car Keys

2008-06-18T01:37:00.003-06:00

I cannot go to bed early. Every morning I wake up with the intention of being in bed by 11pm... and here it is, 1:43am still awake.

I regret it every morning, yet I just can't get into bed at a reasonable hour.

I suppose this would be alright if I was actually doing something with my time, but alas no... I spent 3 hours changing the background colour of my blog. Well, I suppose a little of that was first creating the pic in PhotoShop, but not much. It's been so long since I've been on here I've forgotten all my HTML knowledge. And I can't bring myself to upgrade my template.

Probably if I clicked that upgrade button I could have made all my changes in 10 minutes.

Some people never learn, I'm one of them.

How is it you can keep mutating and still be the same deadly virus?

2008-06-01T03:07:00.003-06:00

In case you are wondering what happened to me:

I got a substitute teaching job... despite parking in the snow lane and having to move my car during my job interview, as well as looking like a crazy drug addict

I had pink eye for 4 months! (hence the drug addict chic look)

I lined up a zillion concerts for this summer.... best summer ever really

I guess that's it

Sad

Hey It's My Favorite Holiday - Barf

2008-02-14T15:42:00.004-07:00

Hey everybody, look how red my eye is... Sweet! Too bad I looked like a drug addict for the job interview I've been waiting 7 months for. Oh and maybe I shouldn't have parked in the snow removal lane and had to be paged on the intercom to move my car. In my defense, there really was not enough signage.

So it's Valentine's day again. Is is me or does it always seem like it's Valentine's Day? Maybe it's just my sense of impending doom.

So as to not break tradition, I will be alone yet again this Valentine's Day.

Question: are you ever really alone when you buy yourself a pink iPod Nano?
Answer: NO.

Hey everybody - you can see my reflection in the iPod screen! Double picture. I like how my hair gets worse and worse with each picture. I hate to think what it will look like in an hour from now.

Now on the positive side of things, I did go on a date last week. I know what you're thinking - and yes, it is some kind of miracle and I wouldn't be surprised if we're about to experience the apocalypse.

Treasure Hunters II

2008-02-04T01:20:00.000-07:00

The much anticipated sequel to the smash hit Treasure Hunters.

This happens the day after the first one was shot.

If you haven't seen the first one, it's the post before this one.

Thanks to Barbara for turning me on to the music.

My iMovie HD directorial debut

2008-01-30T22:54:00.001-07:00

So today Gina and I went on an adventure... it's like -30 Celsius...

I took a video and played with iMovie HD... it was fun times

There's music, so turn on your speakers and enjoy!

Come Down and Waste Away With Me

2008-01-18T23:52:00.000-07:00

Oh yes my friends.. as well as two posts already this year, I also have new shoes. Joy!

I really have to ask this question... to the one or two readers that still might swing this way every once and a while. Am I the only one that is feeling extremely optimistic about 2008? Somehow it already seems a lot better than 2007 and we're only 18 days in.

Over the holidays my family all came together and re-watched Season 3 of Lost. Tonight it all came to an end as the two-part season finale captivated us once again. And now, only 11 days to go until Season 4... and not just Season 4, but Season 4 in HD.

I am also determined to see Radiohead in Vancouver, or Toronto, or Montreal... I will get a ticket to somewhere!

I'm also starting to get bored of not having a job. Don't get me wrong.. laying around and doing nothing is good times... but maybe I should make some money so I can put some gas in my car.

2008-01-18T11:46:00.000-07:00

Holy Moly an Update

2008-01-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

So here we go.. the annual year end recap of 2007..

By far the worst decision of 2007 was to give up napping. Soon to be best decision of 2008 - start napping.

End of recap post... I'm not a fan of them really.

New Year's resolution = do not spend any change. People who know me know how difficult this will be as I routinely travel around with about $34 of loose change at the bottom of my purse. This is a good plan if you like making a fool of yourself, or if you are scared of being mugged. Chances are the mugger will be so perplexed by the weight of your purse that he/she will just give up.

My dad has become obsessed with Harry Potter and is now comparing pretty much every situation you can imagine to something that Harry Potter has done. For example, he came up with this joke:

Why did the chicken cross the street?
Answer: To get to St. Mungo's Hospital of Magical Maladies

Imagine living with that all the time.

2007-10-19T14:57:00.001-06:00

West Coast (New Video)

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2007-09-26T02:58:00.001-06:00

Andrew Bird - Imitosis

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2007-09-25T03:40:00.001-06:00

I'm in Post-Matthew Good shock.

3 shows... I heard every single song I was hoping for this tour... it was a musical orgasm from start to finish..

Yikes

2007-09-03T00:22:00.000-06:00

Sometimes people really let you down. It sucks.

On a totally unrelated note, a lady I've worked with for the past 5 years was just diagnosed with bladder cancer. It's really sad.

On the positive side, I'm totally in love with my MacBook Pro. I got it a few weeks ago and I keep meaning to take a video of it, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Possibly tomorrow if I don't forget.

The keyboard illuminates, it's simply magical. Hurrah for Apple!

Poor Professor Pynchon

2007-08-14T02:14:00.000-06:00

I have decided to rewatch Lost. THe all time best TV series EVER!

It was my brother's idea - he watched an episode from season 1 in Mexico, and came home eager to watch with me.

Unfortunately his enthusiasm is lacking compared to mine - I've surpased him by 2 episodes, secretly obviously, because we're supposed to be watching it together.

But honestly, I can't wait that long. I want to watch NOW.

OMG I love Andrew Bird. And I love new shoes. And I love that I get to sleep in my bed tonight - after sleeping on a matress on the floor of my mom's room for the past week while relatives have been here and even worse is that we had relatives the week before and while I got to sleep in my room, some of them snored so I got no sleep at all.

2007-08-12T23:26:00.000-06:00

Well I got new shoes

They are brown and cute

Very comfortable

The front have flowers embroidered over plaid.

They are awesome fun!

The back of the shoe has an owl on it. Awesome!

Come to the Front of the Class - We'll Measure Your Brain

2007-08-11T02:29:00.000-06:00

Okay update with video has been rescheduled for tomorrow - today has been an insane EMO day. I think I'm okay now - surviving at least.

Heart kind of broken - but, I'm alive so, can you ask for more than that?

I'm expanding my Chicago ideas - I'm thinking Vancouver or Winnipeg - parents oddly calm now that I"m considering a move in Canada.

I think I will buy shoes in the morning. I haven't had new shoes in a long long time - and my heart needs a new pair of shoes right now.

2007-08-09T02:39:00.000-06:00

Dear Reader

I am watching "The Last Mimsy" or the Last Mimzy, I don't remember how it is spelled

anyway, If you want to talk about the problems with the movie, please feel free to email me, or IM me, or whatever

also, ummmm awesome movie!

2007-08-09T02:25:00.000-06:00

Apparently this post is a Blogger problem

Serviced down time? I don't know

But here I am

A lot to post about the past week

It will have to wait until tomorrow

But fear not - tomorrows post comes with video

so

there's always that

video where content is lacking - except, I think content will be good

also, I have been drinking a little, which will be explained tomorrow, and you all will think "I would have been drinking too"

2007-07-28T17:53:00.000-06:00

I'm doing my least favorite of all things today.... cleaning.

And while it is incredibly long overdue, I still do not want to do it and would prefer to wallow in my messy messy room.

Boourns

2007-07-19T00:38:00.000-06:00

This is my favorite Post Secret secret of all time... because I would do the exact same thing.

2007-07-16T02:17:00.000-06:00

I sincerely want to meet the people who are in charge of writing things like this. My favorite part is at the end of the trailer, I was laughing so hard I was crying, then thinking about it later I laughed even harder and there were more tears.

It's genius.

The World Is Spinning

2007-07-14T02:02:00.001-06:00

Why is it so hot out?

Don't I live in Canada? How is my igloo supposed to survive this weather? Where am I supposed to put my snow dogs? They're warm.

I absolutely hate the heat... I'm melting up a storm... I'm just glad I'm not at work, melting in those hot booths, that's the only thing that could be worse than having just hot weather. Well, a tornado would be worse too. But aside from a tornado, being in a booth.

In other news - I am not going to Chicago, we're doing a phone interview instead, good thing b/c I have no money. Guess I should be melting in a booth instead of complaining about having no money, but oh well.

2007-07-11T01:16:00.000-06:00

Wednesday July 18th; 1:00PM

I've got a job interview in Chicago.... Biology Teacher...

I am beyond excited about this..

My family... not so much

Lots of arguments today... but I'm still excited

Mainly they're pissed off because I can't give them a reason as to why I want to move to Chicago... something about it just feels right and they can't except that as a reason I guess.

Brother: "You should move to Saskatoon"
Me: "Why Saskatoon?"
Brother: "Why Chicago?"
Me: Glares
Brother: "Chicago is the Saskatoon of the States"
Me: "You're insane"

2007-07-10T01:42:00.000-06:00

QUESTION:

why is it that I am ok with the texture of pudding, but am not ok with the texture of bananas? Are they not the same texture? Bananas are possibly a little harder, but really, mostly the same to pudding.

This is blowing my mind right now.

Hospital Music

2007-06-29T02:42:00.000-06:00

Have you listened yet?

It's freaking insane!

Early favorite: Odette

I'm pretty much salivating just thinking about July 31st