End Of Sunday, Beginning Of Monday

Happy Monday! I have just put Dawny on the plane back home and will now try to get my sleep turned around to work night shift starting tonight. Let's do this.

Our Sunday was pretty low key. We were tired and I didn't sleep much after the wine party get together on Saturday. Our day started with breakfast at Denny's and then we went downtown to Big City Coffee for some decaf. Despite the amazing looking treats, many of which were pumpkin flavored, we didn't indulge. Lunch was in our near future.

Across the street was this really fun place with costumes, hats, wigs, etc. We had so much fun looking around and trying stuff on.

I had a GroupOn to cash in at Carino's Italian, which was right by the movie theater. After a delicious lunch of soup, salad, and (lots) of bread we saw The Intern. Dawny and I both loved the movie but it took a turn we weren't quite expecting. It is a very funny and heartwarming movie. It also has some tough stuff in it. Overall, we enjoyed it. I had a GroupOn for froyo at USwirl so we cashed those in after the movie for our afternoon indulgence.

I needed a nap BIG TIME so we headed home so I could rest for about 30 minutes. Since Kenyon is on night shift he was just waking up. After my nap we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner then called it an early night. Before going to bed we took time to see the “blood moon” lunar eclipse and also get in a 30 minute walk so I could get my Apple Watch totals filled for the day/week. I've got three more days this month to meet my goal of filling my three circles all three days. I'm soooooooo very close. With tonight being my first graveyard shift and my planned workout at work being after midnight I think I'll need to get in some activity today before I head to work. Then when I do get in my workout time that will set me up to meet my goal on Tuesday (hopefully it works out this way).

Enjoy your Monday.

Tucanos, Fit One 10K, & Wine Party

Hello!!! I am so sorry I have not been posting. It has been a very busy week. But, I'm happy to report I successfully passed Phase One of my training, non-emergency call talking. Monday night I start on night shift with a new trainer and Phase Two, emergency 911 calls. I also got to dispatch a little bit of the fire department/fire channel on Friday at the end of work due to it being super busy. That was quite exciting.

Dawny came to Boise on Friday night for a visit/girls weekend and also to walk the Fit One 10K with me. We went to Tucanos to cash in her free birthday meal. Dawny's birthday is actually October 11^th but when she came to Boise last year we signed her up for the birthday club with a September birthday. Since she was still signed up she got her free meal notice again for September. Yahoo. We had them sing to her and watched her dance (and shake her maracas).

Early, very early, yesterday morning we woke up and got ourselves ready to walk 6.2 miles. We ended up being late to the start line as we got delayed at Denny's where we went for breakfast. We met with Danielle and carpooled to her work downtown to park. Because of our late arrival they almost didn't let us join the course. We were told something about them knowing where the last walkers location was but if we stayed on the sidewalk and walked fast to catch up we could continue. Thankfully the race was coming back towards us as the course started on an out/back route. When we saw a group that looked to be walking our speed we just flipped a U-ey and joined the group. We ended up shaving off half a mile on the 10K course but still getting my metal. That my friends is the reason I did the race to begin with.

We walked back downtown to the Farmer's Market to see Jamie and her girls. We also saw Rebecca and her girls both on the race course and at the market. I stopped by Trader Joe's for some groceries as I was hosting a wine party last night. I also took Dawny to the Nampa PD to see my new workplace and meet my coworkers/trainers that I have been working with for the last 8 weeks.

My wine party was a huge success, despite having many bottles of wine that were not drinkable. I hate to admit it but I have a lot of wine bottles from when people bring me wine I don't like and this case of wine I bought a few years ago. We ended up dumping out more bottles of wine then drinking but at least I don't have to store the bottles anymore. Poor Dawny, I think I have officially turned her off of the idea of ever liking wine because she tasted some of the old wine. Whoops.

At the end of the day we were pooped! It was a busy and active day.

Simply Filling Pancakes

**I am getting my recipes mixed up. I didn't use cinnamon or vanilla extract in this recipe. Sorry for the confusion***

Last week I experimented with some protein pancakes. I hunted for pancakes that would be Simply Filling. The benefit of a SF recipe is that I could actually have more than one pancake and not have to worry about using a lot of PPVs for it. 

I found this recipe on the Suzanne's Kitchen blog: http://suzanneskitchensimplyfilling.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-best-simplyfilling-pancakes.html?m=1

I made a few changes:

• 1/4c uncooked oatmeal – I used oat bran
• 1/4c cornmeal
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt - few shakes of the salt
• sweetener to taste
• 1/2c Greek yogurt or fat free cottage cheese (if using regular yogurt just use 1/4c) – I used FF plain Greek yogurt
• 1 egg white

I also added a few Chia seeds.

My mixture was quite thick so I added some FF milk until it smoothed to the consistency similar to pancake better where I felt I could spread it evenly but still have them cook correctly.

The hardest part is leaving them on the griddle to make sure they are firm before you flip. I'm never very good at the pancake flip.

The verdict? They were quite tasty and VERY filling! I knew they wouldn't be sweet. I think next time I'll perhaps add more sugar substitute or maybe even some brown sugar, counting the PPVs. I love the addition of the cornmeal. These are hearty and very cakey, my favorite part. 

I sautéed some apples in brown sugar and cinnamon for my pancake topping along with some honey. Since they weren't sweet I needed more honey, counting the PPVs. I eventually caved in and finished off my last pancake with peanut butter, again counting the PPVs.

I know next time not to eat all three in one sitting! I will plan to cook up a batch and have one pancake with peanut butter along side an egg. It was a very delicious breakfast.

When The WW Center Is Next Door To The Liquor Store

Happy Tuesday.

I met up with my family in Caldwell for breakfast this morning. My Aunt Flo (yes, my real Aunt Florine) was in town from California so my grandparent, parents, aunt, and other great aunt all got together for a visit. It was wonderful to see her and I always wish she lived closer.

I'm in house cleaning and laundry mode today. Dawny is coming to visit this weekend from Spokane. We are going to walk the FitOne 10K like we did last year and I am also hosting a wine party at my house on Saturday. I'm sort of cleaning in shifts to make it more manageable! Yesterday I also tackled mowing the lawn.

I went to the liquor store last night to get the stuff needed to make a White Russian. My sister Katie introduced me to them when we were in Vegas on our sister trip. I am not sure I make them quite as yummy. Maybe they tasted better because I was already drunk? Needless to say, I'm experimenting with the ratio of Kahala, vodka, and half and half.

The liquor store is right next to the WW center. When I pulled into the parking lot with only 15 minutes to spare I remembered that Natalie teaches the Monday night meeting. I knew I couldn't really get in and out of liquor store without being seen and I also wanted to stop and say hi once I realized she was there. I stopped into the liquor store first (after all it closed earlier...priorities). I felt like I needed to lie as to why I was buying the fixings for a White Russian. Yes, I am hosting a party on Saturday but I also had every intention to open up those bottles later in the evening.

I ended up having a great conversation with Natalie and the receptionist. I am in a bit of denial right now about all that is going on with my weight and my WW program. I owe you a long post with all my thoughts, I've just not spent the time to sit down and write it all down. Natalie gave me much to think about in what is my WHY for wanting to lose this re-gain. My WHY now isn't the same WHY as when I started losing weight at 304 pounds. I'm not the same person I was back then and the situation this time around is much different.

I'm still doing some thinking about it all. Maybe the White Russians are helping?

10 Barrel Brewing Co, Frozen Yogurt, Activity, And The Eye Doctor

Good Afternoon.

I've recently returned home from the eye doctor today. My vision is still good three year post-Lasik and I can even read the 20/15 line. The only weak link is my night vision. I've always struggled with my night vision but I feel like in the last 6 month it is getting a bit harder to see a night. When you add a rainy day into the mix it is really bad. After talking with the doctor he suggested a pair of glasses for night driving with anti-glare on the lenses. The only catch is that my tiny correction wouldn't qualify for insurance coverage. We had to go just slightly higher of a prescription but the doctor feels it will be just fine for the few times I will be wearing them.

I had spotted this amazing (bright) pair of frames before I had gone into my appointment. I miss the fashion accessory part of wearing glasses so when I visit the eye doctor I like to look at frames. My thoughts was “these are cute but wouldn't be practical in an everyday wear situation.” As soon as I told the guy I like bright colors he pulled that pair from the rack. Hmmmmm....not practical for daily wear but for night wear? SOLD! They cost a bit more than my allowance on frames from insurance and the anti-glare lenses also came at a cost. Oh well, it's just money. There is no way I can wear a drab pair of glasses even if nobody but me will see them. I'm excited for them to come in but I have to wait about two weeks. Sigh.

My friends and I had a great time at 10 Barrel Brewing Co last night. You know you are getting older when your friends all agree that the Sunday night downtown crowd is more your style. I guess our days of loud, busy, and crowded downtown establishments is way behind us.

I enjoyed my glass of Swill. Kate and Jamie also got Swill. Danielle went for a wheat beer. I ended up not eating at the restaurant because I wasn't hungry. After visiting for several hours we went to Aspen Leaf for $4 all-you-can-fill frozen yogurt and more visiting. It was a really great Sunday night. I love spending time with my friends.

I got my weekly summary from my Apple Watch and completed another week of meeting my goals daily.

Jamie told the girls last night that “Lindsay's Apple Watch owns her.” Hmmmm...perhaps. I upped my daily activity burn to 500 calories for this week. I guess I had better get to moving a little more today. Plus I've got a new pair of tennis shoes and a 10K this coming Saturday.

A Quick Hello

Good Morning/Afternoon

I'm popping by for a quick hello. My day started with pancakes at Denny's and it is going to end with a meet up with some girlfriends for beers downtown. I think I'll throw in some activity and a salad bar for good measure and balance and then call it a day.

It was a stressful week at work. We were really busy on Friday and that meant not taking a lunch break or a workout break. Several of my calls were being questioned and it all felt very nit-picky. I was beyond friend by the time 6pm rolled around. Traffic was a nightmare on the drive home which did nothing for my already bad mood. Ugh!

I've also eaten out for the last several days and had more sweets this week than I'd like to admit. Once again, the scale isn't going to be happy with my fat ass this week. Don't worry, I am not really calling myself a fat ass. I'm just not really committed right now to weight loss. I've got some thoughts swirling in my head and I'll try and get it out on paper (i.e. the computer screen) on my days off.

Dawny comes to visit next weekend and we have the FitOne 10K walk. WhooooHoooo. I am also planning a wine party at my house. Should be a very enjoyable weekend.

Okay, that is all. Enjoy your Sunday.

Dad & Emma's Birthday Celebration

Earlier in the week my Dad and Emma both turned a year older. The first day we were all able to get together to celebrate was Wednesday. We all got together, minus my sister Jenny who couldn't make it, at Idaho Pizza Company in Kuna. I had just been to IPC earlier in the week and you would not have even known it. I LOVE pizza and it was oh so delicious.

Here are a few photos of the evening. Happy Birthday to Emma, who is now 5 years old, and my Dad, who is now 63 years old.

Silly fake teeth my Dad got.  Emma loved hers.

Hailey is pretty much as tall or even taller than I am!

Silly glasses my Mom brought.

Tire Change

I'm a little late checking in today. It was my early work day starting at 6am (wake up time is 3:45am) and after work I ended up at the car dealership service department for about an hour and a half.

Last night I made a quick trip to Rosauers for a few grocery items. A warning light came on my dash so when I got the parking lot I looked it up. The warning light was telling my my tire sensor was alerting me to a low tire. I figured I'd email Kenyon at work but would be okay until after work today. Wrong! I got out of my car to take a look at my tires and my rear driver side tire was flat. And it had just started to rain. Perfect.

I went inside to shop for my groceries and call the insurance company to see if we had any roadside for tire changes. I had a spare just didn't really want to change it in the rain. I realize this is mean to make somebody else do it. Insurance was a no-go so I knew I would have to change my tire. I'd been on the phone with Kenyon who said he would also head that way from Micron. Poor guy had just gotten to work and was now going to drive 30 minutes to rescue me. What a nice guy. While waiting for him I decided to start seeing if I could the tire change started.

Thankfully there was a lull in the rain so I got to work. Getting the lug nuts on the rims to move was the hardest part. After I go the lug nuts loose a guy approached me in the parking lot asking if I needed help. He said he didn't want to step on my husband's toes but said he would help me get the jack under the car in the right spot. Then he just kept going and soon my tire was changed. I was very thankful for the help. He introduced himself as Rob and was driving a work truck and wearing logo-ed clothes from Eagle Landscape. I made sure to call his employer and tell them how helpful he was.

As soon as Kenyon got there the rain started again. Had I waited for him we would have been soaked. I must “pay it forward” and do something nice for somebody else.

I was able to get into Kia for an oil change service and a tire repair. Thankfully I didn't need a new tire. Whew. That was a relief.

We are headed to Kuna to celebrate Dad and Emma's birthdays. WhoooHooo!

Believe In Yourself

I was having myself a pity party last night. I'm not sure exactly why but after feeling bloated and fat all day yesterday I though perhaps a Reeses and cookie dough shake from Sonic would make me feel better.

Turns out it didn't.

Instead I got on the scale at home this morning to see a very large gain staring back at me. My weekend have been getting a bit out of control and this last weekend (ahem...Monday) was no exception. I was a bit surprised, a really fantastic surprise, when I got on the scale at the WW meeting several hours later to only see a gain of 0.2 pounds.

Hallelujah!!!!

I wanted to skip the scale at the WW meeting but since we have new weigh-in books as part of this new Success Story campaign, I knew I needed to weight. I am glad I did. First off, I thought I had gained at least two more pounds. This makes three gains in three weeks. Secondly, if I had really seen a gain of two or more pounds I think I would have allowed my pity party to last a little longer.

Once again I am needing to hike up my big girl panties and fix this scale gain situation. Like I said in my blog post yesterday, some days just feel tough. I really rebel and the aftermath is UGLY. So I had best find a way to balance it all better so I have a fighting chance of getting the scale numbers to start a downward trend.

Monday Thinking

It was another successful week of meeting my activity goals. I dropped my daily active calorie burn to 450 calories and didn't have any trouble meeting that goal. There were a few days that I walked extra during my lunch break. I know that 450 calories a day doesn't push me as much as the week I had a goal of 550 calories. The one problem with the higher calorie goal is that I felt exhausted by the weeks end. I made a commitment to myself that I would fulfill my three daily goals everyday for the month of September. So, now I don't feel like I can take a day off activity and burning 550 calories meant I needed to get in a solid workout each day. Perhaps I'm just taking the easy way out.

I struggled this week with some of my thinking. I really wanted to invite friends to social outings but the WWer in me knew engaging in social eating would not be helpful to my weight loss goals. Eventually the want took over the need and I contacted my friends about getting together. I'm know part of why I feel I shouldn't engage in social outings is because I am not very good at controlling my splurges. I want to go out and eat what I want without thinking about the consequences. When I am hyper focused on weight loss I feel as though I better forgo the social outing all together since I know I can't have what I want. It is silly thinking but it's how I feel.

One of my WW Buddies asked me what my weight loss goal is. I honestly don't know. I know I want to be under 200 pounds again and that I want my clothes to fit better. Some days I have the desire to work hard and stay focused on my goals. Other days I don't want to think about it. I just want to eat what I want. I'm so conflicted some days. I'm just not as driven as I was when I first joined WW. Some days it feels easy and some days it feels hard.

Blue & Orange, Art In The Park, And A Gun Show

Despite my best efforts in trying to forgo a social outing this weekend, I caved and invited my friend Mark for a meet up on Saturday after I got off work. I further invited Kate, Jamie, and Jamie's girls to Art in the Park on Sunday.

Saturday night was a televised away football game of Boise State vs BYU. Mark mentioned he was planning to watch the game at a bar so I suggested we watch together. We met and went to Art in the Park to have Kanak Attack for dinner. This is a Hawaiian catering company that serves amazing Kalua pork and coconut rice. They were set up for the park event so we made a special trip there for a bite to eat. We then headed to Old Chicago for a beer and some BSU rootin'.

Mark and I have not been to Old Chicago in a few years. We used to go there all the time in my pre-WW days. We passed the time until the game started by taking photos.

I had a 10oz Sam Adams Oktoberfest, my favorite this time of year. I wanted to pace myself because we had talked about possibly bar hopping.

While we were at Old Chicago reminiscing about old time we decided going dancing at The Balcony would be fun. I've not been out dancing in ages! The cover charge dropped after 10:15pm so we walked to 10 Barrel Brewing Company for another beer and more game watching. Mark introduced me to this beer called Swill that was amazing! “A base of German Berliner Weiss and added multiple layers of lemon.” This beer is only served through November so I am already making plans to go back and enjoy more.

Mark and I danced, and people watched, at The Balcony for several hours. This is our local gay club with some of the best music to dance to. There had been a drag show earlier in the evening so many of the performers were still there. I have no idea how they walk in those high heels! I also saw way more men in their underwear than I cared to but again, it really is prime people watching! We called it a night just after midnight.

Despite having ONLY two beers I woke up with a headache. Talk about being an Old Maid! I think I just didn't have enough water. I made some breakfast and headed out to meet my friend at Art in the Park. This even it held every September and I love going and walking around.

We had a lot of fun and I bought a few puzzles from this artist that Jamie's daughter knew from his PBS show. He was there signing autographs and Audrey was in 7^th heaven. It was cute.

My Mom and Dad were at a gun show in Boise this weekend. 

Dad is helping to sell his friend Pal Al's gun collection to give the money to his widow. Al passed away last month. His wife Minnie was at the gun show yesterday but didn't return today so I went in her place as a vendor. It was nice visiting with my parents. Al had a very impressive gun collecting that he had been working on for years. Dad hopes to give Minnie at least $20,000 after he is done getting the guns sold. Impressive indeed!

My Dad bought this hat from a vendor and wanted me to try it on. Don't mind me, I'm just killing time at the gun show.

Okay that is all I got for you. I am tired after my busy-friend-filled weekend. I'm headed to bed.

Meet Stanley

Have I introduced you to Stanley yet?

A few months ago Kenyon noticed a cat sitting in the shade in our backyard. When I called out to the cat he just looked at me like, “can I help you?” Typical cat! On the day of our Hawaiian Party in July I had the storm door open and there was this same cat looking at my from the outside almost as if saying “are you going to let me in?”

I have no idea where this cat came from or why he likes our shade. I keep saying he but really I have no idea if this cat is a boy or a girl. I decided to name “him” Stanley. He doesn't actually come to that name but since I don't know what his name is, I am calling him Stanley. I've found I enjoy seeing him when I come and go from the house on occasion.

One day I got down and put out my hand to see if he was a friend cat, and he is. Stanley loves to be petted and will often roll over at your feet. He is very hard to photograph despite my best efforts.

I think he lives next door but we much have better shade. Seeing Stanley puts a smile on my face.

Activity Goal Met

I had a great week for activity last week. Having the goal set by my Apple Watch of 550 active calories meant I had to exercise longer than 30 minutes. Most days I reached 10,000 steps. I took photos of my summary that came on my watch Monday.

Pretty impressive when you see the weekly totals. If I had kept my food in check I might have had a loss. Partway through my week my tracking became lax and my indulgences became plentiful. Needless to say, I gained over two pounds. I've got my work cut out for me this week. I MUST CLEAN IT UP!

I caught a ride to SouperSalad when Kenyon headed to work and then I walked home. During my walk I was thinking about how much my life has changed since starting Weight Watchers and reflecting on my successes. We live within reasonable walking distance to several restaurants and to The Village in Meridian. Each of these locations are a four mile roundtrip walk and I don't even think twice about walking vs. driving. It is the best of both worlds in that I'm getting in my activity/calorie burn and also my indulgences. There are times that wish we lived close so it was just two miles roundtrip. However, it makes me feel good that on any given day I can go for a four mile walk and not even think twice about it.

Other ways that activity has been a large part of my life since joining WW is at my new job. I work in a three story building and the dispatch center is on the third floor. I don't think twice about taking the stairs vs. the elevator. In the last six weeks I have only taken the elevator a handful of times and each of those times have been because I am with somebody that wants to take the elevator. Every little bit of movement adds up and I like knowing I am able to take the stairs.

I work very close to Flying M Coffee and it is only about six blocks away. I find it silly to drive down three floors of the parking garage and six blocks to get coffee when I walk walk to/from in about 20 minutes. Many times I have walked to get coffee. I recently purchased a Flying M hydroflask that is 18 oz vs. the 24 oz hydroflask I already own from Dutch Bros. This helps to keep my coffee piping hot until I get back to work.

It makes me feel good to walk. I have two working feet and an able body so I might as well use it. Just a few more reasons weight loss = success.