Prost To 40 Party & Dawny's Visit

It feels good to be 40!

I had a great weekend and great birthday celebration.  Dawny landed from Spokane on Thursday evening.  I picked her up, then Kenyon, and we headed to dinner at Tucanos.  Oh…yummm… Dawny’s birthday is October 11^th so we had a belated celebration for her.

As I had shared yesterday, turning my sleep around from my previous graveyard shift was rough.  I was up for several hours during the night and running on very few hours of sleep, none of which was real quality.  Since Dawny is an early bird, I powered through so we could make the most of her vacation.  Friday we had breakfast at LePeep followed by a trip to Zurchers to pick up some balloons for the party.  I was pretty much squared away for my evening gathering so we spent the day at Indian Creek Plaza in Caldwell. 

I’ve not been down to the plaza in a while.  We walked around popping into Flying M Coffee and Good Spoon for some frozen yogurt.  We finished off with some pizza buffet at Flying Pie Pizza in Nampa.

I grabbed a quick nap and then it was time for party mode.  The Prost To 40 Oktoberfest Party was a blast.  What amped it up to the next level was jello shots that Stacey brought and peach schnapps that Patty brought.  My Mom and my Aunt Gerri did shots with us.  It was awesome.  I didn’t take many photos during the party though, darn it.

Sunday we had breakfast at Jo Mamma’s, which had the biggest pancakes ever.  We really loved our omelets and home fries too.

We headed to The Village to meet up with Phoenix and the kids for a truck or treat event.  Sadly, the weather on Saturday was windy and cold.  We wrapped that up and popped into some of the shops at the Village. 

Dawny left her “Spokane painted rock” for somebody to find.  We checked back later and it had been claimed.  So neat.

I had purchased us tickets to see Hocus Pocus as part of the Boise Classic Movies event at The Egyptian.  It is always a fun event since they have costume contests before the show.  The cutest little boy dressed as Edwards Scizzorhands won one of the prizes.  Too cute.  We met back up with Kenyon for dinner at Golden Corral and then proceeded to roll into bed and pass out.  I was exhausted.

With Dawny’s last day of vacation being Sunday, it was low key as it was another cold and windy day.  We went to breakfast at Sunrise Café and then hung out on the couch and visited.  We decided on lunch at Red Robin and dessert at The Cheesecake Factory. 

It was an excellent time and I am so glad Dawny was able to come visit.

Checking-In & Back To Reality

Hello.  I’ve missed you all.  I am playing a bit of catch-up after being off work for several days, having my friend Dawny in town, and celebrating my 40^th Birthday.  I promise, I’ll recap it all soon.

I wasn’t able to make it to my WW meeting tonight due to having to work overtime at 3pm.  I am also rolling into training the next few days so my sleep has been all over the place.  The switch from graveyard back to dayshift was no joke.  I really made my body pretty miserable.  But, with Dawny in town, I wanted to spend as much time as I could with her and not sleeping the days away.  I actually slept about 13 hours today before I came to work.  Oy!

Since I knew I wouldn’t be able to weigh-in today, and honestly didn’t really want to after my birthday festivities, I weighted myself at home on Thursday so I could check in today on my home scale.  Also, I was planning to use my home weigh-in as part of getting myself back on track.  I was pleasantly surprised (key work surprised) that I was down 0.2 pounds.  I am also in the same weight range as I was at the end of September.  I don’t weight myself at home much as I just like to focus on the one “official” weigh-in at my WW studio.

 

I’m really happy to be back on track and I started tracking my meals today.  With PSAP training the next two days, I will do my best.  It is always hard to track with the food choices are out of your control.  But, I’ve got my trusty WW app to help me out.

Oh and this email came to my inbox.

 

Dawny and I were just talking about whether or not WW would be rolling out new changes.  Interesting.  I am anxious to learn more in November.  I have noticed a change to the app already in that your blue dot points range has gotten a bit larger.  The anticipation kills me.

I don’t know that I’ll be able to resume activity much this week but I was able to complete the October Apple Watch Challenge.  Yahooooooo.  I’ll report back on that this week.

The Last 10 Years As A Weight Watchers Lifetime Member

Today is my 40th Birthday!!!

10 years ago, I reached an all-time lowest weight in my WW maintenance journey.  It was the last WI before my 30^th Birthday and I had almost reached 165 pounds, which put me 10 pounds below my goal weight.  I was living the good life!

That feels like a lifetime ago and the longer I live at this higher weight, the less I remember what it was like to be at such a smaller weight.

If you’ve been around this blog for any length of time, you know by now that I ended up re-gaining 80 pounds and for the last three years, I’ve been working hard to re-lose that re-gain (talk about a tongue twister). It feels good to have lost 40 of those 80 pounds. 

The last 10 years has not been a complete struggle.  From 2009-2013, I was still hanging on as best I could.  October of 2012, I was back to 173.8 pounds.  Mentally it was a tough struggle but I kept reminding myself that I was still within the 2 pound weight range goal and still hanging in there even though I was no longer 10 pounds below goal.

October of 2013 I was back to 183.2 pounds.  I had “officially” no longer been able to hang on to my goal weight.  My back pain came on in August and the doctor’s told me I needed to stop doing high-intensity aerobics.  I was so depressed with this major change in my activity and weight that I felt like such a failure so much of the time.  Depression and overeating go hand-in-hand.  This makes you even more depressed and eat even more.  It is such a vicious cycle.

October 2014 I was back to 195.8 pounds.  October 2015 I was skipping the scale.  I don’t have a weight logged until December 2015 and I was back to 220 pounds.  October 2016 I was finally coming back down the scale from my highest re-gain and was 245.8 pounds.

From there, this 10 year story gets happy again.  I won’t say that I was unhappy while I was re-gaining.  Mostly it was just a huge mental strain.  Maybe more mental than physical which is how it is so easily to gain back weight.  Eventually you just give up.  Things feel so far gone and so out of control that you just can’t seem to figure out where to even start again.

Regardless of what the number on the scale has read these last 10 years, and over the last…well…25-ish years, I’ve had some really great experiences that are partly because I took control of my life when I walked into a WW Center almost 13 years ago.  And for that, I am forever grateful for WW, the community, and the tools it has given me along with the support of my family and friends.

I look forward to another 10+ years of adventures.

Purples Have More Fun

You know the age old debate if blondes or bruenttes have more fun?  Well what about purples?

I told myself I’d stop coloring my hair when I turned 40.  Instead, that actually happened about three years ago.  I was tired of spending so much money on hair color and not really 100% loving my hair.  I also wanted to see how much gray would come in since my Mom has had gray hair for years under her dark hair color dye.

The plan down the road would be to put purple in my white/silver hair.  Problem with this is that I’m not going gray very fast and instead it is coming in pretty even with that salt-and-pepper look.  I haven’t had the desire to color my hair these last few years but I have missed the richness and depth that hair color provides.  And, I knew I still wanted purple.  I also had to find just the right hair dresser.

After chickening out a few times, I finally decided the kick-off to my 40th Birthday was the prefect time to make a change.

My new hair dresser, and WW leader/coach Cindie, always has beautiful vibrant hair color and she often has purple tones.  I knew she was the right person for the job.  The hardest part was having trust.  

After she highlighted the base layers, I was pleasantly surprised.  But, then the dried the hair and it was…blonde.  Very, very, blonde.  I was super nervous and she threatened to turn my away from the mirror if I didn’t stop my worrying.

Thankfully she is the professional and it all turned out great.  I’m very happy with my new purple.

I had not originally planned to have an all over highlight/purple but I am glad I trusted her.  I even got a compliment at dinner later that day by one of the seating hosts.  He said the color was fabulous and she did and excellent job.  Kenyon really liked it but nobody else had seen it yet.  That made me feel really good.

The crazy part of the color is it looks different depending on the lighting.  Sometimes I have to look closer to make sure the purple is there.

I can’t wait for everybody to see it at my Prost To 40 Party.  #thisis40

Recipe Fail: Crustless Pumpkin Pie

My first attempt at Crustless Pumpkin Pie was a bit of a bomb.  I used WW Pound Droppers Zero Point Crustless Pumpkin Pie recipe. 

The pie smelled amazing while cooking in the oven.  I inserted the fork in the center three different times, all of which never came out clean.  After baking it for 50 minutes, I decided I better not risk overcooking it.  So, I’m not sure if it wasn’t that good because it wasn’t fully set?  Kenyon thinks it was the almond milk.  He suggests cream.  I looked up the points for heavy cream…um…no.  That is 7 points a slice.  I told him I’d make him one if he wants it that badly.

I also don’t think I love the taste of the Golden Monkfruit.  After making some mini cinnamon rolls on my days off, I didn’t really love the taste.  I didn’t notice it so much when I used the regular Monkfruit sweetener in the pumpkin break I made.  Maybe I’ll use regular next time or even consider subbing the Splenda brown sugar for points.  After all, it is a zero point recipe so it is okay to play around a little to add some point. 

I’ve had a few other recipe suggestions, while not zero point, that I might try.

Recipe Success: Turkey Dijon Mini Meatloaf

I tried a new mini meatloaf recipe I found on Anne’s blog, fANNEtastic.  It was delicious!

 

Side note: finding Herb de Provence was difficult.  I had been to THREE different grocery stores and still was not able to find it.  We were at our new big fancy Albertson’s and spotted it for $7.99 a bottle.  WTH?  It was buy one get one free so we bought two!  Then, I got to our new Trader Joe’s and I see a HUGE jar for $4.99.  I swear, I have the worst luck.  But, it was going to be several days until I could get back to TJ’s so I just kept the jars I bought and opened it up.  Doh!

 

Another side note: I wanted to also suggest getting these aluminum cupcake wrappers for easy clean up.  I hate having to scrape out the bits that don’t come off, even with cooking spray.  So, I starting buying these for easy clean up.  I take out the paper wrapper that separates each one and I still put some cooking spray in them so they don’t stick.  I also like to line my cookie sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up too.

 

I had some extra points to use today and had a box of stuffing in the pantry.  It was perfect side item for my meatloaf since it tasted sort of like turkey dinner.  The celery and the dried cranberries in the meatloaf made it epic.  I really enjoyed this and since I used ground turkey breast, my meatloaf came out to 2 points per loaf.  I ended up not having any regular oats and had to use thick oats, which is where the points jumped up.  But, either way, it was worth it for this delicious meal.  I can’t wait to make more soon.

Weekly WI: An Unexpected Maintain

I didn’t realize I left you all hanging with a recent blogpost.  Working night shift really messes with my typing and publishing times.  So, I’m here today to check in with my Weekly WI.

The title gave it away.  Maintain.

 

I have mixed feelings:

It was a great week with honest tracking

I feel lighter so, of course, I expected a gain.  Lighter is nice

I am bummed going into Birthday Week Festivities that I didn’t have a loss

I am super stoked I didn’t have an unexpected gain

I lost 1.4 pounds this month

I’m down 5.8 pounds from October 2018

Regardless of the mixed feelings, a maintain is always a good thing.  And, I’m down for October and have had three months of continuous losses.  The end of the year is shaping up pretty well.

 

I’ve also been tracking my monthly weight number and it is also looking pretty consistent.  I’ve had a lot of ups and down this month.  I’m going to keep plugging away at it until I reach those goals I’ve set for myself.

 

This week the plan is to stay on track through Thursday.  If I can earn those blue dots and get in some activity, I’ll be that much ahead of birthday-fun-weight-gain.  I think the mental break will be nice and I plan to enjoy my time with family and friends this weekend.  I was really glad I spent some time preparing food when I got home from work this morning.  After my WI, had to not pre-planned/pre-tracked my food, I would have eating out and it not really cared due to feeling bummed about not seeing a loss.  That meal prep saved my bacon!  I told my coworker I plan to get on the treadmill this evening as well. 

NO EXCUSES! 

All The Mixed Emotions After Watching Brittany Runs A Marathon

I had heard about the new movie Brittany Runs A Marathon while listening to Fortune Feimster’s Sincerely Fortune Podcast.  Fortune had the main actress and comedian Jillian Bell on her podcast talking about the movie.  After looking at the previews it looked like a good movie and one that I could relate to since it centered on an overweight woman living in New York City who takes on some lifestyle changes. Danielle and I saw the late showing at the cheap theater last week and it turned out to be a really great movie.

 

I had mixed emotions watching the movie.  As Brittany navigated the ups and downs of her journey, I could definitely relate.  I remember all the ups and downs that I felt in my own journey.  I could really relate when Brittany sustains an injury that might mean she cannot complete her goals.  I remember feeling depressed after my back injury which lead to eating which lead to re-gain weight.  Just like Brittany, I eventually had to find the courage to try again.  To work hard to get back to the healthy habits that made me feel good.

 

As Brittany crossed that finish line, I cried right along with her.  I remember the feeling of crossing the finish line after you trained so hard for a race.  After walking my second half marathon in 3:30, and shaving off 30 minutes from my previous half marathon, I knew this would be my last long race.  It was just too hard on my body to continue such long mileage walking.

 

I also cried because I can really see myself re-claiming my 100 pound lost and finally seeing myself under 200 pounds again.  I’ve worked so hard to get my re-gain under control that all the happy feeling are waiting to come out again.  Same with those happy feelings of reaching my doctor’s goal weight, which I know with persistence I will get there.  If not 175, then maybe the new doctor’s goal weight I’ll set when I have my annual/physical in November.

 

I love all the happy feels I’ve experienced in my weight loss, maintenance, and re-gain journeys.  I also remember all the unhappy feels that comes with the stressors and setbacks in each journey.  Somehow, those setbacks make me stronger and help propel me forward.  I’ve got goals to earn and I’m going to keep working towards that “finish line.”

One Week Until My Birthday

Happy Friday to those that don’t work the weekend.  I am no ready to head back to work later this evening.

I’ve been so lazy on my day off today with no motivation what so ever.  I met up with my coworker Jamiee to check out the new Trader Joe’s that just opened yesterday in Meridain.  I was like a kid in a candy store.  I LOVE TRADER JOE’S.

While the store itself wasn’t too bad, the lines at the checkout were long.  They were moving pretty fast but we both decided to skip purchases and just looked it all over.  I’ve been to TJ’s many of times but this was Jamiee’s first so we had to check it all out.  She even pulled out her phone and scanned a bunch of stuff with the WW App.  Nice!

Afterwards I met back up with Kenyon and we went to Tucanos for my birthday freebie.  Kenyon’s meal would have been “free” too but I forgot to bring the gift card we had on hand.  Major fail!  It was delicious as usual.  We will be visiting again next week when Dawny arrives.  I completed the survey they sent me for a free dessert next week.  I am all about the freebies this month!

We ran a few errands and have been at home the rest of the night/early morning or whatever time it is for those of you not on the night shift.  I re-did my Jamberry manicure and have pulled out the Scorpio wraps.  It is a bit early but I always have to balance my October manicures with the Halloween wraps.

I seem to have no motivation to exercise because I always tell myself I’ll jump on it later and later comes and goes.  I’ll plan to do something active when I wake up later today.  I’m posting it here for accountability!

It’s one week until my birthday!!!  WhoooooHooooo.

If You Want 2020 To Be Your Year...

I love this image I found on Instagram.  I’m super stoked to be seeing Oprah on her 2020 Vision Tour: Your Life In Focus next year.  There is just something to be said about positive and encouraging motivation.

 

I 100% believe a positive mindset leads to good things.  Nobody enjoys being bogged down with negative thinking, life stressors, family matters, ugly acquaints, and overall clutter.  In order to make 2020 different, something has to change.  As overwhelming as it can feel, taking one small step in the right direction can make all the difference in seeing that beautiful sunrise ahead of that dark cloud.

 

Positive thinking/mindset doesn’t just happen overnight.  Much like you have to tackle other day-to-day tasks in your life, being more mindful of the positives also needs to be in the forefront of your mind daily.  We all have bad days.  It is so important not to live in that bad mood for too long.  If you do, before you know it, you won’t be able to see any positives around you…and believe me, there are lots.

 

Don’t sit on the couch and wait for it.  Go out.  – While you are out, make some new friends with shared intest.

Make a change. – Are you ready to apply for that job you’ve always wanted?

Smile more. – Smiling is contagious.  You should try.

Be excited. – Oh man are there so many things in the world to be excited about.  Birthdays are a perfect example.  If you don’t have anything to be excited about this month, you can be excited for my birthday!

Do new things. – New things are scary but pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone can be so great. You might meet new people.  You might find a new hobby.  The possibilities are endless.  And if a big change feels overwhelming, start with something small.

Throw away what you’ve been cluttering. – Throwing out stuff you don’t need (or donating it) can feel so good.  Again, while overwhelming, start with one room and get the clutter out of your house.  Maybe the clutter isn’t even tangible.  Whatever is weighing you down, it is time to chip away at it.

Unfollow negative people on social media. – Even I struggle with this because I’m “too nice” and “unfriending people” hurts feelings.  Well, there is a Facebook “mute” button and boy does that sure de-clutter the negative.  If somebody is making you feel bad or constantly whining about their life (I know a few of those), get rid of them!  Break off those friendships that aren’t beneficial to you.  If they were a quality friend, they would treat you better.

Go to bed early.  Wake up early. – Be the early bird that gets the worm.  Set your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier and actually wake up when it goes off.

Be fierce. – You are in charge of your life.  Own it and make the most of it.  You only get one life…so LIVE IT!

Don’t gossip. – This is my biggest downfall.  I am still a work-in-progress.

Show more gratitude. – Make sure you tell someone thank you and give kudos when due.  It might give them something to smile about and smiling is contagious.

Do things that challenge you. – Challenging and hard things make you grow as a person.  Don’t be afraid.  You CAN do it and you WILL do it.  But, you sort of have to DO it.

Be brave. – Because you are amazing.