I'll start with the ugly...

I have good news, ugly news and bad news, but I'll start with the ugly since it all gets better from there!

Sunday morning we came home to standing water in our master bathroom and kitchen...yuck. I am blaming the stupid cat (I love him, but he is stupid). He must have knocked the bathtub faucet on and the water drained over the tub all night long. We got it dried up as best we could and have the insurance company coming out later this week to estimate the damage. At best we will need all the ceilings and floors in the main floor replaced.

The bad, I stress ate! I needed to get out of the house and I did just that. We went out for breakfast and lunch on Sunday. Luckily I wasn't hungry after that though and just stuck to a small snack before bed. Monday wasn't much better but I did say "no" to a donut as well as ice cream.

And now, the good news...since the beginning of April I have taken over 5 minutes off my 5K time! In all the craziness that was this past weekend I managed to make it to the gym 1x and I decided to see where I was at since the May Exercise challenge is nearing completion and I made a personal goal to take off time. I am hoping to run another one later this week to see if I am still hitting the same time.

Today is a new day and things are looking bright. I already have 4 glasses of water down, and 2 hours of softball planned after work. Hopefully WI tomorrow reflects today more then the weekend!!!

"Look at your legs"

This is the comment I received from a fellow gym member yesterday as I was finishing my 2.5 mile run. I had no idea what she was getting at and the first thing that ran through my head was "I didn't shave today?!?". She must have seen the puzzled look on my face and she went on to tell me how "thin and muscular they are looking", I was totally embarrassed and flattered. I love it when strangers say nice things!!

Hopefully I will see a difference in my measurements next week. My food intake was fairly good yesterday. I stayed out of the M&Ms and stayed within my calorie range. Tonight I have a late dinner meeting for work. Usually the group that it's with orders a few appetizers to share so hopefully I can stay in control. I know I can't make it to the gym tonight but if I get home before 8 I am going to do my strength training.

Aghhh

It's Wednesday and I should be excited because I WI today and I am down -2.0lbs! This is awesome and I know that I worked hard to get that number last week, but I went overboard yesterday, I was starving. I tried to keep my food choices healthy and I did get a great workout in at softball, but still I didn't need it all. We have a 3 lb. bag of M&Ms at our house for a project I was working on for a friends wedding and I need to just get rid of it. I found myself reaching in for a small snack TWICE yesterday! I think I'll send them to work with Derek tomorrow, they'll disappear.

So I have a very important meeting this morning with a donor for our project. It kind of stinks that I even have to present this since it is the Owner that is asking for the money but since I have all the numbers its my job to show them what they're getting! I guess it will be a good experience, right?

My gf's and I have started a champagne tour!!! Ha! It is the same group of girls that I go to book club with and one of them is a BM in my wedding. It all came up around New Years when we discovered that our favorite champagne was no longer available in the U.S. We decided that we would get a panel of girls together and taste several champagnes (overtime of course) to find a new favorite. The tour will start at my house this month and I will be serving 4 different champagnes. We will pick our favorite out of those and then the next person will serve 3 new champagnes plus the favorite from mine...and it continues until each of us has hosted. Hopefully we will find a new favorite which I will serve at the wedding! Sounds like fun!

Speaking of the wedding, OMG! I am so tired of trying to get everything scheduled. I swear we have something every week! I have 5 of my 6 bridesmaids scheduled to be fitted for dresses in June, hopefully no. 6 calls me back this week. We have cake samples to taste, florists to meet, pictures to find, church meetings to attend...blah! I just want to enjoy the summer.

Finally, the walk. Maybe we are crazy, but I think we are determined. The 3 of us girls that walked 60 miles last August are getting on our walking shoes and doing it all over again. This year we are walking 60 miles in...SAN DIEGO! How fun! I cannot wait, the only down side is that the walk is only 5 weeks before the wedding. Hopefully I have everything on track before then so I am not stressing about what's left to do.

Well, that's enough from me today. Have a wonderful OP day!

You caught me...

I wasn't going to post today...I know, bad! I just have a lot going on at work and I am preparing for an important ($1,000,000) meeting. Yes, you read that right. Anyhow, I am proud to report I was on plan yesterday AND I made it to the gym to run 2.5 miles after work! It honestly felt great.

I tried a new recipe out of the HG cookbook last night and it was darn good. Derek even brought the leftovers for lunch today and he NEVER eats cold leftovers! I also made a tasty summer dessert...crepes filled with cool whip and strawberries...mmmmm

I have a double header tonight in Softball so I probably won't make it to the gym. I have a ton to get done before I head out today so I am keeping this short. Oh, I just realized I had some watermelon last night and I forgot to get that on my tracker...oops!

Tomorrow I will update you on the meeting, the champagne tour, the wedding and whatever else comes to mind!!

Monday again?

Is it really Monday already? This weekend flew by. I do feel like a got some things accomplished though. Saturday morning we met with the cake designer!! Yay! I LOVED her ideas and I cannot wait to see what the final design looks like. Once I get a color copy I will upload to show you all how beautiful it is!

Saturday evening Derek and I ran around trying to find some stuff for the house. I finally feel like I can start decorating since we have most of the painting done in the main areas. We still have one very small hallway to paint but I haven't decided what color to go with!!

Dereks parents came for a visit on Sunday, it was totally a surprise to me so I was still in my pajamas! Oh well, it was nice to see them and I know Derek was happy they stopped by. We got a lot done in the yard, cleaning and shopping caught up, and even had time to play catch for about an hour!

I did okay on the food front, kept within my calories, but most of it was snacks. I was never hungry for a "meal". I am posting the overview from the week since I didn't post my menu over the weekend.

Out of routine!

Yuck, I feel gross, I feel boated and I feel like I am going out of control. I have kept up on my tracking all week, and for the most part I am within my daily range...but...the scale was up this morning. Discouraging! Yesterday was a crazy day, I was stuck in meetings all day and walking around with the Architect so I didn't get much water in. Then I had a work event that I ran late for. I ended up eating a very small plate of lettuce with just a drip of Cesar dressing (it's all they had). I was starving by the time I got home though and I went for something easy. Pizza rolls and popcorn! What was I thinking?!?

I hate nights like last night, I get thrown out of routine and I just fall apart, I guess it could have been worse though. I am going to get plenty of water in today. I bought my guys pizza for lunch so I need to keep myself under control (I packed a banana and an apple to keep me from eating the whole pie)!

On a better note, Derek met with a diabetic specialist yesterday. He already does a very good job of controlling his diabetes but the specialist gave him some more tips on eating the right things and exercise, etc.. He sat down and wrote out what he wants to make for dinner each night for the next week! That makes things easy on me! He also got some meal plans for during the day, I love this because I always struggle to come up with new things for his lunches.

We have dinner plans with my sister tonight and then tomorrow is my second day of boxing! I am so excited, I felt that workout last Saturday all week. Well, I better go update on the May Exercise Challenge and get back to work. Have a great weekend!

Totally worn out...

I'm worn out today. Yesterday was a day full of "emergency" trips to the restroom and a headache that wouldn't go away. I thought I was doing really good on the food front, I kept snacking to a minimum, but I was over in calories. I don't know if I have the NI exact for the pizza that I made, I forgot to write it down and bring it to work so I am estimating (high).

I did make it to the gym for my run last night. 45 minutes, I only walked for about 10 minutes of it! It felt great, but I think between the boxing, the softball and the running this week my body needs a day off. Luckily I have a work meeting that goes till 9 PM tonight, I am going to try and get my 3rd ab work out in before I go.

Oh, a quick update on my crazy cat! Turns out the vet thinks he is marking because he feels captivated. So, we are going to try and let him outside at least once a day. The vet actually suggested an invisible pet fence, we have everything already set up in the yard from the previous owner so we just need the collar. I guess at this point I'm willing to try anything!

I'll be checking up on everyone today! Have a great OP day!!

I guess I'm not 100%

Ever feel like your being kind of tough on yourself. I have been having some "post-surgery" issues and I have been ignoring them...until last night. ****skip to the next paragraph if you don't want TMI**** Certain foods just aren't sitting well with me, mostly foods that are harder to digest like rich cheese, red meat, lettuce, greasy or fried foods. I have only had fried food once since surgery and that came up within minutes after eating it. Otherwise if it is something that isn't sitting well I am usually in pain, doubled-over and uncomfortable. It usually takes a couple hours but it all comes "out". Well I knew this might be a side effect, but it's gotten so bad that my bottom looks like I have diaper rash and I was in the bathroom most of last night. Gross I know! I guess I can't keep ignoring it though. I just don't want any set backs.

So yesterday was a good day, work went really quick, although I did find out that I am sharing an office with a little black mouse, yuck! I got home early to stretch out before softball and the game went great. We played from 6-8 pm and I didn't do too bad. I hit 4 times and made it on base twice (the other two hits were pop-ups that were caught). I played outfield in one game and then catcher in the second game. I didn't make any amazing plays, but I had fun and definitely got a nice little work-out.

I did end up going out for a beer and Mexican with the team after the game. I ordered the grilled chicken burrito and only ate a little bit of it (stomach issues). I brought the rest home for Derek.

So, as promised, I have posted my menu from yesterday. I didn't have the exact NI for my dinner so I just found something close to what it was. Today is all planned out, I bought the ingredients to make buffalo chicken pizza for dinner...mmmm!!!

Tracking

Well, I knew I had to get back into it eventually so I finally am making a pledge...I will track again. I don't exactly know when or why I got out of it, but I did and now I need to make it a priority. The scale has not been my friend lately. I know that some of that is TOM and some of it is water retention due to my repairing muscles, but still..I need to get down about 8 lbs. Thanks to Tina I have any easy way to upload my tracker to my blog without having to retype everything! (I still need a little practice, but you get the main idea!)

We had visitors (my cousin and her 2 month old baby) last night. We had dinner at my Dads and fortunately I was the one who did the shopping. I picked up turkey burgers and brats and made a light salad. For dessert I picked up the Dove Chocolate bites in the ice cream aisle...they were so rich and yummy for just 70 calories a piece.

I managed to get in my ab workout last night but was not able to get to the gym for a run. I was talking to a co-worker yesterday about how I was trying to add new routines to my workout and she invited me to sub in their double-header tonight. 2 hours of softball tonight will take the place of my scheduled run. You all better hold me to running tomorrow!!

Changing Things Up!

Running has been going well, but staring at a white wall for an hour a day gets boring and I haven't noticed much of a difference on the metal devil so I decided I needed to add SOMETHING to my routine. So, in an effort to change things up I joined a boxing class! I don't know what I was thinking! Honestly, every muscle in my arms and back feels like it is about to explode. The 2 hour class runs every Saturday and we are moving, punching, diving, blocking almost the entire time. I think I sat down for a total of 10-15 minutes the whole time.
So what made me decide on boxing? Well, Derek has been begging me to get into a self-defense class. I work late nights a lot and I always freak out when I hear "noises". The thought is that if I feel a little stronger and wiser in regards to self-defense that I will not only be safer on my own but not as scared. So Derek picked up a pair of pink, yes PINK boxing gloves and convinced me after 2 weeks of hesitance to join him in this class. I took one punch to the eye and another to the nose but otherwise it was a total blast. I felt great Saturday night but when I woke up on Sunday I knew I pushed a bit too hard. Today is even worse!
Will I go back? I think I will, it was a ton of fun but I think I would try to take it a bit easier next week.
This week is already crazy, I am trying to schedule in my runs for Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Saturday, hopefully I can get my ab routine in Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Friday/Saturday and boxing on Saturday.
I have dinners planned out for the week and I cooked up some turkey this weekend for lunch ideas.

Bad Kitty...

I have a bad kitty, and I don't know what to do about him. We have 2 cats, Diesel and Princess, they just turned 2 earlier this month and they have been living with us since they were about 3 months old.
When they were kittens they were sooo good, they were trained right away and they didn't shed much at all. Then Diesel (the male) started to mark things in my house, it started in the guest room. He marked the bed, the drapes, the carpet, everything! It got so bad that I finally threw out the mattress and started to keep the bedroom door shut. Things started to get better, he went a few months and didn't mark again.
Then last summer he started marking on toys and pillows that were left out on the floor. I finally brought him into the vet and they said it was clinical depression and that he needed to be put on Prozac! I didn't even know they made prozac for cats! Regardless, I started treating his depression with liquid prozac and again things got better. He still had a few incidents but they were small and far between.
In October we moved into the new house. I was worried his marking might start up again, he marked a wicker basket and one of the cat beds but that was it. I kept a close eye on things but he seemed okay. Well last month he marked in our pop-up-crib (I set it up when we had two babies visiting). This was by far the most upset I had ever been. Before it was mainly on things of his, but this was serious to me. I can't imagine living day to day worried about him using a bed or crib as his litter box.
Anyways, this morning we woke up to him pucking in the spare room. Derek went to clean it up and immediately smelt pee. Turns out he has peed and pooped about 10 times in this cat tower we have set up for them. Luckily it was easy enough to carry out and the smell isn't in my carpet. I'm really hurting though. I love animals, but I can't live in a house he has control over. I shouldn't have to keep every door closed so he won't go into them.
If this is depression, what can I do to help it. I have ready every book/article/website and I have tried just about everything. Most people say it is because I don't spend enough time with him! Or because the vet must not have clipped him right (we did have this checked out and they did do it right).
What am I supposed to do. Do I find another home for him, do I live with the fear of him marking my entire house, this sucks. He doesn't have front claws or I could see if living outside would be a better fit. I need some advice. I feel like a failure!

Wrap anything...

So spring/summer is finally here (maybe I shouldn't say that or it might snow this weekend)! This means that Derek is on the road almost everyday for meals. He hates fast food and wanted me to come up with some ideas for him to bring with him in the car. I knew it had to be something filling, easy to eat, could be eaten cold and wasn't just a plain ole sandwich...
Here's what we came up with:

Monday - Buffalo Chicken Wrap
2 Tbsp. Fat Free Mayo and 2 tsp. Tabasco or any hot sauce
3 oz. grilled chicken cubed
1 large leaf of lettuce or handful
sprinkle of Fat Free Cheddar Cheese, shredded
4 Cherry Tomatoes split
Wrap it all up in a low fat tortilla and enjoy!

Tuesday - Chicken Salad Wrap
2 Tbsp. Fat Free Mayo
1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
3. oz. grilled chicken
1 Large Leaf of lettuce
5-6 large grapes split
Sprinkle of dill
Shake it all together and wrap it in a tortilla!

Wednesday - BBQ Chicken Wrap
2 Tbsp. Reduced Sugar BBQ Sauce
3. oz grilled chicken
1/3 cup slaw (rinsed clear)
Sprinkle of Fat Free Cheese
Cover Chicken and slaw in BBQ sauce and wrap!

Thursday - Chicken Turkey Club Wrap
2 oz. grilled chicken
2 slices of light turkey breast (deli meat kind)
Sprinkle Fat Free Turkey Bacon Bits
Fat Free Cheddar Cheese
Lettuce
light spread of FF Mayo
Wrap it all up!

Friday - Fajita Wrap
I took the last of the grilled chicken and threw it in the frying pan (sprayed with PAM) and grilled it up with some green peppers, onions and 2 tbsp. fajita mix.
Sprinkled with cheese and lettuce
Light spread of FF Sour cream on the Wrap and roll everything up inside.
This one smelt really good last night so I am excited to see how it turned out.

Random I know but, really it is an easy to carry, eat and make lunch. I am thinking about cooking some turkey this weekend for next weeks lunches. If you have anymore easy ideas send them my way!!

It's been awhile!

I haven't posted in almost a week!! Things have just been crazy. I have been lurking and keeping up with almost everyone. Even though I haven't been updating, I am on track and things are going well.
I got in 1.5 hours of cardio over the weekend, and 40 minutes on Monday. I've done 2/3 ab work-outs for this week so I am feeling good. I am planning on getting to the gym after work today (assuming I get out before 9). Derek is setting up the treadmills and weight bag this weekend so I can start running at home on rainy days. We really want to start saving money to finish off our basement so I figured the extra $30/month I spend on a gym membership could be saved for that. I got in an average of 5.5 hours of cardio/week last year without a gym membership and we have more space now so I think I can easily keep it up!
On another subject, most of you know about the I-35W bridge that collapsed here in MN last August.?. Well, yesterday I was selected (as well as about 10 other graduates) to visit the new bridge site and take a close up look at the construction and design of this new landmark. I love this sort of thing so I was on a high all day yesterday. The bridge is going to be a pretty amazing structure built in remarkable time (finishing this October). Anyways, it was just really cool to see and hear all about it.
Not much else going on here. I have been cooking A LOT lately, mostly recipes out of the new Hungry Girl cookbook. Our refrigerator is FULL of easy to grab meals. Makes life so much easier!

Just be patient...

The best things in life are worth waiting for...right? Things are crappy this week. I should be up to my head with excitement, but honestly I think the slightest thing could throw me into a crying hysteria.
Guess what, I graduate tonight. I remember the week I graduated from my undergrad program, I had my hair done, my entire family came home, we had a huge celebration. Today, I have never felt so alone. My sister is too busy with Rosie, my Dad is away on a business trip, my grandma had surgery last week so grandpa is with her, my other grandma is in France visiting family, and oh shit, I'm crying. I can't do this.
The fact that no one is around isn't what hurts the most though. It's work, its being told to be patient, it's knowing that the fact that I am a female is holding me back. Maybe I should be patient, maybe it's okay that a man with less experience, less education, and less knowledge is offered the position. Maybe I am selfish for wanting this when my life is pretty good, but then again why did I work so hard for it, that's not selfishness, that's determination.
The weight front is looking bad. I am running a lot, but I am also eating a lot and not tracking. I am up almost 4 lbs. I am sure some of that is stress, bloating and fatigue. I will get things sorted out, right now it's figuring out my emotions.