It's TUNA time!

So, my most recent obsession is tuna. I'm lovin' it. So, it started with my love for the cloverleaf flavoured tunas... i enjoyed the garlic and hot pepper, the tomato and onion, and the spicy thai. Well, then TARA (yes, YOU Tara!) introduced me to the ocean's spicy thai tuna - only 2 points instead of 4 for the tin. BUT then my favourite has become the garlic and hot pepper... not sure why, I just love that flavour. SOOOO then I was at Costco with my mom on my VACATION (I had to use a week and a day before the end of March or I would have lost it, so I took March break off). I decided to buy the 6 pack of Ocean's chunk tuna. It's about the same cost as buying tuna individually at Loblaws... the no name tuna. But I decided to treat myself to the expensive tuna. Let me tell you - I'm NEVER going back. Ocean's tuna is the BEST! It's so light (in colour) and yummy! Soooo... what I do is divide the container in half into 2 tupperware containers and I add some tobasco sauce, some garlic, and some tex mex. HOLY YUMMY! And it smells soooo good! I've had so many people comment at work on how good my lunch smells!



Here was my lunch yesterday:

* my tuna recipe (1 pt)

*a salad containing: lettuce, grape tomato, cucumber, a few chick peas, a few black olives, sliced egg and feta cheese. I also used the spritz salad dressing (hellman's balsamic flavour one).

*unsweetened applesauce



It was the best freaking lunch ever! That salad and the tuna on the side - so good!!!



Dinner was also yummy yesterday. I had 1 cup of WW pasta, took 1 pt worth of the canned chicken breast (blue menu kind) and grape tomatoes... i added some cottage cheese and garlic and some EVOO and cooked it a bit longer to melt the cottage cheese. It works like a creamy cheese sauce once the cottage cheese melts... it was so good!



Oh dear, it's 10pm and i'm hungry... but I'm trying the whole 'don't eat past 8pm' thing... except on Friday and Saturdays.



Working an extra shift at sickkids this weekend... yay! good for the bank account... I'm working Saturday evening which is fine. I had no plans and Alex is going to the leafs game (without me) anyway.



Almost time for the Real World:Denver!! Must scoot!!



Here's me on the weekend with my hair and make up done for going out Saturday. I just got my hair cut, but then a MAC make up artist offered to do my make up for FREE! It was awesome!



at the beginning of the night:

At the end of the night

I've returned!

Well, it certainly has been a while since I posted! A few weeks ago I didn't make it to my weigh-in, thanks to the HUGE snow storm that we all remember very well (especially if we were DRIVING in it!). but the following week i was down 3.8lbs - officially losing my christmas weight! (yay - only took 2 months, but at least it's GONE!). Note to self: next year, don't go so crazy over the holidays thinking it will be easy to lose the weight I gain!

I had a week off from work and went home to Pontypool... which can be a challenge sometimes... so luckily I was only up 0.4lbs this week... now i just need to make sure I lose that (and more) this coming week, which might be difficult because for some reason i'm very tired the last couple of days... i had a THREE hour nap yesterday and still slept 10hrs last night!

I'm still trying to stick to some core principles... limiting my carbs (haven't had pasta in WEEKS and have had very little bread)... i went shopping yesterday and bought fresh chicken breasts... which i baked in the oven with some cajun seasoning and have in the fridge ready to put on salads... i've also taken to the new hellman's salad spritzers... 10 spritzs just nicely coats a salad and is 15 calories (0 POINTS!!).

today's plan... had cheerios and milk and a grapefruit for breakfast... lunch will be salad and maybe tuna... and dinner is undecided at this point! I'm open to suggestions from anyone!!

Alex is off giving a talk to seniors today... teaching them about wills... hopefully he scores some new clients!!

Happy day after st patrick's day, everyone!

Still on Core?

i can't even tell you if i'm really doing core anymore! i know last week i was only down 0.2lbs - very disheartening! my leader said i should just keep up the exercise because it will eventually pay off. it better!





i decided to stick with core principals mostly... but without totally doing core (i still count all my points is the only difference i suppose). i haven't had any bread still or any pasta even... EXCEPT on the weekend. if i gain this week, it's my own fault for how i behate on the weekend. i went home for saturday and sunday for my mom and michele's birthdays, and we also had a family gathering up in Fenelon at my aunt Faye's. alex even made it to that one! not only did he come - but he liked the country! he liked aunt faye's being out in the middle of nowhere. he even took part in roasting weenies on the fire and loved that! i think i have a country boy at heart there.

Raven on the weekend:



anyway, back to my eating on the weekend... i did okay at aunt faye's. i didn't eat any of the yummy looking doritos on the coffee table right in front of me... nor did i eat any of the cheesies! for dinner i ate some of my mom's chickin chili (because i know the points for it), some ceasar salad (without the heavy dressing... the dressing didn't seem to be too thick or heavy), 2 chicken hot dogs (without the buns), AND i ate a bun... a big old white bun fresh from the bakery. then after that - i ate a piece of cake. it was a small one, but i ate it. all in all... i could have done much worse.



then comes sunday... ever have those days where you're just hungry ALL flippin' day? that was me on sunday... i munched on food all day long and THEN ate dinner on top of that... i had leftover chicken chili and had some of my mom's macaroni dish (cooked macaroni with canned tomatoes and cheese melted on top -mmmmm comfort food from childhood). after dinner i had officially eaten all of my daily points. THEN comes dessert... i had made the biggest cake for mom and michele for their birthday... butter pecan cake with a caramel filling and thick buttercream icing... it looked so good. at first when michele was cutting the cake i told her to only cut me a small piece... then when i saw everyone else's pieces being cut, i gave in and had a huge piece with them... the biggest piece of cake i've probably ever eaten! but it was so good.

the cake:



so, if i gain tonight... that is why. wish me luck everyone!!!

Who else hates their alarm clock?

Here it is just after 6am and i'm waiting for my kettle to boil so I can eat my oatmeal. yesterday did just okay staying on core - which is why i am FORCING myself to get on the treadmill today. yesterday i was too tired in the morning and just couldn't do it. i got up, was lazy, got myself to work still, went shopping on my lunch (topic for another day - how i love my optimum points!), and went to meet my old friend lisa for dinner (lisa is not old, our friendship is). i got home and finished decorating the cookies for my cookie bouquet (yay!), and played on facebook.com and then got my butt to bed.

I will post photos of the cookies. i'm not entirely happy with them but they're just for my family so they will do! if someone were PAYING me for them i would try harder. which reminds me - there's a cake decorating class at michaels in whitby that i just might commit myself to for 4 weeks. it's only $35 for the course and kit - not bad, right? please give me your opinions!!!

here's my intake from yesterday:

breakfast:

*oatmeal

Lunch:

*an odd salad containing lettuce (0), salmon (2), salsa (1), 1 tbsp FF cottage cheese (0), and 1 tbsp chick peas (0).

*FF pudding (3)

*apple

Dinner (at boston pizza)

*spinach salad without the bacon (5), with a SMALL salmon fillet on the side (2)

*piece of bread (3)

Snacks:

*multigrain cheerios (2)

*carrots (0)

*3 tbsp FF ranch drsg (1)

Sooooo... I did okay except that I ate some bread with dinner. I hope that doesn't equal a gain this week!

Here's photos of the cookies:

Have a good day, everyone! Happy HUMP DAY!

It's a hardCORE life

well, survived day number 2 on core. the thing with core is (for me anyway), it feels good to feel like i'm ONLY eating healthy food. we'll see if the scale agrees with it this week. but that's not until thursday... here's what I ate today:

Breakfast:
*oatmeal (2)
*1 tbsp unsweetened applesauce (0)

Lunch:
*1/4 tin of salmon (2)
*1 tbsp salsa (0)
*1 tbsp FF cottage cheese (0)
*lettuce to wrap it all in (0)
*1 cup taco soup (2)
*FF pudding (2)

Dinner:
*lettuce, tomato, cucumber (0)
* 1 tbsp chick peas (0)
*30g very light cheese (1)
*3 tbsp FF dressing (Chelton House - very point friendly) (0)
*1 tin garlic and hot pepper tuna (2)
*1 grapefruit (2)

Snacks today:
*Smart Pop popcorn (94% FF!) (2)
*carrots with FF ranch drsg (1)
*apple (1)
*3/4 cup plain, FF yogurt (1)
*2 tbsp sugar free strawberry spread (0)
*spenda (0)

I also drank my water AND jogged 4.5km on the treadmill - today was a great WW day!!

Cross your fingers for me for tomorrow! I'm having dinner with a girlfriend but I've planned the menu ahead of time and think i can pretty much stay on core!!

New photos!

Just thought i'd share these before i go to bed! Alex bought me a cute little stuffed dog for valentine's day and it has similar markings to chicklet... so here's some photos from this afternoon!

Let's recap, shall we?

so, this weekend i actually didn't do soooo bad. i mean, saturday was girls' day... and after all was said and done i had ingested gummi hearts, nerds, hershey chocolate sticks, half a rolo egg (which is HUGE), popcorn, a chicken wrap, and FRIES... fries from shoeless joe's, not the fries i bake in my oven here. i mean, i ate healthy oatmeal for breakfast, and since breakfast is the most important meal of the day - at least the most important meal was healthy! somehow i didn't manage to gain any weight from yesterday... but i'm sure it's just taking a couple of days to show up.

so, today was the day i was to start core. and guess what? I DID IT! first, i went grocery shopping and bought all core items... then i came home and made taco soup (which is a variation of chili really - alex and i both liked it and i'll post how i made it as there's different recipes out there for it). then alex and i made his mint packages for his office.... and he took part in my friends marathon (i'm on season 6 now!) before also watching in style celebrity weddings 2007 with me (what a great boyfriend!). he went home and i began phase 2 of the decorating process of my cookies (for a family gathering on the 24th) and made the fudge i'll be taking. all that's left is to finish decorating the cookies (which will be a time consuming task) and make the chocolate chip cookies. then i'll make and decorate a birthday cake for mom and michele (butter pecan with a butterscotch/vanilla filling... was going to have marshmallow fondant icing but i think i'll do buttercream icing instead now). after next weekend i won't know what to do with my time, as right now all spare time is going to baking!!

so here's what i've eaten today:

breakfast - didn't manage to eat it as i was still FULL from saturday!

lunch -
*1/4 cup brown rice (1)
5 tbsp salsa (1)
1/4 cup FF cottage cheese (1)
mixed all up and eaten in lettuce wraps (0)

snack with alex - popcorn (1)

dinner -
2 cups taco soup (4)
grapefruit (2)

- and that's all i've eaten today. i swear i wasn't starving myself on purpose, it was just a busy day!

so here's how i made the TACO SOUP

*1 can stewed tomatoes, any flavour
*1 can stewed tomatoes, mexican flavour (oops, i bought italian and used it!)
*1lb ground chicken
*1 med onion
*1 can kidney beans
*1 can pinto beans
*1 smaller size can corn
*1 pkg taco seasoning

brown the ground chicken and onion together then add all ingredients together in the pot or slow cooker and cook until done!

works out to 2 points for 1 cup of soup.

my bed is calling! goodnight!

Insomnia strikes again, must be Thursday

Why can't I sleep on Thursdays? It has become apparent to me that Thursday night is my 'no sleep' night... so by Friday night I'm ready for bed by 8pm. Does that make me old? or pathetic? or both?

So, i weighed in tonight and i was up 1.2lbs. This is nuts! I've been basically maintaining for the past month and a half... little ups and downs, but at the same weight i was just after christmas. i have been jogging more so my WW leader seems to think that it will start paying off soon. In the meantime - back to CORE for me for at least a week.

I'll start the CORE plan on sunday, as saturday is girls' day and i want to eat whatever i want that day. otherwise, next week's grocery list is going to include FF plain yogurt, FF cottage cheese, more veggies, more fruit, and lettuce wraps! lunches will still be salads with FF drsg, unsweetened applesauce for desserts, or plain yogurt with splenda and a sugar free jam in it... dinners will be salmon, tuna, or chicken with a vegetable and maybe brown rice from time to time... or i'll do my brown rice/salsa/chicken bake dish... or chicken chili. really, the possibilities are endless. i'm just staying away from bread and my FF mccain fries. we even have SMART POP in canada now which is a CORE popcorn! can't go wrong!

That's it, there's my motivation... CORE starts sunday!

Happy weekend to all, and to all a good night (with sleep I hope!)

Happy Birthday Dear CHICKLET!

last night we celebrated chicklet's birthday by giving her a new bone. I think she loves it. She wouldn't let go of it all night. When she wasn't chewing on it she would carry it in her mouth or then hide it. Here's some photos!

After she first got her bone:

Watching me to make sure I don't take her awesome bone:

Wouldn't let go of it for her birthday photo with me:

Hiding it in her crate:

But she saw that I knew where it was, so she hid it in her bed:

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