quick hello!

hello!

quick check-in.

saturday's weigh-in was another success - down 1.8 lb, meaning i only have another 0.2 lb to go before i have knocked off another 5 lb.

woo hoo!

this weekend was good...i went bowling with some folks, had too many diet cokes and rums, and spent much of yesterday on the couch recovering.

i did have meals out at buffalo wild wings AND old chicago, which were both delish! pics tomorrow!

halfway point

hello, world. i have been dreading writing this...not for any particular reason, just because the couch has been looking so much more comfortable. : )

let me start with pictures from last week.

 i believe that was my 4.6 or 4.8 lb loss. that put me at 30.2 lb. overall.

for some reason, i was on a pasta kick last week. i made much more than i needed to last monday and had the leftovers for three or so nights. jacob thought it was weird but i just like my pasta. my favorite way to serve it is with peanut sauce and a bit of sriracha. if i am feeling fancy, i will even sprinkle on roasted sesame seeds. below is italian style with some (lame) ragu and shredded mozzarella cheese.

at last saturday's weigh-in, i was down another 3.2 lb or so, which put the total up to 33.2 lb now. i was SUPER surprised that i lost so much, especially after the big loss from the previous week.

this past sunday, jacob and i went to another easter celebration at his mother's house and a bunch of her family. i did fine while we were there but once i got home, i had a hard time keeping my hands out of the giant marshmallows that jacob found when we were at target. they were intended for s'mores but we never got around to making them.

here are just a couple of shots from the day. we will start with the three bald men (not to be confused with the three wise men...) trying to get a kite out of the tree.

 then one of jacob and me after playing bags.

pretty sure this is the first photo of us since we went to new york last summer. he is not the biggest fan of having pictures taken. it generally takes much convincing.

newest pictures from three days ago.

 i may or may not be sucking in just a little. ; )

finally, a quick look at our DELICIOUS dinner from last night. jacob used my mom's recipe on some flank steak along with ridiculously large salads, corn, and garlic toast.

i think that is about it, news-wise.

as i said in the title of this post, i am about halfway through this diet process. the top of the healthy range for my height requires me to lose about 30 lb more. i know eventually that i will plateau so i am trying to enjoy how easily the weight is coming off right now. i also know that i need to exercise (which i know i talk about in pretty much every post) and that i am really just making excuses to avoid doing it.

if i have too many giant marshmallows this week...maybe a walk will be necessary before saturday's weigh-in.

milestone

happy saturday!

this is me today...

super happy. why, you may ask? i reached my 10% goal! go me! this brings the total count to 30.2 lb.

i was also trying to test my awesome new iphone. it was hard to take self-portraits on my old evo and this one is super easy to use. just another reason i love it so much!

today, i also met up with ky, karla and coops for coffee. ky and i then went to southdale so i could get a link taken out of my watch (another bonus of weight loss!) and walk around a couple of stores.

on my way home, i stopped to get salad supplies for easter tomorrow. yup, i celebrate easter now. : ) i also heated up some leftovers from last night's delicious kabobs that jacob grilled.

do not act like you are not jealous! the vegetables were particularly delicious.

so, while jacob works until 9, i need to write a paper for my biology class as well as catch up on grading.

happy (belated) passover and (early) easter!

how do i look?

hello, all!

quick update on this lovely tuesday night.

new pictures first.

i reported on saturday that my weight was up. when this was taken on monday, my home scale already displayed something lower. weighing myself a million times a week is probably not helpful. since saturday, i have done (in my opinion) a really good job of tracking.

jacob and i did have dinner at jimmy john's on monday night. otherwise, i have stuck to my commitment so far of trying to cook (or at least at home) more.

the exercising...has not happened yet. i have a biology midterm on thursday that i am a little stressed about since i did AWFUL on the first one. i know that is an excuse, and excuses do not solve anything, but that is where i am right now. i truly truly truly want to go for a walk tomorrow.

there are a couple of more pinterest recipes i am dying to try!

no matter what

i need to have an intervention.

with myself.

i am at the point in my diet where i would normally quit. i had a bad week last week, which i had attributed at the time to the fact that i was weighing in at a different location. then i went to my normal burnsville weight watchers store this morning and was up again. up 1.2 lb, to be exact.

UGH.

this is so frustrating.

now, i know why it happened. i have not been tracking as closely as should be and i know i ate out too much. in particular, i ate more than i should have at buffalo wild wings last night.

i also have not been exercising.

so. what now?

i have a couple of things in mind.

(1) track. everything. no matter what.
(2) exercise. three days a week. no matter what.
(3) cook. five or six days a week. no matter what.

i guess that is the new motto - "no matter what."

i am done making excuses. i need to keep going with this journey. as jacob pointed out this morning, i still have lost around 25 lb even with the bad two weeks.

on a TOTALLY different note, this weekend has been quite enjoyable.

i went to dinner at buffalo wild wings with some co-workers and then we went to see "the hunger games." i liked the movie but i will say that i prefer the books. i guess that is what tends to happen when books become movies, right?

jacob and i went to a visitation this morning for a student's father this morning. as expected, it was very sad but very interesting. the student's family is cambodian and practicing buddhists. though we could not speak to the student directly, i hope my presence, along with a few other teachers, shows how much we care.

i took jacob to breakfast at perkin's afterwards. i was definitely more careful about what i ordered for breakfast. impulsively, jacob decided that we should go to the sprint store when we finished and we got new iphones!!!!!!!!!!!! i am soooooooooooooo excited. i feel like a member of the cool kids club.

a long nap later...i tested another pinterest recipe for dinner and it was a success!

spicy thai noodles

1 package, angel hair or linguini noodles

1-2 tablespoons, crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 cup sesame oil

6 tablespoons, low sodium soy sauce

6 tablespoons, honey

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1-2 green onions, chopped

optional: chopped cilantro, to taste

directions: (i used a modified version from the blogger and made some other changes too.) cook pasta to desired "noodle-y-ness." : ) in sauce pan, put sesame oil and crushed red pepper flakes. if you do not like spicy...DO NOT USE THE AMOUNT ABOVE!!! this turned out SUPER spicy, which is what we like, but it could be too much for your taste. heat the mixture at a medium-high heat for two minutes. run this through a strainer to remove as much of the flakes as you can. to the leftover oil, add the soy sauce and honey; mix. i decided to use red pepper, green onions, and cilantro as the add-ins. the blogger suggested carrots, green onions, cilantro, and crushed peanuts. i say use what you like! once the pasta is cooked and drained, mix in the sauce. add the vegetables. 

per weight watchers, i can only have about a cup of pasta at a time (5 points). i measured that out first and then searched around for the vegetables. i might add more vegetables next time, like broccoli, bean sprouts, or pea pods.

it was great! jacob approved. i also bought some frozen pork dumplings for him, knowing that he was going to work later and could use some extra protein. chicken or shrimp would also be good in the pasta.

here is to a new start! wish me luck.

long time, no post!

hello, followers! haha, who am i kidding, hardly anyone reads this!

i spent the last week on spring break and it definitely showed at my weigh-in. i was up 0.6 lb. i went to a weight watchers near my parents' house so i am considering the fact that it was obviously a different scale...maybe that is why it was off? i certainly did not go over my points last week. oh well, i will be more careful this time around!

photos (though they really look the same as last week's shots, in my opinion):

you may have noticed that i am sporting a shorter 'do. decided to chop a couple of inches off and add some highlights. it was nice to  be a little pampered. not so nice that my contact popped out during the middle of the haircut and i drove home with one eye closed. safest decision? probably not. : )

it was nice to spend more than two hours at a time with jacob. we went to the auto show, mall of america, ikea, his mom's house for dinner, home goods...all over the place! and we tried one of my pinterest recipe finds:

penne a la vodka from rachael ray, of all people. it was delish! only adjustment we made was to add some protein in the form of chicken.

nine weeks of school left! hunger games with some folks on friday! good times ahead. : )

nostalgia

hello, all!

after saturday's weigh-in, i was down 4.6 lb! this brought the total to 17.2 lb (27.2 lb overall). go me!

photos...

 

with that good news, i thought i would sport my amazing "saved by the bell" t-shirt. i remember buying it with my mom at the gap outlet in albertville. i have been waiting to wear it since it looked a little small when first purchased...

i decided to celebrate this recent milestone with an "adult" haircut and color appointment made for thursday. i have not really gotten my hair done, outside a trim at great clips, in probably almost a year. it will be nice to get a little pampered. when the receptionist asked about my hair type, "ridiculously curly" was the best i could do. i thought it sounded accurate, right? : )