SUSHI!!

I made sushi tonight...not my best work; but I think with a little practice, I can get better. Check out my fake sushi mat. I found this place-mat at Walmart for $.50. It wasn't perfect, but I think it helped.

roll #1 begins (I later figured out that you shouldn't put rice on the entire seaweed sheet
when all my rice started flowing out the end).

cream cheese, cucumber, avocado, "crabstick"

roll #1

starting roll #2
(notice the extra strip of seaweed, it helped me roll tighter)

I didn't roll the first one very well, but it tasted pretty good.

roll #2

L wasn't impressed (and honestly, neither was I)...part of me wants to try again and see what I can do. The flavor wasn't the same. I'm not sure what I was missing...maybe it's the eel sauce. I kid...I guess I need to take a class on sushi rolling 101.

2 weeks wasted...

It's been 2 weeks (and $18.44) since I went to a WW meeting. I pay 9.22 a week to go to those meetings till I get back to my goal weight. Last week I searched for a meeting while we were traveling and didn't find one that fit our travel times. This week, I got on the scale at home only to see that I'm up a pound from 2 weeks ago so I said forget it (plus L is at work and taking P to the meetings is difficult). Honestly, I'm pretty discouraged and am not sure where I'm going to go from here. Maybe now that traveling is done and life is back to normal (for the most part) I can get things straight.

sour taste of defeat...

I've tasted victory...it was delicious! I worked my rear end off week after week and lost 90 lbs in 2 and 1/2 years. Now tell me why now, doing the exact same things I did then, I lost a minuscule .2 lbs this week. I sat in the meeting today almost in tears because I felt defeated. I'm tired of turning down a nice trip out with friends because I'm trying to be good and only eat quality foods at home. I watched everyone (skinny folks mind you) at the dinner table eat FRIED PICKLES (my absolute favorite snack) while I sat there sipping my water waiting on my baked fish. The baked fish was delicious, don't get me wrong, but that basket of pickles looked amazing. I get so frustrated when people make absolutely no attempt to lose weight and do it with ease. I know the grass is greener on the other side, I've tasted it...but it wasn't easy for me and I had absolutely no room for the indulgences that some of you (not pointing fingers) enjoy on a regular basis. I'm tired of skinny people trying to sell me fast food on tv. In the meeting today they talked about patience and persistance. I'm glad I stayed for the meeting but at the same time, listening to everyone's 3 lb, 2 lb, and 4 lb losses was hard to swallow when I did everything I needed to do this week. Yes I splurged one day and got donuts, but I compensated with my meals and had plenty of bonus points remaining at the end of the week.

chocolate cherry filled donut!

I caved...and it was so good (that and the blueberry cake donut)

BUT I felt so sick afterward.

I hate the slow process of a lifestyle change like WW!!

sigh...

Well, today was week 2 of WW and I almost cried the whole way home today (but it's hard to do that when you're on the phone with P). According to my bathroom scale, I had lost 2 lbs (I was hoping for more than that to be honest) but when I got on the scale at the WW meeting, she said you've lost 1.4 lbs...great job. Great job? That sucks! I've been there before, I've been that person who says, a loss is a loss, you should take it but this week I was really hoping for a big 1st week loss. I calculated my points and did the best I could with what I had to work with. I even gave myself a big cushion with 14 remaining bonus points for the end of the week.

Oh well...

On another note, last night I bought some Nutella for P (I'd had it a looong time ago and remember hating it). That stuff is freaking delicious!! I feel like I've been missing out all these years and just can't figure out what about it I didn't like the last time. At 200 calories a serving and 11 grams of fat...it's bad news for my WW program (5 pts a serving!), but I'm going to have to figure something out.

So I'm going to go cry for a little while and move on from this week's loss...one can only hope for a bigger loss next week.

product review!!

So, I believe it was Tina who introduced me to MetroMint Water waaaayyyy back when -- a loong time ago.

I've tried the peppermint water and absolutely loved it. Way back when a few years ago, it was only about .99 cents a bottle (I'd buy 7 at a time). At a whopping $1.49 a bottle, it's almost a delicacy at this point. We joked about trying all the varieties but I've only been able to find the spearmint and peppermint. While perusing at Kroger the other day, I found chocolatemint (scroll down) and decided to give it a try. The first few sips were pretty gross but man that stuff is quite addicting. It really does taste like chocolate mint. It's kind of like a liquid version of those chocolate mint that you buy to eat. It's not one of those things you'd drink on a regular basis, but if you haven't tried the MetroMint water, you should at least buy the peppermint version. It's coooold and delicious! I'd buy another chooclatemint bottle again but I'd buy the peppermint version frequently if it was cheaper. It's especially good for those hot weather days when you decide to run outside or complete a 5K.

well, the 7 day sugar cleanse has ended!! THANK GOODNESS...

I've been busy this weekend so I'll do a quick update. Saturday I started WW again (for real this time...like, I'm going to meetings and all). I really like WW because it's kind of like AA for those of us who have an addiction to food. The sugar cleanse ended on Saturday as well. I treated myself to a small vanilla milkshake after it was done and felt pretty sick afterward. I love ice cream but it seems that lately, I've felt pretty gross after I am done. Anyway, long story short, what did I learn this week?

1. EVERYTHING that is good has sugar in it (except for chips and only certain cheese dips)
2. I love chocolate chip pancakes more than anything else in the world (sorry, that came out of nowhere)
3. The challenge was difficult in the beginning, but after the first day it was pretty easy to find meals as long as I planned them in advance.
4. I enjoy cooking meals like the "real" chefs do (with a million different ingredients!)
5. I love banana nut bread!
6. I do not enjoy apple banana bread!
7. I couldn't do a sugar cleanse for more than 7 days!
8. In the end, I didn't miss sugar as much as I thought I would.

So, back to the WW update. I began my WW journey in October of 2006. It sure doesn't seem like it was almost 4 years ago. I made lifetime in June 2008 [after 6 weeks maintenance]...wow, that was 2 years ago when I was 10 weeks pregnant with P. Since then, my journey has consisted of mostly back roads and dead ends. As L would describe, I've been yo-yoing for the last 18 months. So, I'm calculating an approximate goal for the 34 lbs that I have left to lose to meet my lifetime status again. I was at my current weight 194.8 in May 2007 and hit my lowest point in May 2008 (kind of sad that it took me a year to lose 36.4 lbs). Realistically I have to set my weight loss goal of 33.8 lbs for 9 months from now (May 2011). I need to lose approx. 4 lbs a month.

Here we go!