122.7! I earned the Zumba! With a loss of 1.2 kilos or 2.64 lbs I finally made it past my first 5 kilos treshold and get to order my Zumba DVD's!
To be continued...
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
I'm going to be an Aunt!
My sister in law is in labor right now. Seriously...right now. It'll be their first child and I've been on pins and needles all day waiting! I can't believe my baby brother is going to be a Daddy. They don't know the sex and haven't shared any names. It's so exciting! This will be my parent's 13th grandbaby but every time is just so special and exciting!
Come on baby Kelly! Auntie Sarah and Uncle Marco can't wait to hear all about you! And Sadie will be glad not to be the "baby" any more. She's got all kinds of fun things to teach you. You're already so loved!
Come on baby Kelly! Auntie Sarah and Uncle Marco can't wait to hear all about you! And Sadie will be glad not to be the "baby" any more. She's got all kinds of fun things to teach you. You're already so loved!
If your tush has office chair imprints
Then you may want to check out this article "50 Ways to Lose Weight While at Work".
p.s. Don't attempt the "magic carpet ride" for the first time with other's around. You chair could go zooming out from under you causing great distress... to your ego. This, of course, is hypothetically speaking. It did not, I repeat, did not, happen to me.
p.s. Don't attempt the "magic carpet ride" for the first time with other's around. You chair could go zooming out from under you causing great distress... to your ego. This, of course, is hypothetically speaking. It did not, I repeat, did not, happen to me.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
What a week...
This was a week for celebrations... firstly, I had a great loss on Tuesday when I weighed in. Woohoo!
Then it was my colleague's birthday and she brought chocolate muffins to work. Happy Birthday Noor!
Yesterday was Jennifer's birthday party and we had a good old American celebration at Hard Rock Cafe complete with nachos, chickens strips, some type of egg roll thingy, burgers and of course cake (2 cupcakes actually which were so freaking delicious). Sadie and Quint were so cute together and I had the chance to meet a ton of great people, many who were fellow Americans.
I won my fight with the insurance company and they'll be paying us back the money they owe from November and December 2008. That's a huge victory after a bloody, complaint filled, nasty cycle of phone calls, letters and frustration. Whew, that is cause for celebration!
With all of this celebrating though, it makes me wonder if the spirit of this week will continue on next week with Tuesday's weigh in. As you may recall I only need to drop a mere 0.3 kilos or 0.66 lbs. With all of this celebrating (although some of it didn't involve food) will I be on my way to Zumba-ing away my next 5 kilos or will my lack of restraint (and trust me, there was total lack of restraint) get the best of me and push back my latin prize for yet another week?
Stay tuned as my saga continues...
Then it was my colleague's birthday and she brought chocolate muffins to work. Happy Birthday Noor!
Yesterday was Jennifer's birthday party and we had a good old American celebration at Hard Rock Cafe complete with nachos, chickens strips, some type of egg roll thingy, burgers and of course cake (2 cupcakes actually which were so freaking delicious). Sadie and Quint were so cute together and I had the chance to meet a ton of great people, many who were fellow Americans.
I won my fight with the insurance company and they'll be paying us back the money they owe from November and December 2008. That's a huge victory after a bloody, complaint filled, nasty cycle of phone calls, letters and frustration. Whew, that is cause for celebration!
With all of this celebrating though, it makes me wonder if the spirit of this week will continue on next week with Tuesday's weigh in. As you may recall I only need to drop a mere 0.3 kilos or 0.66 lbs. With all of this celebrating (although some of it didn't involve food) will I be on my way to Zumba-ing away my next 5 kilos or will my lack of restraint (and trust me, there was total lack of restraint) get the best of me and push back my latin prize for yet another week?
Stay tuned as my saga continues...
Thursday, March 19, 2009
And if you look to your left...
You'll see two new blog rolls have been added to my site, one for healthy cooking and another for just plain old throw-a-stick-of-lard-4-whole-eggs-and-two-cups-of-sugar-in-it, not necessarily healthy, but not all evil, cooking blogs. Please let me know if you have problems when clicking into them or have further suggestions to add to either list!
I hope you all are having healthy, successful weeks!
I hope you all are having healthy, successful weeks!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
1.7 kilos (3.74 lbs) gone!
Woohoo! Great numbers on the scale this morning which starts my week off perfectly. Of course I needed to lose 2 kilos even before I get my "reward" of Zumba DVD's but now I'm a mere 0.3 kilos to get there. Next week that prize will be mine!
I was actually quite surprised to see such a loss. I had an okay week but it wasn't anything execptional. I didn't log my food intake for a few days just due to tiredness. I did some extra exercising as the weather has been exceptionally beautiful as of late and it's great to get outside with Sadie. I was very conscious of what I ate with the exception of one meal and I guess it payed off.
If you'll be so kind as to notice I've added a list of rewards on the left hand side of my blog. You'll also notice that many of them are left blank. I think rewarding yourself for your hard work is necessary in the weight loss world but I'm having a hard time coming up with different things use. It doesn't have to be expensive or anything, sometimes just a simple book or "afternoon off" from everything works. I have a love (obsession may be the better choice of words here) of shoes but they're impossible for me to buy in the Netherlands due to my oversided large wide shoe size. Seriously, impossible to find cute ones. I collect Russian Matrioska Dolls but I have enough of those for now. I don't buy jewlery or hand bags really, I'm a pretty basic girl. I definately don't want to reward myself with food, that's totally counterproductive for me! So any grand ideas of how you like to treat yourself, by all means share!
I hope you all are having healthy successful weeks!
I was actually quite surprised to see such a loss. I had an okay week but it wasn't anything execptional. I didn't log my food intake for a few days just due to tiredness. I did some extra exercising as the weather has been exceptionally beautiful as of late and it's great to get outside with Sadie. I was very conscious of what I ate with the exception of one meal and I guess it payed off.
If you'll be so kind as to notice I've added a list of rewards on the left hand side of my blog. You'll also notice that many of them are left blank. I think rewarding yourself for your hard work is necessary in the weight loss world but I'm having a hard time coming up with different things use. It doesn't have to be expensive or anything, sometimes just a simple book or "afternoon off" from everything works. I have a love (obsession may be the better choice of words here) of shoes but they're impossible for me to buy in the Netherlands due to my oversided large wide shoe size. Seriously, impossible to find cute ones. I collect Russian Matrioska Dolls but I have enough of those for now. I don't buy jewlery or hand bags really, I'm a pretty basic girl. I definately don't want to reward myself with food, that's totally counterproductive for me! So any grand ideas of how you like to treat yourself, by all means share!
I hope you all are having healthy successful weeks!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
a loss is a loss is a loss is a loss (so they say)
124.3 kilos or 273.4 lbs is what I weighed-in at this morning. And my .02 about those numbers... well I really can't complain considering the pie binge I had during the week. That's a mere 0.2 kilo or 0.44 lbs less than last Tuesday. Not exactly the numbers I hope to get each week but this is a proces.
This brings me closer to my goal of dropping my first 5 kilos and now I need to lose 2 kilos flat (4.4 lbs) in order to get my Zumba! I think I'll be dancing away in the next two weeks. That's my goal at least.
I'll update my stats on the side a little later today. Hope you all are having healthy successful weeks!
This brings me closer to my goal of dropping my first 5 kilos and now I need to lose 2 kilos flat (4.4 lbs) in order to get my Zumba! I think I'll be dancing away in the next two weeks. That's my goal at least.
I'll update my stats on the side a little later today. Hope you all are having healthy successful weeks!
Friday, March 06, 2009
An okay week
There was an incident. On Wednesday. It involved pie. Cherry pie. With a shortbread crust. It involved meringue (although I can't spell it or be bothered to look it up). It also involved me. It involved a binge and the number 3. It involved inhaling. It involved regret. There were tears. It wasn't pretty. It's over now. I hope it doesn't happen again.
The day of "the cherry pie incident" I was obviously over my calorie intake that I've been religiously logging daily on the website My Fitness Pal. That's been the only day I went over this week though and as I always preach, nothing is done or undone in one snack (even one 3-slice of chery pie binge) so I just picked myself off, wiped away the shortbread crumbs and tears and started again, again.
This week is a tough week for me in general. It's the week that Marco works evenings so neither of us get much sleep through the night. Sadie is still up 2 to 3 times a night and for the past two weeks things seem to be getting worse, not better. For whatever reason she can't seem to get comfy. When we lay her down she tosses and turns trying to get into a comfy position. If she's on her belly she shoves her booty in the air and turns to the side, flinging her arm beind her as if she wants to roll over. Yeah, THAT looks comfy. If we put her on her back she kicks her legs in the air repeatedly until she's woken herself up, fully. It's almost like it's a reflex that she can't help but I don't understand why. She's always had the startle reflex problem but it was better for a long time and now it just seems to be exaggerated. If we put her on her side she does okay but isn't strong enough to balance herself and eventually flops over to her back, legs kicking in the air ensues. She's also got bloody nose problems due to the dryness in the air. We've added moisture to her room and are using salt water nasal spray but she's still not quite blood/booger free which irritates her and wakes her up as well.
Ahhhhhhhhh speak of the devil, there she is. I hope you are all having healthy successful weeks!
The day of "the cherry pie incident" I was obviously over my calorie intake that I've been religiously logging daily on the website My Fitness Pal. That's been the only day I went over this week though and as I always preach, nothing is done or undone in one snack (even one 3-slice of chery pie binge) so I just picked myself off, wiped away the shortbread crumbs and tears and started again, again.
This week is a tough week for me in general. It's the week that Marco works evenings so neither of us get much sleep through the night. Sadie is still up 2 to 3 times a night and for the past two weeks things seem to be getting worse, not better. For whatever reason she can't seem to get comfy. When we lay her down she tosses and turns trying to get into a comfy position. If she's on her belly she shoves her booty in the air and turns to the side, flinging her arm beind her as if she wants to roll over. Yeah, THAT looks comfy. If we put her on her back she kicks her legs in the air repeatedly until she's woken herself up, fully. It's almost like it's a reflex that she can't help but I don't understand why. She's always had the startle reflex problem but it was better for a long time and now it just seems to be exaggerated. If we put her on her side she does okay but isn't strong enough to balance herself and eventually flops over to her back, legs kicking in the air ensues. She's also got bloody nose problems due to the dryness in the air. We've added moisture to her room and are using salt water nasal spray but she's still not quite blood/booger free which irritates her and wakes her up as well.
Ahhhhhhhhh speak of the devil, there she is. I hope you are all having healthy successful weeks!
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Kissing one more pound goodbye!
I was really happy this morning when I got on the scale to see 124.5 kilo (273.9 lbs) staring me in the eye. It means I've had another successful week and dropped another pound. Actually, I must be honest here, I thought I dropped two pounds which is why I was so happy but then when I came to post I realized I was 125 last week so only dropped one pound not two BUT I am not complaining in the least.
I have been doing well logging in my food with My Fitness Pal but I must admit it can be a tad frustrating for me in the beginning since it's an American site and all of my food is Dutch. I don't have the same brands so most of the food I end up putting in manually. Then the Dutch labels aren't required to "share" as much nutritional info as the FDA requires so I am missing some information on my foods. Thank God I'm pretty boring and eat all of the same things all of the time so within a couple weeks I should have all of my foods saved in there.
I still want to add some more components to my blog, like a list of healthy food/recipe blogs (thanks for the suggestions in my post below and keep them coming!) and a list of my goals and rewards for reaching those goals.
Speaking of rewards...after dropping my first 5 kilos (from the weight I was at the weigh in after Marco and I made the deal, not 129.9) (which I'm still working at) I was supposed to spoil myself with a massage but now I'm thinking that I would much rather have the Zumba dvd's that I see advertised on telsel here (the home shopping channel equivalent). I can always move the massage to my second prize and with the Zumba dvd's working on my side I will get to that prize even quicker, no? Have any of your attempted Zumba? It looks like a blast and a tough workout so I'd love to at least try it. At 75 euros it's bit pricey but if it gets me moving then I think it may be well worth the money spent.
I'm going to go see how close I am to getting my reward right now as a matter of fact. I'm sure you'll be on the edge of your seat until I return. Grab the low carb popcorn.
*************************
Update: My 5 kilo goal starts from 126.7 kilos so I have lost 2.2 kilos with 2.8 to go to reach my first milestone and get my reward, whatever it may be!
I have been doing well logging in my food with My Fitness Pal but I must admit it can be a tad frustrating for me in the beginning since it's an American site and all of my food is Dutch. I don't have the same brands so most of the food I end up putting in manually. Then the Dutch labels aren't required to "share" as much nutritional info as the FDA requires so I am missing some information on my foods. Thank God I'm pretty boring and eat all of the same things all of the time so within a couple weeks I should have all of my foods saved in there.
I still want to add some more components to my blog, like a list of healthy food/recipe blogs (thanks for the suggestions in my post below and keep them coming!) and a list of my goals and rewards for reaching those goals.
Speaking of rewards...after dropping my first 5 kilos (from the weight I was at the weigh in after Marco and I made the deal, not 129.9) (which I'm still working at) I was supposed to spoil myself with a massage but now I'm thinking that I would much rather have the Zumba dvd's that I see advertised on telsel here (the home shopping channel equivalent). I can always move the massage to my second prize and with the Zumba dvd's working on my side I will get to that prize even quicker, no? Have any of your attempted Zumba? It looks like a blast and a tough workout so I'd love to at least try it. At 75 euros it's bit pricey but if it gets me moving then I think it may be well worth the money spent.
I'm going to go see how close I am to getting my reward right now as a matter of fact. I'm sure you'll be on the edge of your seat until I return. Grab the low carb popcorn.
*************************
Update: My 5 kilo goal starts from 126.7 kilos so I have lost 2.2 kilos with 2.8 to go to reach my first milestone and get my reward, whatever it may be!
Sunday, March 01, 2009
So I tried a new recipe for Sweet Potato Apple Curried Soup that I found an a great blog I stumbled upon one day. I love sweet potato recipes so how could it go wrong, right? Well let me tell you how it can go wrong. Very.wrong.
It's actually a very typical story for me.... set out to try to cook something new and then a little tweak here, a change up there and voila... you have nothing like it's supposed to be.
So I started off on the right foot, I had all the ingredients I thought I needed. I baked the sweet potatoes and now just needed to boil the other ingredients for 20 minutes, then blend it up and eat! Yay!
So I'm dicing the apples, have the chicken stock in the pot, I had the onion, I actually had real ginger rather than ginger powder... I add in the curry powder...oh wait, no... I don't have curry powder... shit. I knew I forgot something at the store. So a quick google to see if I have a substitite for curry powder, as I know it's just a mix of other spices.
So now that I've googled the curry powder substitute I realize I don't have half of the ingredients that make up curry powder but I do have some... but the stonger flavors (tumeric, fenugreek etc.) I, naturally, do not have. Ah well it's a Sunday in Holland, nothing is open, what's a girl to do... make it without it of course!
So I start making my witches brew... just a pinch of fennel... oh wait no... it came pouring out so a HUGE DASH of fennel. A bit of All Spice, a tiny bit of red pepper to add some heat... oh wait no, that's a huge amount of red pepper... quickly scrape out some red pepper but, alas, most of it has melted into the pot already. Shit.
And so it went with the rest of the spices... a bit of this, a ton of that accidently and within minutes (about 60 of them!) I had my soup. As I was settling down at the table to taste my soup I remembered the recipe called for sour cream or creme fraishe. I went to the fridge and I put a dollop of sour cream in there just to... well because I already screwed it up so why not... and of course... the sour cream was indeed sour...so sour it spoiled and chunked up in my soup. Perfect!
I wasn't about to let a little extra spice and spoiled sour cream ruin my soup experience though. Oh no, not me! I ate around the lumps of sour sour cream and managed to almost enjoy the soup. It's spicy and tastes a bit like really thick spiced apple cider but it's edible.
Please don't let my disasterous approach to cooking spoil your appetite for this soup. I think with the right ingredients it could be really tasty and pretty healthy as well!
If you have any healthy food blogs that you follow can you please post a link to them in the comment section. As you can see from above, I'm a master chef and love to try out new things! But really folks, I'm a bit bored in the kitchen and would love some referals to some great bloggers who take the time to try recipes and then share them with the rest of us "cooking-callenged" people.
It's actually a very typical story for me.... set out to try to cook something new and then a little tweak here, a change up there and voila... you have nothing like it's supposed to be.
So I started off on the right foot, I had all the ingredients I thought I needed. I baked the sweet potatoes and now just needed to boil the other ingredients for 20 minutes, then blend it up and eat! Yay!
So I'm dicing the apples, have the chicken stock in the pot, I had the onion, I actually had real ginger rather than ginger powder... I add in the curry powder...oh wait, no... I don't have curry powder... shit. I knew I forgot something at the store. So a quick google to see if I have a substitite for curry powder, as I know it's just a mix of other spices.
So now that I've googled the curry powder substitute I realize I don't have half of the ingredients that make up curry powder but I do have some... but the stonger flavors (tumeric, fenugreek etc.) I, naturally, do not have. Ah well it's a Sunday in Holland, nothing is open, what's a girl to do... make it without it of course!
So I start making my witches brew... just a pinch of fennel... oh wait no... it came pouring out so a HUGE DASH of fennel. A bit of All Spice, a tiny bit of red pepper to add some heat... oh wait no, that's a huge amount of red pepper... quickly scrape out some red pepper but, alas, most of it has melted into the pot already. Shit.
And so it went with the rest of the spices... a bit of this, a ton of that accidently and within minutes (about 60 of them!) I had my soup. As I was settling down at the table to taste my soup I remembered the recipe called for sour cream or creme fraishe. I went to the fridge and I put a dollop of sour cream in there just to... well because I already screwed it up so why not... and of course... the sour cream was indeed sour...so sour it spoiled and chunked up in my soup. Perfect!
I wasn't about to let a little extra spice and spoiled sour cream ruin my soup experience though. Oh no, not me! I ate around the lumps of sour sour cream and managed to almost enjoy the soup. It's spicy and tastes a bit like really thick spiced apple cider but it's edible.
Please don't let my disasterous approach to cooking spoil your appetite for this soup. I think with the right ingredients it could be really tasty and pretty healthy as well!
If you have any healthy food blogs that you follow can you please post a link to them in the comment section. As you can see from above, I'm a master chef and love to try out new things! But really folks, I'm a bit bored in the kitchen and would love some referals to some great bloggers who take the time to try recipes and then share them with the rest of us "cooking-callenged" people.
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