THE BEAST

It took me FOUR friggin hours to get to work this morning.  There is nothing worse than driving in rain with a full bladder.  I had even contemplated turning around at one point and going home.  I should have.  What a friggin night mare.  50 miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic on the beast. 

I got in at 9:00 am and was starving.  Ate 2 waffle sticks, 1 and 1/2 pieces of bacon, and a cup of grits with butter.  I could have done worse ya'll.  There were some muffins and pastries whistling at me, but I walked on by. 

Gonna have some soup for lunch, and another salad for dinner. 

One Minute at a Time

Thanks from the bottom of my heart for all of the wonderful support, lovely comments, phone calls, and e-mails.  You all definitely made me feel much, much better!

Today is much better.  I even lost 1.2 pounds!  Hmmm.  Doughnuts for dinner?  Yes!  Okay, I know, I know.  NO!  I was just dang lucky!

I think what happened is that I had a very reasonable breakfast yesterday and only three bites of lunch because the bad news came at lunch time.  So in all I think I had about 1,300 calories yesterday, even with the doughnuts. 

The bad news I spoke of yesterday has been resolved to a degree.  It's a wait-and-see for right now.  Hopefully things will completely turn around and I won't have to revisit that problem again. Keeping my fingers, eyes, and toes crossed.

Some days, you just got to take things one minute at a time, and that's what I'm doing today.  Had a reasonable breakfast of about 500 calories, a reasonable lunch of about 400 calories, and plan on having a cobb salad for dinner. 

I just gotta get a grip on this!

FEELING LIKE A TODDLER

I got some bad news earlier today, and I just wanted to throw myself on the floor and have at it.  When I get really bad news, I lose my appetite.  For a while.  And then once things settle down, the appetite comes back stronger than ever.  And as usual, when I'm feeling overwhelmed and angry, or scared, I want nothing but doughnuts.  And so that's what I had for dinner.  Two of 'em.  Chocolate cake doughnuts with chocolate icing.  (800 fun lovin' calories)  I knew as I ate each and every bite, that it wasn't doing a dang thing for me but adding to the two lumps that already make up my ass. 

But I swear those doughnuts saved me, and probably some other people, as I didn't engage in road rage, or pull my hair out, or cuss, or any number of things.  So for tonight, and only for tonight, doughnuts were my friend.  Tomorrow I'll give them the cold shoulder and tell them to get the heck out of Dodge.

Starting Over

Yesterday I ate too much.  And now I have 2.5 pounds to lose to get back where I was two weeks ago.  Errgh! 

Went to a baby shower for Judy's daughter, Julie.  Had a great time, and enjoyed seeing all the new babies. Jean, honey:  Lilly is soooo ADORABLE! You do good work!  And Christina, I swear you need to get a portfolio of Charlie.  Ya'll could quit your day jobs.

There was fried chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, subway sandwiches, shrimp, biscuits, cookies, cake, and soda.  Had it all, ya'll.  I was so full, that I didn't eat until waaaay later that evening, and then had a small BLT and 1 cup of vegetable soup.  Breakfast had been a sausage mcmuffin, hashbrown, and o.j. 

So I started all over today with 1 egg, 1 piece of bacon, 1 piece of toast, and some grits for breakfast.  Just had a ham and cheese on pretzel roll and bananna for lunch.  Gonna have a fugi apple and chicken salad from Panera's for dinner. 

House cleaning for some exercise tonight.

I WILL BE IN CONTROL THIS WEEK!

Carbs Before Noon

I'm still in recovery mode from last week.  Almost back to where I was, but still need to lose 2 pounds to get there.  So today I'm eating my carbs before noon, and then eating low carb tonight.  I'm going to Mimi's for dinner and getting the petite sirloin, salad, and asparagus. 

I decided not to blog about my past.  I deleted the two posts that started delving into the dark regions of my memories.  It didn't do anything for me but get me down.  I'm bigger and better than my past. 

I don't think there is a one person in this life who hasn't had something horrible happen to them.  Or maybe lots of horrible things happen to them.  That's why I think there also isn't a person in this life who doesn't have some kind of vice.  Whether it's food, or drink, or drugs, or excessive shopping, or gambling, or sex, or whatever.  My vice just happens to show itself to everyone I meet.  And maybe that's not a bad thing.  It's forcing me to do something about it, and try to live a healthier life.  After all, I have everything to be happy about -- a loving and uber supportive husband, great kids, fantastic, loving, friends, and an all around satisfying life. 

I know I'm an emotional eater.  That's just a fact of life.  I'm an emotional person.  That's another fact of life.  I just need to replace eating during stress, with something else, and I think I may have found it.

I used to write stories and poems all the time, and won a few awards.  And then jobs, and sometimes two jobs, and kids, and marriage, and divorce, and failed relationships, and well, life, got in the way.  When Eddie went to Woodrow Wilson the first time, these two stories started budding in my mind, and then he came home for a while and I had to put them on the back burner.  But since he's been gone this second time, I've been writing up a storm, and I have two projects going on.  They are both romantic comedies. 

It's really helping me at night, when Kevin is at work, and I'm home alone.  It keeps my mind off of food. 
I think I've found my passion. 

Fun Friday

It's my day off, my fabulous Friday, to do with whatever I want.  Yooo Hoo!  Confirmed my reservation for the Columbia House in Cape May for our vacation.  Check out this link to the parlor suite:

http://www.thecolumbiahouse.com/parlorsuite.html

Is that gorgeous or what?  I can hardly wait!

I just got off the phone with Eddie.  He's doing great.  He says that he figured it all out:  that if he compliments the teachers in each of his classes, that things go alot better for him!  I think that's a most excellent observation on his part!  I told him that's an important lesson in life, because it will work for bosses too someday.  And a wife!

Well, this morning I'm meeting my buds, Ellie and Judy, for some shopping and lunch.  Hubbie is putting gas in my car as I'm writing this and getting us some breakfast. 

Now, if summer would just get the hint that's he's an unwelcome guest, and get the heck outta here already!  Upper 90s today - geesh!

Taking a Break

Enough of memory lane for a while.

Just to give an update on the eating situation this week:  I've been much better at controlling my eating.  Losing the weight I gained from last week and almost back to to where I was.  Missing Eddie, but glad he's at Woodrow Wilson.  Saw my Madimoo last night.  She sure does talk up a storm, and I swear she gets cuter by the day!  

Looking forward to taking a vacation in a few weeks.  Kevin and I decided to stay a little closer to home and go to Cape May, New Jersey.  We'll take the ferry from Lewes, Delaware, and stay in a Victorian inn for 3 days.  For the rest of my days off that week, I'm going to attempt taking down the wall paper in the hallway bathroom and then paint.  I like the cottage look and would like to add some white beaded board, and a white pedastal sink with new vanity mirror cabinet and lights.  I would also love a white claw tub, but don't know if that is doable -- I think it would require retiling the entire bathroom floor!

Well anyway, hope you all are having a marvelous day.

Sunday, Woodrow Wilson, and oh yeah, Food

Got Eddie safely to school, and helped him set up and unload all his stuff.  We left him feeling good about things.  Really couldn't have asked for a better day ... nice and sunny, no humidity.  Although warm, there were signs of fall all along the way (some color in the leaves on the mountains, and yellow fields).  Eddie took his tv, computer, game system and DVD player with him, so he'll have all his creature comforts with him.  We met one of his dorm mates, who was a heck of a nice kid.  I just got off the phone with Eddie, and he said the other guy arrived just a little bit ago, but that he was really nice, and they were having a lot of fun.  Sounds good.  Keeping my fingers, eyes, and toes crossed!

Okay.  Now, to what you really want to hear about.  Food.  (I'm squirming here).  Got some time?  Here goes:

Breakfast was oatmeal and o.j.  Not too bad.  But stopped in Charlottesville at Michie's Tavern and had two fried chicken wings, some mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, stewed tomatoes, black eyed peas, a biscuit with honey and butter, and a few bites of peach cobbler.  On the way back from his school, stopped at a Burger King to use the bathroom.  On the way out, grabbed a small fry.  At 9:00 pm, was feeling hungry.  Can you friggin believe it?  Ate two cheeseburger sliders and some more fries.

If there was a rehab joint for fat people, I'd sign myself up.  Geesh.

But all is not lost.  Before we left today, I did manage to go to Walmart and load up on healthy stuff for the entire week.  I got cereal, fruit, healthy choice entrees and yogurt for my breakfasts and lunches.  Dinner will be a stop at Applebees each night for one of their less than 550 calorie meal dinners. 

I feel absolutely miserable.  Bloated, and very, very round.  I am so ready for a healthier week.

Busy Friday

It's 9:30 pm and today has been one of those non-stop days.  It began with a quick McDonald's breakfast at 7:00 a.m.  (I'm not making any apologies today.  It is what it is, Bill Clinton.)

Next was a 2.5 hour eye appointment for Eddie.  Why 2.5 hours?  I still haven't figured it out.  Then it was to the orthodonist for quick nip of a stray wire, CVS to pick up prescriptions, lunch in Culpeper, a trip to Walmart, a visit to the HGG for a new computer for Eddie, and then dinner with Dylan and Madison.

When I look at what I've eaten this week, it really hasn't been that horrible.  An extra biscuit here and breadstick there.  Yes, I'll admit, too many desserts.  But it could have been alot worse. 

I'm going to plan out my week on Monday and get back to 1600 calories a day.  That's reasonable.  Slow maybe?  Yes.  But it worked. 

Now off to nighty-night land!

Getting to the Heart of the Matter

My fellow blogger, Christina, articulated very well last night, the utter frustration of the weight loss journey.  Like her, I have been struggling with motivation for the past week.  It's like my fat cells have memories or something ... like they can overthrow my brain.  They are used to a certain way of eating and they are going to get what they want by God come hell or high water.  Like Christina said, it just doesn't make sense at all.  I definitely want to be thin and healthy.  So why do the cravings overcome me?  Yesterday I started out great,  but I lost control again last night. 

I told you about what I ate Sunday and Monday, and I gained a couple of pounds back because of it.  So I started over on Tuesday, but ended up at Olive Garden since Kevin was off from work that night.  I had salad, 1 and 1/2 breadsticks, pasta with meat sauce, and a chocolate mousse pie.  Then I met Christina and Dylan at Logans and had some sweet tea and 1 loaded potato skin.  Holy crap.

Yesterday I told myself I was definitely going to be on track.  Made it through the day just fine, but then last night went to Red Lobster and had two biscuits, salad with red wine viniagrette, wood grilled talapia, broccoli, and baked potato with butter and sour cream.  Then went to Wegmans and got two doughnuts and ate them both.

What the hell? 

And now I just feel miserable.  I'm no better than a drunk or a junkie.  Food is my fix, and I definitely fell off the wagon. 

Now how do I get back on, and stay on.  I'm beginning to believe that weight is all in the mind.  Why can some people be so disciplined?  And why am I not?  If I discover the answer to that, then I think I can lick the weight problem.  I have to be honest with myself.  It is more than just liking food and eating too much. 

Why two doughnuts instead of one?  Why two biscuits?  Why is half of a dinner satisfying one day, and not another.  Why can fruit and fresh water feel wonderful sometimes, and at other times I feel I need comfort food?  Where did that all begin?

That's what I'm going to be working on these next few weeks.  I'm going to discover where the overeating all began and maybe through sharing it on this blog, I can finally let it go, and get on with a healthy new life.

Madison's First Haircut

Yesterday Madimoo went for a shampoo, cut, and blowdry.  Her very first.  And received a certificate, a picture, and a lock of her hair tied with a ribbon for her scrap book.  Her Mom and Dad created a video of the event. 

She is a girly girl.  Loves dresses, and shoes, manicures and pedicures, and all things bright and shiny, just like her Gammie.  And so last night as I watched her eat popcorn shrimp and drink sweet tea, I thought of all the wonderful "firsts" that come and go in our lives, and what a lifetime of adventures lie ahead for little Miss Madison.  That is the special part of being a grandma, witnessing all the firsts again, through older, and wiser, eyes. 

I remember all my sons' first haircuts.  Unfortunately, I did not bring a camera, nor did I keep a lock of their hair.  Wish I had though. 

I waited until they turned two, when their hair brushed their shoulders.  Dylan had wavy, brown hair, that curled up softly in the back.  His first haircut was at the Hair Cuttery, just like Madison.  Only Dylan had his cut at the very first Haircuttery that opened in West Springfield, Virginia when I was a teenager, before I was thinking about boys and babies and things like that. 

Heath had straight hair, with lots of natural and varied highlights -- lighter brown, with red and gold highlights.  His grandmother got a hold of him before I could take him myself.  He got his first hair cut while he was sitting in his favorite red and yellow Big Wheels on the carport on a nice sunny day. 

Eddie had dark brown hair and looked like Mowgli from Jungle Book and got his first hair cut at Springfield Mall at Kids Cuts, while he watched cartoons and sucked on a lollipop.  But then when the lady turned on the electric clippers, he screamed and ran out of the chair and through the mall with the plastic cape flying and the sticky lollipop landing on a passerby's pant leg.   Embarassing much?

Seeing Maddimoo with her new haircut brought back memories that are kept in that precious part of my heart.  It was nice to bring them out and cherish them for a bit. 

Catching Up

Sunday found us at a cute little house where fairies and gnomes live together harmoniously and sweet welcomes whispered in the breeze.   Wanda's World.   Think of gentler times when ladies twirled parasols, wore lacy gloves and drank tea in genteel parlors.  Combine this with happy squawks from a brightly colored bird, the sweet aroma of ginger, and lively, warm people, and you are bound to have a most perfect evening.  We enjoyed delicious asian-inspired marinated chicken, rice, green beans, corn, salad, bread and butter, cake and cookies, and a hearty game of Buzz Word.  My team won.  But then I have the good fortune of having extremely intelligent and witty friends.  Great evening!

Yesterday Kevin and I had the pleasure of seeing his darling sister from Florida for the first time in seven years.  She came into town for business so we picked her up in Crystal City and went to Chart House in Old Town for dinner.  Chart House sits at the river's edge, and again we were blessed with fall-kissed breezes and the sight of sailboats  bobbing at the pier.  I enjoyed huge coconut shrimp with rice pilaf and ice tea.  Dessert was an apple/berry crisp with vanilla ice cream, and decaf coffee.   We shared stories about our children, work lives, and family vacations.  It was fun catching up, and our evening ended way too soon.  But it left us with a desire to head on down to the Sunshine State, walk across shell studded beaches and dip our toes into the prettier part of the Atlantic.

It is now Tuesday morning, and the scale gave off some warning signals.  Did you by chance hear them going off?  It sure was nice visiting the land of "let me eat anything I want."  But it's back to the business of losing some weight.  Sigh.  Cobb Salad -- hello old friend.

Weigh-in # 10 -- 268.6

I should have written about my weight yesterday morning, because the low-carb-after-Noon thing was working -- I had lost 2.5 pounds.  But feeling a bit too confident, I kinda blew it and had carbs all day yesterday (two doughnuts for breakfast; jimmy dean delight sandwich for a late lunch, chicken & rice, lima beans, corn, biscuit with jelly and butter, and three mini chocolate chip cookies for dinner) so this morning only registered a .4 loss.  The dinner was salty and I ate late at night, so there could be the water retention thing going on. 

Well, I learned a lesson.  Maybe I should move my weigh-in day to Friday?

Good News and a Low Carb Dinner = Energy

Image via Wikipedia

The good news about Eddie definitely put a spring in my step this morning.  And, I'm also trying to follow the advice of a magazine article that claims you can lose 500% more weight by eating your carbs before Noon, and eating only protein, vegetables and fruit after Noon.  I did that yesterday, and I must say, it wasn't too bad. 

If I've learned anything about weight loss, it is this:  You need to shake things up every once in a while.  I'm not saying I'm going to be able to do this forever, but it may help keep away a plateau.

I had a grilled chicken ceasar salad for dinner yesterday.  Woke up at 7:30 this morning and started cleaning the house.  By 9:15, I had cleaned my bedroom, two bathrooms, the kitchen, and straightened up the living room and took down the laundry. 

Kevin and I are going to go out for a late breakfast.  I'm going to take advantage of the "carbs before noon" thing and order some pancakes, but maybe not quite as much as in the picure!  By the time we eat, it should be close to noon, so that should hold me until dinner.  I'm thinking Mimi's Cobb Salad and a fruit plate will do the trick for dinner.

Eddie has an orthodonist appt today.  Need to run some errands and then stop by to see my litlte Madimoo.  She hasn't been feeling well this week, and maybe a new toy will help her feel better.

Thats it for now.  Happy Friday ya'll!

GOOD NEWS!

Just heard from DRS.  Eddie will go to Woodrow Wilson on the 19th -- next Sunday.  YAHOO!!!!!!

I'm a happy camper now!

BTW, mammogram was a smash! 

Starbucks ham, egg white, and cheese sandwich for breakfast
egg salad sandwich, apple for lunch
cheddar cheese for snack
Cobb Salad for dinner

Boob Smoosh

This morning I will get a mammogram in the roving mammovan that will be parked outside our office.  Not looking forward to it, but it has been a few years since I've given the girls over to the Boob Press. 

I wasn't very good with food yesterday.  Had McDonald's sausage mcmuffin (no egg), hashbrown and o.j.  for breakfast.  Lunch was a BLT and apple.  Had a Jimmy Dean DeLight breakfast sandwich (260 calories) and a Pillsbury toaster breakfast pastry thing (210 calories) when I got home.  If I had stopped there, it wouldn't have been too terrible, but then I went to Christina and Dylan's for dinner.  Had spaghetti with meat sauce, three pieces of Italian bread with real butter (I know, I know -- THREE!), and chocolate peanut butter cake (just shoot me, okay?).   After that I just tucked in my head and rolled on home!

Now I know this is no excuse, but yesterday was a VERY stressful day.  Got caught in horrible traffic on 95 so I was a half hour late getting to work.  Kevin had to work late and when he went to his car, he had a flat tire.  Poor guy worked late all night and into the morning and was very tired.  The garage here is always about 92 degrees.  He couldn't get the tire rim off to put on the spare.  Got a guy to help him, but he couldn't get it off either.  Luckily they were able to put some air in the tire and then I followed Kevin to Merchant Tire in Springfield.  That put us in Springfield at 9:00 a.m.  It took us 1 and 1/2 hours, in bumper to bumper traffic, to get from Springfield back to work (normally a 15 minute drive).  Then yesterday the worst kind of work kept coming in -- tedious stuff, with lots of problems, and just tons of work.

On top of that, there was no message from the DRS lady about when Eddie is going back to Woodrow Wilson.  CRAP!  So I started chewing my nails and feeling nervous, and that's what started the food binge.

No talking it out would have helped.  No blogging would have helped.  I'm just on pins and needles about the Woodrow Wilson thing.  And now, I won't feel happy until after the Boob Smoosh is done.  I just hate the whole process.  Slapping my boob on a glass plate like a piece of meat and squeezing the sucker is just no fun.  You'd think they could have thought up something better now -- like an x-ray bra or something like that.

500 Before and After Pictures

Check out this video of 500 inspiring before and after pics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrDpEI9FpZ0

1.8 LOST!! -- Just .2 short of 15 POUNDS!!!

269.2 -- I was pretty pleased with the scale this morning.  To lose 1.8 pounds this far along in the game is pretty fabulous.  I'm going to celebrate by treating myself to a pedicure tomorrow and a new haircut. 

Last night had a Cobb Salad with fat-free balsimic viniagrette and a mini chocolate mousse for dinner.

Today:

breakfast:  sausage mcmuffin (no egg, no cheese), hashbrowns, 1/2 o.j. (550 calories)

lunch:  Weight Watchers Smart Ones Chicken Parmesan (290 calories)  NASTY!

           Snackwells cookies (210 calories)

dinner:  Panera's 1/2 turkey on multigrain, cup of chicken noodle soup, 1/2 cafe classic salad, fruit cup,
            ice cream cone from McDonald's (620 calories)

Yummy Snacks Under 200 Calories

I just had a Kellogg's Fiber Plus Antioxidants Chocolate Chip Chewy Bar.  YUM YUM!  Tasted wonderful with some hot green tea.  Only 120 calories, and it tastes like a really good candy bar.

Some other snacks under 200 calories that make me happy are: 

1 slice toasted low calorie wheat bread (45 calories) with 1 tbsp peanut butter (90 calories) with 1/2 small bannana sliced (45 calories) and a tiny drizzle of honey (20 calories)

1 sugar free chocolate pudding (60 calories) mixed with 1/2 small bananna sliced (45 calories) and tiny squirt of whipped cream (15 calories); 1 oreo cookie (53 calories)

1/2 whole wheat pita pocket (80 calories); 1 packet of water-pack tuna (60 calories) mixed with 1 celery stick minced fine, and 1 tablespoon low-fat mayo (50 calories), lettuce and tomato

1 lite smoked white meat turkey hot dog (45 calories) on a toasted low calorie bun (100 calories) with saurkraut and mustard

1/2 whole wheat pita pocket (80 calories) with 1 finely chopped boiled egg (70) mixed with 1 tbsp light mayo (50 calories) (stuff with lettuce and tomato)

A while ago there was a diet in a magazine about eating 100 calorie snacks every hour during the day.  I tried it for a couple of days, and I really did lose weight.  Why it works -- even if you eat every hour all day, you're basically up 16 hours a day, so at the most you would be eating 1600 calories.

Why couldn't I stick with it?  It takes a lot of work planning and packing up a whole day's worth of 100 calorie foods to bring to work -- basically 12 hours worth because of my commute, and then reminding myself to eat every hour.  Although I didn't get hungry on the diet, I didn't feel satisifed -- I wanted a complete meal.  As much as I eat out with friends and family, it just wasn't a good match for me.

But, it really did work.  So any of you reading this who wants to try it, go ahead.  I think it would work just as well with 200 calorie snacks throughout the day every two hours. 

Today's Grubs

This morning:  multigrain cheerios, fat free milk
lunch:  hamburger, french fries, regular coke
snack:  5 triscuits and 5 small pieces of cheese, two pieces of dark chocolate
dinner:  2 soft fresco beef tacos, pepsi and a small ice cream cone from McDonald's

Today was my free day.  Tried to get in the foods I love, without going overboard.  I actually like the taste of the fresco tacos much better than the regular ones now.

Off to do some more laundry and watch some TV. 

Fabulous Friday

Today is my regular day off from work.  I'm going to miss going out with my bud, Judy, but I'm staying close to the 'burg because I'm sure 95 is going to be a beast today with the holiday weekend. 

Woke up at 7:30 (that's sleeping in for me), and immediately started tackling cleaning my bedroom and bathroom.  I cleaned from ceiling to floor with the extension swiffer duster.  We have a ceiling fan in the bedroom and it generates a ton of dust.  I'm now taking a break, eating a bowl of multigrain cheerios and fat-free milk. 

Gonna dust and vacuum the rest of the upstairs real quick and cleanup the foyer.  A trip to Walmart for some laundry supplies and then I'm going to try to tackle the rest of the downstairs today.  My entire downstairs has become a dumping ground for anything and everything, and it's driving me nuts. 

I'm feeling inspired today by an article a fellow blogger shared with me yesterday about a young girl that conquered her weight problem.  The girl talked about the prejudices against fat people in day to day life.  It is so true.  I am constantly discriminated against, but bury it down deep.  But the article kind of woke me up.  I deserve to be thin, and I deserve to be treated right.  I'm not going to let some narrow-minded people keep me from being the best that I can be. 

But like the girl in the article, I want to change my outside, but I don't want to change the fat girl inside -- the nice, compassionate part of me.

Feeding the Hungries

Have you ever been doing pretty good, watching your calories, and eating healthier, and then you get the REAL kind of hungries more than usual during the day?  Yesterday, for instance, I was just hungry all day, but it wasn't the stress-induced kind that makes you want to chow down on a steak & cheese and some doughnuts.  It was the real, stomach growling, kind of hungry. 

I think this is your body telling you to eat something.  Not crazy eating -- but something healthy.  I did that yesterday.  Was crazy starving when I got home, so I had 1 slice of whole wheat bread with 1 tsp peanut butter.  Went to dinner and had grilled fish, broccoli, salad and baked potato, and two pieces of dark chocolate.  I felt very satisfied after dinner, but a few hours later I had the rumbles again, so I had a vitamuffin top and some milk.  Weighed myself this morning and I had lost half a pound! 

So, what I'm getting at is this:  I think when you get those serious, growling tummy hungries, you better feed the little monster.  It might just help keep away a plateau, and stoke your metabolism.

Wunerful Wednesday

Didn't go to Red Lobster last night.  Went out with Eddie, Christina, Dylan and Madimoo to Mimi's, which was probably a better choice because this is what I ate:  1/2 small piece of bread with tiny bit of butter (60 calories)  1 cup of vegetable soup (60 calories); the petite sirloin with asparagus and salad greens with citrus viniagrette (255 + 30 (for dressing) = 285 calories); and one mini chocolate mousse (130 calories).  A grand total of 535 calories.  That was a lot of food, and I was full and felt good about my choices.

Oh, it's been a couple of days since I bragged about my kids.  Do you know how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!  Wish Kevin, Heath and Annie could have been there, then my world would have been complete.  But soon .... Thanksgiving will hopefully put us all at the same table!

I really need to kick it up a notch with the exercising.  Although my intentions were good about the Leslie Sansone tape, I just haven't done it.  And really, there are no excuses.  I have to make time for this.  Gonna take a couple of hikes up the stairs here in the office and get up every hour to take a walk around the hallways.  Tonight, while Kevin is taking his shower and getting ready for work, I'm gonna do my walking video. 

Had a skinny latte this morning and apple bran muffin.  Gonna have a BLT on wheat with mustard and an apple for lunch.  6 inch subway club for dinner and some fruit.

268 here I come!