Productive Saturday.

I had a very productive Saturday today.  I started out early this morning.  When I got up around 7am , it was still dry out.  The weather forecast was 100% chance of rain today.  YEAH!  NOT!   When I got up and saw that it wasn't raining I knew this would be my opportunity to get a true long walk in.   

My primary goal today was to walk to the Starbucks a little over 5km's from our house.  My secondary goal was to do it as quickly as I could.  Considering I've not gotten that far, I didn't know how long it was going to take.  My only point of reference was from several weeks ago when I thought it would take an hour to get to Angus Campell road and we made it there in 40 minutes.

With my ipod playing, Angus and I headed out.  We were almost thwarted right away as it was doggy central at the gate to our complex with a brouhaha going on between a Westie, a Lab, a Pug and a Chihuahua.  Of course my dog being the dog he is wanted in on the action and started barking from our side of the gate.  That of course changed focus of the other dogs and the owners managed to get their dogs untangled and maneuvered towards their respective complexes.  I waited another minute or two and then headed out the gate when the coast was clear.  Angus was still a little excited but off we went.  Of course a few minutes later who do we come across but his arch enemies from our complex the two Jack Russel's.  These two dogs bark whether there's anything to bark at or not.  Fortunately when we reached the main road, they went to the left and Angus and I headed to the right.

We had a pretty good pace going, but with the starting and stopping and probably a good 5 minutes of dog excitement by the time we got to Angus Campbell Road we were 4 minutes behind from our last time doing this route.  I picked up my pace with Angus trotting along beside and little behind me and kept plugging along.  I looked at my phone and we were nearing the 1 hour mark.  I knew that my wonderful husband would be on his way to meet us and may very well pass us at any time.  Sure enough, not even two minutes later Angus plopped his behind down and dug his paws in as he looked over his shoulder.  I swear he has the best hearing ever.

My husband stopped and I put the dog in the back seat and looked down at my mapmywalk app that I was using to track our distance.  I was a little disappointed as we were only at 4.45 km's and I really wanted to hit the 5km mark.  I decided on the spot to keep walking.  I told my husband to go on and I'd meet him at the Starbucks.  Less than 10 minutes later I met him in the parking lot.  I was thrilled with my time and my distance!

This link should take you to my walk today.
http://www.mapmywalk.com/routes/view/199064468

Now seeing as how I'd just walked for a little over an hour and we were after all at Starbucks, I decided to give myself a reward for what I had done.  I got myself a Grande, extra hot, non fat, 1/4 sweet (1pump of syrup) peppermint white chocolate mocha with no whip and no drizzle.  I love me a white chocolate mocha.  This drink is how I got my gold Starbucks card automatically :)

Thankfully the rain held off until we headed home.  A little while later, I headed out to do some errands for my parents.  It took me a few hours to get everything done, and when I got home I was honestly tired.  A quick look at my pedometer and I knew why!

Wahoo!  I guess I beat my 18,000 steps on a non work day!  Now that's what I call a productive Saturday!

Weigh in Day....

Friday's are the day I weigh in and go to my weight watchers meeting during my lunch break.  I'm proud of how I'm doing but this was a bit of a challenging week for me.  I didn't get all my steps in a couple of days.  I did get extra steps in on others so in the end it balanced out but still. I've looked back at my tracker and I've noticed that my activity points have taken a real dip in the past couple of weeks so I need to refocus on my activity level.   I've bumped my work day step goal up to 15,000 steps  and my weekend steps up to 18,000 as I need to increase my activity level. 

Typically on Thursday evenings I get off the train at 610 and head right to the gym so I can get a good 60-90 minute work out in, then I go home, have dinner and basically call it a night.  I wasn't able to do that last night.  I had a work call to be on, and by the time I was done that I honestly didn't have the motivation to go to the gym.  It was after 8pm by the time my call was done, I had dinner, and checked in with my mom who was released from the hospital a couple of days ago.  I honestly didn't want to go to the gym at 830 at night. 

My results from my weigh in weren't stellar, I was down .2 of a pound, but a loss is a loss is a loss and I'll take it over a gain any day of the week and twice on Sunday.  However, I know that I have to be accountable to myself.  I have to get my steps in.  I have to stay active.  

Steps for the week
Tuesday 13, 423
Wednesday  16,526
Thursday 14,747
Today 19,016

Have a great weekend everyone!  Hopefully the sun will continue to shine and we can all get outdoors to enjoy the fresh spring air. :)

Support is so important.

I have always known that having people who support you in whatever you're doing is important.  It doesn't matter whether it's for a class, a hobby, work or dealing with weight loss.  I am very fortunate to have a very supportive husband.  Anything I need or want on my quest to get fit is fine,  expense is not really a consideration.  If I need it to be successful, it's done.  I know how lucky I am to have a supportive husband.

I'm even luckier to have a supportive family.  Since I restarted my weight loss and getting fit project in January, we have celebrated several birthdays, had Easter and several get togethers that have included food.  My family has been great in asking what I want to have so that we can keep temptation away from me.  My family has even gone so far as to substitute a veggie platter instead of the bags of potato chips and cheezies.   Every time I see them they encourage me and tell me how proud they are of me for sticking to it.

I've even lucked out in the supportive co-workers area.  Several of my co-workers have commented now on my weight loss, they tell me how good I'm looking and it makes me feel pretty good.  It's no secret that I go for a walk (almost) every day during my lunch break.  A few of them have asked to come along and it's great that a couple of days a week there will be a few of us out walking.

Today was a rough afternoon for me.  After my mid day walk, out of nowhere I had the most intense craving for cookies.  I wanted a great, big, huge, chocolate chip cookie.  The kind that you have to hold with two hands.  I drank some water instead, I drank some more water and when the craving was still there and I found myself reaching for my wallet to walk down the street to the bakery.  I stopped.  I sent out an S.O.S to one of my friends who is also a coworker.  I sent her a YouTube clip of the Cookie Monster and told her in no uncertain terms that I wanted cookies and I was fighting not to go buy some.  Bless her heart, within a minute she was at my office door with  a  2 Point WW snack bar to help get me though.  We sat and talked for a few minutes.  I drank some more water and about a half hour later, I ate the 2 Point snack.  Much better than the 20 point cookies, I was craving so badly.

It's great to have support and today and I was so truly thankful for it.

Was there a weekend in there somewhere?

How can it possibly be Monday evening?  I missed the weekend I think.  I guess that's what happens when you're busy with family stuff.   Mom is still in the hospital, she had her stress test and her nuclear medicine test today so we'll get the results tomorrow and find out if they have to clear any blockages.   Hopefully she'll be on the mend before long.  She hasn't had an Angina attack since Thursday so that's a good thing.

It was a hard weekend to get my steps in.  The weather wasn't cooperative at all really.  On Saturday Angus and I headed out for our Saturday morning walk, we were out about 40 minutes or so before my wonderful husband arrived to pick us up.  I had decided to start walking in the country so when the dark clouds moved in, my husband thought it was best to come get us before we got too wet.  We did some of our running around and then I headed over to my parents house and the hospital.  We had friends over for dinner on Saturday night and had a great time.  I made us fajita's for dinner and it went well.  I did treat myself to a small piece of black forest cake for desert but I stayed within my daily points and I didn't have to use any of the activity points that I earned.  I did 14,313 steps on Saturday.  Not quite my 15, 000 weekend goal but I'm happy with that considering all that I had going on. :)

Sunday was a different story.  It rained, and rained and rained.  Going grocery shopping was a challenge between the rain and the wind.  By 2pm it was still raining and I had a movie date with my husband for the 4pm showing of 42.   My husband did think it was hilarious that I was tucking a banana into my purse for my "treat" at the movies :)

I was thinking after the movie I could get my walk in, however by the time I was done visiting my mom at at the hospital and doing my dad's feet, it was too dark to go for a walk.  It didn't help that I had forgotten to put my pedometer on for our morning grocery shopping, so although the pedometer only has 10,350 steps on it for Sunday I'm thinking I did closer to 14, 000.

Today I worked from home as my mom was having her testing done and I wanted to be close by just in case I was needed.  It's hard working over an hour away from home, even harder considering I usually take the train in which means I have to wait until the first train heads back at 350.  I can tell you from experience there is nothing worse than that helpless feeling of needing to wait to get a train to come home when someone is ill or injured!

As I was working from home and it's a whole 100 steps from my desk to anywhere here on the upper floor I wasn't having much luck getting my steps in.  When my husband and I went up to see my mom at the hospital after dinner I was only at 5800 steps.  I still needed to go to my dad's to do his feet for him so I decided I would walk from the hospital to my parents house.  I figured it would take me roughly a half hour and I was pretty close, it took 28:56 according to the map my walk app on my phone.  Not bad.  The nights not quite over and I'm at 10,655 so although I'm not at 12, 000 where I would like to be, I'm not going to complain.  I'm making healthy choices and after all, that's what it's all about.
:)

16 Weeks, healthy choices and daily activity

Equal 45.4 pounds lost!  Wahoo!

I worked from home on Thursday so that I could be on hand if I was needed as we were hoping that my mom would have a series of tests to see what is causing the Angina attacks.  Unfortunately the morning nurse who came on shift in the ER didn't read my mom's chart correctly and put a nitro patch on her, gave my mom her morning pills and then let her have breakfast.  As my mom started to eat breakfast the nurse realized what she had done but it was too late.  Because of the pills and the nitro patch they weren't able to do the test.  This has upset my mom and dad immensely as this means my mom is now in the hospital until at least Monday.   Although I didn't go into work, which means I didn't get my normal work day steps in, I still did all right.  I took the dog for a walk, walked around the house, and got steps in going back and forth to the hospital and my parents, another quick walk with the dog and a quick 35minute elliptical work out I reached my 12,000 step daily goal and then some.

I decided to drive into work on Friday in case something happened I could leave immediately and come home.  My co worker who also lives here in Abbotsford agreed to come along with me so that I could use the HOV lane.  With the new Port Mann bridge we were at work in just over an hour, before they built the new bridge and HOV lane, the same drive would have taken us close to 2 hours.  I'm loving the new bridge and I don't mind paying the toll for it as it's so much quicker than it used to be.

I got some steps in going from the parking garage to the office.  I got steps in at work yesterday by walking and talking to people rather than calling them or sending an email.  I walked to my Weight Watchers meeting the long way(going around the buildings rather than cutting through them,) and added an extra 2 block walk on my way back to the office.  I was thrilled with my weigh in yesterday, I'm down a total of 45.4 pounds in 16 weeks.  I am so happy with how I'm progressing, and I did have my challenges with food last weekend at work.  However, by making healthy choices and getting in my daily activity, I'm reaping the benefits! 

When I got home, we had dinner and then I headed up to the hospital to see my mom.  She was in much better spirits then she was yesterday and this morning so that's  good thing.  When I got to the Cardiac Care Unit she was sitting in the patient lounge having a good laugh and chat with a few of the other patients.  We sat and talked for an hour and a half, then I went over to see my dad and put his cream on his feet for him. 

Long week, and it's only Wednesday!

It seems like this has been the longest week and it's only Wednesday!  I had Monday off to make up for working on Sunday so it should seem like a short week but it hasn't turned out that way.  With working the weekend I had a lot of running around to do on Monday.  I went to Costco, the market and the grocery store to get our shopping done for the week.  I popped over and spent an hour or so with my parents and then I had to take my car up to get the brakes looked at.  When we had my winter tires taken off last week they told my husband that my brakes were low and we should get them done.

I took the car up and the man at the repair shop told me it would be about 2 hours so I walked over to the mall to do a little retail therapy.  A lot of my work shirts have gotten too big and sloppy looking so I needed to get some new ones.  Once I had selected my shirts I still had almost an hour to go before my car was going to be ready so I asked the clerk to hold my bag for me so I could go for a walk and get some exercise in.  They had no problem doing that for me so off I headed.  I just walked around a two block radius and was about to go around again when the repair shop called me to tell me my car was ready.  It's surprising how our mindset changes.  Six months ago, I would have stayed at the repair shop to read a book, I wouldn't have thought to go for a walk.  It all comes down to making healthy choices.  I'm counting the walking and shopping for smaller tops as my non scale victory this week.

On Tuesday I didn't fare so well in the healthy choices department.  I had 6 different meetings on Tuesday and I was busy playing catch up on email from Thursday onwards.  I honestly didn't have time to get my lunch break walk in. I walked to work from the train and I walked back to the train but I didn't get my mid day walk in and I felt it!  I retain water quite easily when I'm sedentary for too long and by the time I got home from work last night I had no ankles at all and my legs felt like they weighed a ton!  After we had dinner I took the dog for a walk, wanting to get some good steps in, but he was not cooperative at all.  It took us almost 20 minutes to walk what would normally take 8-9 minutes, I got frustrated with him and took him home but by then it was too dark for me to go back out.  I did do over 10,000 steps but I've had such large numbers lately that having a number under 12,000 felt like a disappointment.

Wednesday started out all right, but then about the time I was going to head out for my walk, I got a  text from my sister that my mom had been taken to the hospital with a potential heart attack.  I spoke to my wonderful boss and arranged to leave work an hour early to take the first train home so I felt like I shouldn't take my lunch break.  I did walk with a few of the ladies down to Starbucks a couple of blocks away but it only took us 15 minutes round trip, and that included getting an order filled.  When I got home, it was a lot of sitting around waiting for the phone to ring.  The hospital was very busy and they were only allowing one person with a patient so there was no point going up to the hospital but I didn't want to be away from the phone until I knew what was going on.  They've now admitted my mom so that they can do some more tests on her tomorrow and then we'll find out if she needs to have angioplasty done or not.

I am happy with my choices though, I've stayed on plan meal wise all week, despite being emotional and stressed.   I didn't give in to the temptation in the lunch room (chocolates and cookies) and I didn't eat non discriminately as I would have done in the past with a stressful day.   Although I didn't do a full walk at lunch time, I did hit over 10,000 steps today so that does make me happy.

I'm going to work from home tomorrow so I can spend time with my dad and take him up to the hospital to see my mom, add in walking the dog twice, and I should be able to get close to my work day goal of 12,000 steps.

Lot's of walking going on!

It was a great weekend at work.  We had regional Run Director Training for our fabulous Run Directors who volunteer to organize and host the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure.  We hosted them in our office in Vancouver.  We started out on Thursday evening with a welcome buffet dinner at the hotel they were staying at, followed by training in our offices on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I was a little concerned about the weekend as I knew that we were having catered Breakfast,  and Lunch and then dinner out each night.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to control what I was being served so I put an action plan into place and for the most part I stuck to it.

When we went into work on Thursday we drove in so I didn't feel like a dork being on the train with a grocery bag full of food.  I took my breakfast and lunch for the three days with me so that I had options.  I am very glad I did.  Each morning I had my toasted english muffin with some peanut butter and a banana.  It really did help as I wasn't tempted to partake of the bacon, eggs, sausages and potato's on Friday, on Saturday we brought in breakfast wraps and Sunday was quiche.  All of those would have been high in points so I was able to stick to my plan and it helped.

I did eat my cabbage salad for lunch on Friday instead of the huge sandwiches that were brought in, but I didn't exactly stick to plan on Saturday.  The smell of the lasagna was just too much so I let myself have a small piece of it along with my cabbage salad.  Sunday was great as I had my salad and half of a veggie sandwich.  I took the cookie and the pasta salad out of my lunch and left it on the table for someone else to partake of.

Dinners in the evening were a bit challenging though.  Thursday night buffet was good, I chose to have a chicken breast and the steamed veggies, I stayed away from the deserts and I think I did all right that way.  Friday was a different story.  We decided as Staff to have dinner together as part of our Run Team works over on Vancouver Island and this would probably be our only chance to have diner together.  We went to a tapas restaurant in Gastown called Judas Goat.  It's a tiny hole in the wall type restaurant in a back alley that only seats 28 people.   As we were a group we decided to do the chef's menu which is a menu that they bring out single serving sizes of different menu items.  I had no idea how to count the points for what we had so I just took the 20 points I had left after breakfast and lunch.  Saturday night was better for knowing what points I needed and I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Irish Heather,  another Gastown Restaurant.  I did bypass desert though and felt good about it!

Part of my plan for the weekend was to walk from the hotel to the office and do as much walking around the office as I could manage.  It turns out I did pretty darned good! 

Steps on Thursday, 18,696.  That included walking from the car parkade to the office, my regular lunch time walk, helping set up for RD Training and walking to the hotel for dinner.

Steps on Friday, 16,653. Walking from the hotel to the office, refilling water jugs, helping to set up and tear down breakfast and lunch, doing my presentation, walking back to the hotel the long way (the walk takes 15 minutes to get to the hotel, I added on another 15min's)  walking to and from dinner which was about 1.5km's each way.

Steps on Saturday - 25,780!!! I knocked that out of the ball park!  I started off by walking from the hotel to the office the long way again to get some extra steps in.  I was also in search of a Tim Horton's that was open to get one of the prizes from my presentation the morning before.  Turns out in downtown Vancouver the Tim Horton's aren't open early!  Who knew!  Later in the morning I had to go in search of a store that was open that would carry a specific item as well as get the gift card I hadn't been able to get in the morning.  I also walked back to the hotel and then to dinner and back.  I was amazed at the steps I managed to get in and I was very excited, so excited I actually posted a picture of me holding my pedometer to show the steps on facebook, I was so proud of how far I had walked.

Steps on Sunday 20,033.  That included again walking from the hotel to the office the long way, setting up our Run day simulation, taking it down, helping to set up and take down breakfast and lunch, cleaning up the office and then walking back to the hotel when we had wrapped up.

It was a busy weekend but a great one and I'm very happy with how I stuck to my plan (for the most part) for the weekend.

Jillian Micheals Maximize your Life!

You need to sit back and get comfy as this will be a LONG post.  I'm just warning you now!

My wonderful husband bought me a VIP ticket for Jillian Micheal's speaking tour Maximize Your Life.  It was on Tuesday April 9th and was billed as being a 2 hour conversation with Jillian Micheal's.  Well if that was two hours, they were the longest,  best two hours of my life!  Jillian took to the stage at 730, broke for her intermission at 9pm, went back on stage at 915pm and spoke until 11pm.  Then once the theatre emptied out, she came back out for the VIP Q&A session which lasted about 40 minutes.

The first part of her talk was about fitness, nutrition, weight loss and weight maintenance.  I love the way she presented herself on stage.  There was a stool for her to sit on, but she didn't.  Instead, she paced the stage back and forth and honest to goodness she was looking you in the eye as she was speaking.  She was connecting with every single person who was there.   

It really and truly was a conversation.  People called questions or comments from the audience and she would stop what she was saying and answer them or respond or repeat her self if that was what they wanted.  A friend of mine tweeted "It's like sitting in Jillian's living room talking with her" and that is exactly what it was like.  It was fantastic.

The second part of the evening focused on Maximizing your life.  In this part,  I saw a different side to the tough edged trainer from the Biggest Loser.  I saw the daughter who wanted to have a better relationship with her father.  The daughter full of love and respect for her mother.  The life partner struggling to ensure the relationship stays strong and the new mother trying to keep all of the balls in the air.  It's like she said, when referencing having enough time;  You have to choose your priorities, it's all right to ask for help and it's all right to say I can't do it all! 

We are often the hardest on ourselves and it's our own guilt and shame that tears us down and belittles us for what we're perceiving ourselves of doing wrong.  Communication is key, knowing what you truly want is key. 

One of the biggest things I took away from the evening was "know your WHY?"  Why?  Why do you want to be healthy, why do you want to lose weight.  You have to KNOW what the WHY is before you can succeed.  Don't just say I want to lose weight, I want to be healthy, know why you want those things.  What do they truly mean to you.  What does losing weight mean to you?  10 pounds, 50 pounds, and what is your plan for it?  What does being healthy mean to you?  Is it wearing skinny jeans or bouncing your grandchildren on  your knee.  What is your why?

If YOU believe it, YOU can achieve it!  Don't be a self doubter, say I will instead of I'll try.  I CAN instead of maybe.   YOU can do anything YOU let yourself do!

If you make a poor choice get back on track the moment you realize it.  If you have a flat tire you don't shoot the other 3 tires do you?  You fix the one that's flat.  Pick up and carry on if you make a mistake!  Don't CHOOSE to blow it!  CHOOSE to get control of it!

Weight loss - What is the secret to weight loss?  "It's math people!  Calories out have to be more than calories in.  It takes a 3500 calorie deficit to lose a pound."  It really is that simple.  Keep moving, stand instead of sit, pace the room when you're on that conference call or phone call.  Stand on the bus instead of sit.  Move your body.  You use more calories standing than you do sitting...and no chewing gum isn't going to be burn more calories!

Nutrition
Fat Free or Calorie free - Forget the Fat Free and calorie free(what truly is besides water), and go with chemical free.  Often things that are labelled as fat free contain chemicals to make it fat free.  Go with the fat in MODERATION and cut out the crap!  If you can't pronounce it, you shouldn't be eating it!

Organic livestock and dairy - yes organic is expensive and no not everyone can afford it, but if all else fails, go organic with your livestock and dairy.  Spend the extra dollars there so you aren't consuming the antibiotics and hormones that go hand in hand with a booming market.  A real cow will take 4 years to get to slaughter, a cow that has been given antibiotics and hormones goes to slaughter in 6 months.  That's the difference! 

Organic Vegetables - again they are expensive but choose your organic veggies carefully.  If you're purchasing fruits and vegetables with a thick peel (ie. Banana's, Oranges, melons etc.) they don't need to be organic. Their rind/peel is too thick to absorb much if any pesticides.  The fruits and veggies you need to purchase organically are: Spinach, celery, cherries, peaches, plums, apples carrots etc.  Things with a think or no skin that get sprayed.    Try to find 20.00 a week and you will be able to afford the organic fruits and veggies you need.   When you're shopping at the farmer's market ask them if they spray, and what it is.

Sugar - In the USA ( not sure about Canada) there are 58 different ways to say sugar on a food label.  Look at your labels, read them, if they have more than one form of sugar in them, leave them behind if you can. 

Labels - read your labels!  Read the serving size on the label.  Is that bag of chips one serving or two?  Is that bottle of iced tea or juice one serving?  Two servings?  Two and a half servings?  Make sure that you're counting the calories for what you really and truly are consuming.

Fitness
Get moving, move your body...the more you move the better you feel!  Google your BMR and AMR and use the knowledge, that will guide you as to how many calories you need to consume and will help you figure out the amount of calories you need to burn.

Stop using the machines at the gym that isolate a single muscle.  They do nothing for you!  That's not how we move in real life so it's not going to help you.  You need to use free weights and use them correctly.  Pay someone to teach you how to do something properly so that you have the right form.  You don't need them all the time, just to get you started.  Whether you're doing strength training or cardio integrate High Intensity Interval Training.    The best way to train is with body weight exercises  Google them and do those rather than using a machine.

You can't spot reduce an area of your body.  If someone tells you they can do it, they are lying to you!  It can't happen.  Cellulite has nothing to do with your weight, it has to do with the connective tissue in your body.  There's nothing that can help it that's all there is to it! 

You don't have to spend hours and hours working out every day unless you actually like it.  You need to have 30 minutes of activity a day.  Get your best bang for your buck out of it.  Move when ever you can, however you can!

It was a fantastic night!  It was worth not getting home until 1240AM  It was worth the 3 hours of sleep I got, and how tired I was the next day.  Would I see her again?  In a heart beat!  I left feeling good about myself, my journey and what I'm doing to get to my WHY!

What do 12 inches and 42 pounds equal?

A very happy Katie!  I did  my measurements today and I was thrilled with what the numbers had to tell!
Hips down 1.5 inches
Waist down 2 inches
Arm down 1 inch
Bust down 2 inches
Thigh down 4 inches!
Calf down 1.5 inches!

Total inches down 12!
Total pounds lost 42!

Happy dance, happy dance!

I went to the gym today as it has been raining all day and I honestly didn't want to get cold and wet while I'm still fighting bronchitis.  I hate going to the gym as I get so bored on the machines.  I used 3 machines to get through a 45 minute cardio work out.  I did the elliptical - which is my favorite machine for 25 minutes, I did the treadmill for 15 minutes and then I did the stair climber for 5 minutes.  I also threw in a good free weight circuit in there for good measure.  In total I earned 10 activity points.

It's been a good weekend.  I ate properly, I got in a lot of activity and I've worked out a plan for the next week.  I'll be quite busy with work this week, eating out Tuesday night, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night with work commitments so I've got a plan in place to ensure that I stay on track.

It all comes down to healthy choices!

How do you track your activity?

I'm a bit confused and I don't know what the answer is.  I had a lot of activity today!  I'm not talking just going for a walk, or going to the gym.  I'm talking physical activity for long periods of time.  It was yard clean up day at my parents house today.  My siblings and I, with our spouses and a friend of my brother, did a tonne of yard work.  Literally, 3 loads of green waste to the transfer station weighing in total a little over a tonne.

We took down dead trees, (well my brother and his friend were the ones wielding the chain saws), hauled the branches, bushes, leaves and trimmings to a trailer, loaded the trailer, took it to the transfer station and dumped it.

We arrived at my parents at 930 this morning and left at 3pm.  Although the majority of the time was spent active, there were times when I stood around waiting for the next tree to come down, or the trailer to return from the transfer station, making sandwiches for everyone and then standing around as we all ate them.

But, how do I account for the activity?  I gave myself credit for walking the equivalent of an hour at a brisk pace (pedometer has 15,435 steps on it tonight) and then I gave myself credit for gardening/hedging.  The only real thing I could find in the Weight Watcher's E-tools database. with entering those two things in the activity tracker, it came up with 15 activity points, which just so happens to coincide with my what my pedometer states I earned.

I figure this must be pretty close. Seeing as how I don't use my activity points for extra food points, it doesn't really make that big of a difference.  However I do wonder, quite often if I'm tracking my activity correctly. 

Non Scale Victories and Weigh in.

After  fighting bronchitis for two full weeks now, I'm starting to feel a little bit better finally.  The antibiotics are starting to help, my cough is getting better but I'm still having to use my inhaler a few times a day.  I'll be happier when I'm back to normal and I can go for my walks without having to use my inhaler and coughing like a maniac for 30 minutes after I'm done.

Despite not feeling well, I've had several non scale victories the past couple of days and I'm really happy to share them.  The first one happened on the train, when one of the other regulars who sits across the aisle from me got on and sat down, we said good morning, then he said to me, "I don't know what you're doing but there's more space between you and the table then there used to be, keep up the good work."  That made me feel really good.

Up to now, no one has mentioned my weight loss to me. In a meeting yesterday one of my co-workers sat down beside me and told me that she meant to tell me I've been looking really good lately, have I lost some weight?  I told her I had, and she said she had noticed a lot of map my walk posting lately and to keep up the good work.  It was a great way to start a meeting!

Today I had another co worker tell me I was looking good and asked if I had lost weight.  I told her I had lost almost 42 pounds, and she was really excited for me.  Then I went to weigh in this afternoon and sure enough, at weigh in I've lost exactly 42 pounds in 13 weeks.  I only lost .2 of a pound this week, but I was expecting that, especially after such a large loss last week.

I'm feeling so good with my weight loss and my improvement in fitness level.  I went for a walk with my husband the other day and usually I walk slower than him, often trying to catch up to him.  On our walk I seemed to be keeping pace with him.  I asked him if he was walking slower for me and he told me no, he was walking his usual pace, I was just walking faster.

Talk about a great week for Non Scale Victories.

March Rain like I've never seen before!

The rain still hasn't stopped, on the news they were saying we've gotten almost 100 ml of rain in 36 hours and we'll probably get another 40ml's tonight before it finally stops.  Oh well, what can you do?  If you're me, you bundle up, grab an umbrella and the dog and head out the door.  This was the ultimate plan.  Get out and do a nice 5km route around the nieghbourhood that would get us both moving.  This was the plan.  However...the plan didn't go...we as planned.

The rain was coming down in torrents and I have a dog who...let's just say he's very opinionated.  By the time we got to the top of the complex and out onto the street, we were both already wet.  By the time we made it down to the main street, my shoes were soaked through, my umbrella had been turned inside out twice and the poor dog's head was hanging lower and lower with every step we took.

By the time we made it half way around the horse shoe to the main road the dog was done.  He was having none of this rain nonsense.  He dug his paws in the ground, sat his butt down and started growling as I tried to coax him forward.   

I was starting to feel a little defeated as it had taken us almost 10minutes to walk what would normally take us about four minutes.  It was then it happened.   The wind picked up and blew my umbrella out of my hands just as a bus went by and splashed me with water.  Throwing my hands in the air I told the dog we were going home.

Amazingly enough we made it back to the house in about 4 minutes flat.  Annoyed dog, wet squishy feet and all. 

A very annoyed Angus almost dried after our walk

This is what we were trying to walk in....I now know better for next time.  I'll leave Angus at home :-)