Baylor's 100th Homecoming

This past weekend was Baylor's 100th Homecoming. For those that don't know, every year, some of my friends (and their children) from college get together and spend the weekend enjoying the festivities and remembering our college days. This year was no different. We had a great time with coffe at Common Grounds (I went 3 times in 3 days!), dinner at Ninfa's (one of our favorite spots), watched the pep rally, bonfire, parade, and football game. I thought I would share a few pictures from the weekend.

An adorable family and some of my best friends!

At the bonfire!

Our amazing Baylor Bear! Sic 'em!

My favorite float of the parade...Jungle Book (of course by the KOTs)

Bailey and I at the parade! We became best friends this weekend.

With the fun and busy weekend, there wasn't too much time to carefully watch what I was eating. I must admit to splurging here and there, and I became very worried about my Monday weigh in. I am sad to report that I lost no weight this week, but happy to report that at least I didn't gain from the weekend out of town. Hopefully next Monday will bring better results.

Below is my food for today. Today was random workout day and I will report on that later this week.

Waffles

Since the disaster of pancake making, I bought a cheap waffle maker to try and use my pancake mix that way instead. Tonight was the first attempt, and I would say it was mostly a success. The first ones didn't turn out too firm, so I decided to pop them in the toaster, and that actually worked out quite nicely. I did discover though, that I didn't think they were too feeling. Thank goodness I could have IheartYogurt for dessert! They have so many different flavors that average 22 calories an ounce. I had enough calories for 9.5 ounces and tried to guesstimate and went a little over at 11.5 (they weigh it for you and that is how you pay), so 44 extra calories, not too bad.

Tomorrow I am off to Waco for Baylor homecoming! I am ready for a fun weekend away with old friends. I know there will be tempting foods and foods that I am unsure of the calories of....so I will try to be careful! Hopefully on Monday I will have an ok weigh in and fun pictures to share! Have a great weekend!

Jack in the Box

I ventured to a new place for dinner tonight, Jack in the Box. Come dinner time, I had 610 calories left. There is an app on my iPhone called Lose It. It is a great program that allows you to keep track of all of your food and exercise as well as keep track of your weight loss progress. The program stores foods you have created, but also has so many restaurant and grocery store foods built into it. So, I pulled into the parking lot and scrolled through my options. I found on that I could get the Chicken Fajita Pita for 300 calories and a small Natural Cut Fry for 268. I liked the pita so much that I decided to take a picture and post it. I don't think that pita looks like something you would get from a drive thru, Not bad for a place that my sister and used to call Jack in the Crack!

Souffle!!

I don't know what my deal has been for the last few days, but I have just not wanted to blog. I have no idea why, but I have just not been in the mood. It's not that I ate bad things and didn't want to post, it's not that I have or haven't been working out, I just don't know what it is. But, what I realized tonight was, we don't always get to do what we want to do, or we don't always want to do what we need to do. And for that reason, I am forcing myself to blog tonight because it is what I NEED to do. I need to stay strong with posting and keeping myself accountable to everyone out there.

Below is my food for today. As you can see by the chart, there is no dinner posted and there were 770 calories left over for dinner. I met a former co-worker for drinks at a restaurant called Rise, that is right by my house. They might not have the best website, but they do have many other great things. Since our plan was just to have drinks, we settled down at the bar and both order a glass of wine (mine was sparkling, estimated at 95 calories). After talking for a while, we decided we should have a little food and ordered a cheese plate (mine portion I am going to estimate at 300 calories - based off what I know about a serving of Kraft cheddar). As we were enjoying our cheese and wine, the chef came out from the kitchen with a beautiful spinach souffles! He told us that they had an extra one in the kitchen and he would hate for it to go to waste, so we got to indulge for free! If you had asked me before today about the calories in a souffle, I would have had no idea, but luckily, on their menu, they state that the savory souffles have 263 to 413 calories and that the sweet souffles range from 122 to 317 calories. I was shocked! It seems like such a decadent treat that I had no idea had a lower calories content. So, we both ordered another glass of wine (another 95 calories) and shared the souffle (estimated at 178 calories for my half of the souffle if it falls in the middle of the range above), for a total dinner estimated calories of 668, still about 100 calories under the balance. So, when I got home, I had one of my snicker treats that I made last week. I already can't wait to go back, try another souffle, and next time, get a sweet one as well!!

Tomorrow is random workout day....so stay tuned!

Oh, I almost forgot! Today is results day since I didn't post yesterday. As of yesterday morning, I was down another 1.5 pounds for a total of 13 pounds! Finally, a week at over 1 pound. Let's see if that streak can continue!

Is It Over Yet?!?

So, remember how in yesterday's post I talked about how my stove didn't work last night? Well, after discussing the situation with a co-worker, it was decided that the reason my stove wouldn't heat up is because, most likely, that my pilot light was out (not unlike your hot water heater). We then looked up how to re-light it to see if I thought I could do it myself. As I walked in the door, there was an overwhelming gas smell that met me as I entered! Because the pilot light isn't lit, the gas is just escaping into the air. I immediately opened all the windows, turned on a fan, trying for the house to air out. So, after about an hour of panic, not being able to turn it off, being scared that the house was going to blow up, and thoughts of calling the fire department....I talked to a couple of friends and figured out, finally, how to get the gas off.

Due to all the panic, I didn't end up working out today. I need make sure I work out all weekend. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!! Hopefully this week can break the one pound a week pattern. Below is my food for the day. I made a couple new sweet treats yesterday and today. I will try and post at least once this weekend and give the recipes.

This is not my week...

Apparently this is not my week for trying to cook new foods. Today, I decided I wanted to have a BBQ Chicken Pizza for dinner. I looked up all my ingredients while I was at work and calculated my calories and portion sizes. When I got to the store after work, some of my ingredients weren't there, but I was able to improvise and make it work. I got home, cooked the turkey (one of my last minute changes), preheated the over, shredded the meat, mixed it with the BBQ sauce, laid it all out, went to put it in the oven....and it was COLD! At first I thought that I had forgotten to set the temperature, but no, it was set at 425, but there was no heat at all. I turned it off, let it set, and then turned it back on. I guess I thought maybe the gas didn't catch or something, but no, my over no longer works! Luckily, I live in a duplex and called my neighbor and asked her if she could pop it in her oven...after all, it only needed about 10 minutes to bake. So, after all of that, I finally had a cooked pizza. I decided that I needed to take a picture of it after all that work! This recipe is super simple...shred cooked chicken or turkey (you could even use the rotisserie chickens from the store for even faster prep time), mix with 1/2 cup BBQ sauce (I used Kraft's Light Original and it still has a great taste, even for a light!), spread on top of a pre-made crust (such as Boboli - they make a whole wheat one), top with 1 cup mozzarella (of course, mine was with 2% milk - and it still melted great). Pop it in the oven at 425 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes, and you are set. My version (with turkey) came in just barely over 450 calories for 1/4 of the pizza. Not too bad! Good thing now I have leftovers and don't have to cook tomorrow!!

Breakfast for Dinner

I decided to try something new for dinner tonight. I love breakfast food, but hardly ever have the time to actually make breakfast in the morning. Last week at the store, I picked up Fiber One pancake mix and some lite syrup. Tonight was the night to try the new pancake mix. I heated my skillet, mixed the mix (and even added some mashed bananas), and dropped the first spoonfuls of batter onto the skillet. Apparently, I am horrible at making pancakes! I am blaming it on the gas stove (because I never remember having this problem before). The first pancake almost immediately burned on the outside and was completely doughy on the inside. Pancake two stuck to the pan and I couldn't flip it. Needless to say, I did not eat pancakes for dinner as indicated on my food log below. For those of you that don't know, I put together my log at work because I plan ahead for the day which is often how I figure out snacks and desserts. So, instead of my great breakfast for dinner plan, I had a salad with lettuce, 1/2 cup of black beans, 1/2 cup of brown rice, some salsa and two tablespoons of light sour cream for a total of 315 calories. For my remaining 85 calories, I drank part of a Dr. Pepper (I had been craving a soda today).

For today's random workout I did a Cardio Dance workout on my On Demand. It was pretty good. I liked it better than last weeks Hip Hop Cardio, so at least that is something. I think next week I need to switch back to some kind of strength and toning random workout. We will see what I can find. Any suggestions are welcome!!

Results Day

It seems like the time as flown by since last results day. Once again, the weekend is over and it is Monday. This morning I weighed in and found myself down another pound. I know I should be happy. I lost a pound. But instead of feeling excited this morning I found myself disappointed. I guess I was hoping for bigger results, and for the last two weeks I have just weighed in one pound less. I am trying to think about what I can do better this week to try and get it back up. Maybe work out more days a week? Maybe different workouts? I feel like I have done a pretty good job sticking with my 1500 calorie diet, so there is much to change there. Maybe these two weeks at 1 pound each are my motivation to keep going, to continuing to put effort in, a reminder that this doesn't come easy.

So, I went online to try and find a picture for today's post and came across these. One shows a representation of one pound of fat and the other is five pounds. I know, they both look really gross. But seeing this visual made me feel better about my weekly results. And then the five pound piece....I have already lost more than twice that!

Below is my food for the day. I once again did one of the preset workouts on my treadmill today. Tomorrow is random workout day....so stay tuned!

I am loving...

...the cooler weather!! It finally feels like Fall. It is perfect football weather. It makes me want to go out and buy a pumpkin for the front steps. And for the first night, I had to add my fleece blanket to the bed! Oh, the little things that excite me!

Tonight, on "Say Yes to the Dress" (yes, I am a hopeless romantic that dreams about weddings!), there was a girl shopping for her wedding dress and she had lost 120 pounds! I wanted to jump through the screen and ask her so many questions! How long did it take her? How did she do it? What kind of support did she have? I thought she was a beautiful girl. I feel like she had a style much like my own. It sadden me to watch her shop for her dress as she didn't realize how beautiful she was. She looked so fabulous, yet when she looked in the mirror, she still saw the old her looking back at her. She, not unlike me, had been big her whole life. They showed pictures of her growing up and it reminded me so much of myself. I hope that one day, I get to the point where she is physically. She was beautiful. But I hope and pray that I move past her emotionally. I want to be proud of my new body. I want to love myself and enjoy my accomplishments. I don't want to be trapped in this body for forever, if even it is only in my mind. I am so glad I saw this tonight and could see what I had to look forward to as well as what I want to make sure doesn't happen to me.

Below is my food for today. I took off working out today, so that means this weekend I MUST workout both days!

Ready for the Weekend!

I don't know what it has been about this week, but I am ready for it to be over and I am ready for the weekend! I am taking a break in the vacation recap today but will finish it up soon, only a few more days to post about. Today, for the first time, I did one of the preset workouts on the treadmill. They are 30 minutes which is just perfect. I had been putting off doing them because I was worried they would go too fast, or be too hard, but I was happy I tried it. The one I picked today was geared to weight loss, so I thought that would be perfect. Each minute it changes what you are doing. It might increase the speed, increase the incline, or both, or decline one or both. I feel like it actually made the time go by quicker because I was paying attention to what the next level might be and not so much paying attention to the time. It was a little more challenging, and a great way to mix up the daily workouts. Who knows, I might try a different one tomorrow!

Below is my food for the day. I had an individual size Blue Bell for dessert which was 160 calories, so I was 35 under for the day.

Vacation Recap - Day Five

Day Five started bright and early with the alarm going off at 4:45 AM!!! Yes, you read that right. We were up so early to catch our 7 AM flight to Barcelona! After taking a nap on the plane, getting checked into our hotel and a little planning about how to go about seeing our new city, we were off!

From our hotel, we walked to go see the first of many examples of Gaudi architecture. Antonio Gaudi is a famous Spanish Catalan architect who designed in the Art Nouveau style and lived from 1852 to 1926. Below is Casa Batllo, a house originally built in 1877 and remodled by Gaudi from 1905 - 1907. Locally, this building is known as the House of Bones. You can see that the balconies look like skeltons. Still after all this time, I can't decide if I like Gaudi's work or not. I appreciate his viewpoint and his talent, but if I personally, like it, I think I am still on the fence.

From there we went and walked down Las Ramblas, the main street of Barcelona, lined with shops and restaurants and hotels. We stopped into the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch, a vacation must, and somewhere that Marissa had never been! After lunch, and continuing on Las Ramblas, we stumbled upon a market tucked in between some buildings that was absolutely amazing. Here are just a couple of the pictures I took there. Eventually I will get all the pictures uploaded to Facebook, I promise!

We continued down Las Ramblas, saw another work by Guadi, stopped into a few stores, checked out some street performers (Marissa took a lot of convincing that they were, in fact, real people!), and finally made it to the water! I love sail boats (some of you know that I took sailing lessons a couple of years ago), and just had to capture a picture of them in the harbor.

Marissa loves the water and all things related to it, and jumped on to the idea of going to the aquarium which was located out in the harbor. There were some beautiful fish inside. I decided to try and capture some of them. My first picture turned out beautifully (see below), but the rest of them don't quite measure up! On of the neat things about the aquarium was the moving sidewalk through a very large fish tank (which was to our left, right, and above our heads) with all kinds of fish, sting rays, eels, and sharks! The sharks were probably my favorite part (and made me wish Shark Week was coming back soon and not almost a year away!).

We then made our way back onto land, and tried to find another Gaudi building without much luck. We also stopped by to see one of the cathedrals, but our evening pictures just didn't work out, so we ended up going back during the day. For dinner, we had tapas at Taller de Tapas in the gothic district. Both my sister and the guide book recommended it, and I can see why. After dinner we walked down the street and got gelato, another first for Marissa and a great way to end a long day.

Below is my food for today. Today was my off day for working out. Hopefully I will wake up early and do my workout before work tomorrow. Here's to hopeful thinking!

Vacation Recap - Day 4

Day Four was another busy day, and the day with the most recorded steps...22,245! We started off the day at the Tower of London. The Tower is one of my favorite sites in London. Once we entered the front gates, we met up with a Beefeater (also known as Yeomen Warders) for a tour of the grounds. Though they mostly serve as tour guides, they are still military and can be prison guards if the need should arise. I have found that the Beefeaters are always quite entertaining story tellers, and part of why I love the Tower so much. We got shown around the grounds, including the spot inside the Tower were the private executions were held. Both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both wives of Henry VIII, and Jane Parker Boleyn (sister-in-law of Anne Boleyn) were all beheaded here. After the tour we quickly headed to see what I consider the main attraction....THE CROWN JEWELS! It is just amazing to see the jewels that belong the the Royal family and to hear stories about where they came from. Both the Cullinan I and II diamonds are found in the Crown Jewels coming in at 530.2 carats and 317.4 carats respectively. Talk about impressive! After all the beauty, we headed into the White Tower for an exhibit on Henry VIII and armor. The White Tower can be seen below and is the main building in the center of the Tower of London.

Once we finished touring the Tower, we headed just outside the walls to get a great view of the Tower Bridge. This is another iconic London site, that is often times mistakenly thought the be the London Bridge, which is actually the next bridge upstream (and a very unassuming bridge at that).

We then headed into the City for a quick lunch and on to see St. Paul's Cathedral. The St. Paul's that is standing now was designed by Sir Christopher Wren (I know, you keep hearing his name!). Wren presented several designs and the final design that was chosen had many elements similar to St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. The first stone was laid in 1677 and the cathedral was completed in 1708, on Wren's birthday. Like Westminster Abbey, there are many memorials including Christopher Wren, the Duke of Wellington, Winston Churchill, and Florence Nightingale. There are also many memorials to service men and women, including on to the US forces that fought with Britian in WWII. Another fun bit of trivia is that this is where Charles and Diana were married.

After all of that history, we headed back to the other side of town for one final stop for the day, Harrod's! Harrod's is a department store, but like no other department store you have ever been in. The store is seven stories and 4.5 acres of shopping! As you enter, the give you a whole booklet as a guide of where to find anything and everything you might want. Some of the highlights were the Christmas area (that was just set up a few weeks before we got there), the pet store, the extreme children's toys, and the food halls. You can get absolutely everything within the walls of Harrod's.

Below is my food for today. I forgot to mention yesterday that I am officially back on the work out wagon. Yesterday I did my 30 minutes on the treadmill, and today I did my random workout...a hip hop cardio video that I found on my On Demand.

1st Month Results

It is results day once again. I feel like this past week flew by. This week was my lowest weight loss to date....but another pound lost, for a total of 10.5 pounds for the first month. This is also the day for the first report of measurements. I have lost a total of 5 inches so far, 1 1/2 inches in the bust, 2 inches in the waist, none in the hips, 1/2 inch in my arm, and 1 inch in my thigh. Pretty exciting stuff!

It is also vacation recap day 3! What a busy day it was! We started out with breakfast at The Wolseley. I had crumpets for the first time. They weren't quite as I had expected, but they were good. I had to try and be a little British! We then quickly went over to Buckingham Palace!! We first toured the Queen's Gallery which was full of generations of royal porcelain (of which I loved every piece!) and a whole display of Faberge (including a beautiful egg!). From the Gallery, we moved on to the Royal Mews. There we saw the coaches that are used by the royal family as well as other dignitaries. There were horse drawn carriages as well as the 1950s Rolls Royce Phantom! The horses were just beautiful. Then it was on to the main attraction, the State Rooms in the Palace! I wish I could have taken pictures because they were just amazing. So much gold gilding, antiques, porcelain, moldings, paintings. It was amazing. There was even a whole exhibit of some of the Queen's dresses including current day dresses to formal gowns from the 60s. You could really feel in that room how much the people of England love her. As we wrapped up the tour, we walked through the Queen's gardens and out of the property.

After we walked back around the Palace, we walked down the Mall until we reached Trafalgar Square in the center of London. In the center of the sqaure in Nelson's Column which is surrounded by four large lion statues. On one side of the square in the National Gallery, which can be seen in the background of the picture below. There was a life size chess set (which was actually being played) in the middle of the square while we were there. I thought it was really cool.

After a quick break for lunch, we walked over to see Big Ben (not to be confused...it is the bell inside the tower, not the tower itself). I must say, I think this is one of my favorite sites of London, and I can't even explain why!

Along with Big Ben are the Houses of Parliament, or the Palace of Westminster. These buildings are just amazing and house the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Just across the street from Parliament is Westminster Abbey. The Abbey is not only beautiful, but it is filled with so much history! Since 1066 and the coronations of King Harold and William the Conqueror, all English and British monarchs (except Edward V and Edward VIII - who did not have coronations) have been crowned in the Abbey. There are also many very well known people buried or memoralized at the Abbey, including Edward the Confessor, most Kings and Queens of England, Geoffery Chaucer, Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, T.S. Eliot, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and William Shakespeare. I have been luck enough on previous trips to get to attend a worship service at the Abbey, as well as stay at the Westminster School for Boys while studying abroad during college.

We then headed over to Covent Garden for a little shopping and relaxing. I got to stop into some of my favorite stores in London including Paperchase, Cath Kidston, and Orla Kiely. After dinner, we headed over to see my all time favorite musical, Les Miserables! It was absolutely amazing!! I really believe I could watch it every day and never grow tired of it!

Thanks for sticking with me through the long day 3! See you for day four tomorrow!

State Fair of Texas!

Today I made my annual trip to the State Fair of Texas! With our season tickets to the Dallas Summer Musicals, we get into the Fair for free the day of our show. I decided that the Fair only happens once a year, and I would eat the traditional fair foods. I planned breakfast and lunch carefully so that I only ate 500 calories before Fair time. Lauren and I headed to the Fair around 4 this afternoon. As soon as we parked and entered the gates, we headed to get our coupons so that the food tasting could begin. We made a lap around the fair grounds, checking out the booths, seeing what foods were being offered (and checking to see the times of the pig races!). After taking it all in, we decided to stick with the traditional Fletcher's Corn Dog for our "entree". As we walked around eating our meal, we stopped to watch some Plano Senior High School students as they performed traditional German folkdances. We then made our way to our first new Fair food, the "Peaches and Cream" dish which is fried peach wedges with some whip cream. It was this years "Best Taste" winner, so we just had to try it. It was good and tasted kind of like a peach cobbler. While we indulged in this treat, we caught a little of the Cowboys game, with a pretty rowdy crowd. We then made our way to watch the pig races. Those little pigs are just so cute! Lauren and I both wanted to take one home. With about 40 minutes to go until the musical started, we decided we needed one more salty and one more sweet treat. Lauren picked fried cheese curds for the salty, and I got a cinnamon roll with icing for the sweet. They were both really good. I am not going to lie, I had my doubts about the cheese curds (I mean, with a name like that, do they really think it sounds appealing?), but I was proved wrong. They were really quite tasty! We quickly finished our final Fair food and headed over the the Musical Hall to watch Mary Poppins, the final musical for the 2009 season. It was a great show and one of our favorites of the season. So, until next year...

Well, tomorrow is weigh in day, and I think the first day to report measurements. Hopefully the Fair didn't blow things for me this week! Check in tomorrow!

Vacation Recap - Day Two

Day Two of the vacation was a busy day outside of London. Our first stop was Leed's Castle. The castle was built in 1119 and became a royal palace in 1278 for King Edward I. Henry VIII transformed the castle for his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and his daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, was imprisoned in the castle before her coronation.

The maze, which was constructed in 1988, is a much more recent addition to the castle grounds. I will admit, that after searching through the maze for a while, we did get a helpful hint from a worker in order to help us find the center of the maze, and the way out.
We then headed to Caterbury, a cute town a little further east. Canterbury is home to the Canterbury Cathedral which is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It is the head of the Church of England. Thomas Becket was murdered here in December 1170 by the knights of King Henry II. This led the cathedral becoming a place of pilgrimage for Christians worldwide, and these pilgrimages provided the theme for Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. After touring the cathedral, we had a late lunch at a pub (my first fish and chips of the trip!), walked around the town for a bit, and then back into the car for one more stop.

The last stop for the day was Dover, England. Dover sits on the edge of England and faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel. At one point as we were walking along the coast, Heiko's cell phone notified him that we were now in France! Which of course we weren't, but from where we were standing, it was only 18 miles away. Dover is known for its White Cliffs which you can see below. The cliffs face continental Europe and are often the first thing visitors to England might see.

In the picture below you can see the Dover Castle, described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance. The use of the castle dates all the way back to 1066 with William the Conqueror up to World War II in 1939 thru 1941.

And back to the purpose of the blog....Below is my food for today. I also had a glass of wine at Happy Hour, for approximately 110 calories, so I went about 80 calories over today.

Vacation Recap - Day One

I finally got my pictures downloaded from the trip, so I thought I would do a recap with a few pictures for each day.

Saturday morning, my sister, Mary, and her boyfriend, Hieko, picked up my friend, Marissa, and I at the airport. After we went and dropped our luggage off and cleaned up, we were on our way to Greenwich, a borough in south east London, best know for being the home of the Prime Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time. Our first stop was the University of Greenwich/Trinity College of Music. These buildings have had an interesting history, starting originally as the Palace of Placentia in the 15th century (Henry VIII was born there!) to the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors (designed by Sir Christopher Wren...you will hear more about him when we talk about St. Paul's) and then the Royal Naval College in 1873.

Royal Naval College

Painted Hall at the Royal Naval College

After touring there, we stopped for a quick lunch and then headed up the hill to the Royal Observatory. The Observatory was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II. The original building was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and was the first "scientific research facility" in Britian. We toured the Observatory learning about the Prime Meridian, astronomy, and time and how all three elements work together.

Mary in front of the Prime Meridian

The Weather Vein at the Observatory

Below is my food for today. I had a Skinny Cow Truffle Bar for dessert for another 100 calories. I was a little under, but I am not too sure my lunch calculations are right, so I figure they will probably balance out.