True Confession Tuesday: Post Buckeye Hooker Retreat Edition

This is going to be a very short post with no frills.  (Sorry if you like frills.)  Today was my first day back at school (the kids all start back after Labor Day) and I'm home for a few minutes before heading back to school for our open house.  Nothing like starting off with a 12 freaking hour day bang, I say!

My confessions:

• I've been nearly stellar with the 1/2 training.  I haven't missed any workouts and ran 2 of the fastest runs in my life this week: a 10:29 paced 6 miler and a 10:52 paced 4.6 miler! 
• I've been really pretty good (how's that for too many adjectives) eating this week in an effort to combat the Disney Diet. 
• I spent last weekend with two of my favorite bloggy friends EVER, Mendie and Brooke!  We got to chat and run and shop.  But we also got to eat and drink and drink a little more.  Nothing crazy, but there was that trip to 5 Guys and all those beers we sampled (that we split 3 ways).  It was incredible to meet them (and listen to their super-cute accents!).  I've considered them friends for a long time now, but it makes it even better to have met them IRL.

Ok, that's it for now.  Gotta get a snack and get myself all gussied up for Open House.  Summer is definitely back in full force this week (I think it's over 90 degrees right now) and I'm not looking forward to sweating all over the school tonight, but there you have it :)  I should be home in time to eat dinner and then join in the tworkout, which will have to count as my strength-training today, so Shrinkingjeans better make it good!

SCPM: Buckeye Hooker Retreat Edition

This weekend I got to meet two of my favorite bloggy friends IRL - Mendie and Brooke!  We got to chat, run, taste a bunch of yummy beers (and moonshine cherries-OMG!), shop and sightsee.  Here's a little glimpse into the fun we had on Saturday.  It was so incredibly awesome meeting these women and I can't wait until we can see each other again.  Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Bari

Click on the image to scroll through the pictures.

Wednesday Check-In: D&D in 30 Week 4

I didn't check-in last Wednesday because I was whooping it up at Disney World.  That being said, I hope my Team Phab teammates don't hate me too much after this weigh-in.


Here are my stats for the week:
Weight on June 23, 2009: 165.8
Challenge Starting Weight: 141.6
2 weeks ago: 139.8
This week:  143.0
Change:  up 3.2
Total Pounds Gone: 22.8
Change for the D&D Challenge: up 1.4

There you have it.  I don't have any excuses and I am getting back at exercise and tracking my food. I've made good food choices and have worked out every day for the past 4 days.  I was up 6 pounds Sunday morning, so I've lost 2.8 in 4 days, which should count for something.  I am more than a little pissed that hubs announced this morning he is back to his pre-Disney weight, even though he ate Chinese for lunch on Mon and an ENTIRE frozen pizza Mon night and has done NO exercise other than mowing the lawn. Am I a bit bitter. You think?

This weight loss and healthy living thing is hard work unless you are my husband.  We can wish to lose weight, run a little farther or a little faster; but wishing on a star only works in the world of make believe.  We need to work for what we want.  In any case, I leave you with excerpts from the Magic Kingdom's Wishes fireworks show from my 40th birthday.  Enjoy.  (If you listen really close, you can hear Kaylee wish me happy birthday at the end of the video-and yes, I was crying like a baby.)

True Confession Tuesday: The Post Disney Edition

I feel this true confessions post is best completed in pictures. I apologize in advance to my Team Phab teammates for what last week's debauchery is going to do to our numbers on Wednesday.

Sweet Tea Vodka with Pomegranate Lemonade

Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Candied Pecans

Little Baby Desserts

Blackened Mahi Mahi (ok-this was probably a good food choice)

More Little Baby Desserts

Freakishly Good S'Mores

Key Lime and Coconut Custard Creme Brulee

Angel Food Cake Banana's Foster

Good German Beer

Drinks in the Resort Lounge

More German Beer (this one jumbo sized)

Mickey Rice Crispy Treat

That being said, I had a fabulous time at Disney World with my family and have gotten right back into the routine. I did a strength workout on Sunday, ran 3 miles on Monday, saw a new chiropractor on Monday who spent an hour beating up my IT bands, glutes, hips, and quads (turns out I have very weak glutes which are causing my quads to work overtime and pull my ITB and thus my knees out of alignment). I now have exercises to do every day. Yes, they hurt like hell.

The Happy Family

Disney Edition Cell Phone Mosaic

It has been a very exciting week in the Shrinking Chick household.  Mrs. Shrinking Chick turned 40 last Sunday and celebrated with her family by taking a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.  Thing 1 and Thing 2 turned 13 the week before, so it was really a celebration for all.  Because it was such a magical week, I couldn't do JUST a Saturday CPM (I mean, really, all you would have seen was a little time at the pool, some rain, and then the inside of an airport).  This is probably one of the biggest mosaics I've ever done because I had a hard time narrowing down the pictures!  The sad thing, these are only pictures from my cell phone.  I can't even imagine how many pictures we have in total, between my phone, camera, daughter's phone, daughter's camera, and the pictures Disney takes.  I also took a ton of video, but I'm not sure if any of that will make it to my blog. 

Click on the image to scroll through the pictures.

SCPM and a Video

Hi Everyone,
Welcome to my final day as a 30-something.  I spent most of today getting ready for our trip and I didn't think you'd want to see pictures of my laundry or suitcases, so I decided to focus most of today's mosaic on something fun that the Hubs did today (plus a little of my stuff thrown in).  He's been training along side me and getting much better at his running.  In fact, his last several 5k runs have been sub-30 minutes, which is like the holy grail for me.  (I can still beat him at distance though!)  Today, that training paid off as he got to "Run with the Bulls" for charity.  The object was to run between local bars while roller derby girls chased you and wailed on you with plastic baseball bats.  Fun, no?  Mike seemed to think so :) I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into our Saturday.

Click on the image to scroll through the pictures.

And now, you can experience Running with the Bulls, Grand Rapids style.

D&D Week 2: Hello New Decade!

It is week 2 of the Shrinkingjeans Down and Dirty in 30 challenge.  Can I get a Woot-Woot?!?  I made it to the 130's before my 40th birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yeah, just barely, but it totally counts!  I may not step on the scale again until we get back from Disney, and yes, I'm totally ok with being slightly back into the 140s after that trip.  I am also quite happy TYVM to help out my Team Phab sisters with a little loss this week!

Here are my stats:

Weight on June 23, 2009: 165.8

Last week: 140.4

This week: 139.8

Change: down .6

Total Pounds Gone: 26.0

Loss for the D&D Challenge: 1.8

I was a bit worried earlier this week as my compulsive scale hopping was not showing a loss.  Guess last night's tworkout and my run this morning really helped.  I feel so much better knowing I hit my goal (silly as it was) to be out of the 140's before I hit 40.  I think this will give me a little bit more motivation to make healthier choices while we are at Disney next week.  I'm not going into the trip thinking I'm going to deprive myself, but I'm planning to pack my Click and instant oatmeal for breakfasts and hope to try some really good fish dishes for dinner. The counter-meal lunches we get as part of the meal plan will be a lot harder to control. 

The other challenge going on over at the sisterhood this month is a Pantry Raid (I know you totally thought I typed "Panty Raid" but you can get your mind out of the gutter now!).  The goal is to throw out the crap and use what you've got left over.  Since we are trying to purge the house before vacation anyway, this comes at a great time.  I've been trying to use up some hummus that's been in the fridge for lunches and for dinner last night I made this:

Italian Chicken Pocket

Here's the recipe if you are interested:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Brush shiny side of foil with a little olive oil.
3. Slice zucchini (this was from my garden!) and baby carrots from the fridge.  Divide among pieces of foil.
4. Put about 1/4 cup diced canned tomatoes on veggies (I used Dei Fratelli seasoned diced tomatoes).
5. Cut a few slits into each chicken breast, but don't cut all the way through.  Place on top of veggies.
6. Sprinkle about 1 tbsp of shredded mozzarella cheese on chicken, tucking some into the cuts you made. 
7. Sprinkle everything with pepper and dried basil (or oregano, or use fresh-whatever you've got).
8. Wrap the foil to seal in the chicken and veggies.  Make sure it's seals so the heat stays in.
9. Place on a cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes.
10. To serve, unwrap each foil package and serve with whatever pasta you have in the house.
11. Await accolades from your appreciative family. (Even my super-picky son ate most of this.  He wouldn't touch the zucchini but he ate some carrots and loved the chicken.)

From my best guess, I'd say a serving (1 packet) is probably around 250 calories. 

I hope everyone else had a great week!  Go Team Phab!

True Confession Tuesday

This is going to be short for a couple of reasons.  1) I've actually been pretty good this week, but my daily weigh-ins aren't showing it and it has me really pissed off, and 2) because of said pissedoffness, I don't want this to turn into a giant bitch session.  Here are my confessions:

• My twins turned 13 this weekend and we had 2 parties (the friend party and the family party)
• At the friend party
• I had pizza.  But I only had 1 piece (I would normally eat 2).
• I had ice cream.  But it was a small hot fudge sundae with spanish peanuts instead of some giant flurry thing AND we biked 8 miles round trip to get to the ice cream shoppe.
• The next morning I ran 5 miles.
• At the family party
• I really only ate the one meal that day cuz I wasn't hungry for dinner
• I had a hamburger on the grill, but used lite mayo and no cheese
• I had a brownie and ice cream
• I didn't eat any chips
• The brownies are finally gone.  Of an entire 9x13 pan, I had 2, maybe 3 brownies total.
• I was starving last night while waiting for K to get done with gymnastics, but instead of raiding the vending machine, I drank water and bitched about it over twitter.  For dinner, the rest of the family had hamburgers and I had a Boca.  I did eat some of the Ore-Ida fries we baked in the oven but also had a big salad.  It just sucked because all this food was at 8:30 at night.  Only a couple more weeks of this stupid summer gymnastics schedule where practice is right at dinner time (5:30-7:30 at night).
• I've been drinking tons of water, but it doesn't seem to be doing me much good on the scale.

That's it.  I hope you all are feeling better about your choices and are actually thinking you'll see some positive (or negative as it may be) changes in the scale tomorrow.

SCPM: Recovery?

Hey there.  Am I actually getting a Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic post up before Saturday is over?  Wonders never cease!  Today has been a day of recovery and preparation.  Tomorrow, my babies turn 13 (OMG I WILL BE THE MOTHER OF TEENAGERS!!!!!!!!)  Yesterday, they each had 3 friends over for pizza, a bike ride to a local ice cream shoppe, presents and a sleepover.  Yes, we managed to survive.  Today, the kids have been recovering from a severe lack of sleep while I've prepped for the family party which will be tomorrow.  I also managed to get in some gardening and a little run.  Now, it is almost 9:30 and I'm ready to crash.  I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into my Saturday.  MWAH!

Click on the image to scroll through the pictures.

Thursday Three (& What a Difference 7 months makes)

I've never participated in the Thursday Three posts over at Shrinkingjeans, but today April asked us to play a game.  She said, "tell us 3 things about yourself that we may not know. It can be anything you want. Let’s get to know each other, shall we?"  Since I don't really "know" my 3 teammates from Team Phab, I decided to play along this time.  Now, for those of you who have been following my blog for the past year or so, or follow me on twitter, you may have figured some of these things out already.  If I'm repeating something you already know, forgive me.

1. I watch WAY too much TV and I'm a total geek at heart.  I love watching the Star Trek movies and TV shows.  Firefly should never have been cancelled.  I'm a Battlestar Galactica fan.  Big Bang Theory is one of the best shows EVAH.  I love all crime drama shows: the CSI franchise, Castle, NCIS, Numbers, Criminal Minds, but not the Law and Order ones-never got into those (a girl's gotta draw the line somewhere).  I also love reality TV.  SURVIVOR (I'd try out if I thought I could actually make it and then go on the show without losing my job), Bachelor, Bachelorette, Hell's Kitchen.  Even the stuff my kids' watch is great: iCarly, Phineas and Ferb, Wizards of Waverly Place.  I think you get the picture.  Our DVR is routinely at 80-90% and we have marathon watching sessions on the weekends.
2. I'm secretly in love with Nathan Fillion.  See #1. 
3. I'm obsessed with changing my hair.  Today, I took the plunge and went REALLY dark.  My family isn't quite sure what to make of it.  I don't really care.  I love the way it looks. 

That comes to Part Deux of this post.  This week, I hit the 25# weightloss mark (yeah, me!) and in 10 days I turn 40.  I'm coming to terms with the 40 part, but my visit to the salon and giving my hairdresser freedom to do whatever she wanted to me, might show I haven't quite accepted it yet.  I started my weightloss journey with Shrinkingjeans back in June 2009 at 165.8 pounds.  You can read my original post here.  I wish I would have taken some pictures back then, but I think I was too embarrassed at that point.  In July 2009, I ran a 5k, finishing in 37:31.  I finally took some pictures for this post in Jan 2010.  I had lost around 5 pounds shrinking with the sisterhood.  Now, here we are 7 months later and I'm getting ready to say goodbye to my 30's.  In the past 7 months, I've run 2 10k races and my 5k time is around 33-34 minutes now.  I'm training for my 1st 1/2 marathon.  I think I've decided that 40 is the new 20.  As in 20+ pounds lighter (even if my hair is a lot darker).  What do you think?

               Jan 6, 2010 at 160 pounds                                             Aug 5, 2010 at 140 pounds

Wednesday Check-In: D&D in 30

I've got a new button!  See -------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>

Woot!  Somehow, by the grace of God, I hit the 25 pound mark this week.  After this weekend's food porn, all I can say is there must have been divine intervention either that or the gallons and gallons of water I've been drinking or the 15 miles I've put in since Monday.  I'm so glad I was able to come thru for Team Phab this week!

Here are my stats:

Weight on June 23, 2009: 165.8

Last week: 141.6

This week: 140.4 (damn close to being into the 130's)

Change: down 1.2

Total Pounds Gone: 25.4

Loss for the D&D Challenge: 1.2

To say I'm shocked with my loss this week would be an understatement.  Just goes to show, we never know what our bodies are going to decide to do.  Now, I've got about a week and a half to hit the 130's.  Going to be EXTRA good this week.  It'll be tough-my twins turn 13 on Sunday and we have 2 parties planned (pizza and a bike ride to the ice cream shoppe with their friends on Friday and then a family grill-out on Sunday).  I can do it, though.  I am bound and determined to enter my 40's a whole lot smaller than I was in my 20's.

True Confession Tuesday

This has been the week for sabotage.  Last Wednesday, I was less than a pound away from the 25 pounds lost mark.  Since then, I've acted like a piranha on a feeding frenzy.  Forgive me sisters, for I have sinned.  Here's the breakdown:

• movie theater popcorn without butter (about 650 cal in a medium)
• pretzel m & m's (1260 cal in the whole bag)
• Twizzlers (1600 cal in the whole bag)
• These 3 items were shared, but I have to admit I ate WAY more than I should have.
• pizza (it was homemade, but had sausage and lots of cheese)
• margarita (or two)
• assorted chip-like thingies (mostly pita chips)
• Deep.Fried.Pickles.With.Ranch (OMFG they were A.MAZ.ING)
• kraut dogs (but minus the dogs due to the food porn on the last bullet point)
• tater tots with blue cheese sauce (ok-my hubs ordered this at lunch on Sunday and I had to try a few)
• leftover homemade pizza (it's gone now, thankyouverymuch)
• my daughter made homemade brownies again (it would have been rude not to have one, or more)
• I haven't logged my food in over a week.

A few good confessions:

• I officially registered for my 1/2 marathon
• I've been really pushing the water
• I've run 10 miles since last Tuesday
• I had my annual "girly" checkup and I'm down over 20 pounds since last year.  She didn't even feel the need to order any labs this time, except for one:
• I got a mammogram today.  Just a reminder to all of you approaching that age (yeah, turning 40 sucks ass), you gotta watch out for your girls.

I've been better since Sunday, but I fear it's too little, too late.  Going into the new Down and Dirty challenge with a gain is going to really suck.  Sorry Team Phab.

My Weekend In Pictures

I've had a pretty amazing weekend and I couldn't JUST do a Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic this week.  Saturday was nice. With my 1st 1/2 marathon long run and the tears shed when I officially signed up for the race,  a canoe trip with 18 of our friends, and then food porn, what could be better.  Here I share with you, Saturday:

Click on the image to scroll through the pictures.

Now, Saturday was pretty nice. Good workout, good friends, good food. But Sunday DEFINITELY tried to outdo. I decided to spend some glorious ME time at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, where currently Dale Chihuly is exhibiting glass works in celebration of the 15th Anniversary of Meijer Gardens. 24 "pieces" were displayed in 15 locations throughout the gardens (in addition to the 2 Chihuly glass sculptures the gardens have on permanent display). I spent several hours wandering the gardens and snapping away on my iPhone while people around me clicked away on their massive Nikons and Canons. I'm sure they thought I was nuts, but I didn't care. No one to distract me from appreciating an artist I admire. Now, there are literally TONS of sculptures at Meijer gardens, only a few of which made it into my photos. If you are ever in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area, I highly recommend stopping at the gardens for a visit.

So, without further ado, I present to you, Chihuly: A New Eden.

Click on the image to scroll through the pictures.

Down & Dirty in 30 - Initial Weigh-In

I am super excited to be a member of Team Phab and am looking forward to shrinking with Rachel_L, xristinejoyce, AZLB, Pam, and Melissa!

My starting weight for this challenge is 141.6 (this was last Wednesday's weigh-in, sorry, I didn't get on the scale this morning shocking since I weigh-in nearly daily).

My goals for this challenge are:

• start clearing out my pantry! Did someone say "Pantry Raid"?
• get my fraking 25 pound button!
• get to 139 pounds
• keep on keeping on with my 1/2 marathon training

The weight goal is going to be tough.  We are leaving for Disney World August 15th, but I'll do my best to keep the food debauchery to a minimum.  Who am I kidding, it's freaking DISNEY WORLD!


Let's hear it for Team Phab!!!!!