Happy Holidays and a Merry Five Pounds

Yep, in one measly week I have gained five whopping pounds. 5. Ugh. Three turkey dinners, a spread of hors d'oeuvres on Christmas Eve, a few (dozen) too many Christmas cookies and chocolates, wine and lots of it, two restaurant meals (definitely didn't order salad), two fast-food meals (definitely didn't order salad) and plenty of snacking in between. I should not be surprised.

Unfortunately, the holidays are not even over yet and I am NOT missing out on New Year's Eve, no siree!

South Beach Phase 1, here I come again! (Well, in a few more days.) I am armed with two new cookbooks from Mom & Dad - The SBD Quick & Easy Cookbook and The SBD Parties & Holiday Cookbook. I'm determined to shed the holiday bulge (plus 1 lb, which would take me to 175) by the end of January and then I will be back on track!

At least I had a great Christmas! We spent lots of time with our familes and friends, ate tons of yummy food (obviously), went skating at Nathan Phillips Square and put in some solid couch time watchng Season 2 of Grey's Anatomy on DVD. Oh, and lots of fantastic presents! I got an Ipod Nano from the hubby, which makes running on the treadmill tons more enjoyable. Seriously, it makes a difference. It works especially well with the tunes from my new Taylor Hicks CD!

Speaking of running, I have gone to the gym 4 times in the past week (not bad for holidays, eh?) I am now able to go 30 minutes straight at an average speed of 5.5 mph and I'm not even gasping for air! I treated myself to some new ("proper") running shoes and pants (I was getting some serious thigh-burn from the shorts) so I am offically a runner!

That's all for now. Happy New Year and I'll see you on the other side!

Last Post Before The Holidays Officially Begin

Well, I've been on the South Beach Diet for 5 weeks now with only a few confessions. I've earned some indulgences over the next few days, right?

I just have to remember, everything in moderation. I'd like to come out of this without gaining 5 lbs! I'm going to try to exercise every day and only eat the things I really, really want.

Wish me luck!

No Damage Done

I stepped on the scale this morning and weighed 176.2, so now I don't feel so bad about Sunday!

I ran on the treadmill for 25 minutes yesterday at at average speed of 5.5 mph, plus 10 minutes of walking. My legs are sore this morning, but running is so satisfying! My goal is to run 5 km in half an hour, which would be 6 mph. We'll see how long that takes!

We also went to the mall last night and I bought the Fat-Burning Kickboxing for Dummies DVD to try at home. It looks like a good workout and most importantly, FUN!

I'm going for my annual Christmas lunch with a co-worker today (Kelsey's) and I will try to be good, but no guarantees. :)

One and a half days of work til Christmas Vacation!

-----------------------------------

Update - 1:52 p.m.

Forgive me, for I have sinned.

-Smirnoff Ice
-Club wrap
-millions of french fries
-caramel ice cream bar

I am soooooo full. Someone is going to have to roll me home.

3 Turkey Dinners

As of yesterday, we have THREE turkey dinners with all the fixins' planned for the holidays: Saturday with my Mother-in-Law, Monday with my family and Tuesday with my Brother- and Sister-in-Law and their family. Oh boy! I have come to the realization that I will definitely be starting phase one again in the new year. I have to enjoy Christmas and that is just not possible without a lot of food!

Today and yesterday I have been really good. I licked the spoon a few times while I was making homemade peanut butter cups yesterday, but considering how yummy they are, I'm just pleased that I didn't eat the whole batch.

My blog title is appropriate today!

CHEATER, CHEATER, COMPULSIVE EATER! Yep, that's me. Do I ever have some confessions today!

Yesterday we had a delicious lunch at Mom & Dad's. Started off with some homemade sweet-roasted (read: sugar-coated) nuts. Lunch was a salad with apples, walnuts, bacon and maple-flavoured dressing (yum). The main-course consisted of stick-to-your-ribs ribs, pear-blue-cheese-stuffed pork tenderloin, roasted potates and SBD roasted veggies. So at least something was diet-friendly! I only ate a little of everything, but it added up to a lot. Then came dessert. While I turned down apple crisp, I did have a scoop of ice cream and two Christmas cookies (from last weekend's baking escapades).

The good news is, I opted for water and caffeine-free Diet Coke and passed on the wine.

But then came the evening. Before bed I had two pieces of toast and FOUR (yes, four!) pieces of Poppy Love (lemon poppy loaf from Eat, Shrink & Be Merry) that I had in the freezer. To avoid another incident like that, it's going in the garbage when I get home! It wasn't even that good after being frozen. Oh, and then I had my regular SBD fudgsicle-PB-whip dessert.

And so ends my shameful Sunday of Confessions.

I am going to be super good today, tomorrow and Wednesday. I'll be mostly good on Thursday, but may indulge a little when my co-worker and I go for our annual pre-Christmas Kelsey's lunch. And Friday, the bosses are hosting a small 'wine and cheese' before the holidays, but I'll only have a little!

It's almost Christmas!!!!!

One more thing: I weighed 176 on Saturday, only 10 lbs more than my hubby! Now THAT is a feat in itself. Hopefully I didn't totally destroy that yesterday.

Sick :(

It's been a busy few days!

Yesterday was my company Christmas party. I felt sick all day, but some toast and Pepto Bismol finally seemed to help a little and I was okay by Party Time! (Phew!) I indulged in lots of wine, a yummy dinner and cheesecake for dessert. Everything was so good! I didn't even feel guilty. Yay me! Unfortunately, I am not feeling so hot today. It's 4:00 and all I have eaten all day is two pieces of toast. I must have a bug or something.

To make yesterday more interesting, our car died. Three trips to Canadian tire, a few phone calls to our mechanic and a $260 tow later, we discovered that it just needed a new battery. We didn't have time to pick up the car last night, but thankfully, a co-worker gave us a ride to the party and the bosses paid for a cab home. Mark was pretty pleased that he didn't have to be DD afterall!

Not much else to report. I have been staying on track, other than the past couple days. We just went grocery shopping and stocked up on healthy stuff to get me through the next 7 days til Christmas. I'm hoping to lose these 2 lbs. I'm stuck at 177.

Oh, I started running on Thursday! I went to the gym and did my usual 30 minutes of cardio on the arc trainer. For some reason, I decided to jump on the treadmill and walked for 10 minutes. I must have been feeling brave, because I cranked it up to 6 miles per hour and jogged for 10 minutes. I'll try going on the treadmill first next time and see how long I can go. Mark runs regularly and I'd like to be able to join him once my gym membership expres in the Spring.

A Deal With The Devil

The good news is, I went to the gym!

The bad news is, I ate the rest of my dark chocolate bar before dinner and two slices of whole grain toast after the gym.

I'm telling you, if there's chocolate or bread in the house, it doesn't stand a chance. I'm not buying bread after this week. I think I'll buy pitas to eat with my lunch salads instead, avoiding the whole late-night-bread-eating business. And no more chocolate for me until Christmas! Well, except for that dark chocolate Cadbury Thins bar in the fridge.

An update on what I'm eating these days: I am back on the quiche cups for breakfast and avoiding grains except for my toast episodes in the evenings. I'm still on one serving of fruit per day and completely avoiding sugar except for the dark chocolate allowance.

I'm holding strong at 177. I have a little over two weeks to lose those pesky 2 pounds, but that includes Christmas. Do you think I can do it?

I have a deal with myself that if I stick to the Diet, I'm allowed to cheat at my Christmas party on Friday (wine and dessert, but I will NOT go overboard) and on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I'm terrified that I will gain 5 lbs, but I have to live a little!

Stinkin' Holiday Yummies

'Tis the season!

I have come to the realization that every day for the next 8 days I will come to work and find the kitchen full of cookies and loaves, chocolates and honey-roasted peanuts. So generous of our clients to send treats during the holidays.... *grumble, grumble* Just for spite, I'm bringing in a tray of veggies and dip tomorrow!

Thus far I haven't taken even a nibble of these holiday treats so here's hoping I can keep it up til the end of next week!

Yesterday I mentioned the cookies that Mom and I were baking all day Sunday. Here are just a few:

15 grapes

A serving of grapes according to SBD is 15. Do you know what 15 grapes looks like? Not very much! That's like one mouthful! Anyway, I just ate my fruit quota for the day - 15 grapes. I'm not ready to advance to two servings of fruit yet; I'm taking it very slow.

Now for my weekend confessions!! (You know, I named my blog "Confessions of a Beach Bum" because I was sure I'd have pages and pages of confessions on a daily basis. I have actually been doing alright, haven't I?)

Anyway...

I ate that salad from the caterers late Friday afternoon and then I was busy shopping with Mom (found a great purple top for the party!), doing laundry and grocery shopping. Suddenly it was 10 pm and I was HUNGRY. I ended up having two slices of whole grain toast with Olive Oil Becel. So, I exceeded my grain allowance for Friday, but it was soooooo good.

On Saturday we had eggs for brekkie and then Christmas shopped all day. At the end of six gruelling hours, we stopped at Quizno's and I had a warm caesar salad which was very disappointing. I made Mark promise not to let me pay $8 for a 'fast-food' salad again. I picked up a Lindt dark chocolate bar at the mall and ate a few pieces (less than a serving - only about a fifth of the bar) while wrapping presents. I don't even like dark chocolate, but it was sensational. Chicken parm (no pasta) for din-din.

Sunday ... baked all day with Mom. The kitchen was full to the brim with cookies. I only had a few nibbles along the way, not even an entire cookie. But then I got home to unload my share and ate a chunk of Toblerone fudge. BAD! (But totally worth the guilt.) Didn't really eat lunch on Sunday (just snacked on cheese, turkey, pickles, celery) and had a chicken fajita salad for dinner.

On Saturday I was a little over 177 lbs. My first goal is to be 175 by New Year's. My next goal is 160 by Leanna's wedding in May. I can do it!!

TGIF!

First, Happy Birthday to one of my South Beach Buddies on WB, Cheryl!

By the time we had dinner last night, Quizno's was closed. I was still too lazy to think about cooking and I knew we were out of salad, so we hit the McDonald's drive-thru. Don't worry, I had a salad - a soggy salad mostly made up of the hard white pieces of iceberg lettuce, some rotton cherry tomatoes and dried up chicken breast. Yuck.

I did make it to the gym last night and burned 400 calories on the arc trainer. After more than a week off, it was exhausting. I think I am going to look for a workout DVD for at home. I need to workout more.

Weighed in this morning at 178.6, only 0.4 less than Sunday. Meh. But at least I didn't gain! I am aiming for 175 by January 1st.

I'm sitting in my office basking in the aroma of fresh bagels right now. I miss bagels! I brought a pork chop and peppers for lunch (cooked in oil, light soy sauce and garlic) so hopefully it will fill me up enough that the catered lunch at 3:30 won't be torture to avoid.* Tonight Mom and I are going to the mall on a mission for a new top for my Christmas party and I'm thinking I'll grab a chicken souvlaki salad from the Greek place in the food court.

That's it for this Friday. We still don't have internet at our new apartment, so I'll be back on Monday...


*3:07 pm update - turns out I didn't have to completely avoid the lunch. It was a buffet feast catered by www.peterandpauls.com and luckily for me, there was a delicious Greek salad, on which I am currently feasting. I also grabbed a Diet Coke. Of course, the ginormous sandwiches on foccacia looked much better and don't even get me started on the chocolate-covered strawberries... but at least there was something edible for a committed South Beacher like me!

I cheated!

There was a minor incident with a Wendy's chicken finger and some honey last night.... but it was only one bite. And it was a YUMMY bite.

We didn't make it to the gym last night and I'll spare you the various lame excuses that I have. Haven't been to the gym in well over a week. Yikes. Mark and I did get our for a brisk (and snowy) walk around the neighbourhood, so at least I got some exercise.

I've decided that I get to weigh myself tomorrow, five days since the last time. Hopefully I will have some good news tomorrow... I could use the motivation to get through yet another bagel day. Plus, one of our clients is treating the company to catered lunch tomorrow, so I know there will be tons of yummies that I can't even touch.

Anyway!

Dinner last night was 'mock chicken parmesan' which basically consisted of a chicken breast lightly coated in egg white, then parmesan, basil & oregano, browned in oil for a few minutes per side, then baked with tomato sauce. Would have been better over a mound of pasta, but it was good nonetheless!

Tonight I am going to the gym (for real this time!) and we are going to visit Sarah, Colin and Baby Connor (yay!). We need groceries so we will probably just stop and grab something on the way home - maybe a Quizno's salad.

I'll leave you with an idea of what 27 lbs looks like on me.

Here is a highly unflattering photo from January and one taken yesterday. Yeah baby!

Three whole weeks!

I have been on the Diet for three weeks now!

These past few days I have been feeling a little 'blocked up' if you know what I mean. It feels like there's some extra 'stuff' sitting in my abdomen that just doesn't want to go anywhere. It must be from the cereal and berries, so I'm hoping my system adjusts because I was feeling great the first two weeks.

Not much else to report today. I ended up waiting until we got home from the hospital last night (9:30-ish) to eat dinner so I whipped up a salad and, of course, had my dessert.

We are supposed to go to the gym tonight, but there have been some complications (my shoes being left at home, for example) so we'll see. It's a lot tougher getting to the gym when it's not across the street or even in the same town.

Introducing Connor!

Our friends Sarah and Colin welcomed their baby boy Connor Gregory into the world yesterday evening. Mommy and Baby were both doing great and Connor is perfect!

Congratulations Sarah and Colin! We are so happy for you. We're in love with Connor already!

Here he is!



Proud Mommy & Daddy:

What's this I hear? I can eat CHOCOLATE?

Apparently, yes, I can eat dark chocolate as a 'sweet treat' in Phase 2. Guess what I'm buying this weekend! I don't usually like dark chocolate, but dark chocolate is better than NO chocolate.

Today has been pretty much the same as yesterday - cereal, green tea, salad, yogourt and berries.

Dinner is up in the air because we are heading to the hospital after work... Sarah is in labour!!!! YAY!

Monday blahs...

Monday sucks.

Not much to report since yesterday. I avoided the scale this morning, so yay me! I'll try to hold out til Friday.

Knowing that I was having cereal for breakfast literally got me out of bed this morning. Mmmmmm! I didn't even like cereal that much before SBD, but it's so much yummier than eggs!

I was just browsing the SBD Forum for a different chicken recipe for dinner. Here's what I'm having:

Chicken with Feta, Basil and Balsamic Vinegar (P1)

2 whole chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
8-10 garlic cloves
10-14 basil leaves
10 ounces of reduced fat feta
2 Tbsps + 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter substitute
Salt and pepper

Cut the chicken breasts in half. Brush them with 1 Tbsp of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook in a skillet for 6 minutes on each side, until they are cooked through.

Meanwhile, chop the garlic. Brown it in a skillet with 2 Tbsp of olive oil. In a bowl, combine the browned garlic & its cooking oil with the feta. Chop the basil leaves and add them in. Add 2 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar. Mash with a fork.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. When the chicken is done, remove to an oven-safe dish. Spoon the cheese mixture onto each breast. Stick in the oven to melt the cheese while you make the sauce.

Return the pan that you cooked the chicken in to the stove. Don't clean it first, you want the flavor of the chicken. Add 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar and cook on medium heat until it reduces by about half. Then, add the butter and turn off the heat. Swirl the butter till it melts. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve. Enjoy!

Can't wait to try it!

The Husband and I are going ice skating again tonight at 9, after we visit our friends at the hospital (baby on the way so soon!)... and that is all for today.

Day 18 ... long time, no update!

I'm back after a brief hiatus. We moved over the weekend and we have finally settled into our new home. It's... cozy. The main living area and kitchen/dining room are actually very spacious, but we are severely lacking in storage space. We no longer have the luxury of a second bedroom, two storage rooms or even a linen closet. We will also miss our bath tub and oven. Can you believe it? No oven! There are perks to our new apartment - it's in a nice neighbourhood, minutes from the mall (yay shopping!); it's an above-ground basement and our door opens to the backyard, which backs on to the golf course; we get tons of light; the kitchen is huge; we get way more channels than we had when we were paying for our own cable. Most of all, we are saving tons of money for our new house, which closes next December!

Anyway, about the Diet... today is Day 18. Thursday and Friday were tough because we were in the middle of moving and I actually didn't eat enough, but I managed not to cheat! We unpacked and got groceries yesterday so I have been able to get back into a routine with my meals and snacks. I have introduced cereal for breakfast and I'm loving that! I chose All Bran Honey Nut Flavour, which has 11 g of fibre and 8 g of sugar per serving, acceptable on SBD.

Instead of cereal this morning, I had "mock pancakes" made with eggs, ricotta cheese, sweetener and cinnamon. Topped with no-sugar-added syrup, they were very similar to regular pancakes and pretty darn good.

I almost forgot!! I weighed in this morning at 179 lbs!!! I have lost 11 lbs on the Diet so far, and 27 lbs this year. Woohoo!!