making food now for later

this week i'm trying out something new. on friday at lunch i went to the walmart supercentre by my office. there is a lot of great shopping by my office - this could lead to problems down the road as i tend to get carried away and spend money like a drunken sailor. that's not true, but i do buy myself a lot of things.

anyhoo, at the walmart supercentre, they had boneless skinless chicken breasts, unfrozen, on 5 big ones for $9. to me that's cheap, so i bought a pack. i also bought a package of ground turkey. except it wasn't "ground" it was "minced" - which basically means that it looked like sick turkey worms in a package. i just held my breath and put it in the cart.

i decided to do some cooking in advance to see if it would make my dinners and lunches easier during the week. on saturday i used one chicken breast between my bf and i, and he still complained that there was "so much chicken!" i think he doesn't appreciate chicken as much as i do. i think he would prefer a steak. well - since i know the nutritional value of both, i prefer chicken and that's what i'm cooking. this is besides the point.

moving on, on sunday i made the remaining four "chicken boobies" as bi0nic would say. i chopped them into cubes, and just cooked them on a skillet pan on my stove. i used some of the meat in a wrap for lunch, with avocado and spinach, except i didn't get to eat it because i FORGOT MY LUNCH AT HOME. yes, i'm still bitter. i brought it today though.... relax... breathe deeply... ok. i figure they will be good in wraps, on sandwiches, or just thrown in salads.

i used the "minced" turkey to make turkey taco meat, for taco salads. i just browned the turkey, then added a low-sodium taco seasonings package et voila! dinner for four. i'm not sure i would do this again because although it's tasty, each serving is four points and not very volumous, if you know what i mean. i had it for dinner tonight but it got lost in the shuffle - i added too many different vegetables and it dwarfed the meat. live and learn. i have three more portions so i'm sure by the fourth i'll have perfected my taco salad masterpiece.

yoga jeans

i have found the best jeans of all time. well, i found them based on the recommendation of my blog friend, amanda. they are called yoga jeans and the gimmick is that they are so comfortable and stretchy, you can do yoga in them. love them. they weren't cheap but you can't put a price tag on comfort.

today had its good and bad points. pretty good day at work, came home went swimming, went to my friend's house and she has a 6-week old kitten cccccuuuuuuuttttiiiieeeeppiiieeeee. the bad points are it's freezing outside, i made my lunch last night but FORGOT it in my home fridge, my apartment is pretty messy. ah, the usual.

my weekend was good but i could have tried harder to eat well. on saturday i went for a walk with my bf, and on sunday i went swimming until i was rudely interrupted by a family who didn't get that i was swimming laps along the wall and just needed them to move over by half a metre. they had to stand in my way, even though the rest of the pool was free. lunatics. i could have said something, but didn't want to start something. and they didn't speak English and that could have been awkward.

my goal this week is to use the gym at work and start a weight lifting strength training routine. i brought my stuff to do it today, but since i forgot my lunch at home (doh), i had to go and get lunch.

it wasn't completely unproductive. i went to the bulk barn where i bought whole flax seeds. i am a fool for buying the expensive pre-ground seeds from the organic section in the grocery store. 1) they were so cheap. i bought a huge bag and it didn't even cost $2. 2) i ground them coarsely in my coffee grinder (which i never use for coffee) and they taste so much better. there is no comparison. now they are totally yummy and before it was just bland tasteless nothing.

howdy doody.

short friday list

1) weigh in - down 2.8 pounds woohoo! now just 7.2 to go :)

2) i am LOVING my new job. the days go by so fast... i can't believe it

3) for once i didn't eat all the food i brought to work. i couldn't believe it. i just wasn't hungry for everything. i think it's my morning (noon) cottage cheese and berries snack. so filling with carbs and protein.

4) that's it!

wah wah wee wah

i gotta tell you... i am pooped. on wednesday night my boyfriend and i went to see the musical "spring awakening" - first half good, second half bad. i just listened to "animal farm" on audiobook and the sheep keep saying, "four legs good, two legs baaaaaaaaad" and i can't get it out of my head. those sheep! anyway, the musical was worth seeing but strange. i would want people to make up their own minds.


tonight was book club. i managed to get a swim in beforehand but the timing was tight. still, i wanted to stick to the plan and i did.

so far, eating this week has been pretty good. since i can't use any activity points, i'm down 5 flex which isn't much. fridays are normally pretty tame and then saturday is my tough day.

i am just so happy that tomorrow is friday! seriously, my body is CRAVING a weekend. i want it bad and i want it now. thank you and goodnight. :) ps. tomorrow is my weigh-in day. i know i only started tracking again on monday, but monday weigh-ins are depressing. fridays are were it's at.

day two thank you

day two was another food and exercise success. i ate breakfast at home, had lunch plus two snacks at work, went swimming and had a delicious dinner. on monday night i did have a vitatop brownie, but it's all good. now that i am back to tracking on ww online, i realize how different the site is. i know they changed the plan to the "momentum" plan, but since my points never changed and i already ate the more "healthy" filling foods anyway i didn't really look at it too much.

the new plan gives you a daily points allotment, 35 weekly points, and activity points. BUT you must use all of your daily points AND weekly points before any of your activity points are deducted. AND you can only use your activity points on the same day you earn them. so basically, you don't really get them except for the last day unless you eat all of your weekly points early on in the week, which heaven forbid, i would never do. i think that is how it works. i'm sure somebody will correct me if i'm not. i did a google search on this and apparently people are inconvenienced and outraged by this. i don't care because it's not the end of the world, is it? what is a point anyway but a figment of my imagination? a meaningless obstacle on this road we call weight loss. i'm deep.

my dinner last night was an egg white omelet. i wanted an egg, but i didn't have one. i did have lots of leftover veggies though. i chopped and heated up some red onion, zucchini, red pepper, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, avocado, and sun-dried tomato. then i poured 3/4 cup egg whites onto another pan and let it cook into a circle. transfer to a plate, pour the veggies on half, fold it over, sprinkle with chili lime sauce, add 2 slices of ezekiel toast, and you have a delicious, nutritious, filling 5.5 point meal.

in other news, my skin is really breaking out. what is with this mid-life acne! grrrr. i use pro-activ but it's not working. i think it's from stress and womanly business. who can be sure though? taking ground flax has eliminated most of my PMS symptoms (except the extreme snappiness and sensitivity) WHO SAID THAT!@@?@?@!! i'm sorry, come back, i love you.



mmm look at that candy. tonight is date night and i am going to see the musical "spring awakening" with my beau. i am very excited. first we are going to sears so i can buy more nylons for work, second we are going to harveys for dinner (6 point veggie burger OR grilled chicken salad) and third to the really big shoe. i am not swimming tomorrow but may do yoga in the morning. that's a big "may" since i already get up at 6:15 as it is! happy wednesday. one day at a time, right?

face the music

thank you bi0nic - your tip of taking it one day at a time is really speaking to me.

so...

i weighed in yesterday. it wasn't good. it wasn't that bad either. i've got ten pounds to lose. GROAN. i don't know. i'm kind of on the fence with my feelings. on one hand, i can't believe i gained ten pounds. i should slap my own face! on the other hand, i am staying positive about it. and this may seem weird to many of you, but losing weight is sort of fun for me. now don't get me wrong, maintenance is probably more fun, but i get a real thrill from working out and eating right and watching the scale drop knowing i deserve it.

there you have it. yesterday (even though i am posting in advance and it is yesterday still) was a great day. now i really can't mess it up! i stayed within my points and went swimming even though i felt tired. i swam for 35 minutes and then called it a day. i only had 3 points left for dinner but i stuck it out: a slice of rye toast, 2/3 cup of fat free cottage cheese and 3/4 cup of unsweetened frozen blueberries. i noticed that i only had one dairy serving today - that's why i chose da cheeze. yes, i said "da cheeze" ... it's my blog, you can't stop me!

in other news, my new job is great so far, i'm learning a lot and have a new macbook to work on and bring home every night. i haven't used it at home yet though... my pc is just so convenient! my apartment is an absolute mess ... must do something about that soon. i am still getting adjusted to being up and out of the house so early (by 7:15!) so i'm cutting myself some slack. ah, today at work the secretary brought me a card, sent in the mail. how weird... i mean, who even knows my work address, let alone that i work there. it was a card from my bf telling me how proud he is of me. aw shucks, i know! the outside of the card is really funny. it's got two lady eggs walking down the street. they spot a multicoloured egg and the one egg says, "check out the dye job on her..." and then the other one says, "tramp." hehehe, funny.

out of control

i am feeling out of control. again. again again again! again? seriously? i told myself at the beginning of the year that i would stop weighing myself every friday. i stopped because that weigh in could make or break the day and that's stupid. if i was within my maintenance range i was happy, and if i had gained i was angry at myself with poor self-esteem. so no more. so this year i said i would weigh myself once per month, at the beginning of each month ... so i weighed in at the beginning of february and haven't since!

and i've got to be honest here. i haven't weighed in because i don't want to see the number on the scale. my clothes still fit pretty much, although i can tell my pants are tighter. when i look at myself nude in the bathroom mirror i can see definite changes in my body shape and not good ones. flabby tummy, saggy bum, the pooch coming back, etc. i am an "apple" shape and gain weight in my midsection right away. i have narrow hips so any gain in the middle gives me an unflattering boy-shaped figure. not cool.

but i'm not going to dwell on it. boo hoo poor me. i'm going to take action and here is my plan. yes people, another plan.

1) i am going to track my food intake on wwonline again. i am still a member and was not using it out of sheer laziness. since i have to be at work early, i can fix my meals the night before and use that to track, saving anywhere from 5-10 points for dinner, depending on workouts and flexpoints, etc. here is tomorrow's plan - i am having the oatbran with flax and berries for morning snack, and the pb larabar for an afternoon snack. oh, and my lunch is tuna mixed with plan nonfat yogurt over a salad. try it instead of mayo - i like it :)


2) vegetables are my friend. see the above menu for an example.

3) plan workouts in advance. this week i'm going to swim AFTER work monday, tuesday, possibly thursday, and saturday. i'm going to do yoga on wednesday and friday morning, and i'm going to do weight training in the office at lunch on friday. maybe before that but i have to finish my book club book this week before thursday.

4) not be tempted by others. it's ok to say no, or not drink wine while others are (wah), etc. i think planning is key here.

5) i think during the week i'd like to go for small meals more times per day, and especially a small dinner. i am one of those people who would save up 1/2 her points for a bigger dinner, and be ravenous all day. i hate feeling hungry so no more.

i think that's about it for now. does anyone have any motivational tips for me?

three little things

1) i did go swimming last night - holla!

2) i've recently become very motivated to increase the size of my flat bum - in a good muscle way of course. more on that later.

3) that's all i can say because i have a date with...

motivation

the first day of my new job is over. it went well and i had a good time. everyone seems nice and the office is new and nice with excellent facilities, including a big gym, which is perfect for me. my condo gym has good cardio equipment and dumbbells but a terrible weight machine system. you know the kind that has every device in one... a lot of people keep them in their garages. bleh. so now i will be able to shape my muscles and get RIPPED. but not this week. everything is still new.

yesterday i went grocery shopping and bought so many fresh fruits and veggies, including an avocado. these fruits are so wonderful for keeping me full - a little goes a long way. i can eat lunch including 1/4 avocado and not be hungry again until 4pm. amazing.

tonight is date night and i still have some time before my boyfriend comes over. the responsible side of me says, "go for a swim" and the other lazy side says, "catch up on your blog reading!" what should i do? maybe a bit of both? neither? scrub the toilet instead?

last day of freedom

this is a real time post! i am sitting in my own den - it's so lovely and quiet with just me and my cat and not a thousand other family members. ;) family time was very nice, but i'm happy to get back to my regular life. i still feel out of the loop so here is a list:

1) posting in advance is easy! all you have to do is type up your post as usual, and then adjust the date and time in the "post options." i can see the post options link right below the words i am typing right now.... to the left of the labels for the post. this description is only for blogger users - not sure about wordpress or typepad or the other hosting sites.

2) new job tomorrow! excitement =D

3) winnipeg trip over! winnipeg was cold at first, but warmed up by the end of the trip. my cousin's hockey team in the US won the weekend tournament - that was a lot of fun. they player's are treated like movie stars - booths and free bottle service in the dance clubs. it really blew my mind because here in toronto you really have to be a somebody to get that kind of service. something i have never experienced despite my obvious somebodyness! hmph.

4) i didn't do too much shopping if you can believe it - i only got clothes in winnipeg from rickis (they don't have that store in toronto, although they do in the GTA). i got some of the regular food staples (25 calorie hot chocolate for my commute coffee, kashi fruit bars, peanut butter cookie larabars!)...

EDIT: i saved this post this morning and now it's nighttime. i have been rushing around trying to get everything organized and ready for tomorrow. how exciting! i'll continue on.

5) food on the trip: not great but not terrible. last night after i came home my bf and i ordered pizza and NOT the healthy kind. thankfully tomorrow begins my "routine" and i already have an awesome lunch packed: hummus veggie wrap, apple and yogurt, and a kashi bar if i get hungry.

6) exercise on the trip was not great either, but not-not existent. double negative means i did yoga three or four times and went swimming once. but the swimming was in the hotel pool which wasn't big enough for laps (and freezing) so i did maybe 20-minutes of bouncing and diving around before deciding enough was enough. i did go swimming today and maybe will tomorrow before work, we shall see.

7) wish me luck. =D

coming home today

today i'm flying home. i love flying. it's so much fun for me. i especially love the liftoff and the touchdown. i should probably take on more risky hobbies. a friend of mine said that if you are caught in a weird air pocket mid-flight, created by other planes passing by really fast and taking up airspace, your plane can drop out of the sky for 3-4 seconds. well, not out of the sky, but off of it's scheduled track for a moment. she said it feels like minutes even though it's just a few seconds. has that ever happened to you? i think i'd like to avoid that!

this week is pretty exciting. it's march break for my boyfriend, who is a teacher, and i start my NEW JOB on wednesday! i am really looking forward to it. i have the right combination of anticipation and nerves. i've been out of work/working part-time at the law office for so long that i forget what it's like to have a regular routine. i LOVE routines. but some things are going to have to change of course. i've already started to think about it. i start pretty early, at 8:00am, and have a 1/2 hour commute, so i can't workout in the morning anymore unless i go to bed really early which will never happen, so i'm going to have to schedule exercise for after work. i think there is a gym in my office - that would be convenient!

i'm also going to have to post a) in the evenings or b) pre-plan my posts the night before which probably won't happen. and i'm going to have to cut down on blog reading since i'll only be doing it in the evenings. i've already cut a bunch of blogs out of my google reader. not any personal blogs, mostly food blogs i found were a chore to read. the really good food blogs (kath eats, eat live run, carrots n' cake) are absolutely amazing and i can't give those up. love them!

go team go

posting in advance is sort of fun. i'm much more positive about the future than regular day-to-day stuff. today is friday and i'm going to michigan! wait a minute.... i'm not going there. i'm going to north dakota! for weeks i thought i was going to michigan and now something has clicked and i realized it's north dakota. i must be losing my mind. wow! anyway, knock another state off the "to-go-to" list.

we are driving down (about two hours) because one of my cousins is a big hockey star on the n. dakota team and we are going to watch him in playoffs. unfortunately there is no trader joes in north dakota. but there is a target. and my aunt loves target too - probably not as much as me but close to it, so i'll have a partner in crime to wander the store for hours and hours with glee.

i'm bringing my bathing suit, because there is a pool at our hotel. my mom and sister have been before and i've been told - bring your swimsuit. my mom and aunt are really happy that i love swimming - this way they don't have to get in the pool with my younger cousins. i'm bringing my nerdy silicone swim cap, just in case i can get in a workout or two. happy friday!

p.s. friday the 13th!

blogger meetup

good morning. it's thursday and hopefully not -22°C like the forecast predicts. i'm exaggerating - that's the low. apparently this weekend it's supposed to reach above freezing temperatures. take that people who vacation in the tropics! ha! good thing i bought that down jacket.

today is going to be a great day because tonight i'm meeting up with fellow bloggers! mandy and vanessa. i'm excited!

posting in advance

biOnic has inspired me to write a few posts in advance. (i hope it works, by the way.)

today have gone to winnipeg with my mom and sister. just the girls. all the boys have to stay at home... well, my dad and cat anyway. i wonder how oliver is adjusting to living with my dad. i'm sure he's having an easier time than my dad - oliver likes to cuddle NOT on the lap, but curled up into your neck like a baby while you support his bum with your arms. and then he head butts so hard. that is how he shows love. here he is wearing a hat.

doesn't he look dapper? anyhoo, my exercise plan this week is to do yoga, possibly some swimming. i am bringing my mp3 player and my yoga mat - that should be all i need. i really like hatha #2 and power yoga #3 so i'll probably stick to those two. i am familiar enough with the poses and routines that i don't need to bring the pdf guides.

my bum is on fire

but that's only because i'm sitting on a heating pad. right now. seriously, it's quite hot. by the end of the day yesterday my bum pain had faded quite substantially and i could walk without writhing in pain, but this morning i can hardly move again. it's very frustrating. even though the symptoms are the same as sciatica, it's not that because i had x-rays on my spine done last summer. i think it's just the performis muscle pressing against the nerve - the same one that is affected by sciatica. i guess i might as well have sciatica if the symptoms are the same. i just found this video on youtube and it's telling me it's all sciatica. i am probably genetically disposed to have this condition.

anyway, i don't want to go on and on about it. it's a shame that i avoided running ALL THESE MONTHS and then it's back for NO REASON AT ALL so i'm basically back where i started again.

i am going swimming again in a few minutes. yesterday it hurt at the beginning and then seemed to make the pain go away, so hopefully that will happen again.

tonight i am going to the LEAFS GAME! i can't wait. i have a long list of things to do today. i have to be ready to leave tomorrow before the game tonight. i am a horrible packer... it's too stressful. i always bring too much and think i'm forgetting something because usually i do forget something!

faster than i thought

i really slept horribly last night. it was SO WINDY outside and all i heard was crazy winds, things bumping around, smashing, crashing... loud loud loud. eventually i turned on this loud fan i have, put in earplugs and put on an eye mask to try and drown everything out. it sort of worked but it was a rude rude awakening this morning.

for some reason my bum pain is really bad today. so bad that i'm walking with a limp again. :( i hate limping! each step is painful. there really isn't anything i can do about it either, except not move too fast or make any sudden movements. maybe later i will sit on a heating pad.

i went for a 40-minute swim this morning and timed myself. i used to do 120 lengths in 40 minutes... but now it only takes me 31 minutes! this is good news and bad news. good because i'm getting faster and improving, but bad because the lazy side of me has to do more work. it's weird, the more fit you become or the more weight you lose, the harder you have to work to keep the same momentum going. activities become easier and you have to be consciously aware of pushing yourself harder and harder. so i did 150 lengths today. it wasn't that bad after i realized i still had time left. 150 lengths of my pool is about 2250 metres or 2 and a bit km. that's pretty far for swimming. if i'm averaging 20 minutes per kilometre that's amazing... i'm surprising myself!

a long time ago i ordered windsor pilates not realizing that (in the fine print) they'd be sending me two more videos a month for the rest of my life and charging me for them. i don't need more than a few videos - thank you very much! last month i sent the package back with a tracking number, but the "recipient" has asked that the item stay on hold at the postal facility. what is up with that? scam! anyway i phoned the head office today and got it sorted out. note to self: do more pilates and read the fine print.

today i am taking care of business. i have to go to my new job and pick up some reading materials, and do things around the house like wash my sheets, do laundry, and get my cat ready to stay with my dad while i am in winnipeg.

f f f friiiidaaayyyyy

bonjour - it's friday! i have today off as well - lucky i know. first things first, head on over to diary of a real girl to see my guest post on her fashion friday segment. thanks again for asking me - i had fun writing it!

this morning i got up, did 20 minutes of hatha yoga (very relaxing), ate breakfast and then went downstairs for a 40-minute swim. lately when i swim and do front crawl, or freestyle as some people like to call it, i've been trying to breathe on every third stroke, instead of every second. this means that i have to do it on my left side too, which is a little awkward. i'm hoping that with practice it will become more natural. i want my movements to be as even as possible since i'm doing them so much.

i am meeting a girlfriend for lunch at an indian/nepalese restaurant. i can't wait. it's right near my boyfriend's apartment so i am going to walk there, and then just go over to his place after. i love indian/thai/spicy/ethnic food but not many of my friends do so i never get to go and it's very sad.

here are two recipes that i'm really digging lately. they can be eaten any time of day.

1) open-faced spicy avocado egg toast.

ingredients:
1 slice whole-wheat bread, toasted
1/4 cup liquid egg whites
1/4 big avocado or 1/3 smaller one
hot sauce

directions: toast the bread. measure out the egg whites and microwave in a small ice cream bowl for 48 seconds. that is how long it takes on my microwave to make a nice patty that isn't dried out. while this is happening, mash the avocado. spread it on the toast. scoop the egg white patty out of the bowl and place on the avocado toast. sprinkle with hot sauce - mine is chili lime flavoured. delicious!

2) vanilla yogurt grapes

ingredients:
0% plain yogurt - as much as you want - i usually go for 1/2 cup
sweetener - like splenda or whatever
vanilla - about 1 teaspoon
grapes
milk - skim or almond or soy, whatever, maybe 1/2 cup or less if you want a thick yogurt

directions: get out a big mug. it's more fun to eat this from a mug. plop in the yogurt, milk, vanilla, sweetener to taste. stir until it becomes a liquid. drop in as many grapes as you want. i like to fill it up so all the grapes are covered in the yogurt liquid. enjoy the yogurty grapes with a spoon. this tastes like a dessert but is very nutritious.

happy weekend!

big news

big news today, big big news! but first, exercise update. i didn't do yoga last night before my date. instead i walked to my boyfriend's apartment which is 2.5 miles away. while i was walking, i listened to one of jillian michael's radio show podcasts - it made the time fly by. this time i learned that if you are focusing on your flaws, you'll never be happy. if your body is pretty much the way you want it except for a bit of stomach flab (hello, are you talking to me?) than you need to take a step back and look at the whole picture and how lucky you are.

today is going to be a big exercise day, since i don't have to work. i am going to walk home from my bf's (2.5 miles), stopping at the library along the way. a book i ordered is in, fit from within: 101 simple secrets to change your body and your life--starting today and lasting forever by victoria moran. i found the book on kath eats's recommended reading page. she said it was a book that really helped her develop healthy eating habits. should be a good read.

after my walk, i am going to do some yoga at home, AND go for a swim. why not? i am looking forward to an afternoon swim. normally i'm creeping into the pool one toe at a time, shuddering at the chilly wetness, early in the morning when i'd prefer to be in my bed. i like having more than enough time to do things. maybe i'll bring a book and read in the hot tub after, or sit in the steamroom and have those hot steams drops plopping on my head.

so big news, big big news! my first awesome, excellent, fantastic, thrilling piece of news is that i have a new job! AND i really think it's the perfect job for me - not only super fun but challenging too. this is the start of something really great for me, i just know it! i know i'm leaving you in suspense here - i'll tell you what the job is if you ask me on facebook or by email. i don't want to associate this blog with that company, just to stay on the safe side. better to keep it separate, since that's a business and this blog is just me blah blah blahing. it starts in a couple of weeks! big success!

the second groovy piece of news is that next week i am going on a mini-vacation with my mom and sister... to... are you ready? winnipeg! hooray! we are leaving on wednesday and coming back monday. my mom's sister and her kids and her kids' kids all live there - one of whom i've never even met yet. my mom and sister go all the time but since i am a working girl i never could get the time away, until now of course. on friday until saturday or sunday we are driving to michigan to watch another cousin of mine play hockey in some sort of big-time university playoffs. i think it's going to be really cold. i would really love to meet any bloggers from winnipeg but i'm not sure if there will be time since we are going to the states - i will figure out exactly where i'll be in winnipeg today and post the postal code or something tomorrow - if anyone is really close that would be really rad!

p.s. sorry i turned so many people off oranges, hehehe. it was really sick, although i've never seen that before and don't expect to again. although... once when i was a kid i was baking with my mom and she got so excited when she cracked open an egg and out popped two yolks. twins! my mom said, "look closely, you'll never see that again!" and then the next egg had two yolks as well. wah wah wahhhhhh.

orange you glad you didn't eat it?

let me start by saying i knew talking about pet store pets would open a can of worms. hmmm fitting.

i forgot to tell you about this horrible, horrible thing that happened to me on saturday.

my boyfriend and i have the same saturday morning routine. sleep in, and then he'll listen to reggae music and cook breakfast while i go and exercise. it used to be running, now it's swimming. he always makes the same breakfast too: chicken bacon, egg omelet made with 3 eggs and whites, and toast, sometimes fruit too. can you tell we like routines?

anyway, last saturday i decided that we should split an orange as part of our breakfast. yum yum citrus goodness. it is hard and takes forever to peel but i do it. then i split it in half and jump back when i see a dark spot appear in the centre of the orange. what could it be? i recoil and drop the orange onto the counter. my boyfriend asks, "what are you screeching about?" as i cautiously take a step toward the orange. i touch it gently, opening it slowly... and...

INSIDE IS A GIANT MAGGOT EATING MY ORANGE!

the horror, the horror! all of the dark stuff inside was its poop. the end. wasn't that a pleasant story? sick! once at an outdoor music festival i bit into a peach and a little worm popped out... eeeeeewwwwww.

that's all i've got. another 40 minutes swimming this morning. i need to get some yoga in! tonight maybe (date night) and tomorrow for sure.

mallrat

this morning for breakfast i tried another luna sunrise bar, this time in vanilla almond. it was good, but not as good as the strawberry. i don't like eating bars all the time like this either, but they are great for eating on the road.

last night i went for a three-mile treadmill walk. it was alright but only because i had some good magazines to read. my bum pain has been acting up a little lately. WHY ME? WHHHHYYYYYYYYY? i guess i just have to accept it. it's no where near as bad as it was so i'm just going to suck it up.

this morning i went for a 40-minute swim. i really debated waiting until tonight but tonight i just want to relax and clean up a little, take care of some business, watch the biggest loser and get to bed early. for the last two weeks in a row i have taped the biggest loser, intending to watch it later and then i never do. instead of catching up on four hours of tv i'm just going to count my losses and start on from this week. i just don't like watching tv that much. well, sometimes i do (more on that tomorrow). if i am not excited about a show then it can be really painful. tv should be enjoyable, not something you feel you have to get through. that's lame.

so last night after work i hit up the mall. oh, the mall. the one great thing about working in the burbs is all of the great suburban mall action. so spacious, so many stores... no one pushing you and crowding you... hardly any lining up for change rooms.

i bought some new boots on aldoshoes.com but they were the wrong size. i am between sizes (8.5) and they didn't have any 9's online so i ordered the 8. too small! i brought them to the dufferin mall downtown and they didn't have any 9's either, but they put a pair on hold for me at sherway gardens. by the way, cinemarie, i did check out the GNR while i was there and saw the luna sunrise bars - thanks! i picked up the right size and they are awesome! check them out... so rock n roll.


after boot exchanging, i wanted to find a simple t-shirt for business purposes. a nice bright colour to go under a blazer. i knew i could find a shirt like this at smart set or H & M but those stores weren't in the mall! bah! i went to the GAP hoping they had plain t-shirts - they did, but they were all v-necked and i only want a round neck. come on, people! i will have to go back out tonight. i did get a scarf at the GAP. it's thin and more for fashion than warmth.

i also went to the pet store to look at the puppies. i don't know how i feel about pet store pets. my cat oliver is from the humane society, but when i was growing up my family bought a bichon frise puppy from a pet store in the mall. these puppies need homes too, and there were so many cutiepies. if i were to ever get a dog, i would buy one from a breeder or the humane society, but that doesn't mean i can't appreciate the supreme cuteness of puppies in the pet store. like this chow puppy! (blackberry photo hehe)

going places

good morning. monday again... back at it. my weekend was good. i went to a few parties, did a little shopping, some sleeping, same old same old. on saturday night i was the designated driver - it was weird not to be partying along with my friends but i really didn't mind it at all. and i learned a few things about myself: a) as a sober person, i don't have too much patience for drunkies, or rather, i notice the silly/stupid things they say and do and b) i didn't have that sad, weekend is over, withdrawal feeling that i usually have on sundays. very interesting. monday was still a jolt but not so bad.

exercise this weekend was good. on saturday i went for a 40-minute swim, and sunday a three mile walk on the treadmill, playing with the incline. three miles is the perfect amount for treadmill walking. it takes quite a while (anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, depending on speed), it feels like a workout, but it's not boring. i love reading books and magazines while walking on the treadmill.

on sunday i traded in my telus nokia phone (clunker) for a blackberry pearl. ooh la la. my boyfriend is with bell and his contract was up so we went to the bell store. he got a blackberry and then the sales guy offered me a deal i just couldn't refuse. way cheaper than my telus plan, and they are paying for me to cancel out of my telus contract. did you know you can use any song as your blackberry ringtone? at first i had "this boy" by franz ferdinand, but it's loud at the beginning and i was scared every time my phone rang, so i switched it to "will you still love me tomorrow?" by the shirelles. i love oldies and this one is so pleasant.

this morning i put on my bathing suit for a swim and then changed my mind at the last minute because i was really pushing the clock. perhaps i will go tonight, or maybe another walk on the treadmill. or the elliptical. oh, the possibilities are endless. i had a luna sunrise bar for breakfast - the strawberry crumble flavour. it was delicious, very sweet though, and contained a good amount of protein and fibre. i bought it in the united states a few weeks ago and maybe i should have gotten more. has anyone seen these in canada?

yoga

a few of you have left me questions in the comments about the yoga i'm doing. all the yoga i do is from yogadownload.com. you can pay for longer classes, but a lot of the 20-minute sessions are free, and that's what i'm doing right now until i can build up to longer sessions.

when you download a class, you get an audio version for your mp3 player, as well as a PDF with all of the poses that you can print out and refer to during your yoga time. i keep my printouts right beside my mat.

these downloads are really great. i think i came into them with an advantage because i've taken a real yoga class before, and have a good idea about the poses. i was lucky because no one else signed up for the class, so i had private yoga sessions for eight weeks. sometimes it's hard to see exactly what's happening in a pose - like where you should put your shoulders and hips in relation to your arms and legs. i would probably suggest taking one beginner drop-in yoga class in your area just to get a feel for it, and then go nuts. you don't want to hurt yourself by doing something crazy that your body isn't meant to do.

also, when you are browsing the site, it's smart and really necessary to be aware of the level of the class. some are for beginners and others are for more intermediate/advanced students. the more advanced classes are quite difficult and if you do them right away, you will be in serious pain the next day. with more practice, little things like balancing and being able to shift from pose to pose with more ease and grace becomes much easier.

finally, i leave you with one of my favourite clips from the OC. i had such a university crush on seth cohen. so nerdy and cute. this scene always made me laugh.