artificial me

i tried the pc blue menu frozen steel cut oatmeal that i bought. it is $2.99 and comes in a box with two bowls. i only got the blueberry flavour but it also comes in vanilla almond. it's about 150 calories per bowl, with 4 or 5g of fibre and 4 or 5g of protein - only 2 ww points. not bad at all. unfortunately i found the flavour to be really bland. i don't know what i was expecting but i thought it would be instantly tasty without adding any sugar.

without thinking i ripped open a package of equal sweetener and dumped it on, and then was a little disgusted with myself. i think my use of artificial sweetener is getting out of control. i use it in oatmeal, in coffee, in tea, on my grapefruits... and why? because i have a giant box of it from costco? i don't even own a bag of regular sugar. isn't that sick? it's pretty strange. a lot of people who want to stop eating artificial sweetener have to ween themselves off of diet pop. i don't really drink diet pop... i just head straight to the hard stuff. i need some sort of plan. maybe if i take it slow i can eventually drink my coffee black. ah, the sweet dark bitterness... in theory that sounds delicious.

this morning for breakfast (in the car), i tried a mint chocolate clif bar. 250 calories, 3g fibre, 10g protein, 5 ww points. the verdict: WAY better than the carrot cake flavour. still a little artificial tasting, but not bad. kind of like a protein-y girl guide cookie. i don't know if i'd buy it again. i still want to try the chocolate chip flavour.

today it's incredibly windy outside. it's shaking the building! my cat is terrified of the wind. he's meowing and running around like a chicken with no head. up on the couch, down, into the bedroom, on the bed, down, into the bathroom, into the tub. what a strange little man.

i did it

i have a lot to talk about today... list time!

1) i actually stayed on plan yesterday. i can hardly believe it, but now that i've done one day i feel like i can really do it.

2) surprisingly i wasn't that hungry yesterday. i was a little hungry before bed, but that's not atypical. maybe my stomach will shrink a little when it's used to eating regular-sized portions again.

3) it's 8am, and i am already up. and i slept for 8 hours last night. this makes me feel great... i don't want to be one of those slobs that sleeps in too late and stays up all night. it's not a good time.

4) i watched 90210 last night. i liked it although i think it's very different than the first one. and did brenda always have a gap between her teeth that large?

5) yesterday at whole foods i bought ezekiel wraps and ezekiel hamburger buns, as well as a greek yogurt, some other liberte yogurt (that i've actually seen in the regular supermarket), some frozen okra, amy's texas veggie burgers, and some milk. i was hoping they would have the greek yogurt i've seen on all of the food blogs lately - either fage or chobani, but they didn't. it must not be available in canada due to some sort of health regulation.

6) for dinner i had a veggie burger on a hamburger bun, with a small side salad and 1/2 a really small spaghetti squash. those hamburger buns are HUGE and so filling. and only 3 ww points. i had to go back and check the bag again just in case the calorie info was for only 1/2 the bun... it wasn't!

7) yesterday i tried to go swimming. i did half my normal swimming workout, which is 60 lengths of the pool. normally i do 120 or so. the pool is about 15 meters, so 120 lengths is roughly 1.8 km or 1.1 miles. so far for swimming... but not that far. i had to stop because the pool water in my condo is too hot. how hot you ask? well i noticed there was a thermometer in the "deep end" and it read 95 degrees farenheit. yes, 95 degrees... just like the boy band... that's hot! (the temp, not the band!) a regular pool is kept between 78 and 82 degrees (and 82 is for the old people who complain about a chilly pool) so you know 95 is killer. it's like a digusting giant bath, and not good for swimming. every 20 lengths i was hopping out of the pool to cool down... that's weird and probably dangerous. i wrote an email to the building manager but who knows how long it's going to take before something happens.

8) yesterday i also went to canadian tire. i wanted a beach chair but they were out even though the website showed them in stock. and the sales people were rude to me as well. as in, i saw one on the phone but not talking, went up to say "hi, can i ask you a question?" he looks at me, then just turns his back to me without saying anything. RUDE! i did buy a new mop and bucket though, as well as some new cleaning supplies. it is this mop here as well as the matching bucket. i had been using the wet swiffers but they just weren't cutting it. and always drying up so fast that i'd have to use two or three. and what a waste for the environment as well. i cleaned my bathroom, kitchen and dining room floor yesterday and it looks (and smells) amazing.

9) i am going to start today by drinking two big glasses of water, eating a fruit of some sort, then heading out for a walk. i found some new jobs to apply to as well.