334 snowstorm

Meeting not nearly as boring as I feared, but I still didn't get any running in. Walking TO work yesterday was nice. Walking home--was freezing cold with driving snow. Naturally I picked yesterday to take a detour by way of Smiths. I spent time printing off Hungry Girl receipes and for some reason the big breakfast omlette sounded perfect. By the time it came for me to go home I was starving and that recipe was sounding better and better and better.  (We had it today--not bad). So I trudged home in the weather and curled up by the fire. 

One neat thing yesterday--I think my mind is finally accepting that I am going to play "Minuet 2" for the rest of my life if that's what it takes until I learn it. I played it better and more easily yesterday than ever before.

Today I'm going to SLC. I hate going down, but I'm telling myself that every time I do I'm one step closer to a resolution of the situation there. I'm taking Christine and hopefully a friend of mine with a similar background as Christine out to dinner.  I want to stay on track though---I've got to be so close to hitting 183. Maybe I'll suggest Applebee's or Chili's--they both have good (although Applebee's is skimpy) ww menus.  The main thing today though is to help Christine want to find solutions.

333 Boring meeting

Fun at African Dance yesterday. Today though I feel hungry--I think part of what I'm feeling is in anticipation of a really boring meeting I have coming up at noon.  This means I need to have lunch almost 2 hours earlier than I normally do which will throw off my afternoon plus the stupid meeting pre-empted my wellness time. But I can quit whining now--much is on the bright side--it's a warmish day so walking to work was a pleasure, and I'll be able to run after work. I'm making the really good eggplant penne tonight for 8 pts and I've budgeted for a reeses cup. Lunch is likewise good--a wrap and soup with olives and some chip things Dave found--27 chips for 3 pts--it's a pretty big pile of chips. I'm also grateful to be almost a year along on the road--plus the learning I gained from the years getting to the road. My friend is thinking about starting WW soon. She'll do great, but it's so much easier for me---I have loads of receipes now that I like and lots of easy fall-back choices, and I've ironed out a few glitches of character (lots more ironing to do though).  She'll get there--and so will I--it's probably a good thing that we can't see just how far and long the road is--but today I'm glad that I'm partway there.

332 really melted cake

184 This morning! YAY! I didn't expect that. It's nice to remember that the scale occasionally provides encouragement as well as horror.  Last night's meatloaf was really good and so was the asparagus. I've never been an asparagus fan, but Dave has found a way to cook it that's really good--broil it with a little olive oil, lemon juice and poppy seeds. It's still not the vegetable I'll go out of my way to find, but it's good to know tastes can and do change. I wonder too, if I ate less overall last night than I would have before? On a fast sunday I feel as though I can eat however much for dinner as I want--and I had a big plateful to be sure, but there was some meatloaf left over--a big chunk actually--I don't think last year that would have happened.  Last night's tragedy though was the warm chocolate melting cake--I've made this before! It's a cooking light reciepe and they are fabulous--except that for some reason the cakes didn't set up at all. They were just liquid chocolate  (not necesarrily a bad thing). I put mine back in for a bit, but it still wasn't quite right. Oh well, next fast Sunday I'll make the famouse chocolate coconute brownies--those are a no-fail deal.

Today I'm grateful for--
A lowish number on the scale
My blouse because last year I couldn't have worn it, and even if I had one in my size I still wouldn't have worn it because I would have looked like a sofa. Today it just looks sophisticated and nice.
An African Dance class with Carol.
A homemade roll for lunch
Cup of soups--only 1 point and they always remind me of Omi
olives
Bananas
wasa crisp breads
laughing cow cheese
a beautiful day that allowed me to walk to work.

331 A better week

I did well yesterday--too cold to walk, but I did about an hour of Dance Dance and I stayed within points--even with pizza for dinner--I counted each slice as 10--which is what I'm supposed to, but still had enough points to have some popcorn afterward.  I wanted chocolate too---amazing how hard it is to practice self-denial, but I managed to say no to the chocolate and really, I was just fine. Today is fast Sunday again--so I'm looking forward to a meatloaf dinner and a big chocolate melting cake for dessert. I'm not going nearly as extreme this week--I have my doubts that I'll lose anything if I eat up to 36 points a day, but that's silly. I DO lose weight at that level--it's just that I can't eat 36 pts PLUS blowout days too. We're also having that eggplant pasta again--FANTASTIC dish--HUGE serving size and delicious.  I love discovering recipes that I would make whether or not I'm losing weight. Hungry Girl is my new hero. I'm thinking now, too that I can't wait for watermelon season when I can have a big bowl of watermelon in the fridge.

330 a good friend

I had a lovely time last night. Unfortunately by the time we arrived in SLC, I was FAMISHED. We found ourselves at Tuscanos, a Brazilian grill. It was fabulous. All you can eat and really really good food. I had a huge salad (two helpings) just loaded with all the things you shouldn't load a salad with--big blue cheese crumbles, croutons and bacon with loads of blue cheese dressing.. Waiters came around with meat on swords--had plenty of that and then a waiter came around with buffalo wings--I NEVER get all you can eat buffalo wings--I only regret that I couldn't eat more of them--I tried. I'm glad we went, one of the items was fried bananas--Mom's favorite thing in Hawaii was the fried bananas--I'll be able to pick up an order for her when I next go down. Just that discovery alone was worth all the calories.  Afterward we wandered around, Dave got me a bear at build-a-bear and we bought the unofficial guide to Disneyworld at Barnes and Noble.

This morning I had a RS meeting with just Carol. Carol is a wonderful person. She's going to join weight watchers (poor thing)--and we just talked about this struggle and other things. I probably talked her ear off, but I think we both just needed to sit around and gab. She's been stressed too. What a wonderful gift a good friend is.  Today, my poor body is just trying to figure out what to do with all the food I ate--not too much problem staying on track today.

329 Better running

185--ok. I actually don't feel like complaining about that for once. I'm on my way out the door for a romantic evening with Dave--complete with dinner--but the rest of the week will be on track--though not crazy low. I just wanted to mention that I'm feeling better about running. My knees don't feel better--they are feeling more and more rickety everyday, but I ran 15 min on the track today (and shoveled snow and lifted weights) and I'm getting used to it. I'm feeling more as though I can do it--I'm not going to collapse or get all out of breath and be miserable. It's beginning to feel as though I can more or less go forever (in reality, I suspect "forever" would end in about 30 min, and it's just boredom that's the main factor. I AM worried about the knees though.

328 spin

Oh wow. TOTALLY out of control last night.  There have been many times over the past year when I've eaten more--but NEVER quite so compulsively in my life. All was well until we got to the play--I had already eaten a full meal (yes, the cookie went down) from Subway. And then there were crackers and cheese and little salami rolls and strawberries and a chocolate fountain. I was already full. I KNEW I was full but I simply could not stop eating!  I easily ate another (heavy) meal's worth and the only thing that stopped me was the backstage tour and even then I put the plate down very regretfully. Tickets included two items from concessions--didn't want them, certainly didn't need them--but ate a giant cookie anyway--which finally stopped me. I only ate one fruit snack after that.  Today I don't exactly feel guilty, but I feel a little confused somehow. I think the message is that going to extremes triggers a bad backlash so I'm easing up just a little today although I should still be well within points. I had some milk, banana bread an apple and PB2 for breakfast, two mini pizzas and cabbage salad with 2 truffles for lunch (2nd truffle a mistake) and will be trying out Hungry Girl's eggplant penne pasta ( a macaroni grill take off) for dinner.  Tomorrow, we're going out for dinner somewhere--not planning on going crazy, and since I've now eaten I feel calmer so I should be acting within reason.  Saturday will begin another week--an easier one--back to 36 pts and exercise, but still in control. I'll see where it gets me.