1/2 a pound...

It's how I order my deli meat and it's also how much weight I lost this week.

I'm pretty happy with the loss as my week was less active then it usually is. So yay me. But really, it's time to shape up and get my arse back to the gym on a very regular basis.

Right now at the gym I'm in a six week cycle of heavy weight lifting with my trainer, Lindz. It's pretty fun but it also leaves me paralyzed for the next two days. Last night I did tricep supersets, which sounds very exciting right? It's not. It's basically just intense, unstoppable torture to my poor teeny, tiny triceps that leaves me unable to so much as tie my hair in a pony tail for the rest of the week. Ouch. So people, I expect LOTS of compliments on my great looking triceps in the near future :)

Anyways, aside from my gym antics, I also discovered my new favorite food this week...tortilla pizzas!! Last night I ate two, all for only seven points. Here's how I make them:

2 Dempsters body wise tortillas
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 tbsp salsa
1C (or whatever amount you like) chopped red/green peppers
1/4 of an onion, chopped
50g (three slices approx) of low fat ham, chopped.
2/3 C part-skimmed shredded mozzarella cheese

Spread 1 tbsp of tomato paste on each wrap. Then spread 2tbsp of salsa on each as well. Top with green/red peppers, onions and ham. Spread the cheese evenly over the two pizzas. Bake at 425 Celcius for 12-14 mins or until cheese is bubbling. The end!

It's such a quick, easy and low-point supper that I just want to eat them every night. And maybe I will...you should too :)

So, on the wedding front, things seem to be progressing well. I'm stuck trying to figure out where to honeymoon. We're really hoping to go somewhere in Europe, however those darn "down south" all-inclusives are just calling our names with their cheap prices. Ack. What to do, what to do.

Also, I have a big announcement. I've decided to make table-runners! Crazy eh? Yes? No? Anybody? I'm ordering fabric off Etsy and me and me Ma are gonna go sewing crazy. Oh the joys of wedding planning....they're neverending!!

OK, I'm off to bask in table-runner joy...so until next time all :)

El lazy-ars...

Well, I'm back. Miss me? Probably not eh? Anyways, it's been a long time since I've been here and quite honestly I have no real excuse besides being too lazy to be witty and interesting. How lazy is that? I think that might be the height of laziness. Oh well. I'm too lazy to care. ha.

Anyways, things have been going well for me over the past few weeks. I've FINALLY reached my 10lb lost mark. Hurrah. And I did it despite being on vacation. How much do I rule? I'm pretty pleased with myself but I also know, based on my previous attempts at weight loss, that it's about this time that I start getting a bit too lax with my eating. So I'm really trying to stay focused on eating well and exercising often. Easier said than done, though, especially when cake and chips are constantly finding their way into my cupboards. How exactly do I stop that again? I can't seem to remember.

So, in addition to the weight loss stuff, my summer has been going pretty well. Jack has been his usual hilarious self, despite his new found love of the word "NO". Everything is "NO"...even when it's "YES". Hmmmm, no means yes...NOT a good lesson to be teaching my son.

Jack aside, I have a feeling that this blog might be turning into a crazy bride forum in the near future, so this is your official warning. I'm getting married on Oct 24th and it's creeping up REALLY fast now. Money is literally flying out of my pockets as we speak. We've done a pretty decent job at keeping our expenses to a minimum without sacrificing the awesomeness of the day which is no easy task. But really, when flowers cost 1200 dollars, there's only so much penny pinching one can do! A girl needs her gerbers.

Weddings do funny things to women. I mean, if you know me at all, you know that I could care less about ribbons, bows or flowers, but for the past week my biggest stressor has been trying to figure out how on earth I'm going to get Ian's boutonniere to match his tie. Seriously. This is my life now. Feel free to ignore my calls and make excuses not to hang out with me. The real Courtney will return on Oct 25th at approximately 3am. I swear.

OK. Enough for now! Enjoy this crappy, rainy day everyone!

Kissing your sister...

Isn't that what they call a tie in hockey? Well, it's also what they should call a one lb weight loss on Weight Watchers. It's an ok accomplishment, because a loss is a loss, but it's just so boring, especially after working so hard all week long.

Regardless, it's one pound I will never see again. Hurrah!

On a more exciting note, I had my trainer/buddy Linsday do my body phat (yes...that's how I spell it)measurements last week and turns out I've lost 3% of my body phat. Score. That also means that I've gained lean muscle mass and hey, who can complain about that. Not I. So, all in all, I continue to be motivated. I've lost 7.5lbs in 4 weeks. That's pretty great. Only 2.5 more pounds till the big 10.

Aside from my weight loss gossip, nothing incredibly exciting has been going on lately. Ian and I did get to witness a very strange lady walking down Hunt Club Road in nothing but a string bikini. And when THAT is the highlight of my week, you know it's been a dull one :)

So, I apologize for the lack of sharp wit and sarcastic remarks. I will try to shake it up a bit more next time!

Peace out, homes!

Cookie fundraisers suck...

So, being the wonderful friend that I am, I bought some cookie dough off a friend of mine to support her son's hockey team. I knew it was a risky move but hey, what kind of Canadian would I be if I didn't support minor hockey, huh?

I had purposely left the offending dough in the freezer at work because I knew what kind of havoc those two tubs of deliciousness were going to wreak if I brought them any closer to my oven than they already were. Unfortunately, the building maintenance people weren't as understanding of my dilema as they decided to shut the power off in my building---ultimately forcing me to take the dough home.

UGH. My entire weekend was one giant, up-hill cookie battle.

My plan was to bake them and get them into other peoples bellies as quickly as possible. Everytime we had friends over this weekend, in went a batch of cookies. Anytime Ian wanted a snack, instead of suggesting something healthy as I'd normally do, I whipped out the cookie batter. I was doing well and had managed to get rid of over half of the dough in record time.

I knew it was too good to be true.

I caved. Not in a big way, but I gave up and let the cookies conquer me. I managed to escape fairly unscathed though, eating only two cookies all weekend, which I still consider an accomplishment because let me tell you, there were moments when I was ready to give up everything just to devour all that sweet, sweet goodness.

I guess that means my will power is still in tact after a month on Weight Watchers. Hurrah! My next weigh in is on Thursday at noon, and I really think I deserve an extra pound loss just for saying no to what I can only imagine would have been zillions of extra calories...

Screw you, cookies!!

0.2 is my new least favorite number...

That is because that's all I lost this week. 0.2! What a kick in the proverbial balls that was. I was definitely disappointed because I know that I worked hard and ate well this week. I tried not to get too bummed out because I know that bodies can do really stupid things at really inconvenient times. So, onto next week I suppose. I'll continue to work out and eat well and I imagine it will pay off. And since announcing my weekly weight loss goal didn't really work out for me this time, I'm gonna keep my mouth shut about what I hope happens next week at the scale.

Instead, I would like to talk about how much I hate my car.

I drive a 1994 aquamarine Toyota Tercel. Yup, that's right, a real top notch machine. It's got power NOTHING, no a/c and a cassette deck. Although, on a positive note, I did recently find my NKOTB Hangin' Tough tape, so I suppose that's a plus....driving around Barrhaven blasting some New Kids? Pretty sweet deal, right?

Anyways, don't get me wrong, I'm very appreciative that my parents gave me this car, as I have no car payments and minimal insurance costs, but it's seriously impossible to look remotely cool driving it. Sure there are still other Tercels on the road besides mine, but they're typically being driven by 19 year old Good Charlotte-loving, tattooed teenagers, not by 29 year old professionals. So, I'm thinking, maybe once I reach my weight goal, I can invest in a new ride as a reward!

Now, what car to buy? It would have to be one that suits life in Barrhaven. Nothing cracks me up more than seeing dudes cruising around Barrhaven in their Hummers. Thumbs up guys! You are Barrhaven's elite...living the dream! Hmmm, I'm getting a bit mean here aren't I? I suppose I should go now.

Needless to say my night will be filled with vegetables and treadmills...again.

Thanks for reading. Later!

In a perfect world, slopitch would be considered exercise...

So, I'll just get straight to it...slopitch needs some modifications. I wasn't able to get to the gym last night because I had errands and two slopitch games. If it were any other sporting event, I wouldn't worry about skipping the gym, because I'd most likely still be getting a work out. Playing slopitch is definitely the exception here. It's got to be one of the only sports where you can spend two and a half hours playing it, but most likely ingest more calories than you burn off, thanks to slopitch's trusty sidekick---beer. Now, I didn't actually drink any beer, but I also most definitely didn't burn more than 50 calories.

So here's what I'm suggesting to make softball a more figure-friendly game.

1. Running the bases when you get out and NOT when you get a hit. Given that, on average, I get out much more often than I get on base, this would definitely help get my heart rate up more.

2. Jumping Jacks in the on deck circle. Why not? Not like swinging the bat has actually improved my hitting any.

3. Leap frog instead of just shaking hands at the end of each game. Lots more fun for everyone!

Anyways, I might bring these suggestions to my league and see what they say.

So, aside from missing a work out, my eating has remained decent. Weigh in is tomorrow so I'm going to make sure I track all my foods today and get in a tough and sweaty work out tonight. If anybody has any fun suggestions for sweat-your-face off workouts, I'd love to hear them! I'm beyond bored of the machines at the gym and aside from embarassing myself by actually running in daylight, outdoors, where people can see me, I'm sorta stuck for ideas!

That's probably it for now. But you can bet your knickers that I'll be back to report on weigh in tomorrow after lunch.

Later!!

Things I never thought I'd do...

Number one: Yell the word "boat" over and over and over for 45 minutes at the end of a six hour car trip. But I did it. For some reason, that was the only thing that kept my 21 month old baby boy from wailing at the top of his lungs. I have a strange kid. Oh, for the record, this game started when I pointed out a boat being pulled by a trailer on the 401, I didn't just develop road trip-induced tourettes.

Anyways, it was an interesting ending to a great weekend. As I mentioned, I travelled home to Ayr this past weekend to attend my parents' 40th wedding anniversary festivities. It was a great day filled with lots of laughs. It always cracks me up watching my parents and all their friends get together. The stories they rattle off are just plain bonkers. Without fail there's mention of Ol' Jimmy drivin' his '56 Ford Flooperdoodle (???) into the pond and crazy ol' Bobby Joe stealing the mascot from the local diner. Ahhh, the memories.

Somehow I don't think those are the types of stories that we're going to be telling in 40 years. I'm pretty sure in my stories, ol "Bobby Joe" would more than likely be dunking a naked "Ol' Jimmy" into a large downtown water fountain...or something like that.

But, I digress.

I had a pretty good weekend, eating-wise. I managed to stay "on-points" Friday and Sunday. Yay me. Saturday, I used a few of the trusty ol' flex points to enjoy a piece of the giant Costco carrot cake that practically forced my mouth open and stuffed itself inside. Mmmm, so worth it.

I didn't get much exercise in but on Saturday I did chase Jack around for about 5 hours straight, so that has to count for something.

Anyways, I'm just back from my Monday workout and am definitely looking forward to weigh-in on Thursday. I'm still hoping for a 3.5lb loss this week so cross your fingers for me!!

Alright, I'm off to watch my boyfriend, Aaron Hill, play some ball, so until next time remember: I rock a mic like a vandal.

Later!

I hate girls who don't perspire...

Ok. So I don't "hate" girls who don't sweat, but there is a very thin line between raging jealousy and hate in my world. When I go for a workout at the gym, I usually emerge looking like a sweaty Mickey Rourke. It's not a pretty sight. So I hope you can understand why sometimes I feel like drop-kicking the tiny women at my gym, who were clearly born without pores.

Of course, I secretly just want to BE these women, but when I'm trying to make my stealthy escape from the gym, avoiding as many grocery shoppers as I can (my gym is on the 2nd floor of a Loblaws) it never fails that the yoga class just finishes and I get stuck shuffling out to my car amidst 20 teeny tiny non-perspiring, spandex-wearing, robo-babes---instantly deflating my much-loved "after-gym" high.

Alright, I'll stop my rant there. Needless to say, I did make it to the gym last night. I had a great workout and treated myself to a leisurely 45 minute stroll around the grocery store afterwards. Now, to your average childless person that might sound as exciting as a trip to the proctologist, but to those parents out there, particularily the moms, you know that a childless trip to the store is about as close to nirvana as you can get.

So, aside from enjoying some alone time, I actually did have a purpose for being at the grocery store. I'm headed home, to Ayr, to visit my parents this weekend and I needed to arm myself with "zero point" foods. You see, when I visit home, I lose all sense of will power and revert back to the eating habits of my teenage years which include stuffing my face with bags of chips, boxes of crackers and of course, Mr. Noodles. Unfortunately, Weight Watchers doesn't really support eating 350 points a day, so I'm going to have to figure out something else. I'm hoping that something else will involve lots of salads, lean proteins, fruits and most likely a light beer or two. Wish me luck!

On the Jack front, he's growing like a weed---a very cute and chubby weed. At his 21 month check up today he clocked in at 30lbs and is 35 inches tall. Woah. Grandioso bambino! I must say though, he's done a great job growing into his cheeks. I've always known Jack was a big baby, but I never realized just what a tub he was until I looked back at his photos from his first year. How did I miss all that fat? I love it!

And with that, I should get back to work. Even for the government, I've probably stretched this lunch hour just a bit too far.....

Till next time boyeeeee!

El premiero blogo

First blog. High five!

This could very well be my last blog, who knows. I can't imagine who'd want to read about me, but maybe I've been underestimating the excitement that is my life. Maybe the world's been dying with anticipation, waiting to read about the life of a pudgy suburban mom? Yes? Anybody?

Well, here goes. I'm 29 and I live in the burbs with my 21 month old baby and my 32 year old toddler. Ha. We have a very lazy dog, Brutus, whom I love despite his unfortunate ability to clear a room with his SBDs (silent but deadlies...). Is that too much info for a first blog? I don't know. Maybe. Regardless, it makes for some funny moments watching our house guests attempt to ignore the sudden onset of rotting pig carcus-like odour emitted by Brutus.

Ok, so really, I didn't come here just to talk about the bodily functions of my dog.

Back to it...I currently hold down a monotonous, unfulfilling, "why am I still here" job with the Canadian government. Unfortunately, it is this very job that allowed me to spend a full and paid year off with my then newborn baby boy and will once again grant me the same luxury should I ever decide to repeat the whole 'having children' process. So, it's a safe bet that I'll still be here in another 25 years, joining the thousands of other old, disgruntled public servants that live in this town. Ah, to have a dream.

One of the main reasons I wanted to start blogging was to track and record my efforts to lose weight and get into some sort of shape. Like most other pudgy girls, I've "committed" to losing weight about 4, 564 times in the last year but for reasons I'll never understand (read: am in deep denial about) I just haven't stuck with it. So, what better way to keep myself honest than by sharing my struggles with the world...which right now probably consists of my fiancé and my buddy Ashley, who are most likely the only two people reading this ...

Oh crap. I should probably talk about my son first. My little boy Jack, the reason I gained 60 pounds in 9 months. I love him so. Ha! Of course I love him. I LOVE my little boy! I used to always roll my eyes at parents who laid those "love of my life", "never loved anything so much", "my life wasn't complete until I had him" lines on me but turns out, they were all right. Dammit! My name is Courtney and I'm a Jack-aholic.

Jack is the funniest, cutest, cuddliest, perfect-est boy I've ever met! Everyday he does something that makes me laugh my head off and every night I still get butterflies in my stomach when I kiss his sleeping little head goodnight. It's unreal. And it's not just me who thinks this way. My lululemon water bottle tells me that:

Children are the orgasm of life. Just like you did not know what an orgasm was before you had one, nature does not let you know how great children are until you actually have them.

So true, lululemon, so true. Make your pants cheaper. God.

OK, so back to weight loss. I joined Weight Watchers, three weeks ago, for the THIRD time since I had Jack (Sept 07). Needless to say, I'm a little wary. I've failed twice already. But, third time's a charm, right? It has to be. I have a beautiful pair of size 8s DYING to be worn again. I don't want to let them down this time. So, good news, I've done well so far. I'm just starting week three now. My week one weigh in saw me lose 4.5 lbs. Yay. At my week two weigh in, I lost another 2lbs. So, down 6.5lbs in two weeks is a-ok in my books. I'm really hoping to get down another 3.5lbs by next week as that will take me to 10lbs. Stay tuned!

On the fitness side of things, I'm typically at the gym 4 times a week. I train with my wonderful trainer Lindsay 3x a week and punch in an extra few hours on my own. The gym is a complex thing. I can dread it all day, create elaborate excuses for why I absolutely cannot go spend 60 of the 1440 minutes of my day engaging in physical activity, only to absolutely shine after I've gone. The 'after-gym' feeling is definitely one of my top 5 favorite feelings. It ranks right up there with the 15 min post-advil liquigels/my hangover is gone feeling (such a good feeling, fyi).

Anyways, right now I'm feeling pretty good about both the fitness side and the weight loss side of things. Despite this, I'm still nervous that I'm just going to unexplicably fall off the wagon one day and resign myself to a life of pudge. I really don't want that to happen, so the best I can do is take it day by day, believe in myself and remember that I have some REALLY expensive skinny clothes in my closet :)

Till next time boyeeee!