Rrrrroll up the Rrrrrrim

Yes indeed. It's Roll Up The Rim time at Tim Horton's. I love Timmies. They are so polite. Every year I am handed cup after cup that very politely gives me an invitation to visit them again any time! The infamous "please play again" cups! I get one every time. The irritating thing about Roll Up The Rim (RUTR) is the crazy long line ups both in store and at the drive thru's. As if the line ups weren't long enough already! People desperate to win a free coffee, or a muffin! Me? No, I'm content to receive my polite invitation to come back again anytime I feel like it!

Today is Friday. Weigh-in is tomorrow. Today is also dress down day at work so I'm wearing my jeans. I have my own 'rim' that I can roll up! Yep. The tummy fat - probably left behind from Fat Tuesday - has rolled itself over the top of my jeans. I can literally pick it up and roll it now! Roll up the fat! That's my new mantra! I mean, after all, there could be a prize under it!!! Ooooh maybe there's a flat tummy in there somewhere. So what if I roll... up.... and dream of pushing all that rolled up fat into my breasts! Eureka... I rolled up a winner!

Nope, nothing.... so now my middle looks like a muffin. Mmm, muffin...
I'm on my way to Timmies... the muffins are calling me. My flat tummy will have to wait.

Fat Tuesday

Fat Tuesday... the mere sound of that sends shivers up my spine. Today is the day we are supposed to indulge in 'fatness' in preparation for Ash Wednesday... or as it is better known, the start of Lent. So in keeping with a healthy lifestyle, today the cafeteria at the hospital is serving pancakes, bacon, sausages, etc. Strangely Fat Tuesday never really held a fascination over me. The one day of the year that I am NOT obsessed with food, I think. I guess the purpose is to fatten yourself up so that you can live off that fat during lent. Not entirely sure. Sounds reasonable though.

So, here's the problem. What happens when Fat Tuesday started in 1997? I did go through a "lean" period for about 2 years (2002-2003) when I was just 5 pounds away from my ultimate goal weight. Sigh. Really I'm living in Fat Decade. I figure lent can last for about 15 years now! I've got enough padding to see to it that I don't waste away to nothingness. This week at weigh in, I was up 1.6 lbs. That's my first gain in a while, well, since Fat Christmas anyway. I'm calling it Fat Setback. In order to discipline myself to get through this week, I found a new route into work - one that goes right through the centre of just about every underground food court imaginable. I found a Great Canadian Bagel! I thought they were out of business! I was so excited I had to buy a Cheddar Jalapeno Bagel, toasted, with butter. *Note my self control in not getting cream cheese. Hey I'll take every little plus I can! Okay, thought I, one bagel is not going to hurt me. The next day... I had a Cheddar Jalapeno Bagel, toasted, with butter... and a muffin when I got to work. I'm on a downward spiral.

Today - I took the subway! No underground walking which I foolishly call exercise! I did stop at Timmies and got an herbal tea and no muffin, no bagel, nothing. Today, it is Fat Tuesday. Today I will be like Jack Sprat who could eat no fat. Unfortunately the rest of the week I'm more like his wife who could eat no lean!

Today, I am very aware that fatness is all around me (and apparently stuck to my thighs and butt), today I made my lunch, which is lean, and I have it here with me. Today, on Fat Tuesday, I am JACK SPRAT!!!

Tomorrow.... well, that's another story.....

Valentine's Day... I Heart Chocolate

Happy day-after Valentine's day! My weigh-in yesterday - I was down 0.4 lbs again. Okay not earthshaking but hey, that's three weeks in a row with a weight loss, so I'm happy about it.

Yesterday was also Valentine's Day... I need a T-Shirt that says "I survived Valentine's Day". My husband, my biggest supporter, did not buy me chocolate. I was glad he didn't. I was disappointed he didn't. No, really, I was glad he didn't. We decided not to go out for a price-inflated dinner and opted to cook. Yes! I could control what I ate if I ate it at home. So, we had steak - which Scott bbq'd (a little too well done for my liking, but... meh.... still tasted good!) T-Bones! I baked a few potatoes, steamed some asparagus, and made a delicious spinach salad. Very healthy dinner. Until the bread. My weakness is carbs.. bad carbs... like delicious french bread! sigh... tasted great! Okay, I did limit the bread so I did maintain some control. Dinner was great, I didn't finish my steak and gave half of it to Scott.

Oh, I found a new salad dressing that I love! Renee's Wellness, Tuscan Vegetable... 0 points!! HUGE flavour. Try it.

Did I say I 'heart' chocolate? Yep. I do. So while Scott did not buy me chocolate, we did have a delicious chocolate swirl cheesecake for dessert. Why, pray tell, do I not check these things out before I eat them? I had a tiny piece - and I mean tiny - and it was 7 points. 7! ARGH. I vowed never again would I waste so many points on such a tiny bit of food again. NEVER! Oh the determination. The resolve. The guts!

I survived Valentine's Day. Today is Sunday. I had some delicious black-bean soup for lunch with the leftover salad and my new favourite dressing. Total lunch points - 3!! Ya baby. I'm good. I feel in control. I feel successful. I need to celebrate my success...

um....please pass the cheesecake!

Swiss Chalet - Okay!

Hi. My name is Heather. It's been 2 days since my last Swiss Chalet binge. (HI HEATHER)

I am a [hangs head] Swiss Chalet-a-holic. I ate at SC (as we addicts fondly call it) on Saturday. Chicken breast (I ate the skin), fries (I ate the fries) ordered a multigrain roll but got a white roll instead (I ate the roll), and sauce (I had the sauce) and sauce (I had another sauce)... and butter... and coffee (with milk in it, because after all I am watching my weight!)

Damage:
Chicken - 6
Fries - 11
Roll - 2
Butter - 2
Famous Chalet Dipping Sauce (x2) - 2
Coffee - 0
Milk - negligible

Grand total: 23 points

Then, a colleague of mine called and asked if I wanted to grab lunch with her. Grab lunch? Grab my bulging gut instead! "Sure, I'd love to. Where are we going"... Ya, Swiss Chalet. So, determined to be better with my choices, I chose a very healthy lunch but somehow when the server asked me it came out as "Chicken, white, with fries and a multi grain roll... oh and can I have a glass of water please?" Clever, I know... throw in the water to make it "healthy".

Ashamed of myself, and riddled with guilt... I ate my chicken - with the skin, I ate my MULTI-GRAIN roll (one butter thank you!) and I ate most of my fries. I was proud of myself - I left abut 1/2 dozen on my plate! I'm improving! Grand total for lunch: 23 p0ints. Okay, really... who doesn't like SC fries? Really.

I went home that night and had soup. Just soup.

I determined that I must be better at this if I'm ever going to get my wardrobe pay-off. As I rolled into bed I scolded myself and then drifted off with a heartburn filled fitful sleep - fries drenched in sauce were chasing me!

Let's Make A Deal....

Let's Make A Deal... Monty Hall.... game show... come on, you've heard of it!! Hmm, maybe I'm dating myself here. LMAD was a game show where people in the audience dressed in the wackieste costumes they could think of to get the attention of MC Monty Hall. He would then ask them for stupid things like "I'll give you $100 right now if you have a used tea bag in your purse" Usually somebody did! But then there was the big deal at the end "do you want to trade your veg-o-matic chopper for what's behind door number 1, door number 2, or door number 3? And yes people did. Sometimes they got awesome trips, sometimes they got, um, teabags!

Fast forward to 2008 - Deal or no deal. You don't even need a teabag for that one! Just figure out where the money is in the briefcases (held by very trim models) and you win.

Fast forward again - February 8, 2009. Let's Make A Deal or No Deal - Nash version!

Yes, that's right... I struck a deal! I was complaining that I had no clothes to wear - okay well I had clothes, just not anything I liked wearing! sheesh... don't be so technical! Anyway...... My husband asked me the dangerous question about what my 'goal weight' was. Gulp. I told him! Yikes... right out on that proverbial limb! So here's the deal.... My darling man made me a deal - reach my goal weight and he would give me this certain sum of cash to buy a new wardrobe with. Really? Well, hey, if I lose all that weight I'm going to need to unmentionables (to mention them here that would be, well bras, etc.) So the deal includes a seperate budget for lingerie! Oh ya baby.

Deal!

I am pretty darn freaking motivated now. My lunch is packed today. I have healthy fresh lunch in my work fridge here. I have a case of water sitting beside it (I like it room temp). My weigh in on Saturday gave me a bit of oomph as well as I was down 1.4 lbs. Ya, yippee for me! It was a triumph, a small one, but a triumph in an otherwise tough week. I still haven't lost the weight I gained over the Christmas Season! Sigh. But now, oh yes now... the motivation is on!

Hmm... I probably should have negotiated a budget for new shoes too... sans used teabags!

Superbowl, supersize, super disaster!

What do nachos, chili, hot wings, perogi's, and football all have in common? Ya, Superbowl Sunday! Why do they call it superbowl? I mean the trophy isn't shaped like a bowl, as the Stanley CUP and the Grey CUP are! So why 'bowl'?

My theory? Simple... it's because of the HUGE bowls of food that you eat around these events!
Last night my husband and I went to a neighbour's house to watch the superbowl. we consumed all of the above foods plus some (crackers & various cheeses, grapes, strawberries.... veggies & dip, etc.) None of the foods were low fat - okay with the exception of the wee bits of fruit and veggies. The one healthy choice I made was to drink mineral water rather than anything alcoholic or high in sugar, although my neighbour did try to get me to drink... she even poured me a drink which sat in front of me the entire night. At the end of the evening she apologized for trying to force it down my throat!

So, superbowl, supersize, super disaster! My eating.... argh... what can I say? I love wings!! I was able to stand up against the urge to eat nachos... they were so laden in cheese I could feel my arteries clogging just by looking at them. I tried to put a few on my plate but about 1/4 lb of cheese came with it... so I left it - untouched - on my plate. The wings however... wow, at 3 points each, I think I ate an entire day of points in just the wings! sigh...

Thankfully today is Monday and I have all week to eat healthy before weighing in on Saturday. I can do this!