Sweet deals and a weight loss landmark

Here in Monmouth County, NJ, we've had what feels like a weekly snow storm. This week's storm did not disappoint. For fear of heading to work and being unable to make it home, I stayed home Thursday. On Thursday night, the storm only intensified, so the courthouse was closed Friday. In other words, I only had a three-day work week... again. I wouldn't complain if it weren't for the fact that I'm working for school credits. Anyway... snowstorm = staying inside watching movies and playing on the computer... ZERO calories burned; trust me.

On Friday, I decided to break my weekly tradition of stepping on the scale first thing Tuesday morning and instead, weigh myself that morning. I have passed a very significant weight landmark for myself! It really made my day. I weighed myself midday today, and as it stands, I've lost 6 pounds this week! It's fantastic!!! I just hope the weight loss continues into Tuesday when I have my official weigh in. If not, I'd be so disappointed.

Here are my WW point totals so far this week:

Tues: 22/7

Wed: 26/27

Thurs: 27/27

Fri: 20/27

Sat: 26/27

I went to South Jersey on Saturday evening to meet with DJ Wil of http://www.diamonddjandsound.com. I got to the mall a little early so I went to Macy's with my Star Rewards coupons handy to look for wedding earrings. After 40 minutes, with Dani's help, I walked out with a sweet deal on these earrings (and a second pair of earrings suitable for work). As far as my meeting with the DJ goes, DJ Wil was very personable yet professional, and his prices were VERY reasonable. I really look forward to working with him. He makes me feel as though the life of my party is in good hands.

Today, I drug Dani (bridesmaid) and Wayne (best man and Dani's fiance) to the Columbus Farmer's Market in hopes of finding wedding stuff. Well I got a great hounds-tooth scarf at a great price AND... metal scoops  for the candy buffet! I looked around for large, clear glass bowls and canisters for the candy, but due to the weather, there weren't many vendors out. I'm definitely going back when the weather gets a little warmer so I can check it out again.

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS (since heaviest): 50 lbs!

Wedding Overload

This past weekend, I went on wedding planning overload, and I loved most of it. On Saturday, I drug my MOH along to the florist (Classic Floral Designs-- Cinnaminson, NJ) as I decided on all my flowers for the big day AND made my first deposit. I love working with them! They know my vision, and they are willing to work within any budget... even mine. It was stressful because I was really looking forward to using white anemones, but the florist cannot get them until January. I was so upset. I had to come up with a white flower off the cuff. Well, in the end, I ordered 3 red bouquets of carnations and gerberas with the black centers and 3 white bouquets for my MOH and sisters made of carnations and gerberas with black centers. I love the fluffy look of lots of carnations together, but alone they feel too cheap to me. My bouquet will be a red, fluffy mix of dahlias, tulips, ranniculus, and roses. All the bouquets will be wrapped in a polka dotted ribbon and instead of greens, I'm using black feathers! Tre chic. LOL. The centerpieces I ordered some centerpieces will be dahlias and red carnations just like above in a cube vase with a ribbon trim. The other flowers are pretty typical, so they're not worth mentioning. 

On Sunday, I met with my future photographer, Richard Press (http://photokin.com). I found him through a vendor search on http://www.onewed.com after my photographer decided to go AWALL. I really like Richard's work. I can't wait to see what he does for our big day. I attempted to take him to the church and where I'm thinking about pictures. By then end of our long meeting, I was so excited to work with him. I was alarmed by his price list at first, but he was able to work within my budget... mostly. Speaking of which, I better get back to him so we can finalize things.

Later that day, I had a phone interview with a DJ I found through Craigslist (http://www.diamonddjandsound.com). I know, Craigslist... I was hesitant as well, but after getting such quick responses from him and speaking to him over the phone I feel assured that he's a professional. Dan and I have another option now, both within the same price point, both slightly over budget. I'm heading to South Jersey again this weekend to meet with him in person and see him in action at a local pub.

SO, as promised-- here are some photos I have of wedding things.

Here is the wedding cake topper I purchased. This is the before shot. I haven't applied the crystals yet. 

These are our wedding bands! It's hard to see, I know, but mine is white gold with diamonds in a channel setting, and Dan's is a Tungsten polished band.

If your listening...

Well, another week has passed. I have noticed that I'm falling of the wagon a little bit-- not in a sense that I'm eating terribly, but such that I haven't been calculating my points. I guess you could say I got lazy. I've noticed that just as I expected from the start, making things from scratch or eating out can be discouraging when calculating points. Unless I have the nutritional information for the food or I am able to Google the information for the generic dish, it's freaking impossible. Sure, I could try to guess points based on the ingredients, but I feel it would be more work than it is worth. So, I went back and calculated my points for this past weekend, where I thought I had gone terrible off course. As it turns out, I didn't do TOO bad.

I've noticed that some family/friends are more supportive than others. My grandmother, for example, was practically force feeding me pizza and cheesesteaks. I convinced her to order me a side salad so I could fill up on that and only have a slice of pizza. She harassed me about only having a slice, so I took a 3 inch piece of cheesesteak. Then, she told me how I needed to finish the remaining 3 inches of "my half." I put my foot down, but I still walked out of there eating 2 slices of pizza, a side salad, and a 3 inch cheesesteak. I guess it could have been worse. In contrast, I have my friend Dani. She's so understanding of my new eating habits, and I'm so thankful. She's the one who had her fiance make low fat alfredo so I could still eat it. Well, this week, he made a roast chicken, baked potato, stuffing, and green beans rather than a big bowl of pasta. It's sweet that they care enough to make dinners that won't make me sacrifice my weight loss. As silly as it sounds, it really means a lot. Here's how the week went:

Tuesday: 24/27
Wednesday: 26/27
Thursday: Not nearly enough... like 12/27 (I had a strange day and I was starving, but I didn't have the chance to eat like I wanted to)
Friday: 25/27 (including dinner out with Kate at a great place called http://www.musclemakergrill.com/. If there's one near you, it's a MUST. I had the turkey taco salad, and I can't wait to go back and try something else.)
Saturday: 33.5/27 (including lunch at the diner with Mel, dinner with my grandma and 2 girl scout cookies-- aka the kiss of death)
Sunday:21.5/27 (including dinner in with Dani and Wayne)
Monday: 27.5/27 (slightly over due to lunch out with Elise. Who would have thought that a tortilla for a wrap could contain 6 POINTS!?)

And for the results... I'm down 2 lbs.! The bad part is that I'm still up 1 lb. due to my weight gained the week before. That's okay! The scale is moving in the right direction. I have to work on getting in more exercise. I've been bad... as in terrible... as in close to nothing. I haven't been sleeping much and my body seems to want to go into hibernation mode. Hopefully, I'll catch up on sleep this week and be back on track next week.

Being around Dan = diet failure

Long time, no see, aye? It's terrible; I know. Well, I'm trying to look back on how I did last week, but I can barely remember last week. I don't want to bore you with a really long post, so here is everything in a nutshell. My "vacation" started Thursday afternoon when I took the train to Albany. Then, I was in NH until Monday night. Traveling + friends = lots of eating out = bad diet.

Tuesday: 27/27
Wednesday: 27/27
Thursday: 38.5/27= 13 + Houlihan's Dinner +2

• some nachos (5)
• most side tuscan salad (6.5)
•  less than 1/2 order of sizzling fajitas (12)

Friday: 23/27 (really?!)

• Dunkin Donuts egg white and cheese on a whole wheat english muffin (5.5)
• Domino's Pizza:1 slice of ham w/ veggies and a smalll piece of cheesy bread (7.5)
• School Dinner: veggie lasagna (2.5), chicken Cacciatore over egg noodles (3.5), sausage onion pepper marinara (2), wine (2)

Saturday: 37/27

• blt & fries (16)
• 1.25 bread sticks (3)
• 1.5 tuscan toast (prosciutto, mozzerella, tomato, balsamic, basil) (4)
• 1/2 fire roasted veggie risotto (8)
• 3 piece of candy (6)

Sunday in VT: 48/27

• Einstein Bagels (5)
• Brewery
• 12 oz. snakebite (2)
• 1.5 cheddar broccoli potato skins (3)
• Rachel Sandwich (16?!)
• chocolates (8.5)
• dinner (13.5)

Monday: 39/27

• breakfast: 13 points
• WW cookie (1)
• lunch: 8
• Dinner @ D'Angelos (17)

UPDATE: Weigh in: +3 lbs!!! I'm devastated.

Weigh in

Super Bowl Sunday 

I knew this day's food intake could get ugly so I tried to eat small leading up to dinner. I even took a brief stroll along the sea wall (through 2 ft. snow drifts). Well, I've learned that I don't do well with the snack-style dinner. I definitely over eat. The worst I did was 3 boneless buffalo wings (that weren't even that good), but I also ate tomato bruschetta, hummus, chili, tortilla chips and sour cream salsa dip.  Best part: a 2" brownie!!! I knew the brownie would cost me 5 points so I savored it. God, it was worth it. I freaking love brownies. It was so difficult to only eat one. I wanted more sweet things so I ended up drinking 2 cans of diet, caffeine-free Pepsi (my first soda in awhile). The worst part was that I didn't measure things so I have an even harder time estimating points. I know on "dinner and dessert" I consumed at least 14 points... 

Sunday's Points Total: 31.5/27 (estimated)

Monday with Kate

I ate well all day, even had my 2 snacks (before lunch and late afternoon while I wait for my train), but for some reason I was still famished when I got home around 6 pm. I changed out of my work clothes, which were tainted with the remnants from a greek yogurt gone wild, and had a Vitamuffin as a snack while I waited for Kate. I thought it was weird to eat a Vitamuffin as a snack since it was something I usually have for breakfast, but it is only 1 point and very filling. I know how I tend to eat poorly when I'm out with Kate, so I didn't want to risk leaving hungry. We shopped at Target for hours. I got 2 cute cardigans for work, a hot pink makeup bag, and a silver sequin tank top. Best part: For the first time EVER, I bought the tank top in a LARGE! That's night, no "X"s! I was so thrilled! Unfortunately, I also bought one of the cardigans in a 2XL. What the hell? Seriously. Either way, I'm still thrilled about the large!

We went to Applebee's for a late dinner, and we were both starving at that point. Kate picked Applebee's because they have WW menu items to choose from. I had a house salad (lettuce, grape tomatoes, and 4 croutons) with WW dressing to start and the WW garlic chicken for my entree. It was good. There were 5 small hunks of boiled red potato, a mound of broccoli drenched in a garlic and fake butter sauce, and a perfectly grilled chicken breast brushed with the garlic sauce. All in all, I ate only 10.5 points!

Monday's Points Total:  25.5/27

I haven't been feeling too confident in my weight loss this week. I went over on my points almost every day. I felt horrible about it. I was hesitant to step on the scale this morning, especially after going to dinner late last night. Drum roll please.... I lost 2 pounds. I was a tad disappointed that it wasn't more, but I can't say I'm surprised. When I think realistically, I should be really happy with that considering I went over my points almost every day and I did not have the opportunity to exercise much at all. If I try to stay on target this week and hit the gym at least once when I visit Dan, I should be even better off! Plus, my friend at work lent me her box set of 5 Jillian Michaels' workout DVDs. I'm excited to try them out, but I'm also nervous. This is going to sound stupid, but I feel as though I'm too out of shape for her routines. I know, I know-- It will get me in shape, but I feel like she makes me push myself too hard. But what do I know? I'm just the fat kid. I could be making excuses for myself.

OMG! I'm never going to get into this dress!

I need to lock myself in a room while I diet because socializing is HORRIBLE for my healthy eating habits. Here's what went down:

Friday
There was a retirement party at work so the office decided to hide the microwave. How am I supposed to heat my frozen entree without a microwave? It got to be about 2 p.m. when I had to say something... I had little choice but to eat the food provided by the office. I'd like to think I was reasonable in my choices. I had a half of a plate of salad, skimping on the ranch dressing (my only option), followed by my estimation of one cup of penne with marinara sauce (judging with my fist). I was SHOCKED to discover that despite skipping the garlic bread and the cake, I was still full! I walked out of a social lunch with only like 7 WW points.

That night, Lynn made spaghetti and meatballs for a group of us. I didn't want to seem difficult or rude by not eating with everyone else. I made myself steamed broccoli to eat on the side. I had a cup of angel hair with minimal sauce and 3 small, homemade meatballs. WELL! I spoke to my mother today. It turns out that homemade beef meatballs are 5 points EACH (not including the sauce), bringing me to a dinner points total of 21!!! I had no idea... I am so upset.... and I love meatballs. And to think, I thought I was being reasonable by eating only 3! Go figure. I want to hate myself right now.
Friday Points Total: 42/27

Saturday

Alex made a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich this morning that smelled SOOO good so I had to make one. Rather than scrambling my eggs and eating more than one or using 3 pieces of bacon, I had an egg (fried in PAM) with 1/2 piece of cheese, and 2 pieces of bacon on an Arnold's Sandwich Thin (5.5 points). I had an AMAZING pineapple greek yogurt for a snack that filled me up most of the afternoon. Then, late in the afternoon I had a salad. For dinner, a group of us sat down to chili and fried fish. I ate 1.5 servings (10.5 points total) with nonfat sour cream and a smudge of parm cheese. I tried a bite of cod with tartar sauce. Then, they brought out the ice cream cake for Alex's 1/2 birthday. I didn't want to eat it. I didn't need to eat it. But truth is, they served it to me, and I didn't want to be rude. I swapped for the smallest piece, but it was still about 5 points. Thanks to that ice cream cake I am now 5 points over... again.
Saturday's Total Points: 32/27  

I have now used 22.5 of my 35 extra points for the week. I am never going to lose weight this way. I think I have learned my lesson: during the week, it is best if I eat a bigger breakfast because I won't make my daily points without that. On the weekends, I have to eat low points during the day because I know that I will eat more points when I'm around others. I'm disappointed in myself. It doesn't help that we had what NJ would consider a blizzard, and there is NO WAY I'm doing cardio in front of a house of people!

Pretty Boring

I haven't written because there hasn't been much to write about. I have noticed that I have finally hit the point where my body is looking forward to my morning and afternoon snack. Sometimes it is an apple, a Fiber One granola bar, or some yogurt, but the little snack helps. Due to me eating these two snacks a day, I'm finding myself coming in near my daily points goal each day. I even have to plan my dinner around the points I have left now!

Thursday I was careful to leave myself enough points to have fruit from my Edible Arrangements basket.
Wednesday's Points Total: 27/27

I had a bad day yesterday and all I wanted to do as take a nap in hopes of escaping my migraine. I rested for a bit and got up at 8 p.m. I forced myself to eat because I knew it would be best for my body. Well, I went from not being hungry to eating more points than I should have. I had a spicy Spanish-style Smart One that I jazzed up with salsa, sour cream, guacamole, and tortilla chips. On the bright side, I can't beat myself up about going over my daily points because I'm alloted an additional 35 points a week for these occasions. Still, I'd rather not use them unless I have to. Strangely enough, I went drastically over on my points LAST Thursday as well. I wonder if that's a coincidence.
Thursday's Points Total: 29.5/27

Despite going slightly over my points last night, I swear my pants are slightly looser in the waist. Yay! If only the thigh area felt the same... For my morning snack, I tried honey flavored non-fat Greek yogurt. Everyone has been encouraging me to try it. I think it was okay. I felt like I was eating softened cream cheese. I added granola, which was good, but I think I'd like some berries or something in there instead to break up the creaminess. I have a pineapple one at home that I can't wait to try.

Ground Hog's Day

I haven't heard if the ground hog saw his shadow or not so I don't know if we're having six more weeks of winter. Regardless, it snowed again today. The cold whether needs to go so I can finally start doing more cardio outdoors. I really miss the gym, especially the weight machines and the elliptical. When I visit Dan in NH, I'll have to plan a visit or two to the gym.

Tuesday's points total: 22.5/27

Happy Birthday to Me

Yesterday, I was my 24th birthday. I was really worried that my birthday was going to be lame since: 1) it was on a Monday so I had to work, and 2) I was going to be away from Dan.  Well, I was running late to catch my train and I heard on the radio that due to a passenger fatality, the trains were running 45-60 minutes late. Strangely enough, although the three trains before mine were canceled, mine arrived only 3 minutes late, however, the train was PACKED and we did have to travel at a reduced speed due to "traffic," so we still arrived more than 30 minutes late. No big deal. I went to lunch with a fellow intern at Harvest Table, a place I heard about through the young assistant prosecutors. It was so diet friendly with lots of healthy yet tasty menu items. Since I was still "recovering" from The Cheesecake Factory I choose to create my own healthy salad with low calorie sweet roasted garlic vinaigrette and a slice of homemade wheat Italian bread. I can't wait to go back there for a turkey burger or a panini. 

I came "home" to a few nice surprises. My cake topper came in (picture coming soon) and it's bigger than I anticipated, which is a good thing. Now, I have to go to a craft store to buy some small "crystals" to glue to it... I wanted the look, but didn't want to pay the manufacturer an additional $20 for something I can do easily for around $3. LOL. I had a birthday card and then the best surprise... an edible arrangement basket with a balloon!!! I was so surprised and excited. I've always wanted one! I used to tell Dan all the time so I figured  he actually took some initiative and got me one... nope. My "twin" sent it to me! I have the best "law school friend" ever. It's like being best friends with myself... but better. LMAO! I miss my law school pals. There are some, like her, that I can tell I will be in touch with for a long time. So, back to the story-- I snacked on a chocolate covered strawberry, a chocolate covered banana, and some other fruit before dinner. Today, I'm being sure to save some points for more tasty goodies. Yum.

I made a garlic chicken voila meal I picked up weeks ago. I ate half of it, which made calculating points confusing because the bag contained 3.5 servings (what a strange amount). I was so bummed when I was looking at the nutrition facts calculating the points because I saw that it contained TRANS FAT! I can't believe I missed that when I bought it. I NEVER buy anything with trans fat. I felt gross afterward. LOL. Now I know I need to shop a bit slower. Speaking of shopping, I need to go out tonight for some healthy snacks and more dinner foods. I like grocery shopping. Is that weird?

So, on to the best news for the day (although the day just started): It's Tuesday, so I have officially been counting my WW Points for a week and... drum roll please... I'm down 3 lbs. since last week! That brings me to 4 lbs. since I've been in NJ and 8 lbs. since the holidays. It's not much, but it is a step in the right direction. And I'm PMSing, which means I'm retaining water, so the numbers could get even better next week.  I'm excited!

Monday's total points: 27 / 27