trick or treat, smell my feet!

do you guys get annoyed when i post pictures of things we're NOT supposed to have?

anyway, hi! let me just say that i'm glad i don't have kids coming home with bags of candy this weekend! but this giant bucket of goodness is in my kitchen ready to pass out tomorrow night. i stood next to it while i made my tea tonight, and i wasn't even slightly tempted. which made me think about how pre-reboot, i would have grabbed one of each candy bar and taken it back to my room to eat in bed while watching tv. i'm ashamed by how little thought i gave to the things i put into my mouth before.

in anticipation of halloween being difficult, i gave my mom several bags of smarties and asked her to pass those out this year. i knew i would never be tempted by smarties! she said, "we can't just hand out smarties, our house will be toilet papered!" i claimed that no one cares what kind of candy you give out, but tonight i found this online poll naming smarties the lamest of all halloween candies, so i guess it's good that she added the other stuff. as long as i keep not eating it, everything will be ok.

zumba was a lot of fun today. several people dressed up, so i didn't feel out of place in my panda costume. we got apples and cereal bars as treats, and she did a zumba cd giveaway. there was a lot of energy in the room, and i worked at 100% of my ability. the difference between what i can do on sunday afternoon vs. saturday morning is remarkable. i'll just never be a morning person.

tomorrow i'm going back to my mean green juice. i needed a break because it was impossible to get down after a month or so. but this week is the final push before i leave for NYC with the band friday morning, and i am so determined to leave ohio 30 pounds lighter than i was at our last gig on labor day. i had been at only 3.5 pounds left to goal on friday morning. but after "the dressing incident" i now have to take off 5 pounds in 5 days. crapola.

i know it's not like i FAILED if i "only" lost 28 pounds...but i set this goal and i want to make it happen. if that means two trips to the Y every day this week, then so be it. if it means shaving my head and cutting off my fingernails, then that's what i'll do. ok, that was a lie.

i saw a post on the facebook page today that really grabbed my attention:

Day 8. Nine pounds. I woke up this morning with a feeling I couldn't immediately identify. It's something pretty foreign to me. I have spent my adult life (I'll bet like most of you) on one diet or another. I am a diet expert. It's the results part that have eluded me. I can stick to a diet like nobody's business, but that's hard to justify when the weight loss just doesn't come. Today I realized I'm feeling........hope.

i could have written this post myself. for only the second time in my life that i can remember, i feel like i might really succeed at getting to a healthy weight. and the other time i felt that kind of hope i was on the complete opposite path, on the atkins diet. this time i feel like i've got a healthier plan, and that gives me even MORE hope. 

and now i've got to get some sleep. the Y opens in 5 hours and 15 minutes, so the crazies will probably start lining up in about an hour. i'm smiling as i visualize myself breaking up the fitness friends again tomorrow morning!

Zzzzzumba

7:20am came too soon. i did NOT want to get out of bed for zumba and yoga. i never do, but today was worse. i tried to come up with excuses not to go, but at 7:40 i knew i had to work off last night's foodfest, so i went to the Y. normally once i'm there i'm fine and happy. today, not so much. i never really woke up. i pretty much half-assed zumba until the last 3 songs. i fell asleep during meditation in yoga. i heard her say "melt into your mat" and then "sit up when you're ready" and missed the 10 minutes between those statements. turns out that a common side effect of being pregnant with a food baby is sudden onset coma.

i came home and went back to bed. i spent the whole time shivering. no matter what i did, i couldn't get warm. for a little while i thought maybe i was getting sick. finally i went and dug out another blanket and i felt better.

got on the scale before and after my nap, and it was the same both times. up 1.5 pounds from yesterday morning. the tea had already done its job, so i couldn't tell myself it was THAT. could i have truly gained 1.5 pounds of fat from what i ate last night after 2 workouts and only about 150 other calories during the day? probably not, but it's still disheartening to see it on the scale. if i had the decision to make over again, i don't think i'd be able to change it though. i am powerless against that particular entree.

so tonight i had made plans to eat with a friend at one of my favorite restaurants, PF changs. this was the compromise from his original suggestion of a pizza/pasta place. instead of reverting back to my old mentality of "well i have already screwed up this weekend, might as well live it up," i prepared myself. before i left i got on their website and reviewed the nutrition information for their menu. i entered all of the "diet friendly" entrees into my phone along with their calorie counts and servings per entree.

we had vegetarian lettuce wraps, which were 97% as delicious as the real deal. YUM, and totally worth the 320 calories, although for the life of me i can't figure out how there are 320 calories in that. for my meal, i had the steamed buddah's feast--baked tofu and mixed vegetables including asparagus, snow peas, broccoli, mushrooms and others - -55 calories, 0 fat. i skipped the rice and had sides of spinach stir fried with garlic (i ate half, for 25 calories and 1.5g fat) and sichuan asparagus -- asparagus wok fired with sichuan preserves, onion, chili flakes and garlic (i had half for 50 calories and 3g fat). not only did i leave there with my belly absolutely stuffed for only 420 calories...but my standard-american-diet eating friend tried all of my selections, loved them, and took home the leftovers that i didn't want to contend with.

if PF chang's wasn't 45 minutes away, i would eat that asparagus several times a week. and i have to hand it to this restaurant. they offer many of their selections in vegetarian variations, and they also have an extensive gluten free menu, which even includes a dessert. plus their regular desserts come in "minis," ranging from 180-220 calories. i had such a good time in such a nice restaurant, and i didn't have to feel left out or deprived. success.

i didn't have dessert at the restaurant, but i had whipped cream, sprinkles and a cherry on top of my evening: i saw my stupid ex boyfriend, and he is a lot fatter and i am a lot skinner than the last time i saw his idiot face.

tomorrow zumba is at 4pm, so i should have no problem waking up for that. plus we get to wear costumes (i'm going to be a panda, duh), and we're doing the "thriller" dance AND we get healthy treats. FUN!