Hello Gorgeous

Okay so it has been a month since the last time I blogged. I need to put my foot down and be committed to blogging. This is all so new to me. First of all the title is about my beautiful brand new bike. Yesterday was my 44th birthday and I have been wanting a new bike for a while. I was going to use my old bike (really old more than 20 years old) but the updates did not take. My sweet old man did the best that he could but in the end it did not work. I wanted a bike like msbitchcakes. So yesterday, I saw that a pink Schwinn was on sale and I went straight to Toys R Us after work and purchased it. I even rode it home just to make sure it works. It does but I sure am a little rusty. But I have been wanting a new shiny girly pink bike for a while and now I have one.
        As far as my weight loss is concerned, I am doing well but this week was a bad one. Here is my weight for the last four weeks;
June 8: 245.2 minus 2.8 lbs
June 15: 244.4 minus 0.8 lbs
June 22: 244.8 plus .04 lbs
June 29: 242.8 minus 2 lbs
July 6: 246.2 plus 3.4 lbs

      For anyone struggling with weight loss, this can be tough; especially if you are a big girl like me. But sometimes you have to look at it and go " it's not the end of the world". I have chosen to go a scientific route. Last week was the beginning of my vacation week. I stayed home with my family which is absolutely great because it gives me a chance to do and take the time to enjoy the things I want to try like a new workout or extended workouts or new recipes. But the first thing I screwed up was my water pill prescription. I skipped one day and on weigh in day I went to pick up my refill only to find out that I picked it up already. Yes, I am becomming forgetful. The next thing I did was I started to do the walk/jog combination for the first time. I did it on Friday and Saturday and I am still very sore. It is important to remember that you may retain some water when you teach old muscles new tricks. So I am probably retaining a litlle muscle repair water as well. Last but not least, I ate a couple of things that I had been avoinding for a while. Here is what I ate out of the norm;
*10 banana Laffy Taffys
* 3 pieces of fried chicken (I fried it myself)
*McDonalds Southwest salad w/ grilled chicken
*McDonalds small Wild Berry Smoothie
*a bialy
*cornbread
*Jack Daniels
*crabmeat salad
       Not all those things are bad for you but they were not my friends this week either.
       I did quite a bit of exercising this week because I had the time that I normally have on the weekend. I would walk around the track in my neighborhood at least five times. Each lap is almost a mile so in the end I was averaging almost five or more miles a day of activity. Here are the points I was able to earn.
Tues: all day 3pts
Wed.: laps around track = 4pts
Thurs.: 100 minutes walking around track = 8pts
Fri: 100 mins Walk/jog combination( 8 sets of 3minutes jogs) = 8pts
Sat: Walk/ jog combo @ 12085 steps = 7pts
Sun: rest day
Mon: 4 laps walking around track plus errands = 15,826 steps = 9pts
     Not bad for a big girl.
        This week's Weight Watchers topic was about getting in the right amount of produce every day. I really do not have a problem with that because I love fruits and veggies. I could even see myself being a vegetarian in the distant future. When I worked I eat fruit each day. I have two navel oranges with my breakfast most days( because it's like having orange juice and it's good for someone who takes blood pressure meds). When I make salad for lunch, I always pickup and apple or berries to add to my salad. It gives my salad a kick.

 Sometimes I eat the fruit separately as a lunch dessert.  There is always and extra piece of fruit in my desk drawer in case I get the munchies. No vending machines for me. I have two cups of salad mix (iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes) and sometimes I add extras like red onions, red or yellow peppers, olives. Also, there should be protein to keep up a satisfaction feel. At dinner we eat lots of broccoli because Jacob really only likes broccoli. That does not stop the rest of us from eating all of the vegetables I know how to cook like cabbage, collard greens, sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, corn &green beans. In addition to those side dishes,  I like to add sauteed onions, mushrooms and peppers to broiled meat dishes. My latest concoction is sauteed onions and granny smith apples. The first time I made it my hubby came over to me and said I need to see this every week. I have obliged his request for the last three weeks with pleasure. My meeting leader Melanie suggested a challenge this week to have half of your plate with veggie at your meals. This is hard for my male carnivores at home. They are happy to eat veggies as long as there is plenty of meat ( I tried to have vegetarian days but found my poor hubby in the kitchen one night looking for a leftover piece of meat).
       So tonight, our merry band of 5Kers are having our first of the month 5K's planned out by the amazing Tamra who has lost 75 pounds. My sons say they are going to attend as well. We end our 3.1 miles walk at the California Pizza Kitchen.  Here are some of the other things I hope to accomplish this week;

-jog/walk combination on Saturday
-riding my brand spanking new bike
-walking down Fifth Avenue from 71st to my job at least four times
-taking all of my water pills
-taking all my vitamins
-journaling-maybe even pre-journaling