Friday!!!!!!

I never thought it would actually show up - it's Friday...naw, not really. This week flew by, faster than I ever thought a week could fly. So Wednesday I ate at the Country Inn, and yesterday I ate at Subway and Taco John's - not good, not good at all...fortunately, when I got on the scale, I was still at 196. Thank goodness! I need to stop the eating out. But it won't happen this weekend - Andy's coming up, so we'll eat out at least twice I'm guessing. Olive Garden - here we come!

Food Thursday included a chicken bacon ranch sub from subway - got the 9-grain wheat bread. Yummy. Last night I had Taco Johns - their grilled burrito is just sooooo good. I only ate about 6 of my potato oles, not bad, I think! Other than that, I really didn't eat anything else. I've been keeping as busy as I can keep myself so I won't eat. I forget to eat when I'm really busy.

I saw Rachel Getting Married last night - depressing as all heck but Anne Hathaway does a damn good job of playing a whiny selfish recovering addict. Good grief. I hope she wasn't basing it off a real person, I'd hate to think someone could be that obnoxious and needy.

I also saw Red Road and Miss Potter...Red Road was a freaky weird movie from Glasgow, Scotland - interesting story, sad. Slow to get into it, but worth watching. Miss Potter was so sweet - it was Beatrix Potter's story. I have to say I could feel her pain - 34-year old woman living with her parents - of course this was 1902 instead of 2009, but still...Excellent movie, highly recommend it.

I'm still reading Under the Banner of Heaven - savoring it, really. So far it's a collection of people's stories - they'll all tie together I'm gathering, but sooo good.

I think that's all that's gone on...will update you on the Andy weekend come Monday sometime! :)

Good Grease!

Oh dear - I've done it now...I just finished a patty melt w/ french fries from the Country Inn. In about 5 more minutes I'll be rushing to the bathroom. Yag - we call them sliders. And I should eat them, but doggone it, that's good grease!

I need to have some kind of reminder attached to me surgically that reminds me that overeating is miserable and not to do it. blech...

So the last two days have been pretty bad for me...eating WAAAAAAYYYY too much and getting zero exercise. The breakdown:
Monday's food
--diet coke (good grief, I shouldn't even have to type this anymore, should I?)
--2 Karianna's bars
--c. potato/sausage hotdish
--milky way
--pepperoni pizza from the gas station

Tuesday's food
--diet coke
--2 Karianna's bars (thank goodness they're all gone now)
--breakfast burrito from the gas station
--rice/chicken/broccoli bowl
--Joe Jitter's House Salad w/ copious amounts of ranch dressing

add to all this crap, now I've just had that patty melt...ugh...I don't think I want to get on the scale tomorrow morning

On a non-food note, I've finished Inkheart. It was good, i'll read the second book and even intend to see the movie. I'll let you know the comparison. I've started reading Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer...so far, really good. Its about fundamentalist mormons and the wacky (mostly criminal) things they do and get away with.

Russell and I watched The Duchess Monday night...good movie, I think. Kiera Knightly is always interesting to see. Apparently it was based on a true story - sad what people have done to live sometimes.

American Idol is heating up - auditions will be over after tonight and next week is Hollywood week. I'm liking the new judge - she is a good match for Simon and she gets along well with Paula so far! ;)

Waiting for sunshine today - hope you get some too! :)

Patient update

Don't you hate it when you can TELL a person smokes - meaning, they smell like an ashtray, literally? yuk - I've had two of those today.

Meanwhile - I haven't updated you guys on crazy staring lady! She's better!!!!!! She's back!!!!! She's amazing!!!!! I'm so thrilled for her. She was nearly catatonic four months ago and now she's a fully functioning human being. Praise God, I say! She needed to be back - her daughter is 16 and what 16 year old girl doesn't need her mom?

Oh the sunshine...

...that I have missed! I finished a marathon movie watching weekend last night with Defiance. I saw Gran Torino before that and wow - what a Sunday afternoon! It was gorgeous sunshine when I walked in and dark night when I walked out! Both movies are well worth the time and effort to go see. Gran Torino - well - the acting, ugh, I've seen better. Clint Eastwood nails an old codger attitude and speech right ont he head but the kids acting in the movie...not so much. The story was fantastic and I loved hearing people laugh at the racial slurs just as much as I did! :) (Didn't make me feel so silly anyway). The movie even got some applause! The theatre was really full for a Sunday afternoon, I thought. Lots of people there, very surprising for a 4.05 movie. There was a line clear to the door for tickets when i walked in - shocking - but it was a super cold day, so I shouldn't have been surprised, no? Defiance - omigosh - fantastic movie also. A Schindler's List of sorts, but this is in Belorussia about the Bielski brothers - the 4 of them end up rescuing 1200 jews by wandering the forest for four years. Good movie, needed to be told. We need to keep remembering the the Holocaust did happen and Hitler was evil.

As for my food intake - well - not too bad!

--Diet Coke (duh)
--b-e-chz toasty
--2 cups of potato/green bean/sausage hot dish
--one of Karianna's bars (modest size)
--snack ziploc bag of chex mix
--Nerds Rope - Hey, I love them!
--sourdough bacon cheeseburger from BK
--1/4 of a small fries (Buster and Soda loved the other 3/4)

I know - I could have gone without the BK run, but it was late and I hadn't had dinner and I was driving by....quit whining Anne! ;)

So I'm finally getting really into Inkheart - of course now that I only have about 50 pages left! It's become quite a good story. I just might go see the movie after all.

Speaking of movies (again)...I pulled the Oscar nominations today and I have a whole list of more movies to see! Thankfully a ton of them are on Netflix already...I should have most of the movies available watched by the time the Oscars actually occur! I don't anticipate a marathon movie weekend coming up soon, but you never know!

Weight loss day umpteen

Ok - so it's Sunday...did I write on Friday? Hold on, I'll check, I can't remember...oh dear, I've been really slacking!!!! It was Thursday I last blogged. Ok, so let's see...Thursday was a good day, mainly because I realized I'm maintaining well - not going up in weight, but staying at my usual. That's good - for a start. I haven't been on the treadmill since the first time this week, so I need to get on it today or tomorrow.

Friday's food
--breakfast cookie
--toasty
--rice/chicken/broccoli bowl from Schwan's
--2 grasshopper cookies
--2 reese's miniatures
--Erbert's and Gerbert's Narmer with a pickle (narmer is turkey, cheese, avocado and lettuce - i don't take the tomato - yukky) on wheat.
--lots of Diet Coke

So - not a ton of food, but lots of white food! Bread is evil sometimes, no?

Saturday's food
--breakfast cookie (2)
--chex mix (I was at a movie, cut me some slack)
--2 cups of potato/sausage/green bean/cheesy hotdish

And I only had the DC, cookies and chex mix all day - had the hot dish at 8 or so last night. I was at a couple of movies, so didn't really eat much. It was a strange day.

So I saw Benjamin Button on Thursday, and Doubt last Saturday. Yesterday I saw Slumdog Millionaire and Revolutionary Road. I love two movie days! In fact, I love them so much I'm doing it again today - but I'll tell you about that tomorrow. Slumdog was fantastic - I recommend it to anyone, especially if you're interested in seeing what these poor kids can go through living in the slums of India. I'm continually amazed at how humans can survive terrible conditions.

Revolutionary Road - well - I told you I'd read the book, right? The book is depressing at best, but full of interesting characters. The movie was pretty spot on. You only miss out on the characters rich back-stories. Otherwise, it tells the story very well. I don't recommend seeing it if you're already down in the dumps. It will definitely NOT lift you up as Slumdog will. But it's worth watching. Kate Winslet is a darn good actress if I do say so myself. I like her a lot! :)

Still working my way through reading Inkheart. Emma saw the movie yesterday and said it was good - I'm not sure I really want to see Capricorn in full cinematic glory - he's pretty brutal. So I'm going to wait to get through the book before I make a decision on seeing the movie.

Ok - I'm going to finish my taxes today before I head out for my movies...

Weigh In Day! :)

This morning = 196 - excellent.

I went to see Benjamin Button today and made a Duluth day out of it - shopping at the scrapbooking place, car wash, shoe shopping, and the like. With the long day I did eat out twice, but only ate half of the curly fries at Arbys for lunch and half of the fries with my Burger King supper. :) I didn't feel stuffed like I usually do after a fast food meal, so I must be doing something right...at least I hope so!

Benjamin Button was fabulous, btw

Anyway - so food totals today include
--breakfast cookie w/ DC
--bacon beef and cheddar w/ curly fries and Dr Pepper
--1/2 bag of Dill Pickle chips while at the car wash
--sourdough bacon cheeseburger sans tomato w/ 1/2 small fries and DC

so far, so good! I know I need to add more veggies into this diet, and it'll come along soon, I hope! :)

Am still reading Inkheart - it's difficult to get into, but I've been told to just keep pushing on, it gets better!

Another day, less food

So yesterday was Monday - can be a typically food-filled day, but not yesterday! I managed to control myself the whole day long. I only had 1/2 cup of chex mix the entire day - woohoo - and managed to avoid eating a whole slew of oatmeal raisin cookies. I was able to laugh at dad on the treadmill. Yes - It's my turn soon, but it was funny to see him on there nonetheless.

Today was another good day. It was busy enough at work that I didn't even get my breakfast until 10.30, by that time my stomach was grumbly! I brought Gramma to the doctor so didn't have time to sit around and snack either. So far, so good! As soon as I get this post done I'll be hitting the treadmill - i'll let you know tomorrow how long I was able to walk.

Monday's food
--toasty (schwans bacon, egg & cheese)
--diet coke (prob'ly 4-6)
--blueberry muffin (Janice brought them in, I couldn't refuse, it'd have been rude)
--chicken potato Compleats
--1/2 cup chex mix
--the other 1/2 of my steak sandwich from saturday night
--about 10 french fries
--cup of strawberry yogurt
--1/2 of oatmeal raisin cookie (David swiped the other half)

Tuesday's food (so far)
--toasty
--diet coke (4-6 again)
--cup of hot dish
--potato bread toasted w/ butter
--house salad at Joe Jitters (lettuce, red onion, feta cheese, cucumbers, sprouts, croutons and ranch dressing
--root beer

and I'll prob'ly have another cup of yogurt for a snack later this evening...

I started reading Inkspell last night and read another 6-7 chapters today waiting for gramma at the MD's office...should be a good one! I'll keep you posted!

Day Four is over!

Day Four was a Sunday - a POTLUCK Sunday of all things!!!!! I made it through without making a total fool of myself. I'm impressed! I thought I'd try getting a dessert plate instead of a big plate, but decided, no, I can hold back. Normally of course, I'd have nearly overloaded my plate, but I was able to contain myself. Looking over the spread (I should have taken a picture, it was impressive!), I noticed Colleen's potato/green bean/sausage hot dish - Dad's favorite - and I thought AHA! I can have a bit of that and be good! So, I managed to just have two of the little compartments on the divided plate about 3/4 full of hot dish, took a small spoon of mom's hotdish, a big scoop of jello and a croissant. Washed it down with Diet Coke and even had a tiny piece of Kathi's almond bar - yum, yummy, yum! Normally after Sunday dinner I'm not hungry for supper, but last night I was! I held back and didn't snarf...it's getting easier and easier all the time to do that.

I watched "Another Cinderella Story" last night - I love those teeny-bopper dance movies! Got my laundry done and cleaned the bathroom and still managed to stay busy enough that I didn't start eating cuz I was bored.

Sunday's food total:
--Diet Coke (duh!) about 4
--breakfast cookies (2)
--potato hot dish (cup)
--noodle hot dish (1/4 cup)
--croissant
--Jello - (cup)
--noodle hot dish (1.5 cup)
--yogurt (cup)
--cheez-its (handful)

So far so good today - just my breakfast toasty - but Janice brought in blueberry muffins, I might have to have one. They're not Perkin's size, so I think one is okay! :)

(I'm still working on getting on the treadmill starting tomorrow night - I'll keep you posted, of course!)

Day 3?ish...

Ok - so add to yesterday's food:
---more diet coke - duh!
--- easy mac cup (the two other compleats meals I tried were worse than dogfood)
---milky way (I haven't had one since Sunday)
---small (and I mean small) plate of spaghetti
---one more breakfast cookie...it's sooooo hard to go to bed with a rumbly tummy.

Not bad, really, if you think about it. The food intake was low - carbs were on the high side, no suprise there - but not bad.

So we're on Saturday. The day of the week where I can eat very little or really chow it down. Today started out really well. I finished reading a book, set up my new mattress/bed, went to a baby shower and a church meeting. I broke down at the shower and ate, I wasn't going to, but it turned out to be my lunch. I ate only 1/2 of what I normally would have eaten as well, I'm rather proud of myself - self control was intact today! I went to Old Chicago for a 10-year olds birthday and ate only 1/2 of my appetizer, 1/2 of DeAnn's appetizer and 1/2 of my meal! :) I brought home the other 1/2 of my meal and will have it for supper tomorrow night or lunch on Monday. I DID bring home the 'grocery store' from the clinic, but realized this morning I forgot the freezer stuff - that'll come home on Monday. I'm getting there! Like Andy said today, "your body will adapt." I'm looking forward to that!

I think I've figured it out - if I'm constantly working on something, I don't eat. If I'm really hungry, I'll stop and get something, but if not, then I keep on working. I find when I'm really involved in work at home here on my computer I'll just sip at my Diet Coke all night, without even thinking about the food in the house. At work - if I'm busy following up on things, having patients in and out all day, and the phone ringing. I won't even think about eating. So - keep busy! When I have down time, I need to get out for a walk, play with Soda or find something to keep me busy. If I get in that kind of habit, I'll always be caught up - woohoo!

I haven't gotten on the treadmill yet. Although after yesterday's walk to the bank (only 1.5 blocks away) with my calves cramping up on the way back - I really should get on that treadmill. It's ridiculous that I should be in pain walking so little! :)

I'm finding I have terrible compulsions to shop tho - since I don't allow myself to graze, I want to shop - ugh! I did stop at ShopKo before supper and buy a pair of jeans, but I bought a pair of 16, instead of 18 that I'm wearing right now...motivation, I'm calling it. I remember having to break down and buy the first pair of 16s...ugh...that was 4 years ago. Kind of like gasoline under $2/gallon - we're grateful it's that low, instead of complaining 4 years ago that it was $1.60! ;) Amazing

Ok - so food total for today
--breakfast cookies (2)
--Diet Coke (multiple)
--mini sausages (3 - they were the size of 1/2 dollars!)
--french toast bake (about 1/2 a serving)
--2 pieces of garlic toast with artichoke dip
--one piece each of the appetizer thingy DeAnn had
--1/2 steak/mushroom sandwich w/ cheese
--1/2 serving of french fries with ranch dressing
--1 Dr. Pepper

omigosh - look at all the bread and dairy! I love bread - bread is wonderful, especially with garlic and grilled or toasted! Oh dear...better watch the bread/dairy intake...that's prob'ly my biggest problem! :)

When I was at Target with mom last night I bought a 2009 planner with big enough daily boxes to fill in a food journal, so I'm remembering to write everything down so I can update you if I can't get on line right away. I'm hoping the treadmill time will start Tuesday! :)

So enough with the food. I finished "Brisingr" today - wonderful book! I look forward to seeing how Eragon, Saphira, Roran and Arya defeat Galbatorix in the 4th book. I have to admit I got a little misty eyed over Oromis and Glaedr. Amazing new things we learn about elves, dragons and Riders in this third of the Inheritance Cycle. Tonight I went to see "Doubt" with Meryl Streep - Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman are in it too - good movie. Worth watching. Makes you think. Makes you think Meryl's evil. She did a good job! I'll have to watch other Oscar-buzzed movies to determine if she should win an Oscar tho! Speaking of that - DeAnn and I are going to see "...Benjamin Button" on Thursday - am looking forward to that one, even tho it's 3 hours long! :)

Let's see - what else is going on? Um...well, Andy's pretty awesome, but I'll explain him another day! :)

Ode to my food

I love you food
I want to eat more food
I'm hungry
I'm hungry

I'm a poet and no one wants to know it - see! :) I'm just hungry today. I was pretty good last night after I decided no more excessive food. I didn't have more dinner (like I've done in the past week) when mom offered steak (yum!), but I DID break down and had a breakfast cookie last night - so we'll have to add that to yesterday's food list. Ugh.

I've only had one toasty today - it was my breakfast. I'm on DC #2 - not bad actually - some mornings I'm on #3 or 4 by now! But now I'm hungry. I'ts 10.41 and I have a rumbly in my tumbly. I'm trying to resist the urge but I might just break down and have 1/2 cup of chex mix. (not a whole cupful like I usually do - please note). Lunch is in an hour so it'll tide me over - I hope.

So - food list so far
- bacon, egg & cheese toasty
- Diet Coke x2
- 1/2 mug of chex mix

Oh! And Ken Davis this morning followed up on yesterday's "Lighten Up" with "pace yourself - we're not out to beat everyone, we're out to finish the race" - thank you Ken, for the reminder!

Have a happy sunny Friday! I just got an invite to Old Chicago for tomorrow and I promise I won't over eat - PROMISE!!!!

I've Had Enough! (Day One)

That's it! I've had enough! From 3-4pm today I had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR toasties! That's excessive, that's piggish and it's so incredibly stupid of me. I eat when I'm happy, I eat when I'm sad, I eat when I'm content, I eat when I'm bored, I eat ALL THE TIME! I'm tired of it! The Susan Powter is coming out in me now...what did she say? something about "I've had enough"? Whatever - I can see the white butch haircut and I know she was all about getting healthy finally.

So here's my problem. I hate fruit and I hate cold veggies. I love cooked veggies, will eat nearly every kind - brussel spouts are even good! So - what do I snack on? Hm - candy bars, cheez-its, cheez-its party mix, easy mac...good grief. I'll snack on whatever's within my dirty mitts - ugh!

Solution? not a clue

But here are a few places I'm going to start.
1-Anne's "grocery store" is leaving the Clinic. I have a bin with all kinds of lunch things - all microwavable, all loaded with sodium - they're coming back here to the house. I'll bring one per day - that's it - no going back for seconds with the Easy Mac isn't "enough."

2- I've been resisting the candy bar a day thing for quite a while now - don't anticipate that being a problem in the future thankfully. Fortunately, I already have Shawn and Sarah on my side at work - they know if they bring treats to keep them out of my eyesight - thank you guys!!! Shawn even said when he brought an apple to work he could bring a second one for me - doggone it, I wish I liked fruit. Ugh!

3-I'm blogging daily - i'm keeping track of whatever I eat and I'm holding myself accountable to this blog - whether anyone else is reading or not, we'll see. But eventually I'm guessing a friend or two will be harassing me over the one Hershey Kiss I eat!

4 - I'm sticking with weighing myself once a week...it's been on Thursdays and today it was...well...you'll have to keep reading to find out! ;)

5 - I'm getting on that "Fa-weeeeekin"* treadmill twice a week to start...up to every day or walking outside once it warms up. I KNOW how good I feel once I get done on the treadmill - it's getting started that sucks monkeys (for lack of a better phrase).

Ok - I think that's it...I was doing a lot of thinking while I was driving home today...amazing how much thinking time you get in when you drive 25 minutes home, no...and I have a whole bunch of other goals, but I'm gonna start with this one first. The others will fall in line after it.

I do have motivation to lose weight. Dad issued a "Healthy Anne" challenge on New Years - if I lose 30 lbs by July 1, I'll get $1000. Niiiice! That'll buy my remote car starter and my Kindle OR be a good start to a new washer and dryer. I MUST remember the goal is not the cash, it's my health that's benefiting most!

Back to the car ride - I was thinking, like I said, about making some bad choices and Ken Davis came on KDNW and reminded us that like Peter, we want to be able to say to God that "I fought the good fight" and then be able to wear our crowns of righteousness. I keep forgetting that God is in control, he's the one with the answers and Satan is the one tempting me - "making" me eat all that food and get disgustingly chubby**. We're such a "now" generation, it's hard to forget that the long run is coming sooner than later! If I'd kept to my budget instead of buying all kinds of sweaters and shoes, my car'd have been paid off last month and I'd be paying on my student loans already! Stupid! See - lack of self control. I can't do it myself, I know that...I'm relying on God to hold me through the hard parts and laugh with me through the easy parts.

So - those of you who have stuck it out! here it is! I need to lose 30 lbs - my average weight over a month is 195, so I need to be at 165 by July 1 for some cash. Today's weight? 200 :(

What did Anne eat today? (the question is what DIDN'T Anne eat today?)
Diet Coke (prob'ly 6 so far)
Oatmeal chocolate chip breakfast cookie
Easy Mac cup
1 Schwan's bacon/egg/cheese toastie
4 Walmart toasties
1 Eggo toaster strudel thingy
2 mugsful Cheez-it party mix (chex, chees-its, pretzels, bagel bites, etc)

Thanks for listening!!!! Have a great day!
(and I did have a good day otherwise - very productive and the sun shone all day!)

Oh! I almost forgot! I've still been reading and watching movies! I watched "Smart People" with Sarah Jessica, Dennis Quaid and Ellen Page today - cute movie, slow moving, but cute story. I've finished Jamie and Claire and have been reading about Eragon - am about 1/2 way through Brisingr right now. I also bought Inkspell/Inkheart the other day so will read those when I'm done with Eragon. I'm planning on seeing Benjamin Button this weekend and will update you on that one too! :)



*see Coleman Larsen's CarePages on January 15, 2009 for explanation on that one
**don't even say it - I AM chubby - a 5'3" woman should NOT weigh 200 lbs! My knees ache, my head hurts and my belly protrudes like a woman who is 4-months pregnant - NOT good! Don't argue with me - I'm stating facts! :) Yes, I love myself for who I am.