Weekly Weigh-In #14

After 2 less than stellar weeks on the scale, I FINALLY saw -20 pounds! 20.6 pounds in 14 weeks averages to 1.47 (we'll call it 1.5) pounds per week. For a female of may advanced age, I should be just fine with that. I was a little cranky, I really wanted get to (1st) halfway this week. If I get there next week, that's just fine. I have to remember that this is never a short process for me and if I get to -58 in less than a year, I'm OK with that, it took me a full year to lose 50 the last time. 

Workouts
Saturday - Sat in the stupid hot at Kev's tennis tournament
Sunday - Run 2.32 miles, Body Flow
Monday- Body Pump
Tuesday - Nada
Wednesday - Body Combat
Thursday - Body Pump
Friday - Nope

I've been to a lot of Body Pump the last week and a half. I know strength training is important and I know muscle weighs less than fat, but I might need to switch my workouts to focus more on cardio. Maybe... It's all a work in progress and I still haven't been able to find a decent correlation to type of workout to food to weight loss any give week.

What I'm eating this week

I remembered to take a picture! This is the JC lasagna and a side of sauteed spinach. I ate it and it was good.

Picture

I wasn't 100% thrilled with any of the pictures I took this week. I wore this polka dot dress that I'd only worn once last year. I was convinced at the time that I was pushing the boundaries of it then, so I put it in the back of the closet. I pulled it out and felt better in it, but then I did a side by side comparison and I don't know, I don't see much of a difference between the 2.

Maybe some in the waist? Ehhh...

Cheats

We went to the Capital Grill last week and I ate all the things. I have no regrets.

Monthly Goals

How'd I do last month?

1. Run 1x per week? YES

2. Eat off plan 1x per week? Nope. I really don't know of that's reasonable. I need to learn how to not gain 45 pounds eating non JC food. 

3. Lose 7 pounds? Nope. I lost 4.6. It was a slow loss month for me (probably due to the food) I think I still have some bigger losses in me, I just need to focus on the food and creating a decent calorie deficit. 

On to August goals!

1. Six, can we get six pounds?

2. Keep on running!

3. I might regret this one. I'm discovering that if I don't go to the gym, I don't meet Apple Watch's active calorie goal of 590. I work in an office, at a desk. Even getting up often, I can't get there. Last night Kev and I walked all over DT Raleigh and I hit the 30 minute exercise goal, but only 457 out of 590 active calories. If it wasn't hot as Hades, I'd go for a walk at lunch. Instead I drive to get coffee #2 each day.

Here's to a great August!

Scenes from the Weekend

I'm sitting here wondering what where the last 2 days went. Sunday was the worst, I went from one thing to the other to the next and oh -ish, it's Sunday night. 

Friday afternoon I had an appointment at the genius bar because the GPS on my phone wasn't working. They ran some diagnostics and decided to give me a new phone because it was still under warranty. That was pretty nice, considering I'm pretty sure the issues happened when I dropped it in the toilet about a month after I got it. Thankfully they didn't shine the light of truth in and see whatever is in there that tells them you dropped it in the potty. 

After I got home from work, we sat around for a while then Kev and  decided to go to Layfayette Village and catch Pokemon. Yes, yes we did . There are a bunch of Poke Stops there and plenty of people walking around. Yep.

Saturday morning I had my weigh in (it went well) came home, had some breakfast and even though I wasn't feeling it, I went to the gym. I got an Apple Watch last week and was eager to see how it did with the different work outs. I wish that there were more options for types of workouts and most everything for me wasn't "other" but I think it tracks it pretty well. I really like how it separates active calories, which is what you actually burn in the workout, and doesn't include the calories you burn just being alive.

Body Pump

413 total and 301 were active calories. I have a goal each day of 590 Active calories and on Saturday, I was surprised it took me until the end of the day to get there.

More on the Apple Watch later, but I'm really liking it. Numbers, goals!

After the gym I showered and went to get my hair done. It was time to cover those greys! When I got home, Kev and I headed to Costco. Yeeessss Costco. The Samples were epic. 

For dinner we headed to Glenwood Grill. I was convinced we'd been there before and Kev said we hadn't. He was right. 

Thursday at work we were discussing Cougar bars in Raleigh and where an older person looking for companionship would go to find other similarly minded people. We googled it and Glenwood Grill came up on several websites as one. I didn't know that when Kev made reservations, but the website was right. There were lost of grey hairs there. We might have been the youngest couple in the place. Us and some kid who was there with his grandparents. 

I was thinking that since the name of this blog is Coffee and Cosmos that I should start reviewing all the Grey Goose Cosmos in the Triangle. Since I eat mostly Jenny Craig food, the one night I give myself off is date night on Saturday with Kev. 99% of the time I have a cosmo. I feel a new feature coming soon. 

I still need a rating system but one of the things will be the shrapnel content. Shrapnel is the crap floating in the drink that gets in the way of my alcohol. The one at Glenwood Grill had not only random lemon rind, but also lemon pulp? Gross. I hate pulp and I even more hat things getting in the way of my booze. It was passable. 

For dinner I had a very poorly lit 4oz fillet with parsnip mash and it came with fried oysters. Kev also ordered a Rare Fillet, and his was 10oz, in case mine was over cooked, which it was. I gave him this and he gave me 4oz of his.

It tasted good, just overcooked. 

Kev wanted dessert and I wanted a better beverage, so we went to Vinnie's Steakhouse to the bar.

When I do my reviews. this is the Cosmo by which all other Cosmos are rated. Vinnie's has the best in town and the bartender is amazing. This one was a little short, I like my booze to the top of the glass, but the color, smoothness and taste are all on point.

Notice the lack of shrapnel in there. 

 Kev got the blueberry crostada dessert special and I helped. It was amazing.

Sunday was a mash of the same old, same old things. Wake up, tidy the kitchen, start laundry, fold last week's laundry that I was too lazy to do last week, then head to the gym for a run and Body Flow. 

Apple Watch wants me to run outside for at least 20 minutes so it can understand my pace before so it can better track me on the treadmill. Well Apple Watch, it's 8000 degrees here and that's just not happening. I ran without the calibration and it was pretty close to the distance on the treadmill.

I was running 5 min and walking 2 and the treadmill said 2.35 miles. Not terrible for no calibration.

I was curious to see how many calories I burned in Body Flow and I was pleasantly surprised that it was 237 active calories.

After the gym I stopped at the grocery store to get beverages and a watermelon. I was disappointed 2x this week with bad melon. Both Costco and Harris Teeter gave me un-ripe, inedible melon which is BS. I might have to be that person and return the cut open melon, especially since they were $5 each.

I capped off the evening with a second batch of laundry to fold and a little Sharknado 4. I apparently missed Sharknado 3 and thought I could catch up pretty quickly. I was mistaken...

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Happy Monday!

Linking up with BLoved Boston!, Still Being Molly   AND

History is Happening

I’ve been contemplating for a while if I was going to talk about the election on my blog. I try and keep things light and talk about health, fitness, food, my dog, you know, easy topics. Mainly because I feel that my religious and political beliefs are private. It’s no one’s business what I believe or don’t or why.

But after a historic week at the DNC, I needed to get my thoughts out.

When I was a girl, my parents always told me that when I grew up I could be anything I wanted, even President. But really, could I? History showed me a long line of male leaders. I vaguely remember Mondale / Ferraro in ’84, but even as a little kid, my perception was that it was a joke. A woman running for Vice President? You have to be kidding. The don’t stand a chance, and they didn’t. A woman President was a theory, something intangible, a pipe dream. Sure it “could” happen, but, would it?

As a kid, I was called “bossy” (and I still am). Don’t be so bossy, stop telling others what to do, don’t try and manage everyone. I could go on, but you get the picture. Girls aren’t supposed to take control, they aren’t supposed to be “in charge”. You’re told you can do anything you want and be anyone you want, as long as you don’t push too hard. As long as you stay lady-like and likable, you can be successful. Not as successful as a man, but that's good enough.

As an adult in a male-centric field (Sales) and a male dominated industry, I’ve been told to “not be so direct”. Right? I’ve been in Sales my entire career and I shouldn’t be “direct”. Several times I’ve been given feedback that would never be given to my male counterparts. Women in business fight every day to push against the glass ceiling. Women are paid less for the same job, we’re reprimanded for behaviors that are applauded when they come from a man. These are the facts. They’re the truths that I have experienced, as have thousands of other women just like me.

Last night a night a huge crack was put in that glass ceiling. On Wednesday I watched as the DNC broadcast pictures of every President, stopping at the image of Obama. It paused, then the sound of breaking glass reverberated through convention hall. The live feed of Hillary Clinton appeared as she thanked the convention for the Democratic nomination for President. Last night tears streamed down my face as I watched history happen and she officially accepted the nomination.  

Love her or hate her, Hillary made history. I can’t even begin to fathom the walls she had to push through, day after day, to get to this moment. I’m not here to debate her politics or practices. All I know is that the little girl inside of me was inspired by what I saw, and adult me had hope. Hope that one day women would be viewed as equals in the workplace.

Sometimes I wonder if my path would have been different if 8 year old me would have been able to see strong female leaders in positions of power. I don’t know. What I do know is that future generations of bossy little girls won’t have to wonder if they have a chance of becoming President one day, because they do.

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Weekly Wednesday Weigh In #13

Meh, another slow week. It can definitely be frustrating when you don't even see a pound loss in 2 weeks. I looked over the week to see if I could figure out what was going on and if there was anything I could change.

1. I didn't sleep well this week. Especially on Saturday morning, I was super tired. For some reason I woke up several times each night last week to pee. Damn pee. I'm going to restrict my after 9pm beverage intake and see if that helps me stay asleep.

2. I ate most of my "limited free foods" this week. I know I "can" but I found myself falling into the habit of eating a hard candy there or a 25 calorie meringue there. It's within plan, and really only at extra 300-ish calories in a week, which is negligible. It's more the behavior. I don't "need" a candy treat. I'm not hungry. 

On Saturday night I definitely indulged and I'll see if it affects my weigh in this upcoming week. At least I have 6 days to work it off.

Workouts
Saturday - Body Pump
Sunday - Run 2.2 miles, Body Flow
Monday- Body Combat
Tuesday - Rest - Kev and I went to dinner and played Pokemon
Wednesday - Body Combat
Thursday - Early Star Trek showing with Kev
Friday - Ladies Night

What I'm eating this week

This is what my Sunday morning breakfast looks like every week. Kev leaves for work, I go to Brueggers, get my coffee, come home and make my JC breakfast scramble. Usually scramble would imply that everything is mixed together, which it is, unless you like your potatoes separated, which I do. So I pick them out and cook them in the pan. Then I pit them on opposite ends of the plate because food can't touch.

Picture

I got a pretty decent side by side picture last week. I pulled out that polka dot shirt that I hadn't worm in a while. 

Timehop also gave me a picture from last year which was super helpful.  I'll be honest, the only reason why I downloaded Timehop was to get pictures from the past for my comparison shots.

I can see a little more definition in my waist from last year to this, which is nice. I also see that despite washing, that same crease is there. WTF? I've never noticed that before. 

Cheats

Last week there were a few cheats. I had a hot dog for lunch on Saturday, an amazing dinner at Buku Saturday night, Subway on Sunday and dinner out on Tuesday. Like I mentioned earlier, I also had probably too many bites of things and candies, that were within my guidelines, probably weren't necessary.

I've cleaned it up a lot this week, here's hoping the scale reflects it!

I'm about to change your life

Let me start off by saying that I love me some pineapple but hate hate hate cutting it. Pineapple is the biggest pain in the ass fruit ever. Give me a watermelon any day over a stupid pineapple. 

Kev enjoys pineapple and there have been plenty of times when it was on sale and he bought one and I whined endlessly about not wanting to cut it. Believe me, my whining is just as awesome as it sounds. So, I refuse to cut pineapple. There are several fruits and vegetables that I'm "over", like asparagus and kale and pineapple. Done. If the pineapple isn't already cut and cored in a container, I don't want it.

Well, one thing Kev kinda despises are devices that only do one thing. A knife is great because you can cut all sorts of things with it. A cherry pitter, not so much. Despite all this, I'd heard tales of a device that cored and sliced pineapples, all in one fell swoop.

I was intrigued.

When I was at Kroger on Saturday, over by the... wait for it.... pineapples, I saw it. The elusive corer / slicer thingy. For a mere $7, I took the plunge.

But Lara, how does it work???

Cut the top off the pineapple. Put it to the side. Arrange all 3 pieces not at all artistically so you can take a picture of it. 

The end has a serrated edge, and you jam it in the center of the pineapple.

Then you start twisting and pushing down at the same time. Use two hands. For safety. There's a not sharp, well, it might be, I didn't touch it. Don't touch it and hurt yourself if you have a sharp one. 

There's a may or may not be sharp edge that cuts the pineapple as you push down and twist. It makes spiral pineapple. 

YES SPIRAL PINEAPPLE!

Squee!

You kinda have to wiggle it a little to get the pineapple out but when you do, it's glorious.

When you're done and the fruit is out, it looks like this.

If you took out the core, it would be perfect for tropical boozy beverages, or smoothies, or to hold other fruit at your luau. The possibilities really are endless. 

After you take out the fruit, the yellow handle thing comes off and you can slide it off the
center plastic piece.

Then you cut it in half and put it in an unattractive bowl.

Is your life changed? I know mine is.

What's your favorite one use kitchen gadget?

Scenes from the Weekend

I swear, this weekend went abnormally fast. Is it just me? It's probably not just me. I need a vacation. We haven't really gone away since March and lordy am I feeling it. I just have to hold on until the end of August when we go away for our 10th anniversary. Just a few more weeks...

Alright, on to the weekend. Friday  night Kev was playing in a tennis tournament and afterwards he was planning on playing poker. I was heading over to a friend's house for a girls night, but first I stopped at the salon to get my nails done. I was in the mood for green this week.

OPI - One in a Windmillion

The girls night was a combo Lularoe and CR2F party. My friend Christy started selling Lularoe a few months ago and any chance I have to try on new clothes? Ya, I'm gonna take it. :) 

When your manicure matches your new CR2F mug...

I've mentioned my friend Carrie and her Etsy shop before. If you want some super cute prints, check out her stuff. I'm in lurve with my new mug. 

We had a Mini OG Kappa Delta Alumnae Chapter reunion and it was great to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in a while. I ended up leaving kinda late and I went straight to bed when I got home. #FridayNight. 

Per usual, it was up at 730am to go to my Jenny Craig appointment. I still had a loss but it wasn't awesome. I was really really tired though. I'm convinced that tiredness affects weight loss. When I'm well rested, I lose more. 

Caught a pokemon while waiting for my consultant. 

After I got my Jenny food, I headed next door to Kroger to get my fruits and veggies for the week. I never went there the last time, but Kroger did a 180 or something and the prices on their fruit and veggies are really reasonable. They've had $1.99lb cherries for the last 2 weeks, which has been awesome

I also found this gem.

Oh yes. boozy sparkling water. It's delightful.

Usually I get home, eat breakfast and go to my 1010am Body Pump class. I was really really tired and didn't think I'd have a good time at the gym. Instead Kev convinced me to come to his tennis tournament. It'll be great, you can watch me play in the 100+ degree heat. (It wasn't great. he fibbed)

Kev and his mixed doubles partner.

It was hot AF. The matches were running late, they got to to court late, their opponents wanted to warm up FOREVER. I was sitting on the concrete bleachers in the shade and as the match went on and on, the shade kept getting smaller and smaller until I was pressed up against the fence hiding from the beating sun. I now know how vampires facing the dawn must feel.

Finally i thought the game was done, like done done and Kev said that was only the first set and they could possibly have 2 more to go. I might have panicked and after he served, I went to the car. Then I went to the Publix  1 mile away and got an apple and a water. By the time I was in the parking lot, Kev texted that the match was over. It was soooo much sorter than the first.

My tired self as getting crankier and crankier and after we got home, I took a 2 hour nap.

We had reservations that night at the Capital Grille. It just opened and Kev had been waiting to go. We'd been to the one in Pittsburgh and knew it was going to be good.

Yes, I didn't have a great weigh in and then I ate my face in bread and booze. You know what. it was so worth it. I won't gain at my next weigh in, but I'm going to have to work a little harder to take off that meal.

One of 2. It was good. Not the best Cosmo I've had in Raleigh, but top 5. 

Kev wanted to try the tuna tartare appetizer and it was chopped tuna on top of chopped avocado. It's been a while, but we had a similar tuna appetizer in NYC years ago, and this is our favorite version of tuna tartare. So good. 

They had steak tartare on the menu, but I had it at the Pittsburgh location and it wasn't awesome. Good not great. Instead I went with the fillet (Pittsburgh Rare) and Kev had the Strip Steak.

Fillet and Kev's au gratin side dish.

Kev's Steak

I ordered the brussel sprouts but asked them to leave off the soy glaze. They did something else to them where they almost seemed deep fried? Meh, I sent them back because I couldn't eat them. I wish they had a plain old veggie side option. Everything had cream or some kind of sauce.

Kev wanted the cheesecake and it's made in house and has a brulee top.

yum.

The Capital Grille is a welcome steak house addition to the Triangle. That -ish ain't cheap, but damn is it good. 

We got home, I was still tired and wasn't awake long.

Sunday morning I got to sleep in. Cleo started the night in our room and I kicker her out around 1am. She was walking and jingling her tags and kept waking me up, so out she went. After she left, I slept pretty well until Kev got up at 630 to go the the rest of the tennis tournament (I did NOT go with)

Normal Sunday morning. Tidy the kitchen, do laundry, get my coffee, eat my JC breakfast Scramble...

I ran down to Trader Joe's for some groceries and went to the gym. I ran 2.3 miles on the treadmill before Body Flow. Let me tell you, there are ladies in there who are hard core about their spots. I get it, I have my spot too, but apparently 2 other ladies like that spot as well. I'm not going to be an a-hole, but I go to that damn class every. week. and they don't. Don't try and weasel in on my spot. I managed to get it on Sunday and there were 2 annoyed ladies on either side of me. #DontFWithMySpot.

Now I'm blogging and not wanting to fold laundry. :)

How was your weekend?

Linking up with BLoved Boston!, Still Being Molly   AND

Weekly Wednesday Weigh In #12

Big loss one week, little loss the next week. I'm completely fine with the progress. 

Honestly, one of the main reasons I can keep going week after week is that I don't feel deprived at all though this process. If there's something "naughty" I want, I'll have it on Saturday night and leave the entire week to work it off. I still have my cosmos every Saturday, I have meat, sushi, dessert, all within reason, but I still eat it. Jenny feed me pasta (which I rarely eat) and desserts that hurt my stomach when I eat them from anywhere else. A JC brownie is the only one that doesn't hurt me. 

Also, when I make my own food, I eat the same thing every day. For 6 months I had 2 rice cakes and 2Tbs of peanut butter for breakfast. Every day.  At least on Jenny I have something different most days. I need my food to be convenient and healthy. Honestly, after I lose the weight this time, I need to get into meal planning or something else. Who am I kidding though, I'll probably keep buying Jenny breakfasts and some lunches. 

In other exciting flashback news, these 2 posts popped up on timehop.

I'll spare you the math, but 1 pound to the old "halfway to goal" was exactly what I weighed in at on Saturday. Yes, 6 years later, same Jenny Craig, same weight, same "almost to halfway". Le sigh, "Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it." I'm going to learn this time. 

Workouts
Saturday - Body Pump
Sunday - Body Flow
Monday-  Chiro
Tuesday - Run 4.2 miles
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Body Pump
Friday - Movie Night

Workouts this week were pretty good, my run was good and I got in 2 rounds of Body Pump which was nice. I upped my weights again and I'm almost back to my pre-injury weights. I'm 5 pounds off on my squats, 5 on the back and I'm still not using weights on the lunge track which is OK with me. I'd rather work on my form.

What I'm eating this week

I don't really have any fun extra food pictures this week, but I did have this nice pic of JC Fish and Chips. Complete with a side of malt vinegar, sauteed spinach and a bit of Kev's steak that he put on my plate. It was good.

Picture

I was pretty happy with the picture this week, I was able to do an exact side by side comparison in the same outfit, just a month and a half apart. I can definitely see it in my waist and in my arms. I still have a ways to go, but progress is progress!

Cheats

My cheats this week weren't that different than in the past, I had Subway for lunch on Saturday, we ended up at Vin Rouge again that night where I had 2 cosmos, a few fries and steak tartare, again. Then on Sunday night Kev made a pasta / sausage / vegetable / cheese dish and that was my dinner. The other 5 days were pretty much on point.

All in all, it was a pretty decent week! Here's to another week of progress!