Hey, I'm a gift!

Late to Subway

Because a girl's just gotta mix it up sometimes!

I walked past the home of my usual power salad today and continued on toward Subway. I like to get the tuna sub for a couple of reasons -- (1) it's not red meat, and (2) it's not chicken. (See "mixing it up" above.)

So my usual there is 1 scoop of tuna, no cheese, on wheat bread, with lettuce, onions, pickles, and salt-n-pepa (7 points). Plus a bag of Baked Lays or Wow Doritos (2 points). 9 points total.

Today I got there a little late and around here that's a mortal (as compared to fatal) error -- meaning the line winds round & round. Giving me lots of time to think. (I heard that young lady!) What I thought -- what I often think, when eating my usual at Subway -- is that I should somehow get more veggies. Only I don't care for olives, and while I do like cucumbers, I only like them alone, not mixed in with Jasmin live stuff (Shaddup!), and I don't like raw tomatoes either (Hey -- it's a texture thing!).

That left green peppers. And while I prefer red peppers for snacking, I don't really feel strongly one way or the other about green peppers. So I decided -- What the hell, right? -- to add green peppers.

And do you know what? They made the sandwich crunchier and tasted just fine. In fact, they improved my sandwich!

Cool, no?

Oh, and I picked up a new nutrition chart brochure thingy. The new wraps are just 2 points!!! Since the 6" wheat bread is 4 points, I can save 2 points next time just by getting it in a wrap rather than on bread. And that means I can add 2 slices of American cheese and still be saving 1 point! I'm definitely going to try that next week.

Also, if I weren't afraid of jinxing it -- because weekends are like the ocean you know, they can go from smooth sailing to bone-crushing in seconds flat -- I'd mention that tomorrow will be my 19th day of good WWering in a row!!

But I AM afraid. I am very afraid. So you didn't hear that here.

Fangirl Squee Here

As I was clicking my way through my list of linkloves, I found my name being bandied about by several of my very favorite bloggers! Cindy, Mo, Lee, Lori! OMG! I felt so honored -- and not a little pressured to now say something inspirational! Heh.

So I tried to think of something inspirational . . . and thought, Well, what do I find inspirational? In answer, I direct your attention to the list of fabulous people that I (like a psychic vampire) draw energy from on a daily basis.

In the end, I think it comes down to what Renee points out -- That we are all very much in the same frickin' boat. These accounts of our struggles to lose weight and get healthy give you the whole Chaturbate experience -- the joy, the despair, the losses, the gains, the menstrual cycles . . . Hah!

I read all of my links on a regular (Ok, daily. But not obsessive. Never obsessive.) basis and I take comfort in the fact that everybody falls off once in a while, and that everybody bitches about trying to get back on, but that -- for the most part -- we're succeeding.

For someone (and by "someone" I mean "me") who is historically fatalistic -- you know, Whoops, I shouldn't have had three pieces of pizza. I blew it! May as well blow it big and start over tomorrow . . . or Monday . . . or next month . . . watching all of these people stick to it helps me to stick to it.

Because nothing's fatal, right? Well, some things are, of course. But a bag of baked Ruffles and 8 oz of sour cream onion dip aren't. Neither are chocolate cupcake(s).

One bad day (or three, or December, whatever!) aren't necessarily the end.

So if that's the kind of inspiration you're looking for I've got your inspiration right here on www.jasminelive.online . . .

In praise of old clothes

So in case I haven't mentioned it (heavy sarcasm there), it's usually very cold in my office. And because I can't get much done when I'm sitting here shivering so hard I can't type, I have taken to dressing in layers. Two pairs of socks. A pair of long Cuddl Duds pants and long-sleeved Cuddl Duds top under my usual slacks and sweater. If it's really freezing I have an office "woobie" (heavy brown cardigan) that I throw on over all of that. I'm layered but good here.

On top of which, today, as I was leaving the building in search of food, I was also wearing my gloves, hat, and now-too-big jacket.

I caught sight of myself as I passed the storefront windows and there was this flash of realization -- this dichotomy between the way I looked in the window -- just a big ol' ball of Big Ol' Girl -- and the more/muscles/less/fat me inside of it.

And inside of that, the Healthy Me that I am working toward.

It wasn't a vision of the me inside -- just like this lightning bolt instant of looking at the outward me and feeling the inward me. I don't know. It was just so cool and I can't explain it.

Because I still have no idea what I'll look like when I get to a healthy weight. Too many years, too many ups & downs on the scale. I can't put together a visual.

But for the first time ever I could feel it.

I know what it is -- I feel like a present!

And if I stick to this "One Good WW Day After Another" kick, come warmer weather I'll be unwrapping a thinner, healthier me.

Who knew?

I've been a model WW for 15 days now (today WILL be 16, dagnabbit!) and this week I lost a Big 0.2 pounds.

No, no, you read that right. -0.2. (Weekly numbers here.)

But it's ok. I'm not bitter.

That means that if I'm going to make my step goal of being back down to 175 by February 4, I'm going to have to lose 2.6 pounds this week. Just to be clear here, I don't expect that to happen.

I mean, I'm doing good work. I've got my eating under control which -- after the holidaxtravaganza that was going on up in here -- I wasn't sure I could do anymore. And my good work WILL catch up with me eventually.

As much as I have fucked around with my metabolism over the years, as long as the weight is moving down -- no matter how small the amount -- even if it's just a measly 0.2 pounds -- I am going to be grateful. Again, not bitter.

Emphatically. Not. Bitter.

Well. Not much.

Insatiable

I don't usually blog about my daily intake or about my Livejasmin job. I sort of just do the judgment thing -- you know, good day, bad day, whatever.

But I read Mealin' and Dealin' : A Typical Day's Menu by Joelle, over at Put Down the Donut, and I was inspired to offer you my menu for the day -- and because I'm insatiably curious (Hello --Leo, born in the year of the Tiger!) I also want to urge YOU to do the same!

So here's mine:

Today

Breakfast: Dannon Light n' Fit Creamy yogurt, French Vanilla, with 2 T of Fiber One cereal stirred in. 2 points

On Desk: Ziploc bag of Smartpop popcorn. I grab a handful whenever I feel munchy. I usually limit myself to half the bag. There's some debate about point values for this stuff, but I figure it at 4 points for the whole bag. So I usually take in about 2 points, throughout the day.

Elevenses: 1 wedge Laughing Cow Swiss cheese, 7 Utz pretzel rods. 2 points

Lunch: Power Salad! (big bowl of Mesclun greens, about a cup of broccoli spears, diced red onion, 1/4 C of crisp tortilla strips, 3 oz grilled chicken breast, 1 T of lime vinaigrette dressing) and a snack-sized bag of Baked Lays potato chips. 8 points

ThreeThirtyses: McIntosh apple, 1 point (Note: I eat all the skin, but don't eat all the apple because they're pretty big and I want to hold it to 1 point.)

Dinner: LC Supreme pizza, 1 C of raw veggies (carrots, radishes, etc.). 8 points

Sweet: 1 Slimabear ice cream sandwich. (I prefer vanilla.) 2 points

Total points: 25

If you figure each point = about 50 calories, that's 1250 calories

I'm allowed 24 points a day, plus any activity points I might earn, with a discretionary fund of 35 points for the week. Since I use WW eTools to keep track of my food, I always count and usually manage to eat my activity points. And I usually end the week with at least 10 FlexPoints left in the fund. (Just in the interest of full disclosure.)

My aim is to not eat anything after 8:30 at night. But I only make that goal about 4 days out of 7.

So that's me.

What's a typical on plan day look like for you?

Two Weeks Notice

The kitchens, here at Chez Von, are closed for the day and that means that I have successfully completed 14 days in a row of on program WW-ering.

You may (or, as implied, may not) be interested to know that the Scalegod this morning gave up on trying to hand me 179.0 and gave me a more realistic 177.8. Good. But as you can see on the sidebar, I was at 177.8 on Wednesday. So, eh.

I'm prepared to chalk that up to period weirdness.

See? See how I'm letting it go?

Yeah right.

Random Fact #1: after reading the list of "10 best nutrition moves" on Mo's Mr. Ointy, I got to wondering, just how much red meat I actually eat. So I looked back through the last 14 days and found 4 occasions of that particular sin. Not bad, but could be better.

Random Fact #2: If I rack up another 5 WW days, I'll have 19 in a row. Add that to the 9 on program days I managed before this, and that would give me 28 on program days out of 31 this month.

Here's to 5 more!!