Monthly Archives: March 2010

Convenience store inconvenience

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Why is it that every time I walk into a convenience store, I feel the urge to buy something unhealthy?

No matter where we are going, whether it’s Willmar, St. Cloud, Minneapolis or Fargo, we always stop at a convenience store before we hit the road – either to fill the car up with gas or to pick up a Diet Dew for my husband. 

Yesterday, my hubby and I were on our way to St. Cloud to check out a car (I am in desperate need of a different/new one!) and we had to make a pit stop in Albany for gas. Whoops, we forgot to gas up before we left. We pulled into the Holiday gas station and as my husband filled up the tank, I went inside. I do typically try and stay in the car when we stop at these types of stores because I know they are a danger zone for me. But let’s just say this time it was a much needed pit stop! Too much tea makes me have to pee!

As I walked around, I was actually impressed to see they had healthier options for travelers, such as apples, oranges and bananas, among other things, instead of just the junk stuff like chips, cookies, donuts and those pre-packaged nasty sandwiches. Seriously, I think those are the grossest things. EWWWW! At any rate, for some reason, buying fruit at a Holiday gas station isn’t all that appealing to me. Why? Not sure. But it just isn’t. 

I had a bag of Doritos in my hand, which I put back on the shelf. Then, I had a bag of Cheetos in my hand, which I also put back on the shelf. Then, my eyes and hands wandered to the cheese popcorn, the caramel puff corn, the loaded baked potato chips, the chocolate chip muffins, the lemon poppy seed muffins, the cookies, the chips again and then the cookies again, and then the disgustingly fatty Slim Jims, which I used to eat all the time (again, ewwww!) and then FINALLY, I made up my mind. Nothing. I didn’t need anything. I didn’t actually want anything – but to run out of the store. Fast.

My husband grabbed his bottle of pop and some type of spicy beef stick and we made our way to the checkout. Thank God. But then, out of the corner of my eye, another display caught my attention, "Buy One Get One Free!" I couldn’t pass up that deal…I mean, come one, BOGO at the convenience store? Who knew?

So, up on the counter I tossed two Twix candy bars – a peanut butter one (which I used to eat ALL THE TIME!) and a new triple chocolate one. I figured we could each sample each bar. 

Our consensus was the peanut butter one was just okay, but the new triple chocolate one was pretty darn good. Not so good that I would buy it again. Unless that is I am forced to stop at another convenience store and that darn "Buy One Get One Free!" sign catches my eye. Let’s hope next time it will be on the new fudge Snickers bar I have been salivating over!

You gotta love BioFreeze

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Okay, I cannot tell a lie….yesterday was miserable. My legs, actually just my quads, felt like they were filled with lead or sand or something really heavy. No other part of my body ached, but the upper, front portion of my legs. My abs were fine. My arms were fine. But my quads were screaming at me yesterday, asking, "What the heck did you do to us and what did we ever to do you to deserve this misery?"

Darn boot camp.

The pain all started late Saturday evening. I must have finally come down from my exercise high. I could feel my quad muscles stiffening up and getting real tight. Every time I would sit down, as if I was going to do a squat, it would just hurt and kind of burn. But not like a real pain hurt, but a "wow, I worked the crap out my muscles hurt." You know, THAT kind. The OMG I do actually have muscles in that part of my body hurt.

Sunday morning when I woke up I thought I was going to die. And the worst part was, Sunday is my laundry day. I don’t do laundry during the week, but instead, save it all up for Sundays. Stupid, I know. Do you want to know where my washer and dryer are? Yep, in the basement. Yep, up and down and up and down and up and down. Yep, it hurt. I don’t know how many trips I made up and down my stairs yesterday, but I will tell you this….one was too many.

What was weird to me is that going down the stairs is what hurt the most. I actually didn’t mind walking up. It kind of stretched the muscles, which felt somewhat good. Somewhat. Throughout the day, I kept stretching my legs out, trying to work out the ache out of my muscles. I drank tons of water and three bottles of a vitamin-enhanced fitness drink mix that I made with water. It was grape-flavored and sugar-free and actually tasted really good. I think the brand was Fulfill. Anyway, I had lots of fluids and even tossed back a few ibuprofen, which didn’t seem to do much at all.

Last night, after my husband and I got home from walking around our mall, Walmart and Menards for nearly three hours, I finally got the bright idea to rub my quad muscles with BioFreeze. Yes, that felt AWESOME. Biofreeze is basically like Icy/Hot or BenGay. It is what I used for training and for the event during the Susan G. Komen 3-Day, 60-Mile Breast Cancer Walk. I love the stuff…all of it…BenGay, Icy/Hot and BioFreeze. It’s all good.

This morning, I managed to work out with my fitness buddy, Tina, but I focused on upper body exercises and ab work. I didn’t do one single solitary squat or lunge. Thank goodness. I am planning on running after work today, though. I need to get my running in. It will be interesting to see how it goes.

Oh, and I also got an e-mail from Tina letting me know she signed us up for next Saturday’s boot camp class…30 minutes of boot camp and 60 minutes of spin class. God, help me! 

I can’t wait.

P.S. By the way, don’t forget to check me out on Facebook. Tell your friends. Heck, tell everyone. I’d love to have you as fans, and I love hearing from you all. Thanks for reading! I appreciate each and every one of you!

Made it through Boot Camp

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Yes! I did it. I actually made it through my first boot camp class.

And I am still alive and kicking! Breathing even. Normally. But let me tell you OOOO…MMMM…GGGG!!! That was the toughest thing I have done in a long time. And I thought running was hard. That’s nothing compared to what I just went through. April and Brent, a husband and wife team, took us through the ringer. But they were so much fun.

Except for the fact that I don’t think I saw a lick of sweat on April. Seriously, she just did everything with such ease…AND, grace. It was fun to watch her as you can tell she loves what she does. She works out hard, but because she is so conditioned and in uber great shape, it really seemed like it was a walk in the park for her. She’s my new superhero! Well, so is Brent. He really did a great job, too. They kind of tag-teamed the workout, which way rocked. Seriously, that is so cool that they work out together like that. Thanks to Brent and April for making me sweat. And let me tell you, that was the most sweat that has ever come out of this body. Whew! My HRM said I burned 533 calories, so that’s kind of cool, huh?

Oh, also, a big thanks to Tina, my workout buddy, for doing it with me. She was a trooper. 

Really, it was so AWESOME. Tina and I already made plans to attend next Saturday’s boot camp, which includes 30 minutes of the intense boot camp workout and 30-60 minutes of spin class. Yahoo, that should be interesting, as I have never done a spin class before. Seriously, what have I gotten myself into? This is nuts. Crazy, I say. All this working out is so not me, but let me tell you, I have having a blast. Seriously. It is so much fun.

Today’s class was very fast-paced and very intense. We were moving, mostly fast, the whole entire time. There were burpees (which by the way, I haven’t done since grade school), jumping jacks, running in place this way and that way, jumping like I was a slalom skier, push ups, squats, ab work, weights, push ups, squats, weights, ab work, balance ball stuff, resistance band stuff, push ups, squats and OMG, I can’t even remember everything. That hour went by so fast. The music really rocked, too. The music really helps, in my opinion.

There are a couple of things I learned about myself this morning – one, I have no upper body strength; two, I have no core strength; and lastly, I really need to concentrate on myself and not watch everyone else in the class who made it look so darn easy! Oh, and some how, some way, some where, I need to get, find, whatever some coordination. Wow. Really.

I am attaching a picture that Tina took after the class of Brent, myself and April. Seriously, aren’t they just cute? Enjoy!

 

Trying something new

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So, I am going to try something new tomorrow morning. Something I have never done before. Ever.
Something that kind of scares the you know what out of me. But, in my new-found healthier lifestyle, it’s something I am willing to try – at least once anyway.

The other day, I saw on Facebook that my workout buddy, Tina, was signed up for something called “Boot Camp” at Racquetball Plus. I have heard this term before, but never really knew exactly what it was. Actually, I still don’t. Which is maybe why going to the class scares me.

But I sent her a message asking what it was all about and asked if she thought it was something I could do. She told me to give her a call, so I did. She explained, after admitting it scared the you know what out of her, too, that it is a one-hour intense workout, including cardio and strength training.

I asked if she thought I could do it because I am not the most, oh, shall we say, coordinated of persons. Really, truly, I am not.

In high school, I tried to be on the color guard team. Yeah, right, that didn’t work so well. I could do the feet movements and I could do the twirling of the flag and/or gun. But to actually move my feet where they needed to go PLUS twirl the flag or gun. Nope. It didn’t happen. I lasted a whole two days.
I think when I tried jazz dance I lasted one day. Or maybe it was one hour. Can’t remember. So yeah, I am that uncoordinated.

Tina said if she could do it, then I could do it. She was actually excited that I asked about it because she really wanted to ask me, but knew how I felt about taking classes at a gym. It’s not that I think they are bad, mind you, I just typically can’t do them because of the whole coordination thing.
Although a few years back, I did try yoga and love it. But I guess yoga is a little slower paced than aerobics, jazz dance or colorguard, huh?

But I thought, “What the heck?” and told Tina to sign me up.

The cool part is that you don’t have to be a member of the facility and it only costs 5 bucks. Cool.

I will admit I am truly nervous. But probably not because of the reasons you may think. Yes, the coordination has something to do with it, but there’s more to it than that.

See, here’s the deal. Even though I have lost 40-plus pounds, am the smallest I have been since my son was born 16 years ago, I am still not feeling the love for my body. Maybe that is another reason why I love working out at home. I know I run outside and tons of cars pass me by, but I often have a hat and sunglasses on and so they can’t tell who I am – at least that’s what I think. Stupid, I know.

But I am just not comfortable in my new skin yet – skin that still wiggles, jiggles and is flabby in all the wrong places. You know what I mean?

I know of a few of the people that will be attending the class and I would consider them fitness buffs – something I am so not. Yes, I workout a heckuva lot more than I did a year ago, but really, come on, I am still a wimp.

But, and I keep telling myself this over and over and over and over again, the only person I need to worry about is myself. I know I shouldn’t compare myself to the other people in the class, and I am going to try – really, really, hard – not to do that. I am going to go in, head held high, and try my hardest, give it my all, 110 percent.

I am going to focus on me and be proud of the fact that I am there, that I had the courage to try it – and that I am not sitting at home doing nothing, eating some high-calorie, high fat, bad for me food.
I’ll let you know how it goes. Providing I can still move when I am done!

Trying something new

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So, I am going to try something new tomorrow morning. Something I have never done before. Ever.
Something that kind of scares the you know what out of me. But, in my new-found healthier lifestyle, it’s something I am willing to try – at least once anyway.

The other day, I saw on Facebook that my workout buddy, Tina, was signed up for something called “Boot Camp” at Racquetball Plus. I have heard this term before, but never really knew exactly what it was. Actually, I still don’t. Which is maybe why going to the class scares me.

But I sent her a message asking what it was all about and asked if she thought it was something I could do. She told me to give her a call, so I did. She explained, after admitting it scared the you know what out of her, too, that it is a one-hour intense workout, including cardio and strength training.

I asked if she thought I could do it because I am not the most, oh, shall we say, coordinated of persons. Really, truly, I am not.

In high school, I tried to be on the color guard team. Yeah, right, that didn’t work so well. I could do the feet movements and I could do the twirling of the flag and/or gun. But to actually move my feet where they needed to go PLUS twirl the flag or gun. Nope. It didn’t happen. I lasted a whole two days.
I think when I tried jazz dance I lasted one day. Or maybe it was one hour. Can’t remember. So yeah, I am that uncoordinated.

Tina said if she could do it, then I could do it. She was actually excited that I asked about it because she really wanted to ask me, but knew how I felt about taking classes at a gym. It’s not that I think they are bad, mind you, I just typically can’t do them because of the whole coordination thing.
Although a few years back, I did try yoga and love it. But I guess yoga is a little slower paced than aerobics, jazz dance or colorguard, huh?

But I thought, “What the heck?” and told Tina to sign me up.

The cool part is that you don’t have to be a member of the facility and it only costs 5 bucks. Cool.

I will admit I am truly nervous. But probably not because of the reasons you may think. Yes, the coordination has something to do with it, but there’s more to it than that.

See, here’s the deal. Even though I have lost 40-plus pounds, am the smallest I have been since my son was born 16 years ago, I am still not feeling the love for my body. Maybe that is another reason why I love working out at home. I know I run outside and tons of cars pass me by, but I often have a hat and sunglasses on and so they can’t tell who I am – at least that’s what I think. Stupid, I know.

But I am just not comfortable in my new skin yet – skin that still wiggles, jiggles and is flabby in all the wrong places. You know what I mean?

I know of a few of the people that will be attending the class and I would consider them fitness buffs – something I am so not. Yes, I workout a heckuva lot more than I did a year ago, but really, come on, I am still a wimp.

But, and I keep telling myself this over and over and over and over again, the only person I need to worry about is myself. I know I shouldn’t compare myself to the other people in the class, and I am going to try – really, really, hard – not to do that. I am going to go in, head held high, and try my hardest, give it my all, 110 percent.

I am going to focus on me and be proud of the fact that I am there, that I had the courage to try it – and that I am not sitting at home doing nothing, eating some high-calorie, high fat, bad for me food.
I’ll let you know how it goes. Providing I can still move when I am done!

Yep, I am still here!

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Yes, I am still here…alive and well. I just haven’t blogged for a little while, that’s all. Did you miss me?

I have really started concentrating on my running lately, as the Fargo 5K is coming up quickly. I have decided to change up my workout schedule, which is now as follows: Mondays and Fridays I will do my strength training program that my student trainer designed for me (on a side note, she is now officially a real certified trainer and working at Racquetball Plus…how cool is that?), on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, I will run – hopefully outside. I think I am going to take Sundays off…just for fun. Although if the weather is nice out, it may be hard for me to stay inside.

The weather lately has been so gorgeous that I feel I have to get outside because it might not last. You know, this is Minnesota.

The eating has been going, well, umm, errr….okay, I guess. It’s not like I have pigged out or anything and I haven’t gained weight. Actually, I lost somehow and am now at my all-time low since probably 10th grade. On Wednesday, I hit 147.2. Whew. I can’t believe it.

But the thing is, I can’t seem to shake the God-awful cravings I get sometimes. OMG, I get these all-out sugar cravings, which lately have been for these dark chocolate chip cookies found at a little restaurant in our mall, Bayfields, that are out-of-this-world good…especially if they are warmed up in the microwave right I when I buy them. I typically buy two at a time as they are on the small side…really, truly, they are. 

My mouth literally waters just thinking about them and I kind of get an almost lightheadedness feeling. So, after I try to talk myself out of going to get them, I usually end up caving and drive, maybe somewhat fast, to the mall so I can get a couple of 69 cent cookies. But here’s the thing, almost every time I eat them, I get an almost sick feeling, you know, because they are so rich and really, my body probably isn’t used to. They are ooey-gooey good. And the sick feeling happens even if I eat just one. And it’s not like I get them every day, not even every week for that matter. It’s just once in awhile. 

What I don’t get, though, is why can’t my brain remember the icky feeling I have when I am done noshing on them instead of the super-dee-duper-dee delicious, melt-in-your-mouth, goodness taste? It just doesn’t make any sense to me. Really, it doesn’t.

It’s kind of like when you stuff yourself silly at a buffet and feel miserable for the next four hours and then a month later you’re back at the same buffet, doing it all over again. Actually, fortunately, I haven’t done that in a really, really, REALLY, long time. I think the last time was at Granite City in Maple Grove last year and after that, I think I swore off buffets. Thank Goodness!

Anyway, someday, I hope I can learn about those darn cookies and just stay away from them. Someday, I say, someday. Just like I have learned to LOVE veggies and nearly LOVE exercising! Right?

Feeling better

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Last night, I had a seminar in Fargo for Weight Watchers, which by the way, was pretty fun. For some reason though, I was kind nervous; not sure why. But it was really kind of cool and I learned a ton.

Oh, before I forget, I have been meaning to mention, now that I work for Weight Watchers, I should let you know that the views expressed in this blog are mine and mine only. They are not necessarily the views or opinions of Weight Watchers. They are my opinions and my thoughts. Whew, okay, I got that out of the way.

After my seminar, I met up with my husband and our friends, Gary and DeAnn, and after a while, my sister-in-law, Vicki, and her friend, Barry, joined us. We hung out at a bar, the Three Lions Pub. I have not been to a bar forever and I mean FOR-EV-ER. It was really kind of strange and loud and I felt old and overdressed. The overdressed part was because I actually didn’t have any skin showing, unlike the young girls who had plenty. Seriously, I felt old. But anyway, I got there a little after 9 p.m. and I was slightly hungry, but not really, although I didn’t eat supper, so I should have been hungry. I did have some WW baked cheddar snacks and a WW baked apple cinnamon bar at my seminar.

I opted to go for my favorite drink of choice – water! Yes, maybe I am old. Actually, I had to drive and I DO NOT drink and drive. EVER. Anyway, I took a look at the menu and decided that a salad looked pretty good, although the battered and deep-fried chicken fingers looked pretty appealing. I didn’t choose those, though. My salad, with grilled chicken, ended up being pretty darn tasty and was exactly what I needed. I mean, come on, it was now close to 10 p.m. and I usually don’t eat quite that late.

When we were leaving the bar, which was around midnight, I realized I forgot my breakfast stuff and so we made a mad dash to the grocery store to get my yogurt, cereal, Vitatops and some apples. No treats were bought this time, which is unlike the last time we visited Gary and DeAnn and we made a late night trip to the grocery store for a can of frosting and other treats. Oh my!

After we got back to the house, we visited for a little bit, but I was exhausted. I had been up since 5:45 a.m. because Tina and I worked out at 6:30 a.m. So, once again I felt old (even though I was the youngest one there) and I headed to bed…around 1 a.m. The others stayed up until after 3 a.m. Crazy people, I say, crazy.

When I packed my stuff for our little trip, I brought my gear to go running. Truthfully, I really didn’t expect to go running Saturday morning; I more or less brought it just because it made me feel better. I really had no intentions to get up early and run outside in the always breezy, cool Fargo weather. 

But guess what? I did. I woke up at 9 a.m., which for me is sleeping in. I was feeling really good. The house was quiet and so I ate my breakfast, played on the computer a little bit and then got dressed for my run. The sun was shining and it looked like a beautiful day. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to run. I headed out the door and it was a bit nippy. There was a chill in the air, but it wasn’t too bad. I just took off running, not necessarily knowing where I was going or how far I was going. I passed five other runners, which was really neat. I, too, was out there running. I was one of them. I felt really, really good. Kind of hard to explain, though.

When I got back, I looked at my Garmin and saw that I did 2.03 miles and that it took me 22 minutes and 30 seconds. A quick check on the Internet and I found out my pace was 11 minutes, .05 seconds. This has been my best pace ever. It was definitely better than my last run, that’s for sure! I was pumped. And feeling just a bit better about my running abilities! I guess what I have heard is right; sometimes, you just have bad running days and I guess that’s what my run with my husband was. Plain and simple, a bad run. I guess I shouldn’t have been so disappointed. 

I got back to the house, drank some water, ate an apple and then hopped in the shower. I once again played on the computer and finally, around noonish, the rest of the house woke up and got ready for the day. Once everyone was showered and dressed, we headed out the door for lunch. I got to choose where we ate and my choice? Believe it or not, was iHop! Weird, I know. I’ve never eaten there before and for some reason, I was in the mood for pancakes. I was happy with my decision because it was DELICIOUS! 

After lunch, we said our goodbyes to Gary and DeAnn, and then Al and I did a little shopping. Spent some time in Best Buy and Walmart, and then it was time to head home. But not before we made one more stop. Yep, I swear to God my car has a mind of its own sometimes. It turned right into the parking lot of…….yep, you guessed it…Cold Stone Creamery!!!!!

Good thing I went for a run!

p.s. By the way, did you know you can find Confessions of a Fat Girl on Facebook. Yep, that’s right. You can become a fan. I would be really happy if you did!!! Thanks.

Whine fest

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WARNING: This blog post is filled with whining and self-pity and crabbiness – read if you want a good laugh! I can’t be upbeat all the time, can I? And once again, I will try to keep it brief. Well, maybe. Or maybe not.

Every St. Patrick’s Day for the past several years – this is the 10th anniversary, actually – my husband has ran "the loop" at his family’s lake place on Lake Ida. The loop is about a three-mile stretch of road – both gravel and tar – consisting of hills and some semi-flat stretches that starts and ends at the lake place near Big Horn Bay. He started doing the run after a bad break up as a way to signify his freedom. Although we have been together for the past seven years (we started dating seven years ago on March 18), he has continued the tradition. And he always runs it on St. Patrick’s day no matter what day of the week it is on. 

He usually does the run by himself, but I decided to join him this year. Actually, my son has joined him on the run a couple of times, but I haven’t. Not sure why. Oh, probably because I didn’t start running until last year in the summer some time. Anyway, I am thinking I should have just let him go by himself. Here’s why:

We started out from the lake place, running immediately. We did do a little stretching, but I am used to walking for a couple of blocks to warm up. The weather was gorgeous; the sun was out, but there was a slight breeze – a chilly breeze – coming off the lake. Shortly after we started, my breathing became short and shallow. This usually doesn’t happen so fast. I just assumed we were running a faster pace than normal. We continued and I tried to relax and focus on breathing right. Or normal. It wasn’t working and I was struggling. The first set of hills were coming and I could feel my husband pulling away from me. I told him to just go ahead because I couldn’t keep up the same pace and I really wanted to run the whole thing and I KNEW he would be walking soon anyway.

Oh, by the way, have I ever mentioned that my husband is 12 years older than me? Well, he is. He will be 50 in November. Oh, and have I ever mentioned that I exercise my butt off and he maybe exercises twice a month? If even that. Oh, and yeah, one more thing, did I happen to tell you he’s not super fit, but just kind of? I would definitely consider myself in better shape. Oh, and there’s one more thing, he has high blood pressure and is on medication, so yep, I have to be in better shape…right?

Well, as we kept going, he kept getting farther and farther ahead of me and he kept running and running and running. And, running. And, pulling farther away from me. And, yes, it was kind of, sort of, maybe, making me a little mad or maybe sad or maybe a little deflated. I mean, come on, I am the one who has been working out. I am the one who has been doing all the running. I am the one who has lost all this weight. I am the one who should have been kicking his butt, leaving him in the dust. Not the other way around. Seriously. Deflating with a capital D.

I know we were not in a race. I do, seriously, understand that. But gosh dang it, I wanted to go out there and run circles around him. I wanted to run the whole thing and not get winded. I wanted to feel like the young, fit, in-shape runner. I am 12 years younger, darn it. Why did I have to suck? Why did I have to feel like the old, out of shape, winded one? So, instead of using those feelings to fire me up, I sulked instead and could feel the tears welling up, although they didn’t fall. I kept them in because I didn’t want to be like THAT. A baby. A sore loser. I could feel the sting in my left calf as it kept tightening up, burning more and more with each pound of the pavement. I could feel my lungs closing in, making it harder and harder to breathe. And I could see my husband, running and running and running, with what looked like such ease. 

After I quit feeling sorry for myself and after I could finally take a couple of deep breaths and after my calf loosened up – just a little I might add – I started running again. Yes, I did have to walk. My husband then turned the corner and I could no longer see him. It was the last stretch of road, the last mile. I started to kick it in gear. A little. I got to the corner and saw, with a little relief (I can’t lie), that my husband had FINALLY started walking. I kept running, trying to catch up. Finally, I did. And I passed him right on up. As I came up next to him, he turned and smiled at me with that oh-so-cute smile of his, not knowing that just minutes ago, I was kind of ticked at him. Well, not really at him, but at the fact that his nearly 50-year-old body was beating my nearly 38-year-old body. I waved, smiling ever so small, and just kept on going. I know it wasn’t fair to him, but I didn’t want him to see that I was not so happy.

I made it back to the lake place first, but was still upset at myself for not being able to run the whole thing. I walked around until he made it back, which was not very long at all and after a quick check of things, we headed back home. 

I think he could tell something was wrong. He was so sweet and nice and thanked me for running with him this year. He told me how much he loved the fact that I came with him. He told me I did a great job and that he was proud of me. Yep, that’s what did it. The tears finally came (just a few) and I told him that I thought I should give up running because, "I sucked." I wasn’t ever going to be a runner. He assured me I didn’t "suck."

See, the thing is, my husband was a runner…years ago. He ran just about every day. He is seasoned. Or so he told me. He said he knows all the tips and tricks to running. He knows how to breathe, which is the biggest thing I struggle with. He once again assured me that I am doing great and even said I don’t look awkward when I run. He said my form was good. I guess that made me feel a little better. A little. 

Well, we are running a 5K – supposedly together – on May 21. At this point, I am really questioning whether or not I am ready. Really, truly, I am. I know I will do it. I know I will finish. I just don’t know if I will be able to keep up with my husband…but I guess that is something I am going to have to live with. Right?

Mission accomplished!

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 My weekend with my two sisters, Donna and Karen, was fantastic! A memory-making filled weekend. Here’s a brief (Okay, not really, but it sounded good! I mean seriously, am I ever brief?) synopsis of what I did this weekend and what I ate!

Friday day: I met up with a friend of mine, Shirley, at Granite City Food and Brewery in Maple Grove. I ordered the Southwestern Chicken Salad minus the cheese and the tortilla strips. It came with a tequila lime vinaigrette. It was awesome. Oh, it also came with a small, and I mean small, bowl of soup. I didn’t make the best choice, but it was fantastic. It was similar to beer cheese, but they called it something different and it had a couple of croutons on top. Really, truly, it was great.

I also downed a large (venti) skinny frappuccino with sugar-free vanilla at Starbucks. I had a gift card from there that I got for Christmas and there isn’t any Starbucks by where I live. It was worth five bucks, which is why I opted for the large. And let me tell you, it was worth every penny! Num-Num!

Friday night: My sisters and I met up with our brother, Mike, and our sister-in-law, Kim, at Khan’s Mongolian BBQ in Bloomington. This is an Asian-style create-your-own meal kind of place. I had nothing but veggies! It rocked. I loved it. These types of restaurants are one of my favorite places to eat at because you can make it really healthy! I did eat two fortune cookies, though! They were actually pretty good. 

Saturday day: I had my typical breakfast of yogurt, Fiber One cereal and Vita muffin (yes, I almost always bring my breakfast with me when I travel anywhere). We made it to the mall by 10 a.m., which is right when they open. My first task? Finding a new pair of jeans. Most of my jeans come from either Walmart or Kohl’s, so I decided that I was going to splurge and get a nice, decent, semi-expensive pair. I chose Macy’s because my sister had coupons! Gotta love coupons. Anyway, nearly 20 pairs of jeans later (trying on that many pairs of jeans better count for some kind of exercise!) and I found one that fit perfectly. Now here’s the funny part and once again, reminds me that size really does not matter. I was fitting into jeans ranging from size 10 to 6. I ended up with the pair that were a size 6 – and no it wasn’t because of the number on the tag. They truly were the best fitting jeans and the most comfortable. They were Ralph Lauren. After I found my jeans, I wandered aimlessly about the mall for the next hour and a half. I think I made it around level one at least once, if not twice.

My sisters and I met up for lunch at about 12:30 p.m. (We often don’t shop together because we all have different tastes.) We ate at Ruby Tuesday, which I absolutely love! Every time I eat there, I only have the salad bar. They have a low-fat balsamic vinegar dressing that is out-of-this-world delicious and all the veggies are so fresh tasting. I also ate a handful of the croutons, which I think they make homemade with rye bread. They are OMG good.

After lunch, we separated again and the plan was to meet back at Cold Stone Creamery at about 2:30 p.m. Again, I set off walking. And again, I headed to Starbucks. It was so good on Friday that I just had to go back for round two. This time, I only ordered a medium (grande). Afterward, I just started walking. I made it around level three maybe once or twice and I think I  may have completed level two once or twice. The Mall of America is so big and everything kind of looks the same to me, it’s hard to tell. All I know is that when I got to Cold Stone, I was happy to see an empty bench. I wasn’t there very long and one of my sisters showed up. We were both pooped. I even took my tennis shoes off while we waited for our other sister! We had our ice cream, which, as usual, Was. To. Die. For. We made our way back to the hotel for a rest before dinner and our night out at the Orpheum Theatre to see Mamma Mia!

Saturday night: We opted to eat at Houlihan’s in Richfield so we could meet up with our brother Steve and his family, including his wife, Lori, and their children, Trevor and Chelsea. I decided to kind of splurge on supper – I ordered the enchiladas, which came with chipotle-smoked chicken with queso
fresco, pico rice, black beans and napa cabbage. I ate all of my one enchilada, one bite of rice (it was too spicy for my tastebuds!), a couple bites of the napa cabbage (it was just alright, I guess) and nearly all of my black beans (they were delicious!). I was actually very full. Because we were celebrating two birthdays (Karen and Trevor), the waiter said we could pick three desserts! Oh my! All three were very small, but rich and good. I had a couple of bites of the chocolate cappuccino cake and a couple of bites of the strawberry cheesecake. I opted not to try the Snickers crunch ice cream dome! Not sure why. I was really, really full.

We made it to the play on time (we thought we were going to be late!) and it was fantastic! I loved it way better than the movie starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan! Seriously, the movie was just okay, but I didn’t really care for Mr. Brosnan. He’s a better James Bond.

Anyway, when we got back to the hotel, we all crashed – we were exhausted!

Sunday: We got up early (too early!) and my sisters got ready and then we headed downstairs for breakfast. Again, I brought my own and ate that. They left shortly after that. I stayed behind and took my time getting ready. I then met a friend of mine who used to work at the paper. She now lives in the Twin Cities. Erin and I met at The Tea Garden in St. Paul to visit and sip on some tea before we headed to Run ‘N’ Fun – an awesome shoe store on Randolph Avenue! This is where Erin goes and she thought she could get a discount for me as her running club members buy their shoes here and they all get a discount. How awesome is that! The Tea Garden was superb…I even bought some loose leaf tea that was seriously, the best tea I have ever had!

Well, I accomplished my second mission or task for the weekend – buying a new pair of running shoes. My last couple pairs of shoes have been Asics, which I love. But I didn’t buy Asics this time. The guy at Run ‘N’ Fun was very helpful and knowledgeable and told me that I have semi-flat feet, which surprised me for some reason. I found out I need shoes that have a lot of support. That was kind of cool to know. Anyway, I tried on several pair, including a couple of Asics and for a moment, it was a toss up. But, I eventually ended up with a pair of Brooks. OMG, they were sooooooo comfortable and light. It was almost like walking on air…seriously. I was happy. And, I did score a 20 percent discount. That rocked.

I finally headed home around 2 p.m. It was a fun-filled weekend. I didn’t make it to the hotel’s fitness center either day, but I think I made up for it with all my walking around the mall. I am happy with how the weekend turned out. It wasn’t stressful – food-wise, I mean. I didn’t necessarily hard-core exercise, but that’s okay. I spent time with my sisters, my brothers and my friends. It was a wonderful time that I will treasure forever!

Oh, by the way, I didn’t enter anything in my Weight Watchers log all day Friday, Saturday and today! That’s the first time I have done that since I started Weight Watchers back in November of 2008. I can’t wait to start logging again tomorrow! Believe it or not, I kind of missed it. Crazy, huh?

Just for fun, here are a couple of pics for your viewing pleasure – enjoy!

Karen, me and Donna at Khan’s Mongolian BBQ on Friday night.

Donna, Karen and I at Houlihan’s on Saturday night.

My new running shoes!!!!!

Whew, so much for being brief, huh?

Can’t wait for the weekend

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I am leaving this morning for a fun-filled weekend with my two sisters in the Twin Cities. A weekend filled with shopping, eating and taking in Mamma Mia! at the Orpheum. I cannot wait!

Last year, when we did our sisters weekend, I was nervous about the eating part of the weekend and worried about the "damage" I would probably do. This year, I am not. I know tonight we will go out to eat, not sure where, but I am sure it will be somewhere good. Here’s the thing, though, I know I have the willpower and the confidence to make better choices this year than I did last year.

I know tomorrow we will spend the day at the Mall of America and I know I am going to eat some ice cream at my favorite place. Can’t wait. (I have to, I promised my one sister we would go there!) Tomorrow night, we will once again be going out to eat. And once again, I will have to make some choices, but I know I can do it. I am not apprehensive at all. I am not nervous. I am excited. 

And if I do make a not-so-great choice, I know it will be okay because this morning, I did a 50-minute workout on the elliptical and tomorrow morning I plan on checking out the fitness center at the hotel. Plus, like I said, I am going to be walking around the mall all day long…that will be a lot of walking and I am counting it as exercise!

On Sunday, I am meeting up with a friend I haven’t seen in quite some time. She is taking me to Run ‘N’ Fun in St. Paul to look for a new pair of running shoes. She thinks she can score me a discount! Excited about that. Afterward, we are going to have tea and catch up with each other. I can’t wait.

So, I have a big weekend ahead of me, but I feel really good about it. I definitely feel a lot better about it than I did last year. I can’t wait to spend some time with my sisters – Donna and Karen. We always have a great time and I love them so much!

I will let everyone know how it went when I get back Sunday night. Take care and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

P.S. I may post little snippets on the Confessions of a Fat Girl Facebook site over the weekend, so check it out, become a fan. I would love to have you!