New food journal and The Hobbit

Usually I weigh myself every morning and the past few weeks the scale hasn't been budging much. I will show a 1 lb loss one week, then gain two the next week, then lose one the next week and so on.  I've been a little up and down with my calories but not too much.  Plus I've still been running as planned.  Well after my binge on Saturday night I noticed an immediate loss the next morning.  I figured I was just dehydrated, but I've been losing all week still.  Maybe the binge kick started my system a little, or maybe I lost some water weight because I've been increasing my running since my 100lbs lost.  (Sometimes when you start an exercise regimen or increase it the scale wont budge right away because your muscles are holding on to water, which is frustrating).  I'm  not exactly sure what it was that kicked started my weight loss again, but I'm happy!  I want to add, this is me in NO WAY endorsing eating a bunch of extra calories to kick you out of a plateau.  I was not in a plateau, especially since I know my eating was a little off for awhile.

I do know that if I lose weight this week and then find that I'm doing the up and down thing on the scale again that I'm going to probably raise my calories again to 1600 from 1500.  Sometimes it's hard to think that I might be eating too little, but maybe I am a bit.  We will see how the next few weeks work out.

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This time of year our townhouse gets very little sunlight. Our patio door faces East, but we have a big tree that blocks any sun that shines our way. So on the rare occasion that I'm home when we get sunlight I go a little snap happy with the camera.

The flowers are opening up and are so beautiful right now!

Every year in the spring I bundle up in sweaters and blankets head out onto the deck to get as much sunshine as possible.  I am in love with the sunshine!  It's been snowing so much lately that we haven't had much sun, so this morning I opened up all the blinds and curtains and curled up on the couch to read since the sun was starting to peek through the clouds.  Usually I sit in front of my computer with coffee and my goLITE and read emails and blogs.  This morning was just a perfect morning to relax!

I've been reading this book for months (it's HUGE) but really fantastic.  If you're into fantasy then it's a really great read. I just find I don't have much time to read.  Plus I read reeaally slowly. Doesn't help much!

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I got my new food journal in the mail the other day, I'm so excited to show it!  It's a Princess Peach and Mario themed journal.  When you buy Nintendo games and consoles you can register your purchase online with Club Nintendo, and when you do they give you virtual coins which you can spend on real products.  I've been saving up mine for awhile and got the notebook.  Next will be a Donkey Kong notebook I think!

You can pick from shoelaces, notebooks, folios, games, posters, towels.. all sorts of Nintendo themed stuff. It's actually pretty cool.

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This morning I had another run planned right before lunch.  It was another drag-myself-over-and-get-it-done type of run, but that's okay not all running days can be fantastic.

So I went 2.92 Miles or 4.7km which is about the average that I've been hitting lately.  I ran at 4.6 mph and didn't make any changes in the speed the whole way.  I kind of found the run boring, so I'm going to have to look into new music or podcasts I think.  I can't wait until the spring when I can try running outside. I think it'll be a nice change from running in the dungeon!

After the run it was lunch time.  I bought these lean beef burgers from Safeway.  Normally beef sits really heavy in my stomach so I don't eat it often, but these burgers are pretty decent.  They're thick, juicy and only 140 calories each.  Spot on!

I bought these GIANT mushrooms the other day, so I decided to slice them thick and add them to my burger today with spinach and light cheese.

Which reminds me, that I need to buy Portabello mushrooms and make mushrooms burgers one day.

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The next few days (heck, up until New Years) I will be working lots.  I'm a bit wary that I wont be able to get all of my runs in, especially since I work shift work and the schedule isn't constant.  I also have a staff party for work at my house Saturday night.  We will be ordering pizza, which I don't think I'll have.  Normally I might have a bit, but the party starts around 10pm since it'll be after work. By then I shouldn't really be eating much.  I might grab a few light beer instead and schedule a run for that day as well just to open up some more calories just in case.  Dan took the day off too so I'll have him watching me like a hawk just in case I need support.  Having the party in my home I think will be a lot easier than if it was anywhere else.  At least in my home I have my food journal I can run to, and I have healthy snack options as well.  I think I will just do my best to not stress about it and to make the healthiest decisions I can.  I want to enjoy what is there food and drink wise without going overboard.

So is anyone going to see The Hobbit tomorrow night?  We play a trailer for it at work over and over all day and each time it comes on the TV I get a little bit more excited!  Dan and I plan on seeing it with his family since they'll be all down for Christmas.  Seeing all of the LOTR movies together was a tradition for them so it's pretty neat that everyone happens to be getting together the Christmas that this new movie is out!  I can't wait!!

Snap happy picture! I got this our first Christmas, it says "Our First Christmas" (duh!) and it has pressed flowers inside of the glass.