Aha, two days in a row.

January 25th:

1 cup coffee with milk and sugar, over 4 litres of watery iced tea, 2 cups brown rice, 4 oz sirloin tip steak with cooked veggies. Possibly raw veggies with dip after my workout. Exercise: Gym - jogging 15 minutes out of 30 total. Also 10 minutes on the stairclimber at level 3.

I have, it seems, effortlessly managed to not weigh myself and yet still keep on working out and eating right. How's that?

Can't catch up on a whole week - I didn't start writing things down so it would sound the same as my last entry. I'll start from yesterday.

January 23rd, 2006:

1 cup coffee with milk and sugar, over 2 litres of watery iced tea, 2 cups Kraft Alfredo I think it's called, 1 cup brown rice, 4 oz round steak, and a gathering of raw veggies with light dip. I also managed to dip my fingers into a handfull of trail mix. Exercise: I went to the gym (still can't find a swimsuit - procrastinator that I am) and jogged 10 minutes out of 25 total. Also went on the elliptical for 10 minutes, at an average speed of 3.1. Is that good???

January 24th, 2006:

1 cup coffee with milk and sugar, over 4 litres of watery iced tea, 2 cups brown rice, a gathering again of raw veggies with light dip and a buttertart square. Exercise: Gym - jogged 15 minutes out of 30 total and stairclimber for 10 minutes at interval level 3. There are ten levels, but I figured #3 would kick my butt, and it did. Point taken, thank you very much.

January 12th:

Coffee, over 2 litres of watery iced tea and I know I ate but I can't remember what. Exercise was at the gym. 25 minutes jogging, total time on the treadmill was 40 minutes.

January 13th:

Coffee, over 2 litres of watery iced tea and I guess I need to start writing down what I eat because I forget. Oh yeah - dinner was ceasar salad, chicken fingers and some fries. Exercise was non-existant - terrible day at work.

January 14th:

Coffee, over 2 litres of water, a cheese biscuit, toast with eggs and hashbrowns, 2 pieces of a loaded pizza. Exercise was 4 hours of driving - does that count?

January 15th:

Coffee, NO water today! French toast for breakfast along with trail mix throughout the day and two pieces of bread with light margarine. Some walking.

January 16th:

Coffee, over 4 litres of watery iced tea, leftover ceasar salad and chicken fingers, pork skewers with red peppers, broccoli and carrots. Exercise again non-existent. My bathing suit has holes in it and I can't find my other ones. Another terrible day at work.

January 17th:

Coffee, over 2 litres of watery iced tea, veggies with dip, pork stir-fry with rice. Exercise will be a walk with the dog. Jog? *sigh* I probably should, yes.

January 10th:

Dinner was 2 cups of caesar salad and a piece of garlic toast. Over 2 litres of watery iced tea, and some coffee. The salad didn't sit well with my stomach, and I struggled through the 10 minute jog. The slower I went the easier it was (duh) so I kept it at a low pace tonight. Total walk 45 minutes.

Plan:

1 cup caesar salad (do I really want to try it again?!), 1 cup of mixed raw veggies with dip, soup for dinner. Exercise - gym night tonight. Going for 25 minutes of jogging.

January 9th:

I did not have the pizza. Yay me. I did however have a slice of french bread with creamy crab filling.

January 10th:

1 slice french bread with creamy crab filling, 2 cups brown rice. Dinner is raw veggies with dip and maybe cream of broccoli soup. Exercise tonight is walking the dog with the infamous 10 minute jog.

My boyfriend says that my digital scale is broken. He thinks he weighs less than what he actually is. That would really suck for me. I don't think i'll be weighing myself much anymore. It kind of ruined my day when he told me that.

January 7th:

1/3 of a chicken quesadilla with sour cream, raw veggies and dip, 4 pieces sausage, an onion ring and tacos with salsa dip. Coffee. I had a glass of wine and three vodkas with watery iced tea. Over 2 litres of watery iced tea. I tried to jog the park again but this time something closed off in my throat and I wasn't able to finish. I'd say about 2/3 of the run. Total walk of 45 minutes and I needed a nap by the time I got home.

January 8th:

2 cups macaroni salad, coffee. We got pizza for dinner and I went crazy on it, but I did also have caesar salad (as if that makes up for it) and raw veggies with dip. Over 2 litres of water. Jogged the park and had to stop once for a vehicle, about 8 minutes total. Total walk 1 hour.

January 9th:

1/2 cup macaroni salad with cheese, 1/4 cup leftover caesar salad, 1 cup brown rice. I think dinner will be another cup of rice and if I can't stay away from the pizza - one piece. As well as raw veggies with dip. Exercise tonight is 1 hour of Aquasize! I'll be hurting tomorrow.

January 4th:

7 meatballs and 1/2 cup macaroni salad, 2 cups brown rice with broccoli and carrots. Coffee and over 2 litres of watery iced tea. Went jogging in the park with the dog - jogged the length of the road through the park but I don't know how far that is. It took about 3 songs, so maybe 10 minutes. The whole walk took an hour.

January 5th:

1 piece ww toast with light margarine; 1 cup brown rice with broccoli and carrots; 6" turkey, ham and bacon sub on ww with lettuce and mustard. Coffee and over 2 litres of watery iced tead. Gym night: 24 minutes jogging, total of 65 minutes on treadmill.

January 6th:

2 cups potato salad; 1 cup brown rice with 2 pork ribs. Coffee and over 2 litres of watery iced tea. Jogged through the park: 10 minutes, total walk of 1 hour. 13 minutes on elliptical. I'm eating cheesies tonight and watching movies. That's okay, right? RIGHT?!!!

Good morning.

January 3rd:

1/2 cup ww spaghetti, 5 meatballs, 1/2 cup macaroni salad; coffee, lots of watered down iced tea; 40 bite size tortillas; 2 bowls cream of broccoli soup. Jogged with the dog about 8 minutes or so outside, then decided to walk the rest of the way. Darn lungs couldn't handle the cold air I guess.

January 4th:

I brought 7 meatballs and the rest of the macaroni salad to work with me; I think dinner will be brown rice and vegetables. Gym night tonight - going for my 'record time' of 23 minutes jogging on the treadmill. Wish me luck!

PS - my dog Chewy is now a scaredy-cat. He is even afraid of yeild signs.

Happy New Year everyone.

January 1st:

sick, sick, sick. Due to the festive mood I was in the night before.

1 bowl cream of mushroom soup, 1 bottle gingerale, 1 cup ww spaghetti with cheese and ketchup. Some water, but not nearly enough. The only exercise I got today was leaning over the toilet.....

January 2nd:

boy, was I in a good mood today.

turkey sandwich on ww with mustard, light margarine and cheese; coffee coffee coffee (maybe that's why I got so much accomplished today); 5 meatballs and 1 cup ww spaghetti, 20 bite size tortillas. I took the dog for a walk/jog and I think we were gone for about 40 minutes.

January 3rd:

I brought 2 cups of macaroni salad, the leftover ww spaghetti (1/2 cup) and 5 more meatballs to work for lunch - but that's probably too much. I think dinner will be a 6" sub. Walk/jog with dog again tonight - over an hour hopefully.

Well, it's not a terrible start, is it?

Hope everyone had a good Christmas.

I exceeded my goal of running 20 minutes by adding another 3 minutes on to that on the 23rd, but unfortunately have not been back to the gym since. For some reason my mind and body won't work together on this. I'm too busy reading a new book I got from my brother.

Anyways, i've also been eating too many home-cooked meals and flying out to fast food restaurants when home-cooking is not available. Yes, you could say i've fallen off the wagon.

My New Year's resolution: To keep in touch more closely with family and friends. Of course, I also have the tried and apparently not true resolution to stick with the gym and the diet.

So let's see what January 1st brings...

Monday: cheese wrap, coffee and another cheese wrap for dinner. Exercise - 1 hour aquasize.

Tuesday: cheese wrap, coffee, battered fish with fries, coffee. Exercise - 2hr walk with dog through snow and ice and tiny little hills.

Wednesday: battered fish leftovers, coffee, cheese wrap. Exercise - 1.5hr gym (mostly treadmill - ran 16 minutes)

Thursday: ham and cheese sandwich, coffee, chicken burger, popcorn. Exercise - 2.5hr volleyball.

Friday: buffet with salad, chicken fingers, mashed potatoes and peas, coffee. Dinner is unsure. I asked dinner what it thought about tonight, but it didn't have an agreeable answer for me. If it would have said pizza it may have had a fighting chance....

Lots of exercise this week. 7 hours total so far!! 1.5hr gym time is scheduled for tonight, and a goal of running for 20 minutes. I will succeed!

Alright.

Where did I leave off? Well, i'll just start from Monday.

Monday: rice & cheese wrap for lunch and dinner, 1.5 hours aquasize

Tuesday: rice & cheese wrap for lunch and dinner, 11 minutes elliptical

Wednesday: rice & cheese wrap for lunch and a chicken burger with fries for dinner, 1 hour gym and at least an hour of mall-walking

Thursday: rice & cheese wrap for lunch and steak stew with a mean veggie dip and raw veggies, 1.5 hours volleyball

Friday: cheese wrap for lunch and ceasar salad with a slice of the boys' pizza. I skipped gym today because...well, just because. Of course, the night is not yet over...

Tomorrow: eggs and toast for breakfast, cheese wrap for lunch and grandma's cooking for dinner, 1.5 hours gym

Placed a bet with my boyfriend to see who could outrun who - but I have to work myself up to it on the treadmill first. I'm close to half an hour of running but I know he can do that too, so I have to go longer than that before I take him up on his bet.

Okay....can't remember my exact diet for the last few days, but mainly sandwiches for lunch and wraps of couscous and cheese for dinner. Exercise: Monday was 1 hour aquasize, Tuesday nothing, Wednesday 1 hour gym (ran for 14 minutes), Thursday 1.5 hours volleyball.

Today:

lunch: wrap with couscous and cheese, mandarin orange

snack: cheesies (oops)

dinner: 2 wraps with couscous and cheese

exercise: 1 hour gym

Plan for tomorrow:

lunch: wrap

dinner: christmas party with friends - buffet

exercise: 1 hour gym

Plan for Sunday:

lunch: wrap

dinner: 2 wraps

exercise: 1 hour gym

Friday night: 2 coolers, snack of cheese and crackers. Lucky me didn't even go overboard. Followed up at a christmas party later on with a couple beer.

Saturday: cheerios with milk, cold cut trio sub with mustard and lettuce, christmas party buffet of perogies, turkey, stuffing and salad. More beer. Lots of dancing and running around.

Sunday: had too many beer and pretty much slept all day. Was supposed to go to the gym but it didn't happen. cold cut trio sub with mustard and lettuce, dirty rice with a chicken burger, a glass of chocolate milk and a mug of french vanilla cappacino.

Today: banana muffin, ham and cheese sandwich, don't know what's for dinner yet.

exercise: 1 hour aquasize, although all I feel like doing is sleeping.

Hello all.

Tuesday:

1c cheerios with 1/2c partly skim milk, salmon salad sandwich, mandarin orange, 2 mugs coffee without sugar, subway sub cold cut trio with mustard and lettuce.

exercise: 8 min elliptical (kicked my butt again)

Wednesday:

1c cheerios with 1/2c partly skim milk, turkey salad sandwich, mandarin orange, 2 mugs coffee without sugar, subway sub cold cut trio with mustard and lettuce.

exercise: 1 hour gym - stepper 8 min, elliptical 6 min, treadmill 20 min (10 min running)

Thursday:

1c cheerios with 1/2 partly skim milk, chicken with feta and ceasar salad, 1 mug coffee without sugar, mandarin orange, french bread (3 cut pcs) with green onion, feta, mushrooms and cheddar.

exercise: 1.5 hours volleyball

Today:

1c cheerios with 1/2 partly skim milk, ham and cheese sandwich (note that all sandwiches and subs are with whole wheat bread), mandarin orange, 2 robin's eggs, french bread (3 cut pcs) with above dressings.

exercise: none today - xmas baking and party to go to - possible snacking likely to happen.

Weekend:

Saturday:

2 cup cheerios with 1 cup partly skim milk, free-meal burger with fries and a coffee without sugar, handful of nachos.

exercise: a little walking, about 1/2 hour.

Sunday:

brunch was eaten out - buffet with eggs, hashbrowns, macaroni salad, cheese and coffee with sugar; 1 cup spaghetti with parmesan cheese.

exercise: 10 min bike, 15 min elliptical (really had me panting and groaning).

Today:

1 cup cheerios with 1/2 sup partly skim milk, coffee without sugar, vegetable soup, dinner is still unknown but i'm getting hungry thinking about it.

exercise: 1 hour aquasize.

Today:

breakfast - 1 cup cheerios with 1/2 cup partly skim milk.

lunch - minestrone soup.

dinner - sweet potato wrap, broccoli and cauliflower.

exercise - bike 1 hour.

This week has gone by alright diet and exercise-wise. Very busy. Shorthand. Going nuts!

Today:

breakfast - 1 cup cheerios with 1/2 cup partly skim milk

morning - coffee, no cream or sugar

lunch - vegetable medley soup

afternoon - coffee, no cream or sugar

dinner - sweet potato garlic & herb wrap with lettuce, onions and Italian spread, broccoli and cauliflower

exercise - 1 hour aquasize

snack - orange

Today:

breakfast - 1/2 cup lf mousse, 1 cup ff smoothie.

morning snack - cinnamin bun.

lunch - ham and cheese sandwich on ww.

afternoon snack - apple slice, 1/2 slice white cake with icing.

dinner - 3 oz salmon, grilled, with 1/2 cup rice and 2 cups lettuce with 2 tblspn lf dressing.

exercise - bike 1/2 hour, volleyball 1&1/2 hours.

I've been sick so have not been eating well because I tend to say goodbye to watching myself when i'm not feeling well. It's a pessimistic attitude that I cultivated long ago and just don't have the strength to give up right now. Notice how it's so much harder to give up bad habits than it is good ones? Anyhow, I took my weight down and will update the next time I weigh.

Monday:

breakfast - 2 pc whole wheat toast with light margarine, 1 mug coffee with creamer.

lunch - 1 cup Thai rice, 1 mug coffee with creamer.

dinner - 1 cup Thai rice with chicken, green beans and bean sprouts.

dessert - 1 small pc apple pie with low fat whip cream.

exercise - 1 hour Aquasize. I hurt myself somehow during this time. I have a sharp pain in my chest today that just won't go away.

total calories per fitday - 1560

Today's Plan:

breakfast - 1.5 pc whole wheat toast with peanut butter, 1 mug coffee with creamer.

lunch - 1 cup Thai rice with chicken, green beans and bean sprouts.

dinner - ?

exercise - 1/2 hour shovelling snow (yes, it snowed last night). 1/2 hour walk with dog since i'll already be bundled up. 2 hours volleyball.

total calories planned - 1500.

Well. Get ready for a tantrum.

My cold/flu is getting worse. I've been in and out of the bathroom a couple of times this morning. I'm slowly but surely losing steam. Last night and the night before I slept much more than the required 6 hours - I almost doubled that last night. And I woke up this morning feeling fine, but an hour later not even being able to look at anything without it blurring out on me. I'm missing out on my fun activities (volleyball) and it's making me angry.

The situation here at work is repulsive. I've had to work more in one job because of co-workers being away, and in-turn am being forced to take a back seat with the other job I have. I'm trying to do both today. I am angry and I have a right to be! Unfortunately I don't have a say or I would have already said it. Hey legcramps, don't take so much on next time. One job is enough.

I have hardly spent any time with the dog because of illness, and he's so starved for my attention that it makes me literally depressed. I just can't go out in this cold and attempt any sort of playfulness. Maybe I should just HAVE TO.

I talked to my boyfriend about his ignorance of the other day, and he simply shrugged his shoulders and not a word came from his mouth. He expects this to fade from my memory like everything else but unfortunately for him, since i'm so stressed about things right now this instance is sticking in my mind like glue on paper. I laugh at your impudence, poor pitiful boy! I mean, I WOULD laugh but i'm not in the mood right now.

All I want to do is hide my face in the blankets and wish it all away. Since I know I can't do that, i'm struggling to juggle things this way and that. I MUST relax, calm down, and face things one at a time. I MUST learn to let things go. I SHOULD take up meditating. I WILL not accomplish anything today.

Oh geez, am I ever having a bad week. It's not even worth telling you all about it, because it just seems to make the next day that much worse.

Had a burger yesterday for dinner, then slept right through the night.

Today's plan is perogies for lunch, crackers for a snack, and i'm not sure what for dinner. I still have this horrible cold and I just can't think anymore. I need so much more rest than i've been giving myself and it's starting to show. I'm here at work alone today, but I might as well have closed down the department completely for the amount of work i'll be able to do. Ah, suffer not, there will be light at the end of this tunnel.

I had a terrible day yesterday. I wonder if it was a full moon?

Had to run and buy candy after work, ran out of candy by 8pm and had to close the door to any other treaters, wanted to rest and sleep instead of aquasizing so cancelled on my friend, REMINDED my boyfriend that I needed a ride to work the next morning so please don't stay out too late tonight, called and REMINDED him again, watched a movie and went to sleep by around 10pm, was woken up by my boyfriend and one of his buddies at 2am and had to sit through an hour of really bad, drunken jamming, tried to use ear plugs to sleep but it didn't work, woke up in the morning to find that my boyfriend had left with his friend and was not yet home. I didn't get that ride after all.

Nothing precedes my anger today, but i'm coping considerably well according to a friend of mine. Oh, do I have some choice words to say to him tonight.

Salad and a pb sandwich today so far, with lots of coffee to keep me fidgety and busy. And busy it was...and is.

Hello ladies.

My sore throat has indeed progressed into a cough that could easily be associated with whooping cough. oi yoi yoi. I have to get a swab done and am feeling like a truck has run over me about ten times and all that's left are bone tissue and droplets of splattered blood. I had to say it that way because it's hallowe'en today.

I had an action filled weekend. I had Friday off of work, so I did some shopping for the hallowe'en party I hosted on Saturday night. Then I did some baking and cleaning. After all this, I was literally drained of any energy I might have had. Just after supper and without actually eating much of anything, I drifted off in a stupor lying on the couch. I woke up around midnight and dragged my butt into bed, not getting up until 9am Saturday morning. Saturday was filled with organizing and trying to clear the dull grey cloud covering my eyes. I had made pumpkin tarts and finished them off with whip cream, then made apple crisp tarts along with it. I also made cheese bread in the form of fingers, especially for my party, and threw together some pretzels and fritos for the gang. Barely remembering to eat lunch, I was a flying maniac trying to finish cleaning the house when the toilet decided to pose a problem. The flusher totally broke off and we were left without enough time to fix it and a house full of people needing to use it! Ah well, they endured and I apologized profusely. The next day was spent pampering my weather worn body and eating enough to satiate a horse.

So today is simply a matter of getting through the day without having to run to the bathroom. I should not have come in to work, but you know how it is when you're the only one here and there's work to be done. I have Aquasize planned for tonight, and not much else. I will be sleeping by 10pm. Promise.

We (the dog and I) had a really good walk yesterday after work. We went cavorting in the park and found some really neat pathways and hiding spots to play in. It was a wonderfully long walk, about an hour or so. Chewie was a regular private eye sniffing things out, and he waited so patiently for me to catch up to him so that he could show me what he found. At one point we passed a rather large log lying on the ground, and the fur on the back of Chewie's neck went up and he slinked past the log making sure that it wouldn't jump out at him. Hilarious!

My boyfriend decided that he was going to take me out for dinner last night, so we didn't have steak after all. That is on the menu for tonight. Instead I had a grilled chicken burger with potatoes and a nice talk. It seems we always have more to say to each other when we're out and about rather than sitting at home.

I was feeling quite sick yesterday afternoon, very naseus, and this morning woke up with an extremely sore throat. I say extremely because I exaggerate things, so really it's a small cold - at the moment. We'll see how it progresses. My boyfriend gets sick a lot more than I do, so he's watching when he's around me, and making sure that he's not getting too cold while working outside during the day. It's just so much easier for him to pick up viruses.

Anyways, today's plan: rye toast with peanut butter, a mug of coffee, a sandwich for lunch with some trix mix, and steak and cooked veggies and onions for dinner. Tonight's exercise will be another walk if the weather cooperates with me.

Dinner last night was a few bites of sausage with cooked veggies and onions. I managed to suck down three litres of water as well.

Aquasize class is getting better as we progress. It was a slow start, with not knowing what to do at what times, but the pace is speeding up now, so it's more of a workout. My boyfriend took the dog for a walk last night so i'm hoping he's not too jumpy today after work. The bad part about today is that I forgot my keys at home and am now locked out of the house until my boyfriend gets home. I've been trying to call him at work, but they don't have their cell phones turned on. I'm glad i've brought along a toque and mitts because at least I can take the dog for a walk to cut down on the waiting time, but I still might have quite the wait ahead of me. I guess i'll remember to never do that again.

I took out steak for tonight's dinner, along with cooked veggies. I still haven't brought out the frozen yogurt since I first tried it. It was good, but i've been so full after dinner that I haven't needed anything else. But today is a hungry day, so who knows what will happen.

Today's Plan: rye bread toasted with pb, pb sandwich and a cup of trix mix, steak and veggies, a cup of frozen yogurt.

Mega-walk planned for tonight, but as of right now I really don't want to. Brrrrrr.....

The weekend flew by it seems....Monday already. What a sad, sad reality.

Friday I ended up having a terrible day at work and when I got home all I did was complain constantly about it. Fortunately, I was extremely tired and fell into bed fairly early. Dinner was chili and then a cup of frozen yogurt for dessert, which I felt I deserved. There's that emotional eating coming into play again. It was too cold to walk tonight - or that's what I told myself anyways.

Saturday was a lot of nothing. We went out for brunch and I had two eggs with rye toast and hashbrowns. Then some friends called us up and decided that we needed to go out for dinner as well. I stuck to a chicken ceasar salad with a few bites of garlic bread. Some walking today, but not the mega-walk i've been meaning to take.

Sunday seems to be the day where I throw all caution to the wind. I went with a friend to a Bridal show. Before going, I warmed up some chili and had two slices of rye toast. On the way to the show a couple hours later, we stopped and I had a snackwich sandwich from KFC. Let's just say my brain wasn't thinking as hard as it should have been. On the way back we stopped for dinner and this time I wasn't going to let that small stone in the middle of my skull plead ignorance. I had a really good stir-fry with crab, shrimp, bean sprouts, mushrooms, celery and sesame seeds. It wasn't too much because I wasn't FULL, but it was just enough. Lots of walking today, and a lot of stair-climbing. A good three hours of it.

Today's Plan is rye toast for breakfast, pb sandwich for lunch, and I think i'll be making steak for dinner, with cooked veggies. And that frozen yogurt is sitting in the freezer, calling out my name. Well it's better than ice cream! It doesn't look nice outside, but i'm going to Aquasize class tonight anyways so I don't think i'll walk.

It was raining all day yesterday and by the time I got home I was in no mood to go for a walk in the rain, especially since it was also so chilly out there. So the dog went walkless. Which is a good thing because he probably needed the time to recover from the morning's excursions. Excursions, you say? What did he do? Well, i'll tell you.

I was paged at work that I had a phone call, around 11am yesterday. Unfortunately, I was outside of the building and couldn't hear the page. About half an hour later, I got a phone call from the front desk, saying that a strange man with a strong accent had phoned asking for me, saying that my house was in distress. It took me a second to figure it out, but our neighbour is from England and so I figured it had to be him. When the front desk asked if I had a dog, I knew something was up. My neighbour wouldn't phone me at work unless it was a real emergency. I hadn't driven to work yesterday, so had to borrow a co-workers Jeep and bagged it home quickly. It's a good thing it only takes me 5 minutes. Anyways, the house wasn't on fire when I got there, but I couldn't see the dog and my neighbour was no where to be seen. Upon entering the house, I noticed that my boyfriend was home. They had to stop work on account of the rain, and he had gotten home just as our neighbour was calling me. I guess Chewie had strung himself around a tree in the backyard, pulling so hard on the leash that he actually stripped off a large part of our back shed, pulling down pieces of lumber along with the cord he was attached to. He then proceeded to wrap his leash around his back leg approximately 20 times, and had been pulling on his leg to get out of the leash when our neighbour 'heard' him. My boyfriend said he was crying like he's never heard him cry before. And he cries often. They had to physically hold him down and cut the leash from his leg. I imagine if no one had been there, poor Chewie would have either broke his leg trying to pull on it so much, or chewed the darn thing off. *sigh*

So last night I made chili, with meat - since my boyfriend was home and could handle thawing it out for me. We then went for a few drinks before playing volleyball, then a couple more afterwards. I left to go home, and my boyfriend stayed. I guess he thought he wouldn't have to work today because of the weather. Anyways, he got home really late, really sick, and kept me up snoring for most of the morning. Actually, the snoring was coming from both my boyfriend and the dog. Men.

Today's Plan: cheese toast again BTC (did you have some?!) with coffee this morning, pb sandwich for lunch, chili for dinner, trix mix for a snack. I'm sure i'll sneak in some other things as the day goes by....

Mega-walk tonight, and if it's not raining, playing with the pup.

Monday: After work I took the dog for an hour walk and played fetch with him, then made chicken with carrots and potatoes. Went to Aquasize class for an hour, found my hallowe'en costume, took a bath and fell into bed.

Tuesday: In the morning I had a slice of cheese with a slice of toasted rye bread, and some coffee. Lunch was a peanut butter sandwich and a 30g bag of cheesies. I got home from work late, so only had time to make dinner, which was a 6oz steak with carrots and potatoes. Then I went for another mega-walk. My boyfriend took the dog for a walk for me, but forgot to harness him OR leash him and so my previous efforts in lead training have all gone to.....you know what.

Wednesday: Again I had cheese toast in the morning with coffee. Lunch was a peanut butter sandwich with one of those small O'Henry hallowe'en treats. I was so hungry after work that I had another peanut butter sandwich, then took the dog for an hour walk and played fetch. When I got back I started dinner, which was a buffalo burger patty with carrots and potatoes. Are you getting sick of reading carrots and potatoes? Carrots and potatoes, carrots and potatoes, carrots and potatoes. Just kidding. Anyways, I went for a mega-walk and then we watched part of Batman Begins while munching on low-fat stix mix before falling asleep on the couch.

Today's plan is: cheese toast with coffee this morning, a peanut butter sandwich for lunch (i bet you're getting sick of seeing that, too) with a peanut butter cup hallowe'en treat. I brought stix mix for a snack this afternoon and for dinner is chili! Yay! Something new! Except I forgot to take out hamburger meat this morning, so it might be meatless chili. I plan to take the dog for a walk after work and then tonight is volleyball for an hour and a half.

It's just another manic Thursday...

Didn't do so well over the weekend even though I tried really hard. Win some, lose some and then there's that thing called motivation in between that is still a mystery to me.

Wallyball is much the same as volleyball except you're playing with less team members and you're hitting the ball off the walls. It's much more fast-paced when you have a competitive game going and so is as much of a workout as volleyball.

Weekend recap:

Saturday: woke up feeling sick and ate an egg sandwich for lunch. That unfortunately kept me sick for the rest of the day. Later on I tried chicken and potatoes and that went down alright. We went to see the 40 year old virgin at the theatre. I didn't like it and pouted for the rest of the night. Drank tons of coffee, silly me. Played with the dog outside in the backyard for a bit, and went for a quick half hour walk in the morning.

Sunday: ate toast and cheese for lunch, then chicken and potatoes again for dinner. Went for a mega-walk by myself that lasted well over an hour, and by the time I got back I was so hungry that I had more toast with cheese and some crumbly oatmeal cookies as well. Took the dog to the park and played for a good hour.

Today I woke up early to work out then decided it was too cold to do anything but sit on the couch in front of the electric heater. After work i'm taking the dog for a walk (about an hour), then going to Aquasize class with a friend for an hour. So far i've had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch and a small bag of cheesies as a snack. Coffee, of course, and for dinner i've taken out chicken. I'm just such a creative person, aren't I?

This morning Chewie didn't want to go outside. He was going to hold his bladder no matter what and was not about to step one paw out there. I think he knew that I was going to leave him there. I forced him out though, poor thing, and there he'll stay until the end of the day. I think he has been missing out on socializing. We used to have a lot of other dogs around us during the summer, but now it's few and far between.

Played volleyball last night and have wallyball tonight for two hours. I can't believe how much I sweated yesterday. At least 5 gallons......

Yesterday was salad, chicken, potatoes, coffee, crispers (30g bag), and a few tacos with cream cheese dip.

Today is chicken, coffee, vegetable medley soup-to-go, potatoes and carrots, and apple crisp with whip cream.

This weekend will be training the dog to stop barking (unfortunately using a muzzle for one-minute intervals) and if it's nice out trying to tire him out with our new game of fetch.

Have a great weekend!

Things are really busy. And I don't want them to be.

Yesterday: I had soup for lunch (vegetable medley soup-to-go), a bun with peanut butter after work, five crackers with sour cream dip after canvassing for donors' choice, 3 ribs marinated with tex mex sauce, and a cup of cooked veggies for dinner. Walked a total of half an hour. Whoop-de-do.

Today: sandwich for lunch, leftover ribs and veggies for dinner, and walking.

Boyfriend and I are fighting again, and I do not know why. All I know is that he will not speak to me in a civilized manner. I no longer care as I am simply trying to get through each day.

Chewie is well again, and i'm still working on training him. He is getting better, but our neighbour tells us that he is barking through the whole day and crying as if he's hurt. Well, he probably is hurt because we are not there to play with him. Our neighbour suggested we get another dog. Sure, another dog that I will have to train. No thanks.

I was off work yesterday because I got a wisdom tooth pulled. It hurts and I don't want to be here today, especially since my co-worker was sick yesterday so nothing got done. I have 10 times the work today, and I was really hoping for peace and quiet.

Because the appointment was in the morning, I did not have breakfast. I took a sip of coffee before getting my tooth pulled, then spent the rest of the day trying to sleep and/or mope around the house feeling sorry for myself. I did not eat until my boyfriend got home from work. Then I made mac 'n cheese and chicken noodle soup. I was to only eat soft foods. Well, there was no way I could possibly eat the mac 'n cheese, so I spent the remainder of the night slurping down soup broth and sucking on an ice cream smoothie. Boy, when I woke up this morning I was sure hungry! But still I can't eat anything because it hurts to chew and because my mouth seems crooked for some reason. I brought soup to work though, so don't worry - I will eat something.

This was great timing to get my tooth pulled, however. It's thanksgiving for us this weekend, so I won't be tempted to eat turkey. I'll be sticking to the soft foods like mashed potatoes, cooked veggies, things like that. And ice cream. Feed me lots of ice cream because i'm just like a kid right now and everyone should feel sorry for me......

Oh wow, thanks for all of the advice ladies! I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner, but i've been quite busy, and away from the computer.

Well, I stuck to my word and started re-training Chewie. Mind you, he is already trained in sitting, shaking-paw, laying down and rolling over. What i'm working on is stay, heel (dog-walking techniques) and crawl. The stay and heel are very important to us. And when he jumps up, I tell him 'off', then sit and good dog. It's taking a lot of time, but he's starting to get the idea of stay and heel. The jumping not-so-much but I think it will simply take time. We've been leaving him outside during the day and he seems better off now, because he at least gets to run around and play in the backyard, as compared to sleeping all day inside. Well, and chewing on things in the house. He finally uses his dog house now (I think because it's getting colder outside) and is generally happier, although he's been sick for the last couple of days. I tell you, if it isn't one thing, it's another!

I am still waiting to start aquasize and have been contemplating a gym routine. However, seeing as I really need to start saving money, I might have to find another way to push myself to work out. I'm doing only so much as walking/jogging right now and playing wallyball, since volleyball hasn't started yet. But it's not going well because my motivation and incentive have sunk really low. I need to work for something, but I can't think of anything to work for.

Today the plan is:

breakfast: 1/2 slice whole wheat bread, 1 tblspn peanut butter, 1/2 glass orange juice

lunch: 1/4 piece mushroom pizza, 2 slices 60% whole wheat bread, 1 tblspn mayonnaise, 2 slices salami, 1 slice cheese

afternoon: 473ml orange juice

dinner: 1/2 cup cooked carrots, 1/4 cup cooked onions, 3/4 slice mushroom pizza

I'm going to the dentist tomorrow, hopefully to extract a wisdom tooth, so it's hurting a lot today and it's hard not to eat because chewing relieves the pain quite a bit (for the moment, anyways). I've tried gum but it's too sweet. And about the pizza - I wasn't feeling good yesterday so that's what my boyfriend bought for dinner since I hadn't made anything!

It will be very difficult to find a obedience/training school for our dog as we live in a very tiny community without access to commodities such as this. But I will look. I have had enough and I know that we can't do it alone.

Yesterday morning I took the dog outside, gave him food and water and threw a few treats into his dog house. I chained him up and went to work, with the plan in mind of checking on him at lunchtime. And I did. But there was no dog to check on at lunchtime. Somehow he had snapped his chain straight off the hook in the ground and taken off under the fence and down the street. I went inside the house to the phone and checked the messages. Yes, there was one from the city's dog catcher. Yes, she had our dog at the pound. For $60, I could come by and pick him up.

When I showed up at the pound he looked so happy to see me and was crying and barking quite a bit. The catcher let him out and he just would not leave her alone. He kept jumping up on her and getting under her feet. I told her that he doesn't normally act like this (because he IS getting better at jumping up on people). She told me that he was probably looking for treats. 'Treats?' I asked. She said that the whole drive to the pound she had been feeding him treats, and that he had driven shot-gun with her instead of in the back of the truck. I was flabbergasted. 'You gave him treats?' I asked again, confused. 'Oh, yes' she answered, 'I gave him quite a few treats'. My Lord. No wonder he's in such a rush to run away! He knows that the girl with the white truck will stop and give him a car ride and feed him lots of treats! I shook my head, put the leash on the dog and got him into the car, mind you, not without a lot of dragging and pulling as he didn't ever want to leave the girl with the white truck.

He stayed inside for the rest of the day and I made sure to gate everything off and he didn't touch a thing. This morning, he is back outside and I swear he won't get away this time.

I'm saddened because I don't feel that i'm doing as much as I can for him, and we're usually fighting with him to stay here or not do this or that. I feel like all we do is reprimand him. And I don't feel good letting you all know how messed up this situation is. Sure, it's funny and entertaining, but it also shows how little we know about dogs and how much work we have a responsibility to do in order to help Chewie out. And believe me, when we first got him I searched and searched the internet and found out all I could. I asked my father, who has had trained guard dogs for years and years. I've used the hot sauce on the shoe trick, i've gated things off, i've stored our things away, out of his reach. Suprisingly for his size he seems to be able to pull gymnastic-style turns and leaps to get to whatever he wants. Believe me when I say that our house is too small to keep everything away from him. We also don't have the resources available to keep him in a kennel during the day. I'm hoping that keeping him outside during the day will work for him and not make him even more wild. I know this can be done without harm to him. And starting today, he will be spending an hour a day with myself, in the back yard, training. If anyone knows any good websites, please let me know. I appreciate all your feedback.

In other news, I had a bowl of potatoes yesterday for dinner because my boyfriend was out of town. Funny how I seem to not eat quite as much when he's not around.....

What an interesting time i'm having in my life right now.

When I got home from work yesterday, Chewie was there to greet me with open.....mouth. I smelled something fishy when I noticed a lonely knife sitting on the floor, and after picking it up and telling the dog 'no play with this' I noticed the living room floor. Not even having gone one step into the house, I saw that he had dragged a kitchen pot into the room, a sneaker, an empty ice cream pail and other odds and ends to keep him busy and interested. When I turned my attention back to the kitchen, I noticed a bread bag laying torn and tattered near the counter. Walking up to it and picking it up, I was mentally going through in my mind where he might have gotten this from. Ruling out the cupboard where we keep empty bags, the only other explanation would be from the top of the counter, where there used to be a full bag of whole wheat bread. Yes. That was the bag. Sweet history. What I still can't understand is why he chose my whole wheat bread when my boyfriend's plain white bread was sitting on the counter right beside it, totally untouched. I guess he's health-conscious just like me! And of course, his dish of dog food is still sitting in the back porch - why would he be hungry?!

I gave him heck and threw him outside, passing the stairs along the way. And that's when panic set in. I had forgotten to gate the stairs before I left for work that morning! Running up the stairs, I was close to having a stroke when I saw what he'd done. Yes, of course he would do this! Rip up my collection of Flinstone's videos, some from the very beginning episode where they don't even talk. Almost in tears, I quickly picked up the mess, gated off the stairs (too late now you loser), let the dog in and left the house. I had to get my hair cut, and left a note for my boyfriend in case he got home before I:

I have to get my hair cut, DO NOT give the dog food nor treats, put him outside as soon as you get home and don't let him back in.

Him and I, we're not finished.

P.S. - you can start boiling carrots for dinner too. Thanks.

Afterwards upon getting home and finding that he had not yet returned, before even saying a word to the dog I walked into the living room. Well holy heck. There was my mother's tripod, lumbering fearfully in the middle of the floor, the box it was in ripped up and strewn all over. And there, yes, there on top, where you could just see the start of the tripod, yes, chew marks. 'Oh my goodness, she's going to kill me' was all I could think of. I snatched it up and disciplined the dog, making him cower in the corner of the dining room, underneath a chair. Yeah, AS IF that's going to hide you from me! Again, I dragged him outside, screaming and cursing the whole time. Of course, when I get mad I clean, but I was so angry my hands were shaking like leaves. So I peeled potatoes and carrots. Even smarter. So today my hands are a little raw and a bit scratched up. *sigh*

He is outside today. He will be staying there.

Since I have all these carrots just sort of lying around the house because there's not even enough room in the fridge for them, I decided to make something out of them. I ran to the grocery store for supplies, started peeling carrots and threw on the oven. To my dismay, the oven did not heat up. After my boyfriend tried everything he could think of to fix it, we finally peeked inside the oven and realized that the bottom coil had been broken right off. Oi, i'm not sure how that happened, but I was so depressed about not being able to bake, especially since I had gone out of my way to do so. Finding that the top still worked, I decided that since I was halfway through the first batch, I would go ahead and finish it, hoping against hope that it would turn out at least edible. So my carrot muffins went in on low heat and sat there for about an hour before they were finally cooked through. I thought I would get to sleep early last night, maybe even with some extra cuddle time with my boyfriend, and I ended up staying up until almost midnight finishing these muffins. Which, to say the least, are not all that great. Moral of the story? If something is broke, don't use it!

The dog had a taste of the muffin I had brought into the livingroom to try. He smoo