"Good surprise me"

If my husband gives me a choice, and I have no preference, I need to specify "good surprise me", and not just say "surprise me", because there are good surprises and bad surprises, and my husband thinks he's funny*.

Today's weigh in was a good surprise. My WW weight loss total is now 80.2 pounds!

I was not expecting that today. When I weighed in, the leader said, "I need to give you a star today", to which I intelligently replied, "huh?"

She pressed on, "Look what you've lost!" I looked. I thought, Hmm... 2.6. That's really good and way more than I thought, but not worth a star. Then I looked at the spot under the 2.6 and saw the 80.2. Wha...?

I can only figure that the 2 lbs I gained at weigh in on Saturday were due to fluid retention, and that I actually lost 0.6. Whatever, I'm not going to knock it!

And, if you think that's pretty sweet, head on over to the celebration at FLG's! FLG must have requested "best surprise me ever!" I won't reveal the total pounds-lost milestone, but there's a two, and a zero, and another zero involved. Oh, crap. Did I mention I'm really bad at not giving away surprises? Congratulations FLG!!

*Speaking of my husband, he was a little concerned that based on the order of the pictures in my camping post, that one might think that he is throwing the poo-filled bag into the sea. He is not. It's a dog toy.

He wanted me to tell you: All poo was properly disposed of in a trash receptacle, and that he would never bad-surprise anyone by doing otherwise.

Camping

We camped for a few days at Thomas Raddall Provincial Park. It's our favourite camping spot. It's beautiful, and out of the way so it's never crowded.

Our favourite site is probably the most private in the campground. It's long and narrow, moving back into a low, wooded ridge on three sides.


Too bad it has a dirt base (a lot are grassy), but I think the grassy ones would be more likely to have ticks anyway.


The driveway is angled away from the campsite, so you can't see in from the road either.


The dogs claimed the bed as we were setting up the rest of the stuff. (Where are YOU guys sleeping?) Turns out we all slept on the bed for the body heat. At night it got down to 8ºC! There was a risk of frost the first night... in July!


Around the fire, bundled up. My large, yellow fuzzy is an old flyball team sweater. Good for warmth, and spotting bugs crawling on me ;)


During the night we heard the distant howling of coyotes, waves on the shore, breezes in the trees, and once a rrowrrowr! of a lynx or bobcat.

There were interesting plants around the site.




A seashore rose!


Morning glory. My favourite as a kid. I was very sad to discover one day that some people know (and hate them) as bindweed.


There's a bee in this iris.


Someone was waiting to guide us down the trail to the beach.






These rocks are the same ones as those in my banner. The banner picture was from our trip two years ago.




If it looks like we had the beach to ourselves, it's because we did. For two days in a row.










High five!


Mountain goat dog.


We remembered to bring the floaty tug to throw. The tide was just coming in, so the water was only dog belly deep.








My dog decided that the sea was a fine toilet. My husband waded in to scoop.




Airborne dog!




We played doggies-in-the-middle, having them run between us up and down the beach to wear them out. I tried a bit of running, too, but my knees let me know it the next day.




Tired, happy, wet dogs.

Weighing in, late

Up 2.0, yes! 2.0! *sigh* I forgot to weigh in at WW at the beginning of the week, like I usually do. I was supposed to weigh in between the flyball tourney in PEI and camping, but I forgot. I was busy eating a s'more in front of the campfire when my husband asked, "did you weigh in this week?" Rats.

So I went yesterday, 5 days late, after camping and the s'mores and the Baked! Tostitos and the deliciousohsocreamyandwonderful ice cream at Seaside Seafood.



I really wanted to try the fries at Seaside Seafood. It looked like a diner in the middle of nowhere that would have great fries, but my husband looked at me like I was suggesting we rob the place when I casually mentioned we could split an order to 'try' them. He saved me! I don't regret not trying them.

Anyway, after weighing in yesterday, I will be weighing tomorrow. Crazy, I know, but that's the way it is.

Post weekend blues

This cartoon pretty much sums up my weekend. It started off well, but yesterday my fruit/veggie intake was limited to orange juice, a cup of blueberries, and strawberries baked in muffins.

I've been arguing a lot with my inner brat lately. She's being petulant, whiny, and demanding. This weekend wasn't the best, and I gave into my food cravings more than once twice five times? I don't want to look in my tracker and check. Yes, I tracked what I ate. I didn't figure out the points for everything, but I wrote it down.

Good points:

I did pretty well at the buffet. I had one small bowl of the yummy chowder, a piece of chicken, small spoonfuls of some sides, a big scoop of steamed veggies, a multigrain roll, and one cookie for dessert. I sent my husband up for the one cookie. I didn't trust myself to go up and try to limit myself to one cookie among the pies, squares, and cookies available!



We skipped Buzzie's Dairy Bar & Grill this trip. Usually it's not a trip to PEI without visiting a dairy bar. I have serious cravings for soft ice cream! This trip, though, I knew I had already been too indulgent.

I stuck to the treats I brought, instead of eating the junk on the team table, and there was a neverending supply of processed crap of all description, let me tell you! I brought homemade strawberry oatmeal muffins to share, and one of my teammates brought a homemade cinnamon cake, but they were barely touched in favour of the bags of licorice, bags of potato chips, Sun chips, boxes of store-bought cookies, tubs of gummy bears, orange/lemon slices, boxes of crackers, and I don't know what else. I tried not to look too closely. I only went to the table for the hand sanitizer!

I got lots of activity. Running my dog, walking my dog, chasing after balls for other teams.

Bad points?

I ate too much. Far too much. I gave in to anxiety and ate to soothe it. I gave into feelings of self-pity and ate 2-1/2 (regular-sized) chocolate bars (over 2 days, not all at once) to console myself.

Our team had a lot of little problems that added up, the humidity was high which just added to everyone's irritation, and I indulged in some petty emotions that felt ugly inside. It did not feel like I was participating in something I enjoy.

It seems really petty now. Last night after getting home (3 hour drive), a friend's (from another team) dog unexpectedly passed away. So sad.

Now we're home, feeling wiped, feeling blah. The sun is out and forecast to be out all week for the first time in 3 weeks. Seriously, 3 weeks of gloomy fog, humidity, and rain. We are ready for sun!

We're taking today off as a recovery day (physical and mental), but I'm going to go convince the husband to get out and go to the park with me and the doggies.

We're planning on doing a few days of camping this week, too. Yea!

Happy Canada Day!

Some people have barbeques, we went strawberry picking.

Hope you had a great day, no matter where you live!

Reality Check in

About a month ago a photo was taken of me that did not please me at all. I was shocked to see that although I felt I looked okay, my clothes were actually too big, and my bra was no longer working for me. I didn't post the photo because I was too embarrassed by it. Instead I went out the next day and bought a new bra and a few other bits of clothing.

Yesterday I saw Jo's post about wearing clothes that don't fit, and I recalled that picture and thought I would finally share it, along with another taken eight days later, wearing clothes that fit better.




Note the baggy butt and almost non-existent bust on the left. And this outfit was the best I had for work. Ack!

Like Jo, I started weight loss for my physical health. I needed to show my heart some love and respect because my heart was showing some signs of abuse. Clothing size and fit seemed like vanity. I should have known better.

My weight gain has been largely about my damaged emotional health. I need to learn to show that part of me some love and respect too. Having at least a few pieces of clothes that fit (I still wear lots that don't), even as I keep losing weight, helps my confidence, my motivation, and even my self esteem.

Check in

Down 0.6. Not really moved either way about it. Meh, it's a loss, it all adds up.

Feeling fidgety, restless. Waiting. For what or why, I don't know.

There's another tournament this weekend. It's in Charlottetown, PEI and it's always a good time. Exhausting, but good.

This tourney has the buffet I referred to in an earlier post, and we've decided to go. Here's the menu:

Pasta Salad
Potato Salad
Coleslaw
Freshly Baked Rolls and Butter
Chef’s Award–winning Seafood Chowder
PEI Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Potatoes
Steamed Vegetables
Fried Chicken
Shepherd’s Pie
Assorted Cookies and Squares
Assorted Pies

I'm already thinking that next week's weigh in won't be a big hooray either ;p I will regret any temporary gains, but only temporarily! ;) One of our teammates refers to the made-with-cream-&-butter seafood chowder as orgasmic and I'd say she's not too far off the mark. I've already asked my husband to cut me off if I start on a chowder bender.

I'll be active, I'll take fruit and veggies for snacks, I'll make sandwiches to take for lunches. Our cooler will be filled with bottles of water from CostCo. In WW over the last couple weeks, we've talked a lot along the lines of preparation and planning. Fail to plan, plan to fail.

Then comes a week of vacation, but I'll tackle that next week.