Don't waste your money at Cultures!

My parents arrived home from Cuba on Wednesday night and came for a brief visit yesterday to see us.  It was such a nice visit, all very exciting holiday talk.  All the while I was of course dying to be the one on the warm Cuban beach, sipping fruity drinks with umbrellas and watching wee man play on the sandy beach that he loves so much.  Alas, I just had to live vicariously through my parents.  I was happy that they were so happy!

Now being with my parents means I have great potential to falter from my wise eating program; this did not happen!  Just a quick note, I am so confused by the semi-colon.  Jacquie Bee, can you please give me some insight on how to use properly this lovely piece of punctuation?  Thanks. Anyway, I digress.  My food situation wasn't quite as spot on as it is when I'm completely in my routine and in my comfortable control zone, but it was still pretty decent.  My parents gave me lots of support, encouragement and praise for a job well done (so far) - very nice!

Yesterday's food

Veggie wrap, tabbouleh & fruit salad from Cultures (I'm going to have a rant about Cultures in a bit)

Diet Iced Tea

1/2 cup basmati rice

1 cup vegan chili (made by moi)

Medium sized chunk of homemade corn bread

1 McCain's 100 calorie chocolate cake (bad choice)

1.5 Dad's Oatmeal Raisin cookies (bad choice)

Water and cuppas (didn't keep track of volumes)

Yesterday's exercise

50 minutes on elliptical (level 3!) burned 546 calories (now that's by memory, so I'll verify it on my card at the gym)

40 crunches

40 leg lifts

10 puke inducers

12 reps on all 9 weight machines + inner & outer thigh 

Okay, Cultures.  The service on Saturday mornings at Cultures is amazing, well, one guy in particular is amazing.  He's knowledgeable, friendly & is going to uni to become a Physician.  I heart him.  In Burnaby I had completely given up, no, boycotted Cultures because of the CRAP service and even CRAPPIER selection of fillings for a vegetarian sandwich.  The last time I went to Cultures in Burnaby, I ordered a vegetarian sandwich and was utterly confused as to what fillings were on offer.  The guy behind the counter seemed to have no clue what would go on a veggie sandwich - weird.  I ended up with two pieces of bread with 1 leaf of lettuce, a slice of tomato and that's it!  WTF?!  That was the last straw.  I swore I'd never go to one ever again; there had been many bad experiences before that.  What's one to do when you're out and about and need a healthy choice?

My most recent Cultures experiences have been both good and bad.  Saturdays, good.  Other days, very bad and reminiscent of Burnaby.  Yesterday was the worst.  I will never go there again.  Hmm, scratch that.  I will go there on Saturday if the awesome guy is there and I will tell him why I'm not going to go there anymore.  See the thing is, I'm pretty sure the people who are giving me the CRAP service are the owners.  So even though I like the one guy, I can't line the pockets of two assholes for the sake of a 'healthier' choice.

There I was, staring at the menu board, spoiled for choice.  I decided to be risky and go for something different - the cheese pita.  Yes, I asked if I could get veggies on the pita before I ordered it.  When it came time for the gal to make the pita, she asked me if I wanted cheese. Umm, didn't I just order the cheese pita?!  After establishing that I wanted cheddar cheese we proceeded to the very painful task of choosing veggies.  I requested, "All of the veggies available", only to be met with, "Well, what ones do you want?"... "Everything you've got".  We went on like this for an eternity.  For those of you who know me, my level of patience for insolence is not good.  I can go from 0 to 10 in a very short period of time.  It looked like the gal making the pita was trying to shelter something from me so I got kind of nervous.  I am afterall planning on eating this thing!  She was unwrapping processed cheese slices.  What?!  No.  Shyness totally thrown out the window, I called her on the processed cheese thing and informed her that that was indeed not cheddar.  Amazingly, real cheddar slices magically appeared.  I really should've just left at this point, but I didn't.  I was hungry!

I made a suggestion to the guy at the cash, apparently the manager, that I had never ordered a pita from their store before and it was quite a painful experience and that it might be nice to be offered a selection of things to choose from, rather than having to guess.  He told me they didn't have time to do that because they were busy.  Good God, seriously?  First of all, I was the only one there.  Of course I pointed this out.  He also told me it "... depends on who you get".  "You know who you'll get if you continue this level of service? I said, "NOBODY".  The lady who had arrived behind me tried desperately to get some information about a muffin, only to be met with surly and indifferent service from 'the guy'.  She then left after telling him how rude he was and that she was never coming there again.  Word up, sister.

I know that was a seriously long-winded rant, but I hate it when companies take the piss, especially during these hard economic times when quite frankly, they should be thrilled that anyone in their right mind would pay $10 (and change) for a crap pita that ended up having only one slice of lettuce, two slices of tomato & carrot, one piece of green pepper and 3 water chestnuts.  That of course means that I think I'm in my right mind!  

Oh yeah, it was the Cultures at Burlington Mall.

BOO to Cultures.

Cupcake

xo

Off track!

I'm getting off track.  Sitting here, on the computer, in front of the treadmill... again.  Another day off sick from school for wee man, my parents arriving tomorrow and it's totally thrown me off.  There's so much to be done, but all I want to do is sit, loaf around and eat.  Oh no.  It amazes me how easy it is to get off track!  I must persevere though.  There's cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping and exercising to do.  All this before tomorrow.  Shit.

Food

1 cup homemade leek, carrot, potato and celery soup

1 hunk homemade corn bread

Oh man.  I hope to post something good later.  I think a success today will help me realize my dedication.

Okay, I'm back.  Much to my total dismay, I did get on that god forsaken treadmill.  Man, I hate that thing.  My sweet, sweet elliptical is calling my name.  Don't worry baby, I'll be there tomorrow!  I'll be waiting, I love you.

Exercise

60 minutes on treadmill - burned 541 calories

Today on the treadmill I went at a pace of 3.8 miles per hour at a 10% incline.  I liked doing this better than the running, but I wonder if I should be running.  I suppose just as long as I'm moving and reaching my target caloric burn-off I should be happy. 

Who knows why, but LL Cool J has been stuck in my head over the last couple of days. Remember "Going Back to Cali" and "I Need Love" - hilarious!

Cupcake

xo

Mother Nature needs to stop this snow!

So as it turns out, I was right to keep wee man off of school today.  He napped for 2 hours this morning and has been napping for 2 hours so far this afternoon.  During his morning nap I was cuddling him and then all of a sudden he was snoring - it was so cute!  My arm fell totally asleep.

His nap this afternoon has allowed me to make soup, cornbread and workout.  I should really be out shoveling this awful mess outside...

Food

1 cup Guardian cereal with 1% milk

1/2 basmati rice

1 cup daal... the last of it.  Too bad b/c it was super yummy!

1 super big grape

6 medium-sized grapes

Approx. 1 cup homemade potato, leek, carrot & celery soup - yum!

1 medium-large hunk of homemade cornbread - oh yeah...

1 tsp lower fat butter

1.5 litres water

Cuppa x 2 with milk & Splenda

Exercise

60 minutes on treadmill (at home) - burned 535 calories - it was hard work!

40 minutes shoveling snow

Cupcake

xo

Poor soul.

So here I am, at home.  Where would I be normally during this time?  The gym.  Poor wee man is sick, so we are hove off at home.  His cough is brutal and he has been battling a fever.  Of course husband and I have differing opinions as to whether or not wee man should be home. Good thing we get along :)

My challenge today of course will be to stay on track.  This disruption to my routine must not throw a chink in my chain.  I am home to take care of my ailing wee man, not to eat.  As for exercise today, well, I'm going to use the treadmill at home.  It's going to take a heck of a long time to burn 500 calories on the treadmill!

Now off to be a loving Mum.

Cupcake

xo

Cupcake.

I've been wondering when all of this will become easier.  You know, like just part of who I am, rather than something I struggle against on a daily basis. Maybe it will always be a struggle.  Being athletic never really happened for me. Sure, I didn't try, but there must be a reason for that.  Wavering.  That's what I've been doing for the last few days.  Wavering.  I fear the resurgence of the girl who hates herself.

My tummy is getting smaller and that's a really good thing.  So often since I've had the wee man people have asked me when I'm due.  At first I'd blush and change the subject or something. Then I decided to make people feel as badly as they'd made me feel.  I'd tell them I wasn't pregnant, I was just fat, but thanks for pointing it out.  Finally, I gave up the fight.  Nobody was feeling good. I would just make up a due date.  The scary thing is, I started kind of thinking I was pregnant and that increasing belly was 'normal' and expected.  It was really frightening actually.  

I figure if I can start convincing myself that my gigantic belly is from some unreal pregnancy, I can start convincing myself that living healthy is the right thing to do.  There's also the idea that I don't want to be in the back pocket of large corporations.  They're the bastards that tempt us with unhealthy foods, unhealthy everything.  Then when they've finally succeeded at helping you get unhealthy and upset, they rescue you with diet plans, surgeries, potions, etc, etc. Dammit (Janet).  I abhor big industry.  Somehow living in the suburbs made me start to forget this.  I started shopping at the dreaded Walmart and going through drive-thrus.  What the hell? 

The fire in my belly that I'm feeling as I write this needs to stay lit!

Food

1 cup Guardian cereal with 1% milk

2/3 cup fruit cocktail packed in water 

1/3 cup f/f s/f yogurt - the yucky one is now finished!

1 cup daal

1/2 cup basmati rice

2.5 litres water - that's more like it!

Cuppa (yes)

1 whole wheat hot dog bun

1 veggie dog

3 tbsp corn with a super small amount of butter (in the pot)

16 oven chips (a serving)

Cuppa (yes)

Exercise

50 minutes on elliptical - burned 526 calories *NEW: moved up to level 2!*

12 reps on each of the 9 weight circuit machines + inner and outer thighs *NEW: upped weight on 2 of the machines*

*NEW: upped crunches and leg lifts to 40 instead of 35*

*NEW: 10 hand to foot stability passes.  One rep to me is the full pass, as in, both hand and foot.

10 puke inducers

Cupcake

xo

Boring post.

Food

1 cup Guardian cereal with 1% milk

2 Laura Secord chocolates

1 garden veggie sandwich on white (not by choice) with light cream cheese

1/2 basmati rice

2/3 cup (homemade) daal, using no butter or ghee (1 tbsp olive oil for entire batch)

Cuppa (yes)

NO WATER... good lord, woman.

1 piece bubblemint gum

7 kernels of air-popped popcorn

Exercise

None... well, I walked around all afternoon looking for furniture, I guess that kind of counts.

I still feel crappy and am desperately trying not to veer off the 'good' track.  I don't even feel like writing...

Cupcake

xo

BOOOOOO!!!

Yeah, it has been a rough day.  

This morning was discouraging, but I swear I am trying my hardest to not dwell.  On what, you ask?  Well, after a week of being disciplined, working my ass off and eating right, I didn't lose a single pound.  Good god.  I'm sure my disappointment was written all over my face as I sat there at Chub Club trying to be positive.

On a quite bad note, I ended up emotionally eating today.  This is the first time in a while, and I'm sad to have disrupted that.

Food

1 slice spinach quiche

Approx. 1/3 cup bean salad

Approx. 1/2 cup fruit salad

1 can Diet Iced Tea

NO WATER  - come on!!!

3 slices cheese pizza (emotional)

3 brown rice chips (emotional)

1 tortilla chip (emotional)

2/3 cup fruit cocktail (packed in water - 45 cal.)

1/2 container chipotle cilantro dip from our pizza shop (the containers are very small)

1 Laura Secord chocolate

Exercise

None

A slip up.  That's what today is.  My goal for the next 24 hours is to not let this set back get to me.  There is no reason to gorge on food because I'm feeling very blue.  I had better get up, dust myself off and start over.  It's not even really that big of a deal, the food I mean.  It's not the end of the World.  The really frightening bit was reaching, and subsequently eating, food that I didn't want.  I ate it because I felt sad and frustrated.

Meh, tomorrow's a new day.  I WILL NOT switch back into the negative gal I have been.  I like new me.  I like feeling happy.

Cupcake

xo