Aimee's Adventures

Well I weighed in this morning. I lost another 4 pounds. :) Yippee!!!! I got my 25 pound award and my 10% award. Next week, if all goes well, I should get my 30 pound star.

After my WW meeting, Rick and I had lunch with my parents and then we went and saw the new Harry Potter movie. It was good, but I feel like it was a bit rushed. I know, they can't go over every detail that the book does or it would be a really long movie, but the books are just so much better. I'm not saying I didn't like the movie, because I did. I just wish it had more detail in it. If you haven't seen the trailer (I'm sure everyone has, but just in case), here's a preview:

We saw a preview for a new movie that is coming out called "The Golden Compass" (It comes out in December). It's based on a Trilogy written by Philip Pullman called "His Dark Materials". Technically it's a children's book (older children), but adults should love it too because it's sort of like Harry Potter, but different (hard to explain). I read all of it 3 years ago. It's good. I hope they make all 3 books into movies and not just the first one (the other two are called "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber Spyglass")
If you'd like to check out their website, click here. Also, here's a preview of the movie:

Sorry, I don't have anything for you tonight except for a new recipe I tried for dinner. I have weigh in tomorrow morning, so I'll come and tell you how that went tomorrow night. :) Here's the recipe...

Pecan Mustard Topped Tilapia

3 Tablespoons Light Mayonnaise (I used Kraft)
1.5 Tablespoons Brown Mustard (French's Bold 'N Spicy)
4 (3 oz.) Tilapia Fish Fillets
4 teaspoons Finely Chopped Pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet that has sides with butter flavored non-stick cooking spray. Pat the fish dry with paper towels and place onto the baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine the mayo and mustard. Spread the mixture evenly on top of each fish fillet (approx. 1 tablespoon each if you have 4 fillets). Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of pecans on top of each fillet. Bake for 9-12 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Don't worry about the topping getting a little brown. Serve immediately.

Per Piece: 134 Calories; 7g Fat (43.2% calories from fat); 18g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 41mg Cholesterol; 282mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fat. WWP: 3 (www.AimeesAdventures.com)

I should be done with the delays on my blog (even though I still have a lot of work to do) but I've finally finished the new message board for my website and so far it's running rather well. If you'd like to check it out, you can do so here (only registered users can post, but registration is free if you want to join in)... Aimee's New Message Board

My current adventure is to build a new shopping cart for my cookbooks. Then somewhere between now and next week I have to get my taxes together (dang if I didn't just pay stupid taxes last month, but that was federal and state. Now city and sales tax are due). Blah I hate taxes!

Anyway, other than working on the site, I haven't really been up to much. I did go and see the new Transformers movie on the 4th. It was good. I also saw Spiderman 3 yesterday. It wasn't bad. The movie I'm waiting for is Harry Potter. I'm going Wednesday right after my Weight Watchers class to see it. I'm going to see it on IMAX. I also can't wait for the final book, which comes out next week. :) I'll read it while I'm cat and house sitting the following week.

Speaking of cats, my parents have adopted a new kitten. They already have 5 cats and swore they weren't taking any more in (they're suckers for strays). Saturday morning, my mom was getting ready to leave for work and found this little baby kitten behind the tire of her car, meowing. It couldn't even stand up. I guess while she was looking at it, it had like a little convulsion and went limp. She tried to feed it, but she had to go to work, so she handed it over to my dad and went on to work. They really didn't think it would make it through the day. My dad found a little box to put it into and he kept trying to get it do drink, but it wouldn't. He called me and asked what he should try feeding it, so I told him to maybe try some kitten milk from the pet store. He went and got some of that, and the kitten drank it. It started perking up as the day went on. I went over that evening to take Riley's puppy cage over so that my parents could bring the kitten into the garage for the night. While I was there, my mom thought we should weigh it, so I went and got the food scale and a cereal bowl (that's how small it was). The little kitty only weighs 1 pound plus 1/2 ounce. We kept trying to figure out if it was a boy or a girl. I thought for sure it was a boy, but they took it to the vet this morning, and turns out it's a girl (hey, what do I know?). She got a clean bill of health, so they'll be keeping her and they've decided to call her Maggie. :)

Sorry I've been MIA since last Wednesday. I've been working hard on getting a new message board together for my site and doing my regular daily stuff along with it. I'm hoping to finish the message board in the next day or so, and then I'll be done with it. :)

I usually go to my Weight Watchers meeting on Wednesday mornings, but since tomorrow is a holiday, I decided to go and weigh in this morning. When I decided to get more serious about this, I made myself a commitment to not missing any meetings. It's not so much about the actual meeting for me, it's about going and being accountable for what I did that week. It just keeps me on track. Skipping a week in the past would have been like a free pass to eat whatever I wanted for a week, then I'd hurry up and try to lose before I had to get back to my meeting. I'm not doing that anymore. It's not healthy and I'm only cheating myself. There wasn't an actual meeting today anyway, just open weigh in for 3 hours. I lost another 2.6 pounds this week. I've never felt more motivated. The only difference I've been able to see physically is... one of my rolls of fat in my stomach area is getting smaller. LOL! I'll probably wait a couple of weeks before I take my measurements again though. I can be patient.

Ok, I'd better get back to work. I just wanted to stop in and let you guys know I'm still around. As soon as the message board is up, I'll get back to posting more on a regular basis. I hope everyone has a great Independence Day tomorrow (for those of you celebrating). TTYL!

I weighed in this morning and lost another 3.8 pounds this week. Woohoo!!!! That makes 22 pounds even which means I also got my 20 pound star. Class is canceled next week due to the holiday, but I think I may go weigh in on Tuesday morning instead. I don't want to skip a week. Me skipping a week can be very dangerous. Oh yes, dangerous indeed! LOL!

Today I went back to the gym for the first time in about a year (even when I went a year ago, I only went a couple of times and then quit going). I've decided to blow the dust off of my membership card and get back in there. The money is just going to waste if I don't use it.

I tried out a different location that they built about 10-15 minutes from where I live (they have 3-4 locations and I can choose to go to any of them). This new place was cool! It's co-ed unlike the location I normally go to, but they did have a section just for women. The coolest part about this place was that they have a room called the movie room. It's painted black, has black lights in the ceiling (anything white glows), it has black light paint splattered on the walls, and they have a screen where they show movies with surround sound. It's not a huge room, but big enough for 3 rows of bikes, treadmills and elliptical machines. I didn't count, but I'd guess there were around 25 machines in the room. It was dark in there. The only light was from the black lights, people's white clothes glowing and the movie playing. I got in there just in time to see the movie start (can't remember the name of it, but they had English accents and there was a dragon in it. LOL!). I walked for 20 minutes on the treadmill but honestly I almost walked longer just to see if the dragon in the movie came back. LOL!

After I finished my warm up on the treadmill, I went to the woman's weight room (did you really think I was going to go work out with the men?) LOL! I figured out how all of the machines worked (the trainer helped when I couldn't figure something out). Some of the machines I'd never seen before, or they looked different than what I was use to and I didn't know how to adjust some of the seats. Today was more of a "go to get things set up". The trainer weighed me, took my measurements and body fat (eeeek!). In 6 weeks I'll get weighed and measured again. It felt pretty good to get back in the gym. The good news is they're open 24 hours during the week, so if I want to go work out later in the evening I can. My other gym use to close at 9 PM. Heck, I could go right now...... but I'm not going to since I was already there today. LOL!!! I think instead I'm going to head for bed. I only got 4 hours of sleep last night and I got up really early this morning. TTYL!

I was browsing the web this afternoon and came across a video and website for a documentary film that's being made called Inspired: The Movie. Here's the video...

I personally am very interested in seeing this film. I felt like I could relate with a lot of these people since I know what it feels like to not only be obese, but I've also had a taste of what it's like to lose a lot of weight as well. I really liked the first woman who spoke in the video where she said "so if you can make it through one day, why not make it through the 2nd day and the 3rd day? Each day that you're successful you empower yourself to keep going on." I also went to the website to read more about it. I felt inspired just with the info I've seen and read about today. I haven't even seen the film yet. LOL! Check it out if you have time. I'd love to hear any input you have on the film.

I'll leave you with one last video I came across during my search this afternoon. I thought it was good too. :)

Do you base your weight loss success entirely on what the scale says? Do you get depressed when you know you had a really good week, yet the scale said you didn't lose anything or you even gained? Do you ever wonder just how many inches you've lost off of your body?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should be measuring yourself. Actually, anyone at all losing weight should be measuring themselves. Our bodies continuously change as we lose weight. If you're working out a lot and you have a gain, it's not because you did something you shouldn't have; it's because muscle weighs more than fat. Even though you may have experience a gain, your body is getting smaller and tighter. How can we truly gage our success? Again, by measuring! If you don't already have one, buy a tape measure. Not the metal kind you get in the hardware section, but the fabric or plastic kind you find in the craft department where the quilting and sewing stuff is. If you buy a plastic tape measurer (this is what I use), over time it may stretch a little bit, so be sure to check it every now and then to make sure it's still accurate.

When you take your measurements, write them down. I suggest measuring yourself once a month, or in some cases, when you feel like you should have lost and you didn't (remember, it's not going to change overnight). Not sure how to go about taking your measurements? Here are some tips to guide you...

1. Bust: Don't squish yourself -- measure all the way around your bust and back right at your nipple line, and make sure the tape measure is not lower.

2. Chest: Measure under your breasts but as high up as you can go, keeping the tape measure parallel to this line when you reach it around your back.

3. Waist: Measure wherever it is the smallest (if you have "no waist" go around yourself right at the navel line).

4. Hips: Measure at the very biggest part -- even if that is so low that you are almost on the top of your thighs.

5. Midway: Measure midway between the very biggest part of your hips and your waist.

6. Thighs: Measure wherever they are the biggest.

7. Knees: Measure right above the knee.

8. Calves: Measure wherever they are the biggest.

9. Upper arm: Measure wherever they are biggest above your elbows.

10. Forearms: Measure wherever they are biggest below your elbows.

I've created a chart in Microsoft Word that I use to write my measurements down on. If you would like a copy of it to print out and use for yourself, click here to download it (the Word file is zipped, so you'll need to unzip it). If you don't have a program to unzip files, you can download a free 45 day evaluation of Winzip.