I am back to the Blogosphere!

Hi folks,

After a 5 month hiatus from blogging, I am back! I essentially hit the maintenance phase and wanted to go without talking about food and weightloss. But guess what? Even after you lose weight, your issues with food never go away completely. It's something I must learn to live with. My cheat days aren't nearly as bad as they were pre weightloss, but they still exist. I still emotionally eat. I have more trouble staying on track now that I've hit a healthy weight than I did during my weightloss phase. I think going back to writing things out will hold me more accountable and help me become a healthier person. Because as I'm sure everyone knows... 2 lbs can turn into 5 lbs, can turn into 10 lbs, etc, quite easily.

In addition to writing about weightloss, I really feel that getting my thoughts and feelings out about other things in life is a good idea. I've grown a lot this year and it's a big bad scary world sometimes. I have my failures and I have my triumphs and I'd like to write about them.

Big bad scary fear # 1 - Driving. I always told myself I wasn't cut out to drive. The busing system in Ottawa is fantastic, I thought. It's way faster to get around that way anyways. Besides, I work downtown where parking lots are nonexistent. Welcome to the bus strike of 2009. Life was brutal. And since then, buses have just not been up to par. Plus, what about when I have children? Am I going to be that woman that people sigh loudly at when I struggle onto the overcrowded bus with crying baby in one hand, heavy stroller in the other, and big purse weighing down on my shoulders? I'd really rather not.... So I surprised many people, especially myself, when I decided that it's about time I put this fear behind me and do some learning. Brian took me out driving on Saturday and I have to say, it wasn't quite as petrifying as I'd been expecting. Sure I was scared, didn't even use the gas pedal, but I got in the driver seat and got a feel for driving. And I will continue to learn once a week until I'm comfortable enough to take the test. It's going to be an adventure, that's for sure!

Anyways, better not cram everything into one blog post :) Until next time.....

Meal plan for Wednesday:

Breakfast - 1 pkg. of organic maple flavored oatmeal, 1 cup of skim milk (240 calories)

Snack - Apple, 1 sugar free jello pudding, 2 cups of water (140 calories)

Lunch - 2 slices of bread, 1/2 can of tuna, 1 tbsp. of light mayo, 1 pkg. of del monte fruit twists, Diet coke (370 calories)

Snack - Nature Valley fruit & nut granola bar, 2 cups of water (140 calories)

Dinner - 1 serving of southwestern baked chicken (2 oz. chicken, 1/3 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, 1 tbsp. of light ranch dressing, 1/2 cut up green pepper, 3/4 cup of rice), 2 cups of water (360 calories)

Snack - Small bag of popcorn, Aero singles bar, 2 cups of water (290 calories)

Total - 1540 calories

3 times a week I do the stairs at work, meaning I run from the 21st floor down to the lobby and all the way back up to the 21st floor. It's really toning up my legs and even though it only takes 10 minutes, it burns a ton of calories. I will be doing the stairs tomorrrow.