I Think I'm in Shock!!!

I just can't believe it. A few people told me this would happen one day, but I usually laughed it off and NEVER believed it possible!!! Not to me!!

I had a very long and busy day today with work, meetings and even a lunch time kickboxing class!! By the time I left work today, it was quarter to six and I had not eaten since about noon!! I was starving!! I had to run some errands this evening as I will be on a 7:00am flight in the morning - yet another business trip!! Anyway, my son was with me and he asked for McDonalds!! Oh no! Not McDonalds. I gave him some reason why he could not have it and that kept him quiet for a bit so we continued on...of course, two minutes later, he was asking again. I literally thought about it for two seconds and said, "SURE!!!" and we were off!!

We walked into the McDonalds, waited our turn in line and I proceeded to order. I was so excited and of course immediately rationalized this move in my mind. I haven't had a "planned"(cheat) meal in weeks. I can do this and not feel guilty!! Well, little did I know, guilt would be the least of my problems. Anyway, I ordered a chicken nugget happy meal for my son (chicken nuggets, apples and milk) and for Mommy..It was combo # 1 - A Big Mac, Medium Fries with an ice tea!!!

My first bite into that BigMac was just heaven!! It was so delicious...yummy!!! The second bite - even better...the third bite - more yummy "mac-i-ness"!! THE FOURTH bite (which is about 3/4's of the burger was..................uh......................WTF???? It just wouldn't go down!! I tried swallowing but just couldn't because I felt it coming back up!! It was disgusting!! What is going on with me??? I litterally paused for a minute in disbelief!! what the crap is wrong with me, I thought. I grabbed my napkins and spit out the burger!! I went to the counter and bought a bottle of water!! I think this was the first time in my 35 year life that I purchased water from McDonalds!! I sat down and drank it in TOTAL disbelief as I stared at the almost-eaten Big Mac!! My son was eating my fries!! I was in shock!!
As far as I could remember, I have never, ever "NOT" been able to eat a Big Mac!! This has to be some sort of fluke!! I ate extremely healthy today and have been all this week...I don't know what it is!! I know this should be a good thing but I truly am in disbelief!! Wednesday Sept 16, 2009 - the day Joania could not eat a Big Mac!!!! Incredible!! For those of you who know me personally, THIS REALLY HAPPENED!!! I'm the one who use to walk around saying that I'd marry Ronald McDonald in a minute just for his food!! LOL!! Now look at me!! Ronald McDonald would be so sad and so ashamed of me!!

Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Why now, McDonalds....Why????

Everyone who knows me, know that if Ronald McDonald was real, I'd marry him in a minute...well the old me would ...okay, who am I kidding?? The new and improving me would still marry him well until today!! He betrayed me!! They introduced something new!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I'm driving to work today and drive past a bulletin board. What does it say?

INTRODUCING, THE NEW MAC SNACK WRAP!!!!!

Q. What is it?
A. It's a Big Mac inside a warm flour tortilla!!!

OMG!!!! They've taken my favourite sandwich (the old Big Mac) and gave it a new twist and I can't even try it!!! Can you believe it?? I don't think there's ONE thing on the McDonalds menu that I haven't tasted......UNTIL NOW!!!!! Here's a couple of pix of it:

It's a mini Big Mac without all the bun. You still get the Big Mac special sauce, lettuce, Cheddar cheeses, pickles and onions with a beefy half-patty. There's just no fluffy melt-in-your-mouth, sweet sesame seed bun, just a warm snack-sized flour tortilla.

Here's a close-up:

OHHHH, YUMMMMMM!! Doesn't it look good? I know I could easily make a healthy version of this, but nothing beats that old MickeyDees taste!! Although the old classic Big Mac Meal will always be my favourite, I can't wait to get to my halfway point of this journey so that I could try this new item (and a few other classics)....Why now, McDonalds? Why?

OH GOD!! THE COMMERCIAL JUST CAME ON!!!! This is a conspiracy!!!!!!!!!!

So now what? Instead of singing the classic song, "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun" it will be...... "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions... in a warm flour tortilla."

The song does not really sound right but I'm sure the new Mac Snack Wrap will tast FABULOUS!!! Something to look forward to!!

Anyway, I didn't work out this morning so I'm off to do my cardio!!

Until next time...

Joania (2KMINE!!!)

ST. PATTY'S & MY GIRLFRIEND JB....

This individual has been my friend for 20+ years and together, we've done a lot of fun and crazy things which will bring us to tears as we laugh about it, to this day!! It doesn't take much to get us going! I cannot imagine my life without her...anyway, this is not intended to be a sappy post. I can just see her face as she reads this laughing to herself and probably saying, "I can't believe she's writing about me and our craziness in her blog!!" or something to that effect!

Anyway, JB and I absolutely LOVE St. Patrick's Day!!! Well, maybe it's more the festivities that we like because if any one of us were quizzed on the history or origin of St. Patty's - we'd fail miserably!! I'm certain all of our responses would include either "leprechaun" or "green beer"!! It has been our longstanding tradition of just getting together and "doing it up right" on St. Patty's Day. For us, the festivities usually starts very early in the afternoon and goes strong until the wee hours of the morning!!

In the past, this involved the consumption of "a few" beverages, followed by a few more and so on and so on until very early the following morning where we'd ALWAYS end up asking the taxi driver to take us to the 24-hour drive thru McDonalds, where we ordered a massive amount of greasy, fatty food. I'm talking, double Big Macs, Supersize Fries, Coke and Apple Pies!!! I swear, it's the only thing we wanted to eat after a day on the "liquid diet" and it was just AMAZING! Can anyone relate to this, or are we just nuts?? Anyway, that's how we would normally spend St. Patty's Day, in the past!

This Year...

I will be in Edmonton on business on St. Patty's Day!! This year, on St. Patty's Day, I will have just completed my third straight month on this wonderful journey following a highly effective, customized diet and exercise plan which does not include my traditional "St. Patty's Day Food and Beverage Choices"!!!! THIS YEAR, on St. Patty's Day, although I will be in Edmonton, SO WILL MY GIRLFRIEND JB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know if was fate or if it was planned (I WILL never tell!!) but we will BOTH be in Edmonton on St Patty's Day and I think it was meant to be...

Oh, what to do????

First off, my girlfriend in no way wants to sabbotage my journey and has been extremely supportive from the very beginning and even before!! So "what I do" will be totally my decision...we could have a good time either way..Honestly, there is no pressure from her at all!! I just don't want anyone thinking that she's sabbotaging me in anyway!!!

So here are some facts:

1. I have been just amazing on this diet and exercise plan, and for the most part (except those 4 choc eggs recently), I've stayed true.
   
2. I didn't have cake or alcohol on my 35th birthday!!
   
3. I didn't have any chocolate on Valentine's Day!!
   
4. So far this year I've done very well and 3 months is a very long time.
   
5. I have all intentions of remaining on this journey and reaching my goals by Dec 2009!

I've always said that I don't want this new lifestyle to consume me and I also don't want to miss out on my life and things I enjoy doing because of it even though I realize and accept that I do have to make a lot of sacrifices and give up certain things....so I'm in yet another position where I have to make a huge decision regarding either food, chocolate, alcohol or all of the above!!! I also don't want to always have to be in these types of positions. I want to be able to just live and enjoy my life while respecting the boundaries of my program. It's all about finding that balance and learning how to live within it....I think that's a bigger struggle than losing the weight, itself - for me anyway!

So that's it for now....as always, I will be honest in whatever I do; with whatever decision I make regarding St. Patty's Day!! You will be informed...either way!!

Until next time...

Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Stronger than a BIG MAC!!!!

What a month! First, I'm so happy that the first month is over, I feel like I just jumped a major hurdle and am now accelerating towards that finish line (I know, I know, it's a long race)...but I'm building that endurance!! I must tell you guys that on Day one of this journey, I was soooooo scared and somehow thought that I may not make it to the end of this month. How was I going to get through 30 days with no chocolate, no coke (coca-cola, that is!), and no McDonalds???? In my mind I just knew I would crack and go to McDonalds. Well, here's what a month of discipline, hard work, and dedication has done for me:

I went to the McDonald's drive through today (why, I think I convinced myself that my son wanted it, or something), I rolled down my window and waited for that distorted voice to say, "welcome to McDonalds, may I take your order?" I took a deep breath and said, "uh, yeah, uh, can I uh have a 4-pc chicken nugget happy meal with apple juice for a boy (you gotta specify the gender so you get the right toy - my husband would definitely have that "WTF" look on his face if he walked in and saw our 2yr old son playing with a Barbie).

Anyway, the voice in the box then said, "anything else?"....there was a long, akward silence. In the past the next words out of my mouth would've been, "BigMac combo with supersize fries and a Coke, no ice please..oh and an Apple Pie (I always say, "OH and an apple pie" as if I forgot or something when I knew all along that I would order it). My mind was racing, I start rationalizing in my head, "it's just me and my two year old in the car, hubby's at work, won't be home for hours, I could eat and destroy the evidence before he even gets close to home, no one would ever know, he wouldn't even smell it" Again I hear, "Anything else???" .....I quickly answer, "uh, just a minute please", I continue thinking some more.

At this point I'm talking softly to myself, "Joania, what are you doing, say NO THANK YOU!! say NO THANK YOU!!! Remember your Journey, your journey!!!" The voice comes back on, "Ma'am, anything else?"....."Uh, I wou--, uh I don't think so!" She then tells me the total and I drive to the next window. I know I've been happy to see the McDonalds girl in the past but this time it was for a different reason. It wasn't because my mouth was salivating for that Big Mac, it was beacuase I stayed strong!! When she slid that little window to take the cash...I smiled and said like an idiot, "phew, I didn't order anything, I didn't order anything!" She looked at me with a puzzled face which I interpreted as, "please don't make me cancel this order". When I realized what I said, I quickly corrected myself and said, "I didn't order anything ELSE ..THANK YOU..." I'm such a dork!
Anyway, I drove to the next window, picked up the bag, which btw looked so small compared to the one's I got when I ordered food as well.

When we got home, I gave my son his McDonalds, AND HERE COMES THE SHOCKER, it DID NOT bother me one bit, I sat beside him eating my baked sweet potato, piece of grilled fish and some steamed veggies. IT was awesome, I felt so good and strong. I DIDN'T EVEN SWIPE A FRY, Y'ALL!!! Trust me, I'd tell you if I did...but I didn't even swipe a french fry, not one!! This may be no big deal for most, but for me...HUGE!!!

So that's why I say this month has made me so much stronger and seeing how far I've come, I really don't want to jeopardize that in anyway. Also, the thought of having to confess to all my blog readers is enough to keep me on the straight and narrow.

Anyway, just thought I'd share that. Also, I've received a lot of questions like, "16 pounds!!???!? What are you doing??" "That's a lot of weight, how did you do it??"" "16 pounds? wow, please share the secret!"

So I decided to be a bit more specific with what I'm doing. I'll write it up in my next post. Thanks for stopping by!!

J