I must have patted myself on the back too hard the other day over how well I did with eating on Christmas.... because Saturday night and Sunday I fell. All of the goodies that I had passed up on on the actual holiday were at my sister's still on Saturday when I was there. I made it the whole day long until about 6pm and then the cookies and chips called my name. The positive aspect is that I only ate 5 cookies and a small handful of chips instead of whole bags of items and I had taken a walk that morning. It kind of continued on into Sunday when I just "HAD" to have some real pizza.. ya know... double crust, greasy, totally not healthy for me. I did eat too much of that. Then probably one of the best things happened... I was up almost all of last night sick from it. My body was clearly telling me that I DIDN'T need the pizza I thought I did. I won't soon forget that lesson let me tell you!
So today I picked myself back up, dusted myself off and got back on the right path of my journey. One or two "extras" does not have to lead to losing all of what I have accomplished and I can do this. My mom told me the other day that if I did not lose another pound I had already lost 15 and was in better health and shape than I was a month ago. I am not quitting but it was a great reminder again not to get lost racing to the end but staying steady and focused.
Tonight I will get back to walking. I find that I do feel better when I get out everyday. It is my little down time. There is nothing but silence usually (allright.. except for when I have to yell at Roxy for trying to eat all the junk on the ground), or sometimes I talk to Roxy. Yes.. I said I talk to my dog. She listens, doesn't judge and it keeps the weirdos away from ME because they think I am weird...LOL!
And there is another lesson.. take some time for yourself. If you give it all away there will be nothing left to share. Now I am done waxing poetic and deep and off to lunch. Here I come yogurt and sandwich!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
What Did Santa Bring Me (and a recipe)
How lucky am I to have Christmas right before my weigh in day? The only thing better than that is to have New Years Eve before my weigh in day next week! All that said I did pretty good. I lost 1.5 lbs and an inch in my hips. I have lost 15 lbs in a month and also been caffeine and junk food free in that time.
Now most people would be jumping up and down at losing weight during Christmas. I won't lie.. I was annoyed at how little it was. My struggle again.. I want it now! So back to the drawing board of telling myself nice things and reminding myself why slower is better.
1. I am making a lifestyle change.
2. About 5 more lbs and I will be down a size in pants.
3. I enjoyed myself more than planned but not overate at my sister's. I had my pre-packed, point calculated lunch all ready. Then I saw that she had Italian beef and rolls.. mmmmmm. So I made a decision.. I would scrap the pre-packed lunch, have one beef and one roll and enjoy the holiday with my family. There was chips, cookies and chocolate (say it with me now.. "Oh My!") but I only ate a sliver of one and gave the rest to my daughter.
4. My daughter is learning these healthy habits from me. She ate yesterday but only a very small amount of the junk food. And she lost 2 lbs from walking with me and the dog this week. I must teach her to do it the right way.. not the NOW way.
5. It's a journey, not a race. If I rush to the end I lose the enjoyment of the adventure that I am sharing with Sid. One of the best things about this is that Sid and I have reconnected and gotten closer than we ever were before!
So, I was thinking about skipping the walk when I got up this morning but I know that it is necessary. Heck.. I might even shovel some snow! I hope all had a Merry Christmas and that we all start the New Year a little lighter!
Italian-Seasoned Snack Mix
4 cups criss-cross of corn and rice cereal (such as Crispix)
2 cups oyster crackers
2 cups tiny fat free pretzelz
1/4 cup reduced calorie stick margarine melted
2 large egg whites
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon driied Italian seasoning.
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine margarine and egg whites in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Pour margarine over cereal mixture; toss gently to coat. Sprinkle cheese and Italian seasoning evenly over cereal mixture; toss gently.
3. Spread mixture evenly over cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes or until crips.
Now most people would be jumping up and down at losing weight during Christmas. I won't lie.. I was annoyed at how little it was. My struggle again.. I want it now! So back to the drawing board of telling myself nice things and reminding myself why slower is better.
1. I am making a lifestyle change.
2. About 5 more lbs and I will be down a size in pants.
3. I enjoyed myself more than planned but not overate at my sister's. I had my pre-packed, point calculated lunch all ready. Then I saw that she had Italian beef and rolls.. mmmmmm. So I made a decision.. I would scrap the pre-packed lunch, have one beef and one roll and enjoy the holiday with my family. There was chips, cookies and chocolate (say it with me now.. "Oh My!") but I only ate a sliver of one and gave the rest to my daughter.
4. My daughter is learning these healthy habits from me. She ate yesterday but only a very small amount of the junk food. And she lost 2 lbs from walking with me and the dog this week. I must teach her to do it the right way.. not the NOW way.
5. It's a journey, not a race. If I rush to the end I lose the enjoyment of the adventure that I am sharing with Sid. One of the best things about this is that Sid and I have reconnected and gotten closer than we ever were before!
So, I was thinking about skipping the walk when I got up this morning but I know that it is necessary. Heck.. I might even shovel some snow! I hope all had a Merry Christmas and that we all start the New Year a little lighter!
Italian-Seasoned Snack Mix
4 cups criss-cross of corn and rice cereal (such as Crispix)
2 cups oyster crackers
2 cups tiny fat free pretzelz
1/4 cup reduced calorie stick margarine melted
2 large egg whites
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon driied Italian seasoning.
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine margarine and egg whites in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Pour margarine over cereal mixture; toss gently to coat. Sprinkle cheese and Italian seasoning evenly over cereal mixture; toss gently.
3. Spread mixture evenly over cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes or until crips.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Pizza Recipe
So I have been CRAVING pizza but I know if I order one that I will not be able to stop at one piece. Can you imagine? Inspiration came in the form of my daughter who asked if we could make pizza together again since we hadn't in awhile. BINGO.. I rooted through my folder of healthier recipes and dusted off the recipe I will share with you. I got this from a dear friend who has shared my battle over the years as well but is much more successful than I am.
I hope you enjoy this as much as we do and let me know if you find a recipe that YOU enjoy!
1 15 oz jar pizza sauce
1 10 or 13 oz can refrigerated pizza dough
1 1/2 cups low fat shredded mozzarella cheese
Sprinkle of Italian Spices (optional)
1 lb lean ground round
1. Cook meat until it's done and crumples. Drain if necessary.
2. Add sauce and seasoning and cook until heated.
3. Spray 9 x 13 and unroll dough, press the bottom and half way up the sides.
4. Add sauce and bake uncovered for 12 minutes.
5. Sprinkle cheese and continue to bake 5 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese is bubbly.
6. Remove and let stand 15 minutes.
I make mine without the meat. You can also add veggies but remember to increase your cooking time.
I hope you enjoy this as much as we do and let me know if you find a recipe that YOU enjoy!
1 15 oz jar pizza sauce
1 10 or 13 oz can refrigerated pizza dough
1 1/2 cups low fat shredded mozzarella cheese
Sprinkle of Italian Spices (optional)
1 lb lean ground round
1. Cook meat until it's done and crumples. Drain if necessary.
2. Add sauce and seasoning and cook until heated.
3. Spray 9 x 13 and unroll dough, press the bottom and half way up the sides.
4. Add sauce and bake uncovered for 12 minutes.
5. Sprinkle cheese and continue to bake 5 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese is bubbly.
6. Remove and let stand 15 minutes.
I make mine without the meat. You can also add veggies but remember to increase your cooking time.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The Impatience Sets In
I lost 2.1 this week. A steady loss which is what we all should strive for but I admit that when I saw it I felt..."disappointed". I know in my head that it is a good loss and that it isn't more because I didn't walk as much this week. However, even though it didn't come on overnight I want it off NOW! I have learned too that coming off "now" means comes back and more in the future but I suffer from impatience. "Sigh" yet another lesson I will have to add to my list of things to learn in this journey.
I lost 4 inches in my waist, 1 inch in my hips and none in my thighs or bust. I guess I know now where I need to start targeting more. They don't call walking the waist whittler for nothing!
I had a food issue this week. I have eaten fresh pineapple since I got healthy the first time. I bought one last week and after eating it for 3 days the 4th brought about some major, stabbing stomach pains. Same result yesterday. Makes me sad as I hate to give up any healthy food that I like since there are so many I don't! But stabbing pains in the stomach are unproductive. I had my gallbladder out almost 5 years ago and my body just doesn't process things the same way so good-bye pineapple.. I will miss you. Maybe we will meet again positively in the future!
The Wii Fit that I got has been a lot of fun this week. I got my Wii age from 52 down to 34 which is my current age in less than a week so that was exciting. I enjoy doing this with my daughter. The hula hooping I have been doing probably has helped the waist as well.
I am proud of myself for losing weight, sticking with it, only having one piece of chicken at the company luncheon and looking at myself in the mirror more. Not a lot yet, but more than before. It is a great help to me to have Sid on this journey. Support makes all the difference in the world, even though we are across the world from each other. So if you are going to embark on this journey please make sure you have a friend that will support and encourage you when you are feeling as if you can't do it.
I lost 4 inches in my waist, 1 inch in my hips and none in my thighs or bust. I guess I know now where I need to start targeting more. They don't call walking the waist whittler for nothing!
I had a food issue this week. I have eaten fresh pineapple since I got healthy the first time. I bought one last week and after eating it for 3 days the 4th brought about some major, stabbing stomach pains. Same result yesterday. Makes me sad as I hate to give up any healthy food that I like since there are so many I don't! But stabbing pains in the stomach are unproductive. I had my gallbladder out almost 5 years ago and my body just doesn't process things the same way so good-bye pineapple.. I will miss you. Maybe we will meet again positively in the future!
The Wii Fit that I got has been a lot of fun this week. I got my Wii age from 52 down to 34 which is my current age in less than a week so that was exciting. I enjoy doing this with my daughter. The hula hooping I have been doing probably has helped the waist as well.
I am proud of myself for losing weight, sticking with it, only having one piece of chicken at the company luncheon and looking at myself in the mirror more. Not a lot yet, but more than before. It is a great help to me to have Sid on this journey. Support makes all the difference in the world, even though we are across the world from each other. So if you are going to embark on this journey please make sure you have a friend that will support and encourage you when you are feeling as if you can't do it.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Exercise Fun and a Recipe
I received an early Xmas present yesterday from a family member. It was a Wii Fit Plus and I love it! I have only used it a little bit and I don't think it will be good for cardio but it is another way to keep things interesting. I particularly like the running programs. I HATE running and look like a dork when I do so it will be a good way for me to maybe work my way up from walking to running before the whole world sees me.
I started this weekend on a journey to love myself. Today as I was putting on my makeup I tried to really look at myself and not just the part of my face I was working on. I have really nice cheekbones! I put on a skirt today that I haven't been able to wear in a month and it looks good. A pencil skirt with a shirt that cinches at the waist. It makes my waist look really tiny and accentuates my curves. Love it!
I am going to share recipes that I like periodically and I hope that you enjoy them. Today I am sharing a Tender Chicken in Gravy recipe that is so easy to make my 10 year old makes it AND all of my family likes it....even those not worried about eating healthy. Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Tender Chicken in Gravy
Prep Time: 7 minutes Cook Time: 14 minutes
Cooking Spray
1 pound chicken breast tenders (or breast cut into strips)
1 (14 oz) can fat free, less sodium chicken broth
½ teaspoon of thyme
¼ teaspoon of garlic powder
¼ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of pepper
½ cup of fat free evaporated milk
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon light butter
1. Place a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over a medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn chicken; add broth, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken from pan; set aside and keep warm.
2. Whisk together milk, flour and butter in a small bowl. Bring broth mixture to a boil. Cook 4 minutes or until liquid is reduced to 1 cup. Slowly stir in milk mixture and butter. Cook stirring constantly until gravy thickens. Serve chicken.
I started this weekend on a journey to love myself. Today as I was putting on my makeup I tried to really look at myself and not just the part of my face I was working on. I have really nice cheekbones! I put on a skirt today that I haven't been able to wear in a month and it looks good. A pencil skirt with a shirt that cinches at the waist. It makes my waist look really tiny and accentuates my curves. Love it!
I am going to share recipes that I like periodically and I hope that you enjoy them. Today I am sharing a Tender Chicken in Gravy recipe that is so easy to make my 10 year old makes it AND all of my family likes it....even those not worried about eating healthy. Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Tender Chicken in Gravy
Prep Time: 7 minutes Cook Time: 14 minutes
Cooking Spray
1 pound chicken breast tenders (or breast cut into strips)
1 (14 oz) can fat free, less sodium chicken broth
½ teaspoon of thyme
¼ teaspoon of garlic powder
¼ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of pepper
½ cup of fat free evaporated milk
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon light butter
1. Place a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over a medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn chicken; add broth, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken from pan; set aside and keep warm.
2. Whisk together milk, flour and butter in a small bowl. Bring broth mixture to a boil. Cook 4 minutes or until liquid is reduced to 1 cup. Slowly stir in milk mixture and butter. Cook stirring constantly until gravy thickens. Serve chicken.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
A Great Day
Today was a great day for many reasons. One of which is that I lost 4.6 lbs to bring me to 11 lbs total in 2 weeks. This was a joyous moment! I am always happiest when the scale is going down. I weathered my trip to the movies. I wound up eating more than I had planned but less than the whole meal which was probably more points than a whole day for me.
This journey is very complex for me. Sid talks about being a skinny girl trapped in a "fat" body. I have the reverse syndrome where even when I weighed 120 lbs and was a size 3 I still felt fat. My head knew this was wrong (it hurt to sit down there was so little fat on me) but my heart said you are not worthy...something it has said since I was a kid. I was never thin, but have not always been overweight. I have been 120 to 252 lbs. I was "happier" at 120 in some ways but in others it was very stressful. I thought when I lost all the weight that "poof" life would be happily ever after. I have learned that life is probably never going to be happily ever after but that I NEED to learn to love myself.
I need to learn to love myself for many reason. For my daughter is one, so she won't grow up to have the same issues as me. The most important reason is for myself. I don't look at mirrors, I don't take pictures often.. unless they have been taken from the best possible angle.. yes even this picture. I don't swim for the horror of wearing a bathing suit. I don't fully enjoy things because I am always worrying about what people "might" be thinking about how fat I am. I have a friend who told me that I need to start looking at myself in the mirror and thinking about how good I look... the concept horrifies me. It also makes me think of Stewart Smalley "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and darn it... people like me". But the point is valid..if I don't like myself how will others like me. I believe that people are beautiful and lovable in all shapes and sizes.. just not me. But I will start working on this and it will be a struggle.
So for my first step in the journey I ate a little more than I had planned, but not so much that I binged and this can hopefully set the tone for the rest of my life. That nothing is off limits, I can have anything I want in life (in moderation) and that I deserve it and am worth it.
Starting on this lesson alone made today a great day!
This journey is very complex for me. Sid talks about being a skinny girl trapped in a "fat" body. I have the reverse syndrome where even when I weighed 120 lbs and was a size 3 I still felt fat. My head knew this was wrong (it hurt to sit down there was so little fat on me) but my heart said you are not worthy...something it has said since I was a kid. I was never thin, but have not always been overweight. I have been 120 to 252 lbs. I was "happier" at 120 in some ways but in others it was very stressful. I thought when I lost all the weight that "poof" life would be happily ever after. I have learned that life is probably never going to be happily ever after but that I NEED to learn to love myself.
I need to learn to love myself for many reason. For my daughter is one, so she won't grow up to have the same issues as me. The most important reason is for myself. I don't look at mirrors, I don't take pictures often.. unless they have been taken from the best possible angle.. yes even this picture. I don't swim for the horror of wearing a bathing suit. I don't fully enjoy things because I am always worrying about what people "might" be thinking about how fat I am. I have a friend who told me that I need to start looking at myself in the mirror and thinking about how good I look... the concept horrifies me. It also makes me think of Stewart Smalley "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and darn it... people like me". But the point is valid..if I don't like myself how will others like me. I believe that people are beautiful and lovable in all shapes and sizes.. just not me. But I will start working on this and it will be a struggle.
So for my first step in the journey I ate a little more than I had planned, but not so much that I binged and this can hopefully set the tone for the rest of my life. That nothing is off limits, I can have anything I want in life (in moderation) and that I deserve it and am worth it.
Starting on this lesson alone made today a great day!
Friday, December 11, 2009
My First Dilemma
So I am almost at 2 weeks of doing Weight Watchers and having success losing weight and I have reached my first dilemma which I knew there would be some. I am going to see a movie on Saturday at a theater where you HAVE to order something. I am sure you can imagine they do not serve healthy food. I have gone almost 2 weeks without caffeine so I am not really sure I want to have a soda but the food will be out of this world in points! I tend to be an all or nothing person. When I got down to a size 3 it was by never eating anything that wasn't healthy. When I have something that I consider "junk" food I tend to not be able to stop so I avoid it. I think this isn't realistic though and part of the reason I have failed in the past. I am thinking that I will eat really light during the day, order food and ask them to bring me a take home container when the food comes.. that way I can place most of it in the container and avoid temptation. This is good practice for the office Xmas luncheon next week!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
A Beginning
I've never blogged before so bear with me. A friend of mine from high school that lives in Australia and I reconnected on facebook and found that we both were taking a similiar journey in our life right now. We are trying to something many have done before, some are successful (I have been in the past) and others have struggled facing ups and downs (me now). We are attempting to lose weight. I won't lie.. I want to be healthy but I also want to look better! We are going to meet face to face this summer and have decided it would be fun to record our journey together.
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