Monday Update

Hi friends...just wanted to check in.  It's a new week and almost the start of a new month.  Mentally, that means a fresh start for me.  And I need a fresh start.

We went camping at the beach with some friends this past weekend and had a great time.  We (my husband, son and I) needed the quality time together.  I didn't get alot of exercise (besides chasing my son) around because my foot was bothering me, but I got some.

My foot and my knees are feeling better.  Time to get out and get some exercise again!  I'm looking forward to that.  My eating has been on and off, as usual.  I can't seem to get it together completely.  I'm sure you're probably tired of reading that from me.  I know I need to take it one day and one meal at a time...with small goals and baby steps.  So for this week, I'm going to focus on tracking my food the rest of this week.

 Hope you had a wonderful weekend...see you back here tomorrow, hopefully with good news about my day and maybe even a new recipe :)

Take care!

MIA

Hey guys...sorry for being so MIA.  I've been dealing with non-stop sickness in my house.  My 21-month-old son has been sick for 2 weeks (first with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, then pneumonia which turned into bronchitis and asthma flare-up) and now I'm sick with a chest cold thing that's making me oh so tired and has me sounding like a 90-year old smoker.

I've been eating fairly healthy, but not tracking (so I'm sure I'm eating too much) or getting much exercise in. I attempted to walk at the track yesterday and I made it around 3 times.  Unfortunately, I'm not the kind of person that loses weight when I'm sick, unless I'm too sick to walk in to the kitchen (I don't think I've ever been THAT sick...thank God!).

Today has been pretty good so far; I'm hoping to make it out to a blues concert at a local park tonight. My husband is out of town for work still (this is the third week, but he'll be home on Friday night!), so it'll just be my baby boy and me.  A little mommy/son date sounds nice!   If we do go, I hope to have time to pack us a picnic dinner. It should be fun! I'm definitely suffering from cabin fever so it'll be good to get out, even for just a little while.  

Here's what I'm planning to eat today (this is close to tracking, right?):

BREAKFAST
1 large egg
slice of Sara Lee Delightful Wheat Bread 
1 wedge Laughing Cow Light


SNACK (not a great choice, but I was having a craving)
2 frozen waffles
drizzle of pancake syrup
1 tbsp homemade boysenberry preserves


LUNCH
2 slices of Sara Lee Delightful Wheat Bread
1 slice 2% American cheese
1 slice of deli turkey
1/2 a medium tomato
1 lettuce leaf
1/2 of a Claussens pickle
1 tsp mayonnaise
handful of carrots on the side

SNACK
Protein Bar or Greek Yogurt

PICNIC DINNER at the PARK
1 hot dog bun
1/2 cup Lloyds bbq chicken
string cheese
red bell pepper slices
1/2 serving of multigrain chips

SNACK
Cottage cheese and a nectarine

Hope you all have a wonderful day and I hope to be back to my normal self  REALLY soon.  I have a ton of recipes I can't wait to try and share with you! :)

Hugs,

Recipe Review: Grilled Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad

I love grilling outdoors for my family, whether it's at home or at the park.  This salad is one of my all-time favorite recipes - such a perfect accompaniment to those grilled meals - and I've made it twice this summer already.  I was originally introduced to it by one of my very best friends when she came to Oregon to visit.  It goes great with chicken, steak, seafood or even some healthy chicken sausages.  We originally found the recipe in one of those little cookbooks offered at the the supermarket checkstand, but I've also seen it posted on several websites.  I didn't make any changes because it's deeeeelicious as it stands, so I'm just going to post the link below and call it a  recipe review.

The fresh corn and tomatoes make this salad taste so fresh and the avocado adds a nice creamy component.  The honey lime dressing makes it slightly sweet.  As a bonus, you're getting in some good healthy vegetable oil.  Try it, I know you'll love it.

To ease preparation I use my Pampered Chef Corn Kernel Cutter, but you can certainly use a sharp knife.  Just be careful not to cut yourself. Have I told you how I love kitchen gadgets?

Which reminds me, keep your eye out for my first ever Prize Giveway coming soon!  I'm going to be giving away an OXO brand Good Grip Salad Shaker :)  I have one and making your own salad dressing is so easy, you'll never use store-bought dressing again...homemade dressings are healthier and better-tasting too!

Now...back to the recipe:

Grilled Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad

Grilled Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad
Serves 4-6

Click here to see the recipe

Nutritional Information (calculated for 6 servings):  166 Calories; 12g Fat (62.4% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 13mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 2 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

WW+ = 5

Diet & Exercise Update - 7/17/12

Good evening everyone!  How was your day?  Mine was sort of the day from hell in some ways, but good in other ways.  It's hard being a full time work at home mom of a 20 month old sometimes...and today was one of those difficult days.  The "terrible almost-twos" are here and I'm going to have to do a lot of research to learn the best way to handle it so that we're both not miserable.  Plus, my son has been sick for the past week - Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, plus pneumonia - so he's been a little cranky, which doesn't help the situation.  But still, he makes me so extremely happy, I love every minute - deep down.  Even when he throws half his lunch on the kitchen floor.  Yeah. :)

On a good note, I was able to stay on track with my food today! I love it when I do that.  My weekend was so-so and I really made it a point to try to do well today.  I was a little high on carbs, so I didn't achieve perfection, but I did really well overall.

As far as exercise,  I somehow made my right foot extremely sore on my walk yesterday - it's really painful.  I think it must be due to the fact that I'm limping a little because of my knee pain.  So today I took it easy from exercise, I hope tomorrow will be better.  I am going to do some ab crunches, squats and push ups before I go to bed tonight, so at least that will be something I suppose.

I'm really trying hard not to eat out of stress and emotions.  I have quite a few challenges this week - a couple of dinners out, lots of work for my job and trying to handle my little boy.  My goal is to stay calm, cool and collected and to keep my eye on the prize.

I hope you have a great day tomorrow.  See you soon....thanks for reading.

TUESDAY, JULY 17, 2012
BREAKFAST
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Sara Lee Delightful Whole Wheat, 2 slices, 0.5 serving	45	1	7	3
Egg, fresh, 1 large	70	5	0	6
Jam, Raspberry Fruit Spread, (Bionaturae Organic) , 1 tbsp	30	0	8	0
	145	6	15	9
LUNCH
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Sara Lee Delightful Whole Wheat Bread (2 slices per serv), 1 serving	90	1	14	6
Best Foods Regular Mayonnaise, 0.33 tbsp	30	3	0	0
Kirkland Foster Farms Oven Roasted Turkey Breast, 1 slice, 1 serving	50	1	0	10
	170	5	14	16
DINNER
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Sabatino's Mozzarella with Artichokes and Garlic Chicken Sausage, 1 serving	160	9	2	18
RECIPE: Grilled Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad with Honey Lime Dressing, 0.5 cup	166	12	15	2
	326	21	17	20
SNACK
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Atkins Caramel Chocolate Roll Bar, 1 serving	180	12	11	8
Breyer's Blasts: Reese's, 0.5 cup	170	6	26	3
	350	18	37	11
SNACK 2
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Cottage Cheese, 2% Milkfat, 0.5 cup (not packed)	102	2	4	16
Jam, kroger reduced sugar strawberry preserves, 1 tbsp	25	0	6	0
Sara Lee Delightful Whole Wheat, 2 slices, 0.5 serving	45	1	7	3
	172	3	17	19
SNACK 3
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Banana, fresh, 0.25 cup, sliced	34	0	9	0
Strawberries, fresh, 1 cup, sliced	50	1	12	1
raspberry syrup 2 T torani, 1 serving	90	0	23	0
	174	1	43	1
SNACK 4
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Butter, salted, 0.5 tbsp	51	6	0	0
Bread - Kirkland Signature Whole Wheat, 1 serving	80	1	17	3
Jam, Raspberry Fruit Spread, (Bionaturae Organic) , 1 tbsp	30	0	8	0
	161	7	25	3
	1,498	60	169	79
	1300 - 1500	37 - 79	100 - 142	72 - 150

Words Can Really Inspire

Today was my monthly weigh in appointment with my counselor, Kimberly, at the weight loss clinic.  According to their scale, I'm down 2.8 pounds for the past month, which is great considering I gained 8 pounds on my vacation a few weeks ago.  I went down almost a whole percentage in body fat (equaling a loss of 3.5 lbs of fat).

Kimberly and I talked about what I could have done different on my cruise to do "damage control", as she called it.  She said that if you feel like having a burger, have one without the bun or half the bun.  If you want dessert, have a few bites instead of a whole piece.  These are methods I've known about for years and years, but rarely do I put them into action.  She's right though, if I had thought more about what I was doing, I could have maybe gained only 4 pounds instead of 8.

Then I told her about how I was trying to exercise at the track but that I hurt my knee on Monday.  She suggested I go walking in a pool.  The water is good for resistance and also good for people with knee injuries.  I told her I would like to do that, but the only pool I have access to is a public pool and I don't like to go around in a bathing suit in public.  She said she understood.  Then she really laid it on me:

You Don't Have to Be Thin to Enjoy Life.

That is a POWERFUL statement!  It really hit home with me because I can count several things that I won't do because I'm fat.

• Enjoy swimming at the beach, pools, rivers and lakes.  I love, love, love the beach especially.  I don't go as often as I'd like because I don't want to wear a bathing suit in public.  I'm embarrassed and feel too vulnerable.  Usually, when I do go, I just wear jeans or capris and a shirt and stay out of the water.  It's easier to avoid here in Oregon than it was in Southern California where I grew up.
• Try jogging.  This is going to sound weird, but when I run, my butt feels like it's bouncing and not only is it uncomfortable, it's totally embarrassing to me.     
• Wear clothes that are fitted.  I feel like I have to wear my clothes baggy or else people will notice that I'm not all muscle.
• Get excited about shopping for clothes.  This is self-explanatory I think!  You guys know where I'm coming from.
• Enjoy myself at amusement parks.  When I was at my highest weight all those years ago, I was at Knott's Berry Farm and I went to get on the Dragon Swing and I didn't fit and had to do the walk of shame off the ride.  I don't go on rides I'm unsure of now because I never want to experience anything like that again.
• Wear shorts and tank tops.  Again, the vanity kicks in.  I don't ever want to feel like people are staring at me or snickering amongst themselves because of the way I look.

I was telling Kimberly about some of these concerns.  Especially about the pool and jogging.  She said she believes that not everyone in the world is that critical and judgmental and that it was more likely that I would inspire people because I'm getting healthy and doing activities that are good for my body.  And I WANT to inspire people, especially people who are going through the same types of struggles I am.  


So I'm vowing to look at myself that way from now on - not as an embarrassment, but as an inspiration.  At the very minimum, an inspiration to my husband, my children, my family and my friends.

Me in the late 1990s - 80 pounds ago!

May 2012 - the progress may be slow but I've come so far already!

We also talked about me setting smaller goals for myself.  My next goal is 10% of my starting weight.  I have about 9 pounds to go. 


Kimberly gave me a lot of things to think about today. It's really nothing I haven't heard before, but for some reason, she really got into my head today.  I really want her to be proud of me.  I hope that when I see her again next month, the results show how hard I've been working.


So if you see me at the pool or on the beach or jogging at the track, don't be surprised, I'm not trying to impress anyone with my looks, just my abilities and perseverance.  Don't mind my bouncing butt. :)


I hope you all have a wonderful weekend...enjoy it with the ones you love.

A Little MIA + Weigh In

Happy Friday everyone :)  I know I haven't been good about posting this week.  My son was sick with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease earlier in the week and then he suddenly came down with a sudden case of bacterial pneumonia in the past 2 days.  That's a lot for one mom to handle, especially with working and my husband working out of town.  Well at least it was a lot for ME to handle. :)

My poor little guy is so sick!  He's just about over the Hand, Foot and Mouth thing, but he's really suffering with the pneumonia - and we caught it early.  He spiked a 105 fever today after I came home from the doctor and that's never fun.  He's on antibiotics now and I'm keeping the fever down with Tylenol and Ibuprofin, so hopefully he'll feel better tomorrow.

I did ok with food this week, though, and chose not to drown my sorrows in chocolate or french fries.  I did, however, have some Breyers Peanut Butter Blast ice cream - have you tried it?  It's really tasty and only 140 calories per serving (I actually weighed my portion out and everything...proud of me??)

I managed to walk at the track twice this week (slowly because I hurt my knee on Monday-yeah, good going, I know).


I have to say, I'm extremely happy to announce that I lost 2.2 pounds this week!


And as a bonus, I found another blouse in the back of my closet that fits me now! I love that feeling.  

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sorry to change the subject, but I made a great new recipe yesterday.  It was a comforting kind of dinner - quick and easy too.  I'd post it as a recipe review except that I forgot to take pictures, so I'll just give you the link.  It's the Slow Cooker Pork Sirloin Roast with Spicy Peanut Sauce from Kalyn's Kitchen.  I just love her recipes.  I didn't have to tweak this one, except that I left out the chili paste so that my little boy could eat it.  The meat came out juicy and flavorful and the sauce - well, I could totally eat it with a spoon.  Except that I didn't because I had a good friend over. :)  Make it for your family...you'll love it.  

http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2012/03/slow-cooker-recipe-for-pork-sirloin.html

Have a wonderful weekend!  Hope the summer weather is awesome where you are.

Journal 7/9/12

Hi everybody!  It's Monday (again).  My weekend went by like lightning.  It was so busy!  We did some fun stuff...our niece stayed with us and we went to the drive-in theater, picnicked in the park and went to a BBQ at a friends' house.  I had planned on taking 2 walks on the trails at a local park this weekend and my plans had to be redirected both days for some reason or another.  I was a little frustrated about it, but life happens, I suppose.

Today has been unusually eventful for a Monday.  I was busy with work and getting the house cleaned up after the weekend.  My husband is going to be working out of town for most of the next three week and he left this afternoon.  My son has contracted some sort of fever/rash virus and is highly contagious, so I'm homebound and my outdoor exercise plans have been foiled once again.  I do have other options, though.  I can dust off the treadmill in the garage or I can do some Zumba on the Wii (Zumba makes my knees hurt, so that's a last resort) or I can find a workout DVD of some sort in our collection.  My goal is to get some sort of exercise in today before I go to bed.  For sure. 

Over the weekend my food intake was so/so.  I tried to do well, but it was busy and difficult to plan.  Today, I was able to track my food on the fly, and I did well, for the most part, until I did some mindless snacking on graham crackers this afternoon.  My calories are in check, but my carbs are through the roof.  


Tonight before I go to bed  I'm going to make a food plan for tomorrow - and I WILL stick to it!  I'm really tired of being wishy washy with my diet and exercise.  I think maybe it's just all too daunting for me.  I have a such a long way to go to get to my goals.  Maybe it won't seem so bad if I make smaller ones for myself.  So my first goal is to get through tomorrow 100% on plan.  Surely I can make it through one day, right?  :)


Below is my journal for today.  Tomorrow will be better.  I hope you all have a wonderful evening.

MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012
BREAKFAST
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Sara Lee Delightful Whole Wheat Bread (2 slices per serv), 0.5 serving	45	1	7	3
Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss Original Cheese (Serving = 1 wedge), 1 serving	35	2	1	2
Egg, fresh, 1 large	70	5	0	6
	150	7	8	11
LUNCH
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Olive Oil, 1 1tsp	40	5	0	0
Zucchini, 1 cup, sliced	29	0	7	1
Flank Steak, 4 oz	175	8	0	23
Butter, salted, 0.5 tbsp	51	6	0	0
Sweet Corn, Fresh, 0.5 ear, medium (6-3/4" to 7-1/2" long) yields	39	1	9	1
Albertson's Wheat French Bread, 1 serving	130	1	25	5
	463	20	41	31
DINNER
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Cottage Cheese, 2% Milkfat, 0.5 cup (not packed)	102	2	4	16
Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average, 1 plum tomato	13	0	3	1
	115	2	7	16
SNACK
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Nectarines, 1 fruit (2-1/2" dia)	60	0	14	1
	60	0	14	1
SNACK 2
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Oroweat Double Fiber English Muffin, 0.5 serving	60	1	15	3
Chobani 0% Strawberry Greek Yogurt (6 oz), 1 serving	140	0	20	14
	200	1	35	17
SNACK 3
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
None
SNACK 4
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Graham Crackers, plain, honey, or cinnamon, 8 large rectangular piece or 2 squares or 4 small rectangular pieces	474	11	86	8
Milk, 2%, 0.5 cup	61	2	6	4
	535	14	92	12
	1,522	45	196	88
	1300 - 1500	37 - 79	100 - 142	72 - 150

Weigh In - 7/6/12

Hi Friends :)

I feel like I haven't posted in, like, forever.  This week was just a total whirlwind.  I worked late almost every night, we were gone all day and most of the night for 4th of July, and we had our final adoption home study interview plus an impromptu birthday dinner for my sister-in-law on Thursday, to name a few things that went on.  I didn't track my food this week...and I didn't really plan ahead much either.  I overdid it with my intake on Saturday, Wednesday and Thursday but ate pretty well the rest of the week.  Four days out of seven ain't bad, right? :)  I exercised on Monday, and that's it.

I don't want to make excuses and I'm sure you don't really care what reasons I have for not sticking to my plan.  I guess I just had an off week (again).  So I'm just going to say that I gained 1.4 pounds this week and I will try harder to do better next week.  

My plan for the weekend:  1)  Track my food.  2)  Do something active on Saturday - probably hiking.

We have a BBQ to go to on Sunday afternoon and I was asked to bring a side dish so I'm making a great corn, tomato and avocado salad.  I hope to post photos next week...it's delicious, healthy and fresh.  Perfect for a hot summer day, and it's going to be almost 90 here on Sunday.

I promise you'll hear more from me next week...things should be slowing down for a couple of weeks at least.  I would love to get these last 7 or 8 pounds off so I can get back to the lowest weight I've known as an adult.  It's not too far away yet it's been so hard for me to get there...partly due to my own self-sabotaging setbacks.  I do want to be successful though...I promise you that. I just seem to have the hardest time concentrating when my routine is interrupted - whether it is due to a vacation, work, my family, etc....and it seems to happen often. 

Well, I must get going, it's late and I want to be up early tomorrow.  Thank you for your love and support - I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  

Journal 7/2/12

Can you believe it's July already?  I can't but I'm glad summer is finally here in the Pacific Northwest.  I'm looking forward to the sun coming out this week!

I don't have alot of time to write a lengthy post (I'm working late tonight), but I wanted to let you know that after a not-so-good food weekend (a date with my husband that included thin crust pizza, movie popcorn and frozen yogurt...not smart, I know), I did great today. I even took a brisk 2.25 mile walk with my sister at the local college track.

I didn't have time to put all of my food into my online food journal, so I'll just type out what I ate today.


Breakfast
Egg on 1/2 a light english muffin with a wedge of Laughing Cow light cheese


Snack
Protein Bar (rushing around as usual)


Lunch
Turkey Panini w/Laughing Cow Light cheese, 2 slices turkey lunch meat and 2 slices light bread and a handful of cherry tomatoes on the side


Snack
2 graham crackers w/1/2 cup milk


Dinner
Easy Taco Bake (wasn't that good, I'm not going to post it)
Roasted zucchini


Snack
Cherry Greek Yogurt


That's it for today...thanks for reading and coming along on this important journey with me.  It means a lot knowing that I'm not alone in this.


Have a great Tuesday :)