Full of excitement!

If, if, if!

I feel like a kid getting ready for a birthday party or something today. I woke up full of excitement for my weigh in tonight. Weird right?

So many ifs tonight.

IF I lose 1.5 pounds I'll be under 190. Wow.

IF I lose 3.5 pounds I'll hit my 180 pounds off. Ya, 3.5 is high for me to aim, but what the hell, a girl can dream right?

I try not to let the other 'what ifs' push into my mind. They do sometimes. I'm a list maker as you all know. I keep a spreadsheet of my weight loss. It's cool to look back and know what you did a certain year....sometimes. Last year (and part of the one before) was a rough one for me.

I had a stomach ailment called gastroparysis. It sucked. I couldn't eat solid food for about a year and a half. If I ate anything solid I'd feel sick to my stomach and remain full and feeling ill for hours and hours and hours. What a chore that was to try to get all my fruits/veg/protein etc in each day. Juices were the only way to get the fruit and veg in. I ate a lot of cheese for the protein. You'd think if you couldn't eat, you'd lose weight. Nope, not so I'm afraid. Fiber was non existent in my diet...just couldn't process it. I had tests to diagnose the problem, unfortunately there wasn't a remedy. I could take a pill...but the side effects of said pill scared the bejeepers out of me! I opted to just deal with the problems that came from not being able to eat solid food. I did no exercise, didn't have the oomph. What weight I was losing was muscle and not fat. It was so upsetting to go somewhere and only be able to take one bite of food. It wasn't fun.

It vanished last May. I mean one day it was there, and honest to God, the next day I woke up and it was gone!!! I still live in fear it will come back. I'm over the initial feeding frenzy now thank God! You have NO idea how it felt to be able to eat food again! OMG I was like...well like a person that hadn't eaten in a year and a half! I was working at the restaurant of course and took full advantage of all it had to offer! I gained. I started cooking food again. Oh, not Weight Watcher food of course. I gained more. We went out to dinner, we went to parties. I gained. I didn't care. It felt so freakin good to eat again, I honestly didn't care. No, I didn't care until the end of the year when I was looking at my spread sheet and for the first time in years I had a total gain for the year. Now some years previously I might have only lost 1-2 pounds for the whole year, but it was a loss and not a gain. Last year was a gain of 26.4 pounds total for the year. Thank goodness I lost some along the way as if I add up all my gains for 2008, they total, and I think a drum roll is in order here, ppprrrrruuummmmmmm, 74.4 pounds! OMG I'd be at my goal if I'd not gained that! How dumb was that?

Anyway, the point of this post is that I'm happy when I lose. ANY loss. As long as it's going down and not up, I know I'll get to my goal eventually. I don't ever want another year where the gains are bigger than the losses.

BUT today I'm excited. I could get my 180 pound star...again. Yes, that's right, I actually hit 180 pounds off last year sometime before the ballooning commenced. I wasn't going to WW at the time, couldn't afford it. I never got my star. So, even though this isn't virgin fat territory yet, I'm just so darn excited. VFT is coming soon and then....look out world...you'll hear the cheer wherever you are!

This is my year I just know it. I just know that nothing is going to stop me from getting lower than I ever have before. I know this year is going to end in a loss and not a gain. I know that because of my exercise regime I'm a stronger person. I know that I've learned so much from what I've done and what I've been through, that I'm a smarter person. I know that I'll have gains along the way, but I know I'll reign them in before they get out of hand.

So either take my hand and come along for the ride or get the hell out of the way. I'm on fire!!!!!!

I'm going to steal my closure from this guy...just for today FD I promise. I just love your blog.

Fat Mama out!

:-)

Corn dogs, beating your meat, pinwheels, & cuteness

What do they all have in common? Why, they're on my blog today of course!

I like real food. Fatty food. Bet that surprises some of you eh? NOT! If I can fiddle with a recipe and get fatty food results without actually consuming said fatty food, I'm a happy camper. I like corn dogs. A lot. So I thought hmmmm I make a ho cake that I love. I apologize to any ho's out there...it's not named after you, honest. I wondered if I could use that recipe and add hot dogs to it and get a corn dog. I didn't have hot dogs so I used fat free polish sausage. It wasn't half bad. Just gotta figure out how to get it on a stick now!

You all know I like to beat my meat. I've blogged about it often. Here is how I do it. I learned this from my awesome sister in law Louisa (the Kraut) in Alabama. Yes, Louisa of 'I gained 9 pounds in 5 days' fame. She makes schnitzel. I mean kick ass, to die for, mouth watering, schnitzel. She saves all her cereal bags and uses them to pound out the chicken. She makes rouladen that will make you cry, and beats her beef in the bags also. What a smart chick! I've saved all my cereal bags since. No muss, no fuss, no salmonella goo on the counter. Love it! I get a piece of meat that looks twice as big as it is, cooks fast, is tender and yummy. What's not to love about beating your meat??? Below you have 3 ounces of raw chicken in the bag ready to be pounded.

Ta da!!! Pounded out and ready to cook. You'll notice the anti salmonella goo stopper spray in the background of this picture. There might not be any visible goo on the counter, but I don't take chances when it comes to raw poultry.

This was something I had for lunch a while ago and it was freaking awesome. It's a whole wheat tortilla (1pt), smeared with 2 wedges of laughing cow light cheese (1.5 points), layered with roasted red peppers (0 points), 2 ounces of deli roast beef (2 points), and cucumber sticks (0 points). It was just fabulous and bursting with flavor. You could easily load it up with more veg....ya right, like that's going to happen at my house. Gag me. I cut it into cute little pinwheels because that's the way I roll.

This is my grandson Mason in my front yard. I just felt like including him cuz, well, it's my blog and I can!!

:-)

It'll make a turd.

Gotta love my husbands family. That was one of their sayings, and unfortunately, it's made it into our vocab as well. When on earth would you say this, you ask? Well, after any magnificent meal of course!

Tonight's dinner was actually awesome. It rated the 'It'll make a turd' comment. Here, let me show you. The dinner, not the turd.

Ya, it wasn't supposed to look like Mickey Mouse...that just happened. What is this mess you ask? It's a lasagna-esque casserole. That serving is on a large dinner plate. It's a HUGE portion. In fact, it weighed in at 1 pound 8-7/8 ounces! Points? 7!! Even the big man was full. I made the garlic toast out of whole wheat sandwich thins and olive oil and they were superb! The other side was prettier...wish I'd turned one of them over for the pic.

I used the TVP that Heather (praying for your hubby to get another job every day) talked about. You couldn't tell it wasn't ground beef. I swear. I can't wait to try it in something Mexican as I'm sure you won't be able to tell in that either. The amount of TVP that equals a pound of ground beef is only 5 points! It was 2 cups of stuff.

I used 3 servings of Ronzoni Smart Pasta rotini. Yum.

I shredded up 2 zucchini's and diced a red pepper and an onion and cooked those until soft. I then added a can of Hunt's garlic and herb spaghetti sauce. Ya, I usually make my own. I didn't today. I cooked all that for half an hour or so and then took the immersion blender (boat motor) to it. I don't like chunks. After the sauce was all smooth and cooked, I added the TVP and the pasta. Made one layer in the bottom of a cake pan and then spread on a whole bag of fat free mozzarella cheese and 2 T Parmesan. This was where the fat free ricotta and egg beater mixture was going to go, but the ricotta was spoiled. Didn't miss it at all. Topped that with the remaining pasta stuff (pan was pretty full), 2 more T of Parmesan, and baked it about half an hour. A whole quarter of the cake pan (yes a 10X13 one) was only 7 points. I had half a serving for 3 points and my garlic bread and salad and I'm satisfied. Papa ate the whole serving and he's satisfied.

TVP's maiden voyage got an A+.

:-)

Shake it up baby now!

Twist and shout!

I did just that this last week. I changed up everything. I added 2 points a day to my points total. I changed up my exercise routine. I even changed up the kind of food I ate. I've had 2 undeserved gains in a row so something had to change. I gained .8 two weeks ago and 3 pounds a week ago.

I have been doing 37 minutes on the elliptical 6 days a week. I've been doing strength training 2-3 times a week. This last week I still did the strength training, but I added a few new moves. I did a bit of circuit training with my cardio. I did 10 minutes on the elliptical then hopped on the bike for 10 followed by the treadmill for 10. Lather, rinse, and repeat. Making it a total of 60 minutes cardio. One day I took it on the road and walked/jogged for my hour. A total revamp of my exercise routine.

I think with my working on my feet and my exercising, I needed a few extra points. I did the point quiz and chose the 'mostly standing, some sitting' box getting me 2 more points to eat a day.

I wasn't sure what to change as I'm pretty sure my gains are hormonal. Do I eat more? Do I eat less? Exercise more? Less? I thought screw it...I'll just change everything.

I did.

It worked.

I lost 7.8 pounds this week.

I was pretty freaking excited. It was funny as I got on the scale and the lady thought she'd done something wrong! She called the other lady over to find out what. I finally said 'there's nothing wrong, I had a great week'. Guess they're used to me gaining. Well, I hope they get used to me losing now! I'm so pumped to get off what I gained on my trip home from FL and get into virgin fat I could just spit! I'm sure you remember I gained 15 pounds on the way home...add the 3 from last week and the .8 from the week before....that's a lot to get off. I think I have 3 pounds left and then it's all gone!

VFT here I come!!!

:-)

Glass of wine

Is helping a lot!

Mikes Hard Cranberry Lemonade, light if you please. Two points a bottle. Love it. I pour it in my crystal wine glass instead of belting it back like a sailor. I get 2.5 glasses that way and I feel like I'm having a lot.

I got 10,019 steps today. I've got the next 4 days off. I can't wait!

I did excellent today at work. I got over so many hurdles. Let's list them shall we? I'm the Queen of lists. Sometimes, I make a list and then do something that isn't on the list, so I write it on the list so I can cross it off. Yep....I like lists.

List of things I did good today:

1. I didn't kill the dishwasher even though she pissed off my last nerve. I kept telling myself that she's probably got something bad going on in her life and it's just coming out in being a bitch to me. That worked for a while. Then I tried telling myself that dish washing is the best she's ever going to do. So I should have patience. That worked for a while. Then she did it. She really pushed the wrong button. I'm afraid I spouted 'Well fuck you then' and walked away. I felt better though and I didn't kill her. So I think I did good all in all.

2. There were 3 cheesecakes that had to be eaten today. Last year this was my dream! Not 1, not 2, but 3! Oh yes, bring them all on. Last week I couldn't resist and I ate it. Today I, laughed in the face of the cheesecake. Take that you 800 calorie, 67 grams of fat, piece of heaven!

3. V, the lady I work with, brought in treats again today. If you recall, that was my undoing last week. This time she brought chocolate mocha brownies. Tried to get me to eat one about 4 times. Thanks, but no thanks. Gosh I wanted one. I didn't have one.

4. I worked 2 pizza buffets today. Lunch and Dinner. I wanted pizza and cheesy bread so bad at lunch. We can, of course, partake. I didn't. I wanted to, but I didn't. Got past that and then it was time for the dinner buffet. More pizza, more cheesey bread. Nope, not even a lick of a greasy finger! I should be sainted.

5. I didn't quite get my 10,000 steps at work. I called home for my ride and asked to be picked up at a business down the street and I walked there. Hit 10,019 steps. Yep....after being on my feet all day long, I did that. Damn I'm good!!!!

So, I think I deserve this 2 point bottle of alcohol.

I might even deserve 2.

I feel goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood!

:-)

Kicking and screaming

That was basically how I got to the gym today. I did NOT want to go. I knew I HAD to go. I got up and had my coffee this morning. The whole time I kept thinking, "I gotta go to the gym". Talk about coffee depression!

We go to Mass at 11am on Sunday. I should have gone to the gym before that, but noooooo I didn't. Got home at 12:30 still thinking "I don't wanna go to the gym".

Finally ran out of excuses. Got myself to the gym. I feel excellent now.

Lesson learned?

Get the hell to the gym early and get it over with on days I have other stuff to do!

:-)

Who ya gonna call?

I took it outside today.

When my boys were young (OK last year), and they started to wrestle around in the living room, I'd say 'take it outside boys'! I didn't care if they kicked the snot out of each other as long as they didn't break my stuff. Today, I took my exercise outside. It's all this guys fault as he did it yesterday.

Yep, I pulled on my big girl panties (to quote that guy, and they really were my big girl panties as it's laundry day and the...well you get the drift), and hit the pavement. I said I was going to shake up my cardio this week and I'm doing that. Yesterday was a cross training cardio session at the gym and today was walking/jogging outside. Yep, that's right. This fat chick jogged a bit. I kept thinking of Ghostbuster's while I was walking for some reason. I got ready to go and the line 'Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown... ' popped into my mind and off I went!

I would see a set of mailboxes and tell myself I'd jog between them...I'd hit it running. Get half way to the next set and the line 'mother pus bucket' burst from my lips. I shit you not! I made it though!

I was sweating like a pig. I breathed heavy. My heart rate was definitely up.

I came, I saw, I kicked it's ass.

This chick is toast.

Shit, now I gotta go to work!!!!!

:-)

Frick

Gained 3 pounds at WI last night.

Yes, I had an eating frenzy on Tuesday...but I was up the 3 pounds already. God only knows what next week's WI will be.

Went to the gym today. Did an hour strength training session followed by an hour of cardio.

Food 100% on target today.

Horse.

Debby.

Back on.

:-)

The pebble that started the avalanche

It was a banana bar.

An innocent enough, quite small, banana bar.

I had to work today. V, the lady I work with, occasionally brings treats in. Oh yes, though I walk through valley of the shadow of pizza, fried zucchini, garlic bread, cheesecake, cheesy sticks, chocolate pudding, blue cheese dressing, & other good things, I managed to resist temptation until today.

I don't know why. I went to work with a plan. I had my dinner ready for when I got home. I had my gym bag packed for after work, the whole 9 yards. I got to work at noon and I was starving already...that's probably the crux of the problem. I had oatmeal for breakfast. I love it, but it does not fill me at all. I'm hungry when I'm done eating it...but I do love it! I won't be having it on a work day again I can tell you that much!!!

I popped one of those banana bars into my mouth. They're small you know? Oh it was heaven on my tongue. Moist, bananaey, just wonderful. Did I quit then? Nope. Oh if only I had! I had 2 more. Yum.

My favorite pizza, ham and mushroom, came up on the pizza buffet line. I put one aside. I ate that. Yum. Did I stop there? Nope.

Break time rolled around. I fixed a salad. Somehow cheese, croutons, seeds, and blue cheese dressing ended up on it. I'm not sure how it happened, but a plate with cottage cheese and chocolate pudding appeared too. Unfortunately, they joined the basked of fried zucchini! It was awesome dipped in the homemade ranch dressing we make at work.

I worked a long day. Pizza buffet rolled around again at 5pm. Sighhh some of the hot, buttery, cheesy sticks ended up down my gullet.

I finally got to punch out a bit after 8pm. I sat down with a piece of cheesecake and some potato chips and chatted about.....WEIGHT WATCHERS with a few of the girls!

Laughing here....gotta laugh or cry. I choose laugh.

So, home from work. Gee I'm hungry! I had a homemade chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk when I got home. My daughter in law makes gooooooood cookies!!! They had walnuts in them...that's a healthy nut right?

So, I'm off to have dinner now. I'm thinking half a pig perhaps? Maybe a leg of cow? Not sure how to top what I've already eaten today!

I did walk home from work. I got 13,500 steps today. I'm pretty sure that's not enough to cover what I ate.

Do I feel bad? No. Kind of wish I did...and kind of glad I don't.

Weigh in isn't going to be pretty tomorrow night.

Ah well, lifetime journey and all that.

That damn f'ing pebble got me this time. I think I'm prepared to hold strong next time. The time after that? I'm not too sure. I'll just take one avalanche at a time!

:-)

A Pixie with a plan

Good morning boys and girls.

As most of you know, I despise veggies. Gag me. I eat them, but I hate them. This has caused pretty nasty dining experiences for me of late. I miss enjoying a meal! I don't enjoy a meal when I don't like what I'm eating. So, I've taken a cue from a few of my fellow bloggers that plan their meals out a week in advance. I've planned 4 meals that I like! Yes, 4 in a row. They all contain veg...just not a variety, and not perhaps the best veg to choose. So shoot me. I'm on veggie vacation!

Here's my plan.

1. Hamburger steaks stewed in brown gravy with sauteed baby portabella mushrooms, a serving of niblet corn, a serving of Ronzoni Smart Pasta rotini tossed with olive oil, herbs, and perhaps a shave of Parmesan. Nothing green....ah well, life goes on. I don't like green.

2. Taco salad. Romaine with ALL the ribs cut out. Hate white core and ribs in lettuce. Fresh, crisp, red onions. I'm going to make a pureed dressing with Greek yogurt, salsa, and fat free french dressing as I want my salad to be sweet. I'll have lean ground beef with taco seasoning in there too and a bean or two. I was going to make homemade re-fried beans...but I'm thinking of just whole beans in the salad for texture. I'll toss a quarter of an avocado on the top. I'll have baked Tostito scoops on the side for crunch. I was going to add shredded cheese...but you know with all those strong flavors the cheese just gets lost anyway and I can use the points for something else.

3. Almond crusted chicken breast, baked potato with Greek yogurt and light butter and sea salt, baked acorn squash with brown sugar and cinnamon. Maybe a small salad with baby spinach, romaine, diced prunes, toasted almonds and sugar free (still lovely and sweet though) raspberry vinaigrette. Yes, definitely that. It sounds good. Oh and it's GREEN!

4. Bean soup and ho cakes. I thought I'd make bean soup from dried navy beans, onions, carrots, celery, broth and use Canadian bacon for the meat. Probably a little liquid smoke and definitely garlic. Nothing goes better with bean soup than cornbread and I love my ho cakes. I can have the soup in the crock pot while I'm at work and it'll be ready when I get home. I'll probably use the immersion blender to puree some of it.

You see, I love to eat. I love to enjoy what I eat. Since adding veg and cutting out fat, I've really not enjoyed my meals much at all. So, this week I'm adding a bit of fat to my meals (I didn't cut out healthy fats, just butter!!!), I'm having veg that I do like. I don't think a few meals without something cruciferous or green is going to kill me.

I might even put honey on my ho cake!

Ohhhhh somebody stop me!

:-)

Cut me some slack!

To the powers that be,

Please leave me alone. I'm working too hard for you to keep dicking with me. I exercised 6 days last week and I ate OP 7 days. It wasn't fair of you to send me a .8 gain.

I worked 7 hours yesterday, on my feet. I got 9000 steps at work alone. I left work and went to the gym. I did a very hard 37 minutes on the elliptical. I fought all temptation at work and that wasn't easy. I did the same on Friday, since you asked. Oh yes, Thursday also saw me totally OP and at the gym.

Why are you showing me a 4 pound gain since my weigh in on Wednesday night? Do you really think that's fair? Four pounds in four days? I don't think so Tim.

Just because I'm 50 is it really fair to screw with me this way?

No, it's not. Piss off.

Sincerely yours,
Still Puffy Pixie

:-(

OMG do you ALWAYS think about food????

Um yes.

That was a question asked of me the other day. I guess it wasn't until that exact moment that I realized everyone doesn't.

I've been reading articles about what restaurants do to lure us in. Food manufacturers too. It's the layer of 3 rule. Sugar, fat, salt. Put those three things in a product and it'll sell. It'll keep butts in the seat of your restaurant. What do they mean? Oh, I've got a few examples.

Buffalo wings. Oh God I love them. What are they? The fattiest part of the chicken, deep fried, smothered in a sauce that has tons of sugar, fat, and salt. Start with fat (chicken wing) fry it in fat, smother it in fat, sugar, and salt. Heaven on a plate.

Chili cheese fries. Start with a relatively harmless potato. Comfort food at the max. Deep fry it at the manufacturing plant and ship it off to the restaurant. First layer of fat. Restaurant gets it, fries it again. Second layer of fat. Loads it up with ooey and gooey cheese and chili. Sugar, fat, salt. Could I have a side of sour cream with mine please?

Things like this just set off a part of my brain. A very pleasurable part. That's what the restaurants and manufacturers are counting on. Should the restaurants and food people be blamed for giving us what we want? What we crave? It's hard for me to say this, but nah, they're just out to make a buck. They shouldn't have to quit making things I like, or want to make it easier for me. Is it bad for us? Heck yes. Would it be bad in moderation? Not so much.

This is what Weight Watchers is trying to teach me with the 35 flex points and the activity points they give me each week. Hey, you, fat girl! Here's some extra points so when you want something, you can have a small amount of it so you don't crave it so much you binge. Ya, you know who you are! Key word here? SMALL amount. I need to learn to be satisfied with 1 ounce of potato chips and not the whole super size bag. Oh don't think I'm kidding. I could demolish a whole bag of potato chips and then have lunch. A pound of bacon? Not a problem in the world. I could easily eat two. A super sized bag of cheese Dorito's with a bar of cream cheese to run the chips through? Burrrppp and there won't be any left either. I just need to get my stopping mechanism to work correctly all the time.

So, back to thinking about food. I wake up thinking about food. I think about food all day long. When I work, God help me, I work in a restaurant that makes really, really, really, good food. I come home from work and think about what I'm going to eat. I go to bed wondering what I'll eat the next day.

How has Weight Watchers helped me with this 'problem'? Well, now I use my thoughts to plan my food for the day when I wake up. I plan how I'm going to get in my 5 fruit and veg. I plan how I'm going to get in 2 servings of healthy oil. I plan how I'm going to get 3 milks a day in. I plan how I'm going to get adequate protein in for all the exercise I'm doing. I write about food in my blog. I read other peoples blogs about food. Yep, I think about food all the time!

I plan a 'treat' or two every day. It's usually my FAF. I love it. It's creamy, sweet, tastes rich and fattening, but it's not. It's high protein. It's got a fruit. It's love in a bowl. It's 2 points also which helps a lot.

I plan ways to have food I love in a different way. For example. I love fried food. I bet you didn't know that about me! So I've learned to pound my meat thin, dredge it in a bit of flour and fry it in 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Holy moly it's good. I feel like I'm having country fried chicken or pork or whatever.

I love pasta and sauce. I've come up with a pasta sauce recipe that I just love. I use Ronzoni smart pasta. It tastes like the not good for me white pasta, but it's not. Total point damage for a big size serving? Four. Not too bad at all. Leaves lots of room for other things to be added to the meal.

I have a very dear friend that follows the Weight Watcher program and planning, thinking, tracking, weighing and measuring, isn't her bag. It makes her crazy. We're polar opposites in that regard. If I don't plan, track, and think about what I'm going to eat, I just mindlessly eat. She rocked the Core program when WW had Core. Man I just couldn't do that at all. It was a free pass for me to eat all I wanted of some things. I can understand how she has problems with the 'new' WW program.

I'm off to plan my food for the day. Then I'm off to work..hmmmmm I wonder what I'll have for my break? Then I'll be home to eat dinner. Oh oh oh gotta get a snack in there somewhere!!!

:-)

Butter, bacon, pork fat

Hot buttered popcorn. Homemade bread slathered with cold, fresh butter. Cheesecake. Potato chips. Fried zucchini. Just to name a few.

Gloria Gaynor spoke to me at the gym today. I am sure she wasn't thinking about all my favorite foods. I was though. I was pumping away on the elliptical and thought how perfect her lyrics described what I was thinking about my love for fatty foods.

Sing it sister!

At first I was afraid, I was petrified. I kept thinking I could never live without you by my side. But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong, and I grew strong! I learned how to get along.

Now go, walk out the door. Just turn around now cuz you're not welcome anymore. Weren't you the one that tried to hurt me with goodbye? You think I'd crumble? You think I'd lay down and die? Oh no not I. I will survive.

I've got all my life to live. It took all the strength I had not to fall apart, kept trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart and I spent oh so many nights just feeling sorry for myself I used to cry. Now I hold my head up high and you see me, somebody new. I'm not that chained up little person still in love with you and so you felt like dropping in and just expect me to be free but now I'm saving all my loving for someone who's loving me.

So, go away fatty food.

I love myself more than you.

My elliptical loves me more than you.

I don't need you any more.

:-)

Can a gain be a loss?

Well, I gained as I expected. I gained .8 I want to try to take that gain and turn it into a loss of something that isn't good for me.

No, I didn't eat bad or slack off on my exercise and expect to gain. It's just that I hopped on the scale Tuesday and it was up. Why? I have no earthly idea. Did I remain 100%OP all week? Yes I did. Did I do my 35-45 minutes of cardio 6 days last week? Yes I did. Did I do my 3 days of strength training last week? Yes I did. Obviously I need to do more. If it's hormones causing these gains, I need to find out what's going to break those little buggers.

What can I do this week to shake things up? To make a difference? I can move more. I can lose some of my 'sitting on my hiney' time. Yes, I go to the gym and I work hard there. What do I do the rest of the day if I'm not working? Not very damn much. So, this is how it's going to go this week.

I must earn my computer and TV time. Every day I must move the same amount of time I want to sit and enjoy those things. If I want to spend 30 minutes on the computer, I must move my body 30 minutes. If I want to watch an hour of TV, I must move my body an hour. So, I spent 2.5 hours at the gym today. That's my total computer/TV time unless I move more. I've been online 22 minutes already. Time really does fly.

Going to the gym for an hour a day doesn't mean I'm not living a sedentary lifestyle. I can't just sit on my fat butt the other 23 hours and expect the health benefits, or aparantly the weight loss benefits!!!

So, for this next week at least, I'm on the clock.

Gotta go now!!! Got other things to do on here!

:-)

Yummy!!!!

Dinner tonight was AMAZING! I took pictures of the beating of the meat....will save that for another blog.

I was at the gym this afternoon pumping away on the elliptical trying to decide what I'd fix for dinner. It was a toss up between pizza with the new homemade whole grain crust recipe I invented, or a pasta bake. All of a sudden I had an epiphany. Yep, right there on the treadmill in front of God and everybody! Chicken Parmesan.

When the boys were at home and I was on Weight Watchers years ago, I used to make veal Parmesan all the time. Our local store sold these cubed veal patties that weren't' breaded. I'd fry them up in a pan with no oil and put Swiss cheese on them and spaghetti sauce and have it with pasta. They don't sell that veal anymore and our retirement budget can't afford 'real' veal. I all of a sudden thought ohhhhhhhhhhh chicken!!!

I pounded out boneless chicken breast that I'd seasoned with garlic salt. Figured the pounding would push the garlicy goodness into the meat. I had homemade pasta sauce in the freezer and man oh man is it kick ass! I added some fresh cooked baby portabella mushrooms to the sauce. I cooked up some angel hair pasta (Ronzoni Smart Pasta). While that was cooking away I dredged the chicken breast in flour and 'fried' it in 1 teaspoon of olive oil. When it was done, I put a slice of low fat Swiss cheese on it and topped it with my wonderful sauce. Put my pasta next to that...I like my pasta naked. A side of steamed whole green beans and dinner was to die for!!!! It was sooooooooooo good. I'd eat it again all over and I don't say that often!

I really love this sauce. Here's my recipe if anyone wants to try it. It made 20 servings that came out to be 1 point each. I put them in the freezer and pop one out when I need it.

2 cups diced onion
2 cans mushrooms
3 15oz cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste 6oz
2 tbsp ground basil
2 tbsp ground oregano
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
1 large green pepper diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp Marjoram, dried
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1 can diced tomatoes 28 oz
3 T SPLENDA

I sauteed the onion, green pepper, mushrooms in the oil. Added everything else and simmered for a while. I then used the immersion blender as I don't like chunks. If you like chunks, don't use it. Made 20 servings ....nice sized ones too...over 1/2 cup I'd say...I go by weight.


Yum, Yum, Yum!!!!

:-)

Prevention is the best medicine

I get 'Prevention' magazine. I love it. So many health tips and lots of information. I also get a daily email from them that is loaded with info.

One of today's links took me off to an article about 'Why slow weight loss wins'. If you're following Weight Watchers as I am, or another hopefully healthy eating program, you know that slow and steady wins the race. WW suggests to not lose more than 2 pounds a week. I think, as do the people that wrote this article, that we've all become victim to the 'I want it, and I want it NOW' bug at one point or another. I know I have.

Before I got back to MI, I was happy with 1-2 pounds a week loss. It meant I was eating right, exercising right, things were moving in the right direction. I gained 15 pounds between the last weigh in in FL, and the first one back here in MI. So, now, all of a sudden, the 'I want it and I want it NOW' gene has kicked in again.

I've never been a big loser like some. Lots of weeks that I was 100% OP, exercised faithfully 6 days, etc. I'd lose .2 of a pound. I rarely lost over 1 pound a week and 2 was heaven! Got frustrating at times, but it was coming off steadily.

I lost 4 pounds that first week back on plan here in MI. That was OK as everyone knows you lose a lot the first week. I lost 4.4 the second week. I thought that was great. Is it? I mean, really, is it? I told myself that as soon as I get that 15 pounds back off, I'll work on my daily points target to get my weight loss back to 2 pounds a week. Now I'm questioning that logic. Should I really wait?

I am hoping for a great loss this week of course. I'm hoping that the first two weeks weren't a fluke, that my system just wants to let go of that fat it put on so quickly. I think, however, that if I have a loss over 2 pounds this week, I shall add a point or two in daily. I'm still in the thinking stage. I'll let you know what I decide.

I don't want to commit plagiarism here, but I want to share a few things from the article. I think I'll be covered if i tell you it came from my wonderful daily prevention email. Everyone should subscribe to Prevention magazine...there, that should keep me safe from jail don't you think? Everything you read below I've cut and pasted from the article.

"We're constantly presented with advertisements that convince us that we can lose inches by tomorrow, and be slimmer by next week. It seems like there's no harm in wanting to lose weight by yesterday. After all, it is possible. Isn't it?

Not at all, insists Mandel. Because when it comes down to it, fast weight loss can't last, because it usually means adapting to very difficult eating habits and an impossible-to-live-with lifestyle.

Quick Fix, Fast Failure[With quick-fix diets], our metabolism slows down, and eventually we're eating fewer and fewer calories but not losing weight," says Mandel. "This leads to anxiety, which prompts us to eat even fewer calories to try to lose. The body rebels against that even more."

So it's a vicious cycle. Because if you don't get enough nutrients—which is a major risk when you're going for a quick fix—your brain, and then your body, will, well, insist that you eat. To your body, it's nothing more than survival. But to you, it will feel like you're giving in and losing control. Then you'll feel like a failure, which might very well send you to the fridge. "

Oh for goodness sakes!!! I just realized that article came in my weekly Weight Watcher email! Please change all the plagiarism rules to Weight Watchers is awesome and everyone should join. There.

I still think Prevention rocks!

Anyway, it brings me to my point, yes, there really was one! If you're trying to lose weight AND stay healthy, slow and steady does win the race. You, or I, didn't gain this weight over night and we're not going to lose it overnight. We might think if we have a single oat for breakfast and a tomato slice for lunch and a slice of chicken breast for dinner, we'll lose it fast. Just get it off and THEN we'll eat healthy. We're wrong. That's not going to happen. We'll ruin our bodies in the mean time so when we do try to add healthy food in, our body isn't going to know how to handle it. If you're not eating right, and saying you're trying to lose weight to be healthy, you're deceiving yourself. You just want to get skinny, you don't want to be healthy. Hey, I never thought about health for the first 20 years I was on WW either! I do now.

So what if you have 200 pounds to lose? So what if you 'only' lose 1-2 pounds a week. What would happen if you weren't trying to lose 1-2 pounds a week? If you're like me, you'd be gaining 5 a week that's what!

We need to keep our bodies healthy in the process. That means we need milk. We need healthy oils. We need fruits and veggies. Yes, veggies. Gag me, I know. I hate them. I'm a big girl, I suck it up and eat them because my body needs them and I would like to keep my body for a lot more years. We need protein. We need whole grains. We need water to keep our inside stuff moist.

What don't we need? We don't need trans fats. We don't need enriched bread products. We don't need hydrogenated oils (don't even get me started on that subject again!). We don't need white rice or white pasta. We don't really need all the sugar and salt that is in a lot of canned foods. The list goes on...you get the drift.

Will it hurt us once in a while? I'm not an authority, but I feel the answer is no. Except for hydrogenated oils!!! Do you just HAVE to have pizza once in a while? Do you just have to have fish and chips? Sure you do. It makes you happy, well it makes me happy anyway! Moderation is the key. As long as you're balancing it out with a healthy diet the rest of the time, I think it's fine. Doctor Debby I guess...this is of course opinion!

You can't say you want to get healthy and then say you're not going to eat veggies. That's part of it. Do you have to like it? Hell no, I don't. Just find a way to do it. Vegetable soup (toss some barley in for a whole grain!) works for me. Hold your nose and just eat it. You don't have to love it for it to be doing your body good.

Do you hate milk? What about pudding made with skim milk? What about yogurt? What about reduced fat cheese? What about fat free cottage cheese? There are ways around dietary dislikes.

Do you hate fruit? What about juice? Juice isn't as good as a whole fruit, but if you're not going to eat a whole fruit, the juice would be better than nothing!

Do you hate protein? What's wrong with you! hehe Not really...there are tons and tons of healthy proteins out there...just look around and find what you like.

I'm sorry, I rambled here....it's just that after all these years of trying to lose weight so I could be smokin hot, all of a sudden that's not my priority anymore. I want my body to be healthy so it can live for another 40 years or so. I need to do what it takes to make that happen.

If slow is the way to go, I'm there.

:-)

Bless me father.....

for I have sinned.

Oops, no I haven't, I just feel like I have.

So, it's freaking cold here. Hello? It's June. Summer and all? Should I really be wearing jeans, sweatshirts, turtlenecks, heavy socks, and STILL be freezing my whatevers off? No!!!! I was in need of comfort today an I got it.

Today was just lovely. We went to Mass and then were going to go shopping. We were of course starving. Thought of stopping home and having lunch and then hitting the store. Instead, I suggested broasted chicken at our favorite eatery for that. I like to use some flex points on Sunday.

For those of you that don't know about broasted chicken, let me fill you in (or you can go to the link and read how it's really done). You start with fresh, not frozen chicken. You soak it in soaky stuff for a day. You season it and put it in the special dip and then you put it in the broaster. A broaster is a kicked up deep fryer. It has a lid that locks down and some water is injected into the hot oil and it cooks fast, hot, and it's ever so moist, tender, and mmmmmm good! Greasy? No. Nutritional information puts a chicken breast or thigh, with wonderful mouth watering skin, at 7 points. That in itself is a heavenly treat, but with broasted taters to go with it? Divine. High point? Yep. Worth it? For me, occasionally, hell yes. It was a lovely lunch.

We then went to visit my girlfriend for a bit and then on to Wally World and our local smaller grocery store. Came home in the pouring rain. The cold pouring rain. Not even 50 degrees, again, hellooooooooo it's June!!!!! Comfort I need you now!

I'd planned filet mignon for dinner. That didn't sound good at all. I'm cold. I'm tired. I want true comfort food. Mac and cheese. Dare I? You bet your bippy. That's what I love about the Weight Watcher program. To me it's not giving in to comfort food if I plan, track, stay within my points etc. It's what makes WW doable. I made a serving of kick ass mac and cheese for my dinner. It was 10 points. It did not fill me up. Was it worth it? Oh hell yes. It warmed my insides. It fed my soul. It was exactly what I wanted, so I'm full in other ways.

I get 23 points a day according to my online tracker. I still think it's 22 and have NO idea where they're getting 23, but I'm eating them anyway! Of course we get 35 extra a week. I don't care if I use them all in one day and thought that day would be today.

The 'damage' for today? Total points 29. Holy guacamole Batman, I can eat more if I want to.

I don't want to. I'm satisfied. If I thought I couldn't have more, I'd not be satisfied. Weight Watchers have it goin on. They've figured out those of us that need to play mind games with themselves. They've got my number. I love it!

:-)

Busy bee!

Dragged hiney out of bed at 6:45am and went to the gym. Got my 37 minutes done on the elliptical. Stretched, came home, showered, drank copious amounts of coffee while having breakfast and planning things for the day.

Made a batch of pickled beets. I don't like veg, I'll eat these. I make them with splenda. Yum.

Made a batch of TVP. New stuff, never tried it. Heather and Jo have both blogged about it.

Made a batch of crock pot cheeseburgers, sans the crock pot. I don't know what time I'll be home from work tonight and it said 6 hours...I don't trust the big man to portion out my meals! So, cooked them on top of the stove and divided it into 10 containers. He can have his whenever and I can have mine when I get home from work. Not sure if I'll be putting it in a bun or on baked tortilla chips yet. Here's the recipe if you're interested. Stolen from Heather again. I've never tried them...I'll let you know if I like it or not. I used part of the TVP crumbles and part hamburger in the recipe.

I made a batch of pineapple FAF.

I fixed an awesome lunch. I should have taken a picture of it as it was purty. Sliced potato tossed with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and some sea salt spread on my silpat sheet at 425 for 10 minutes. Flip each circle. Cook 10 more minutes. If they're brown how I like them. Eat. If not, another 5 or so minutes. I got chicken spinach asiago sausages from Sam's and after I took the potatoes out of the bowl I tossed them in the oil in, I rubbed the sausage in it and put that on the pan to bake also. Turned it over when I turned the spuds. Got nice and brown and split open. Was moist and tasty and nummy. I also put 1/2 cup of butternut squash in the oven to heat.

Lunch, eaten, and enjoyed.

Now I'm off to work! A long day. Hopefully home by 9PM.

FAF in hand, dinner planned.

Gotta love a woman with a plan eh????

:-)

Work and stuff

I worked today. I really, really, really, really, wanted an antipasta salad with blue cheese dressing. Total points? 56! I managed to talk myself out of it thank God.

I then wanted fried zucchini with blue cheese dressing. Yes, I know, a trend! Our blue cheese dressing has 180 calories, 20 grams of fat and no fiber in a 2T serving. I eat 8T at a time. Sounds like a lot, it isn't. The cups we serve our dressing in are 4oz and I always, always, ate 2 minimum. I managed to talk myself out of that too.

I then wanted chocolate pudding. I took my fat self into the bathroom and turned on the water so nobody could hear and I talked out loud to myself in the mirror. Yep, I did. What did I say? Oh, I gave myself what for!

"Are you out of your f'ing mind? Did you honest to God just get over gaining 15 pounds and hate it and NOW you want to eat more? Earth to Debby. You are NOT even hungry!!!!! Get a grip and shut the F up as I don't want to hear you bitching about wanting food again. Got it???" I then got pissed at the bitch that was talking to me like that, pouted like a little kid, and said 'FINE!'. I stopped just short of stamping my foot.

I went back to work, and not wanting another lecture from the biotch in the mirror, I thrust all cravings for food out of my mind.

I'm home now. Feet up, and I feel good about not eating. It was close, I'll be honest. I did it though. I won.

I had a WW pizza for dinner. Sucked. 7 points and I ate it and was still starving.

I shall plan better for tomorrow for sure.

For now, it's Debby 1, cravings 0.

Let the games continue!

:-)

No tappity tap

I love when I read the blog of Carlos (note how I avoid the dreaded ' or not to ' there???), and he taps once, taps twice on his weigh in day.

We're digital and wired at WW, so no tapping. Just suck in a deep breath and step on up ladies and gentleman. I did just that last night at 5:30PM at my meeting. As Emeril would say 'BAM!' down 4.4 pounds. Oh ya, this old lady rocked it last night. I was thrilled. I just want to get as far away from that 200 number as I can. You see, being a woman, and being 50, there are weeks when I gain for no particular reason. I do NOT want one of those weeks to break my promise to never go back over 200 again. So, let's keep those numbers going down, down, down!

Because of Heather telling us of a free month for new members if they join online, my girlfriend joined last night! Awesome. I have a friend on the trail with me now. It's exciting to not be going alone. We'll support each other. Now, I just need to get her to the gym with me!

I'm off to the gym today at 1pm for a full round of cardio and strength training. I've got most of my daily meals and snacks planned. I don't work until tomorrow. Today I'm going to reward myself with some 'me' time. Yes, I really don't have that many commitments, but I tend to not do the things I love every day. That stops now. I love to read. Books, magazines, you name it. I've got a ton of magazines that I've not read. I love to sit in the sun in my Cracker Barrel rocking chair. So, today, I intend to sit in the sun and read a magazine! I won't look at the gardens that need weeding. I won't look at the hedges that need trimming. I won't think of the laundry that needs doing. I won't think of the mess in my basement oasis that I keep promising I'll tame. Nope, I'll sit and read a whole magazine, perhaps sipping on some Crystal Light lemonade. Oh ya, that's what I'm going to do.

I deserve it.

I'm Debby, I'm 50, I've got loving friends and family, I'm exercising, and I'm losing weight (I'd like to not be broke though!).

How much better can it get?

:-)

Bulk it up baby!

I like to cook a bigger batch of stuff and freeze part for later. I have 2 tools that help me with this. I love my vacuum sealer. I can make a big batch of whatever and portion up single serving sizes and vacuum them and toss them in the freezer. They can go right into the microwave or boiling water in the vacuumed pouch.

My foodsaver was about 15 years old. It packed it in when I got home from FL. I wasn't going to replace it. I mean I could use Tupperware or something. I rethought that and got one at Sam's. Yes, it was about $100. No, I couldn't really afford it. It helps me so much on my weight loss journey though, I figured I was worth it. I take things to work that I've vacuumed and just pop them into the microwave. I've always got a meal or two in the freezer for those days I just don't want to cook. It helps me. The new one has a bag cutter on it which I love. It even stores the roll of bag stuff right inside. A great improvement! If it lasts as long as the other one, it's worth the price for sure!


The other thing I use are my online tools. I've had them before with WW and never used them. Man was I stupid!!! It's so easy to make a recipe and know how many points it is with the recipe builder. Before I'd sit there with pen and paper and my slider and figure points for every single thing in my recipe and then divide....this is awesome. Type in the ingredient and it does all the work for me. It's also where I learned about WW math! I learned that a whole bunch of 0 point veggies do NOT equal 0. More about that later!



So, one of the things I do often is cook a HUGE pot of brown rice. It takes about an hour to cook brown rice, so if I've not really planned ahead for dinner and wanted brown rice, but only had half an hour prep time....I was screwed. Now I cook a big pot and freeze it. It freezes very well I was thrilled to find. So here you see a huge pot of brown rice cooking away.

After it's done, I measure out 1 cup portions and let them cool on parchment paper. I also do a few 1/2 cup servings.

This night I fixed a lovely curry to go with the brown rice. Made extra of course and vacuumed the extra. Here you see my method. I flatten it out so it fits nicely in the freezer and I write on the package what it is and how many points it is. If I don't write on it, I'll forget what it is, what size portion I have in there etc. My sharpie is my friend!

A close up. OK, that curry was good and now I'm hungry! I'd forgotten it was in the freezer! I also keep a list of what's in the freezer for just that reason! As I take something out, I cross it off the list.

I wanted muffins. I invented a recipe with the help of my online tools recipe builder. I used lots of grated zucchini and pumpkin and just lots of stuff. I wanted a serving to equal 1 point so I kept adjusting the serving size until that happened. Three of my mini muffins equal 1 point. A nice treat with my coffee.

Here they are all baked and ready to tip out of the pan. They came out nicely I must admit. I love my pampered chef mini muffin tin!

Here they are cooling. When they were totally cool, I put them in a square Tupperware container. I put a layer of waxed paper down and lined up the little muffins. Lay another layer of wax paper on top of those and then seal the container and freeze. I can take out 3 at a time that way. Always got them if I want them. Yum!

Those of you that know me, know I pretty much hate all veggies. They're semi OK to gag down if they're roasted though. It takes a long time to roast them the way I like them. Plus you have to do all the chopping, dicing, and clean up. So, again, I did it in bulk the other day. This is the stuff I roasted. Well, not the spinach, that was for the weight watcher creamy spinach pasta I made that night. It sucked by the way. I also chopped up an onion in the mix and you don't see that in the picture.

After they were all chopped, I put them in my big bowl and tossed with 4 tablespoons of olive oil...some sea salt, pepper, and parsley.

I spread them on my half sheet pan and roasted at 450 degrees for a really long time. They say 20 minutes. My ass. I did them in batches so they'd roast and not steam. I've got 3 racks in my oven and a large supply of half sheet pans!

I divided into 12 servings....scant 1/2 cup each serving I'd say. This is where WW math comes in to play. I thought they'd have 1 point each as the only point really should have been the olive oil. Each serving comes out to 2 points though. I'll have it to toss in soup, to eat as a side dish. I'm putting a serving in my grilled chicken wrap for dinner tonight.

Fix it once, enjoy it often!