5-4-3-2-1

I saw this meme post on Gretchen and Beth's blogs and thought I would also participate.  It's like, even though I've been reading their blogs for quite some time, sometimes there is still plenty you don't know about people!  So I present to you, my friends, this numbers game about me:

5 Words to Describe Myself

• Compassionate
• Control Freak
• "Fussy" (I brought Joel in for help)
• "Soft" (This is his word for being a girly-girl)
• Thoughtful

Not gonna lie - I had a hard time coming up with things to describe myself..

4 Favorite Foods

• Pizza
• Heinz Ketchup
• French Fries
• Reese Peanut Butter Cups

3 Things I’m Most Proud of Accomplishing

• Getting a job based on my own doing, not because I knew someone
• All those 5K's I participated in this spring/early summer.
• Not giving up on this weight loss journey.

2 Favorite Workouts

• An outdoor walk
• Laying on the couch. Oh wait...

1 Thing to Expect from my Blog

• While this blog is always going to be about me and my weight loss journey, and I write this blog more for myself than for anyone else, I still hope that my story comes across as genuine to those who actually read it.  I want to be able to look back to these entries years from now and truly remember how I felt at this time in my life just by reading an honest account of my own journey.  While there are plenty of positive elements to weight loss, it's not all puppies and flowers :).  And I, unlike most other weight loss bloggers it seems, truly am struggling - take a look at the left - it's not like the weight is melting off!  Aside from helping myself by documenting my own journey, perhaps one day another young 20-something can read my story and be inspired with their own weight loss expedition.   

 I encourage you to do this meme as well, or something similar, so I can get to know you better as well :).

What's Wrong With My Bananas?

As part of the Beck Challenge, we were asked to pick a day where we have to skip lunch.  By doing this, it is to teach us that it is actually 'ok' to feel hungry.  Despite my popular beliefs, it won't hurt me (this is news to me!), I won't die from one skipped meal (are you sure about that Dr. Beck?), and eventually this hunger will go away (I don't believe this for a second!).  Today was the day where I skipped lunch.  However, I didn't exactly do everything as planned. 

I skipped breakfast, though not on purpose.  I had 2 cups of tea this morning, which filled me up, and I got distracted while in a meeting.  Before I knew it it was 12 noon and time for lunch.  I really was super hungry by this time and I had a Kashi TLC Cherry Vanilla Cereal Bar and an Emerald Breakfast On the Go Smores nut pack.  That's all I had all day until 6 PM.  So, even though I didn't follow it exactly as planned, believe me, I still felt the sensation of hunger.  And while I was able to resist eating for the 'experiment', I never actually felt the hunger pains go away entirely.  I'm sure if this occurred on a more regular basis they may not be so intense, but my stomach was rumbling non stop.

And still, even though I pre-prepared healthy dinners for most of the week on Sunday, none of it sounded appealing tonight.  And while I didn't really want Papa Johns when Joel suggested it, I did have the Points+ for 2 slices, thanks to skipping meals today.  I also knew I didn't want to sabotage an entire day's worth of hard work, plus our nice walk we did this evening by going overboard like I usually would.   But, I did great! For once, friends, I actually controlled my intake of take-out pizza!  I don't recall that ever happening ever before! Giving myself some credit Beck ;).

On another note, what is wrong with these bananas?  I've had them for almost 2 weeks now and they are still green!  Do you think they will they ever ripen?

Just Dance!

During the hurricane on Saturday, Joel and I decided to give Just Dance 2 a try.  It didn't take us long to get used to at all.  You're basically trying to mimic what the person on the screen is doing, to the song of your choice.  Also, they have a dance option that seems to be geared more toward exercise and working up a sweat.  We only played for about 15-20 minutes of the regular dance competition, just to try it, and we were both definitely sweating by the end of that short amount of time.

I also managed to get a NROLW workout in on Saturday as well.  A weekend workout two weekends in a row!

I found it a little difficult this weekend to halt the food cravings.  Every month at a certain time I seem to have this problem!  I have continued to track diligently however.

I spent Sunday preparing the week's meals.  On the menu this week is Better-For-You Buttermilk Pancakes, Meatball & Spaghetti Soup, and this Slow Cooker Root Beer BBQ Chicken that is A-M-A-ZING!  I said I'd have recipes last week for last week's meals and that all got swept under the rug :(.

Stay tuned for some deliciousness this week, however.  I've already had the pancakes and they were very tasty and filling.

How did you and your family fair during the hurricane? 

Official Weigh In & Week 2 Challenge Updates

This morning I weighed in at 255.8!  That means I officially met my first goal!  I'm down a total of 8 lbs and today I picked up the Wii Just Dance 2 video game.  I'm excited to include this into my weekly workout routine. 

Source.

 

 

I really hope that the weight is coming off mainly because of the consistent weight training I've been doing over the last 2 weeks now, and not due to this past week's events. 

Either way, a loss is a loss! :)

To continue on with the Beck challenge from Priorfatgirl, here are some additional things I've been working on:

1. Find a diet coach.  This person will be our motivator and personal cheerleader during our weight loss journey.  They could be a therapist, spouse, family member, friend, anyone... just as long as you have someone to stay accountable to.  My diet coach is Leslie - thank you again for volunteering to be my d.c.! :)
2. Arrange your environment.  This includes ideas such as start eating your meals on smaller size plates to cleaning out your cabinets and pitching all junk food and trigger foods.  Be sure to make it known to people that you are on a healthiness journey so that hopefully they don't sabotage you in some way, and also try some creative problem solving - such as not allowing any candy in the house what so ever.  I've used the plate trick for years and I love it.  
3. Create time and energy.  Make a schedule for yourself.  Schedule in time for yourself to get healthy, whether that means putting exercise on  your calendar or allotting time to meal plan or whatever it is you need to do to stay on track with your weight loss journey.  In other words, figure out your priorities and schedule those first, then put all the extraneous stuff in where it fits (if it fits!).  When I sat down to make my workweek schedule and weekend schedule, a feeling of relief came over me.  Finally, I can see in black/white what I should be doing and when.  I can see that I have plenty of time to get everything done that I want to achieve each day.  Having it written down really helped me organize my thoughts and relieved some stress to be honest.  Try it!
4. Select an exercise plan.  MWF for me is the NROLW.  Tuesday is a gym visit.  Thursday is a Wii active game.  If I decide to go to the gym on Saturday as a bonus, I will.  Sunday's are always meant to be a day of rest :).
5. Set a realistic goal.  Beck doesn't want us focusing on anything more than 5 lbs goals.  My goals page has been updated to reflect my rewards for each goal.  I think this is a great idea, because originally I had been focusing on 10 lbs losses, and as you can see on the left, my weight loss hasn't exactly been moving along so drastically.  The 5 lbs goals seem much more attainable to me.
6. Differentiate between Hunger, Desire and Cravings.  For one full day, keep track of how you feel before, during and after a meal.  On a scale of 0 - 10, where 0 is not hungry at all, and 10 is you're the hungriest you've ever been, rate yourself for one day.  I plan to try this out tomorrow.  This is by far the thing I struggle with the most - I often eat out of boredom!

The NROLW is going great guys!  I haven't missed a workout yet and Joel is still participating as well.  In just the 2 short weeks I've been doing this, I've already seen true growth in my strength - in some cases I've already moved from 5 lbs weights to 15 lbs weights.   I'm definitely proud.  Soon, we'll be able to move back into the gym to start doing these workouts.

I hope you all have a great and relaxing weekend!  To those of you on the east coast, I hope you and your families are able to stay safe during Irene!

Source. I've heard Irene is the width of Maryland to St Louis, MO!

A 5 Pound Loss

Last week I was frustrated and sad about gaining 2 lbs at the weekly WW meeting, especially after I knew I had a stellar week.

This week, I lost 5 lbs! 

When my leader asked what I did differently this week, I told her:

"Well, you may have heard.... we had this earthquake on Tuesday and since then my mind has been so consumed with that that I haven't really been eating much."  

Of course the meeting members laughed, but I really believe that Tuesday's events certainly contributed to some, if not all, of that loss. 

Tomorrow is my official weigh in and I'll be interested to see what the scale has in store for me this week. 

To Leslie, Jodie, Ryan and Jessica - thank you all for your encouraging comments from yesterday.  I appreciate you taking the time to leave thoughtful words :).

So Why Should I Be Afraid?

"The Lord is my light and my salvation - so why should I be afraid?  The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?" - Psalm 27:1

Friends, I'm not over what happened yesterday.  I have to be honest here.  While this natural disaster was mild in comparison to what others have experienced over the years - Katrina, tsunamis, tornadoes - I have to imagine that the same thoughts and fears that people experienced through those events are  similar to what was running through my head yesterday while my office building was shaking.   For most, it seems, it is back to business as usual today.  For me, I don't easily forget things like this.

Here is how yesterday's earthquake affected my weight loss journey:

1. Joel and I stopped at McDonald's to get something to eat and drink while we were sitting in traffic.  This might be the first time I've ever entered a McDonald's and the only thing I ordered was a bottle of water.  For those who are following the Beck book, this is me giving myself credit!

2. I pretty much sat in a trance all night long, trying to digest the events from earlier that day.  Hunger finally started rearing it's head around 7 PM.  I didn't want to make anything.  I didn't even want to eat, but I couldn't get past the growling in my stomach.  I made myself a remake of a Chipotle burrito bowl.  It did nothing for me other than take away the hunger.

3. I had a gym visit planned for yesterday and I could not muster the energy to go.  See #2 - I was busy sitting in a trance people - no time for gym visits!  Not only was I busy staring off into space, but I had a splitting headache that began about the time I stepped foot in our front door and continued all the way until bed time.  

4. I didn't read the second round of the Advantages Response Cards, and I didn't read Week 2 Day 2 of Beck either.  

I'm not at all upset with myself for not doing what I should be doing or planned to be doing in the least.  Sometimes there are just more important things that worrying about weight loss.

So There Was An Earthquake Today...

Dear Lord: 

Thank you God.  Thank you God for protecting me, Joel, and my coworkers today during the 5.8 magnitude earthquake here in Arlington, VA.  Thank you for getting us out of our office building safely and as quickly as possible.  Thank you for Joel getting out of our condo safely.  Thank you for keeping everyone safe throughout the East Coast of the U.S.

Thank you for being with me as I took cover under the desk in my office.  


Today was the scariest day of my life, Lord. Ever. And I never want to experience that kind of fear again, Lord. 

I just simply cannot thank You enough.  As I was under my desk, I was frantically praying to You, asking You to keep us safe.  As we made our way down from the top floor (11th) in the stairwell, I prayed more.  All I could think about were those poor souls on September 11, and the fear they must have felt.  I imagine I felt a similar fear like that today.  It was awful.   I prayed and thanked You for every flight of stairs You helped us descend.    

Thank You for allowing me to get in touch with Joel, family and friends so quickly afterward by allowing enough of a cell signal for text messages to process.

Thank You for giving me kind enough coworkers to obtain my laptop for me because I was too afraid to go back into the building once it was deemed "safe".  

Thank you for allowing Joel to easily drive to my office to pick me up afterward. 

Thank You for being with me today, Lord.  Without You, I don't know what I would have done.

In Jesus' name,
Amen

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday!

My weekend was filled with grocery shopping, hanging out with friends, and a cooking affair on Sunday. 

Saturday I was up fairly early and out the door by 8 AM to get my start at grocery shopping.  On this week's menu is chili with cornbread muffins, a healthier recreation of Chipotle's burrito bowl, and fettuccine with bolognese sauce. 

Once I got home from all 3 grocery stores (they don't all have everything I want in one store), I planned to have a snack and then start on the New Rules of Lifting workout.  My snack for the past few days has been awesome.  I've been eating the reduced fat Townhouse Crackers by Keebler, with some Laughing Cow Light Swiss Cheese and a piece of Hormel Turkey Pepperoni. 

delicious and filling!

After all that yummy in my tummy, I began on Workout A.  I was proud of myself for sticking to a workout I planned for a weekend day.  As much as I'd love to rearrange my workouts to happen on the weekends when I feel I have more time, it just seems easier for me to talk myself out of it when the time comes.  But I stayed true to my goal, and while I was standing outside doing the bonus workout at the end (2 workouts, as many times as you can for each one), a very thin, younger, and pretty woman walked by with her dog smoking a cigarette and she told me "Great job on working out.....*laugh* as I stand here smoking a cigarette!  That's what I need to be doing!"  I have to go outside to do the Step Ups because I actually need something to step up onto (go figure! :) ), and so we've been using the curb.  Joel hates this though - he gets all embarrassed.  I actually don't care - I mean look!  I even got a compliment! 

So while I achieved my fitness goal for the weekend, I didn't do so hot Saturday night when we hung out with friends.  I actually didn't think these plans were ever going to come to fruition because we never heard back from the people planning the get together until just 2 hours before we actually met up.  As a result, I went ahead and ate dinner around 6 PM and figured the night was coming to an end.  However, we ended up getting together at 8:30 PM for a very late dinner.  Of course, I wasn't planning on eating because I already ate earlier.  Then we got there and suddenly I was "hungry".  It was a sushi restaurant, which is not something I eat.  And the only other thing on the menu was tempura chicken....and lots of Miller Lite.  Eh, it is what is is.

I was happy for a great night out with friends though - this is not something Joel and I get to partake in very often because of his conflicting work schedule.  We had a lot of fun!

Sunday I spent the entire day making the dinners for the week.  Stay tuned for some awesome recipes!

Starting the Weekend Off Right!

You saw me complaining on Thursday about my gain at the Weight Watchers meeting on Wednesday evening.  Well, even though I don't count that weigh in as my official weigh in, it still hurt.

Friday's are my official weigh in days.  They have been for years.  Yes, years.  I've been a WW member for years folks (even though I'm 27, I've been doing it off and on since high school!).  So today is Friday.  Today was my weigh in.  Today I lost 1 pound!

I'm proud of myself for this.  Now, my scale is slightly different from that of the WW scale so it's not comparing apples to apples.  Still, I'm just happy to have a loss of a pound.  If all I ever drop is a pound a week for a year, then that's 52 pounds gone at the end of a year and I'd be VERY okay with that! 

I also wanted to share some updates on the 2 challenges I'm doing with some lovely ladies over at the Priorfatgirl.com.

The first challenge is the New Rules of Lifting for Women.  I just started my first week on this challenge, and so far so good!  Even though I'm a member at Gold's, I wanted to do these workouts in the comfort of my living room before I take my inexperienced and insecure booty to the gym to do them in front of the Meat Heads.  Even though I'd have Joel by my side the whole time, and he says he even feels insecure, I'm just not ready yet.  But I will be soon!  Did I mention Joel is doing this with me?  That is one reason why I love Joel so much.  He's not afraid that this book is specifically titled "for Women".  After all, the author states that women are fully capable of lifting the same amount of weight as men do (or something to that effect).  We've done 2 workouts so far and have gotten great results.  Great = sore.  Sore = muscle building.  Muscle building = success.  Go us!

The second challenge is the Beck Diet Solution.  This isn't actually a diet, it's simply a cognitive behavioral therapy book that helps you become aware of your behaviors with food.  Each day you are asked to focus on one behavioral aspect.  For example, so far this week we've been asked to do the following:

The supplies for the Beck challenge: post it's, 3x5 index cards, a notebook (not pictured) and the book itself.  Things not needed: the Halloween cat (also known as Charles).

1. Write down the advantages of losing weight.  This is clearly a subjective assignment.  What do you think are advantages for you for losing weight?

2. Pick 2 reasonable diets. I've struggled with identifying a second diet.  My first pick is Weight Watchers.  I'm struggling between simple calorie counting, the Biggest Loser diet, or this one I've been reading about from Elle at the Priorfatgirl, call the Cinch diet.  Any ideas?  I'm a very picky eater so not a lot of eating plans work for me.

3. Eat sitting down.  Self explanatory.  The idea is that you're not shoving food in your mouth while you're making it.  Only enjoy eating the food when sitting down, which if you're sitting down it probably means the meal is ready to be eaten in its entirety, not just in bits and pieces while you're preparing it.  I actually don't struggle with this at all (unless I'm baking cookies!).

4. Give yourself credit.  Were you able to resist the offer of take out from your favorite Korean restaurant when your boyfriend texted you saying he could easily swing buy and bring that home for dinner?  Yes, I was!  Well, I'm just gonna go ahead and pat myself on the back then Miss Thang.

5. Eat slowly and mindfully.  If you're inhaling your food, chances are you're not really enjoying it and savoring the taste.  Not only that, but you may find yourself hungry an hour later because you practically swallowed that turkey breast roast whole in t-minus 5 minutes!  Try to have a sit down meal at your dinner table, without the TV on or without the computer sitting in front of you.  The gist is to minimize the distractions while eating.  Dr. Beck gives tips for those who have small children that need tending to during/after you as the parent have finished your meal. Again, not something I struggle with but it's still good to be mindful of it anyhow.

I'm really enjoying both of these challenges so far.  If you are participating in either of these challenges, or have participated, how did they work for you?

Best wishes to everyone for a lovely weekend! :)

Let's Say It All Together Folks..... FRUSTRATION!

Thank you all for your feedback on the How Do You Track post from yesterday.... you gave great options and incite :). 

One thing I wanted to include in yesterday's post, but forgot, was about a scenario I read in one of Hungry Girl's newsletters.  A person wrote to HG about a time when she went to Ruby Tuesday's and had a turkey burger, thinking that was a very smart option.  It turns out, the turkey burger was loaded with calories (700!) and fat (40!).  I understand that this TB could have had mayo on it or a buttered bun or whatever else, but you pick this option thinking you're making a smart choice.  Fortunately, this person was able to acquire the nutrition stats for this after the fact, but what if you can't?  I do realize that you can certainly order it without the mayo or the bun or have it prepared in some other way, but the bottom line is, when you're not preparing something yourself or knowing exactly how the other person is preparing it, just because something "looks healthy" doesn't mean it is, and that is what I struggle with.  You think you've done so well by choosing these better menu options, when, in fact, that turkey burger might have had just as many calories/fat as a chargrilled chicken sandwich from Chick Fil A! 

And to be perfectly honest with you, if I want a chicken sandwich and I have to nix the bun and any toppings that come with it that I thought were healthy picks but are not, then I'm not going to eat it at all. What is the point of going out for dinner?  To me, going out for dinner is having the opportunity to not only have a meal prepared for you, but to also enjoy a dish that you otherwise would not make at home.  

Moving on :)

This past week has been one of the best weeks I've had in a long time on Weight Watchers.  Since I started attending meetings again, one thing the leader suggested was to slowly incorporate each of the Good Health Guidelines into your plan rather than just stressing over trying to do everything perfectly all at once (*cough cough* Perfection problem? Nah. :) ).  One of my goals for the month of August was to incorporate 2 servings of fruits/veggies in to my day (ideally 1 fruit and 1 veg... but, baby steps, I'll take what I can get!).  This method has been working really well for me!  Not only that, but I have been tracking diligently all week.  And friends, I'm so proud of myself!

Do you know what's coming?  I think you do.

I got on the scale yesterday at that meeting.

And.

I gained 2 lbs.  

ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME?!  

I just don't get it.  Not only did I do all that I stated up above but how can your body not recognize that "Hey, you're not eating erratically like you normally would be - and so now we can start burning off that fat supply you've accumulated instead of adding to it!"  

Honestly friends, you can see (on the left) that I've been hovering around 260 for MONTHS.  Granted, this is in large part, no doubt, to my eating habits and living situation I had going on for 8 months.  However, I have still been faithfully exercising since November 2010, on average, of 4 days per week.  And I have what I would consider a STELLAR week, and I gain?!  

I'm not a cryer. And I certainly don't EVER cry over weight issues.  It is what it is.  I don't cry about it and have pity parties.  But yesterday I definitely teared up when the receptionist told me I had a gain.  

And while I was just tested for diabetes and thyroid issues a year ago (all were in the clear), I am definitely going to schedule an appointment for a checkup just to make sure nothing has happened in that year's time.  I'm not a hypochondriac by any means, I really don't feel like something is wrong with me, but I want to be sure.  

Other than that, I'm just going to keep on keeping on.  I'm not giving up.  After all, as Joel reminded me: "It was only after 1 week of perfection Hilary.  I'm sure once you have many consecutive weeks like this, then the weight will start coming off. And if not, that is when you can start to consider that something medically might be off."

Have you ever experienced this crap?!

How Do You Track?

Here's my problem:  I have a hard time tracking indulgences.  An indulgence for me is something that I don't know the Points+ value of definitively - it can be dessert or dinner out or anything for that matter.... something I have not prepared but someone else has prepared and the nutrition stats are not available.

Here is why I have this problem: Let's say you go out to dinner and you have a chicken sandwich as part of your entree.  This restaurant doesn't publish their nutrition facts online, so you're left with guesstimating how many Points+ that chicken sandwich was. 

Let me interrupt this regularly scheduled programming with this announcement: When I'm doing something I truly care about, I am a perfectionist.

And now, back your show.

So you go on to E-Tools and you try to figure out what this chicken sandwich cost you.  Was it 10 Points+? Was it 14 Points+?  Ok, it was grilled with cheese.  Was it 17 Points+?  I have no idea!  Aaahhh!  I'm getting so overwhelmed and I want this to be exact!  How could I just say: "Yes, I'll go with 17 even though that's the value for a fast food chicken filet sandwich with cheese, so that might not be correct since it was actually grilled.  But E-Tools doesn't show an option where it's grilled with cheese.  And I don't want to estimate on the high end or I will have no Points+ left the rest of today, but I don't want to estimate on the low end because then I'll over eat." Whoa is me. 

Once in a while I realize that guesstimating is fine.  "Ok, even if I'm off track at this estimate, it's the only indulgence this week so I should be okay."

But what happens when you have several days in a row like this?  You have a work luncheon, then out to dinner with family, then you're going away for the weekend where you'll be eating every meal out. 

What ends up happening for me is I have the mentality that if I cannot do this perfectly, then I'm not going to do it.  And so I just say screw it and I'll start over again tomorrow or next week. 

What do you do in these situations?  Can any one even relate to this or am I a crazy maniac? 

Help me!

Hungry Girl 1-2-3: AM Apple Scramble

Wow! Thank you all for stopping by yesterday and for all of your encouraging comments - what a pleasant surprise each time the Google's notified me of a comment :).  

Today I bring you a new breakfast recipe!

Something I've frequently heard from friends and fellow bloggers is that they eat the same thing for breakfast every day.  That's cool, if that works for you.  I used to be this way too, back when I lost 50 lbs in college.  I would eat the exact same thing every day, every week.  I knew nothing but Lean Cuisines/Smart Ones/Healthy Choice frozen meals and 100 calorie packs.  I cannot stomach the look to either of those food items now.

Now, I make a lot of things by hand.

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and I like to add variety to my life where I can.   Because of this, I try not to eat the same thing twice too close together.  This week's breakfast is Hungry Girl's AM Apple Scramble.  The end result of this dish is something similar to that of oatmeal & Cream of Wheat.  It ends up dry, but not so dry that it tastes bad.  It was kind of hard to tell when it was done, but I just followed along with HG's recommended cooking time of 5 minutes.  When it's done cooking, it starts to firm up and lose some of it's moisture, and the color gets slightly darker. 

Hungry Girl 1-2-3: AM Apple Scramble - 7 Points+ (her version calculates at 6 Points+)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup peeled and finely chopped apple (approx. 1 medium apple) 
• 1 slice Wonder Light White Bread - I used Martin's Whole Wheat Potato Bread
  1/2 cup Egg Beaters, Original
• 3 tbsp. regular oats (not quick or instant)
• 1 oz. light vanilla soymilk
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 packets SPLENDA
• pinch salt

Directions:
Begin by stirring to combine all ingredients except for the bread and apple. Set aside. Toast bread well (but do not burn) and allow it to cool.  Tear bread into pieces and place in a blender or food processor.  Pulse bread until reduced to small pieces.  Add mixture and chopped apple to blender or processor and pulse until mixed (NOT liquefied).  In a pan sprayed with nonstick spray, cook mixture over medium heat.  Prepare as you would scrambled eggs, constantly moving mixture around with a spatula.  Cook for approximately 5 minutes, until solid crumbles form and brown slightly.  Serves 1!

 I hope you all have a great "On Plan" day!

Friend Making Monday: The Driving Force

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links over there too so everyone has the opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: The Driving Force

What is the driving force behind your weight-loss?

I really liked today's topic from All the Weigh.  I think it's important to remind myself why I am doing this whole weight loss thing in the first place.  


The overall driving force behind me trying to lose weight is so that I can truly feel like I am living life to it's fullest with confidence.  There are kind of 2 parts to that answer.  

First I'll address the confidence part.  I believe that if I was thinner, I would have more confidence to take a stand for things in my day to day life.  For example, I don't often put myself out there at work because I just don't feel confident in myself.  However, I'm not talking about waving a magic wand and suddenly I'm thin and instilled with all of this confidence.  No.  I'm saying that I know once I lose this weight, I will know that I can achieve anything I set my mind to because of the sheer challenge that this weight loss has been for me.   

The next thing to address is living life to it's fullest.  There are a lot of things I haven't done in the past because of my weight.  This is because I just didn't feel adequate enough as a person to participate in those things, or because I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of many other people I know if, for example, I couldn't fit in a seat or something like that.  This issue even goes down to the more superficial things - like the desire to wear clothes that are more age appropriate for me, as well as stylish.  By avoiding social opportunities or not having the ability to dress how I really want to - I'm not living life to it's fullest.

So, what is your driving force behind your weight loss mission?

HG's Big Bowl of Breakfast

I would like to preface this post by saying that I contemplated not posting this because I forgot to take the picture of this dish.  *Sigh*  You'll just have to trust me on it ;)... it was very good!

Below is the original recipe, with my modifications in italics.

Hungry Girl's Big Bowl of Breakfast - 8 Points+ (if you follow her instructions exactly it will only be 6 Points+)
Ingredients:

• 1 tray Green Giant Just for One Broccoli & Cheese Sauce
• 3/4 cup frozen potatoes O'Brien (like the kind by Ore-Ida) - I used just the plain southern style frozen potatoes - I don't like the peppers :)
• 3/4 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)
• 1 slice Canadian bacon, chopped - I used 2 slices of Oscar Mayer turkey bacon
• 2 tbsp. shredded fat-free cheddar cheese - I used the WW shredded Mexican Cheese

Directions:
Prepare broccoli & cheese sauce according to package instructions. Set aside.

Bring a large pan sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat. Add egg substitute and scramble for 2 - 3 minutes, until fully cooked. Place scrambled egg substitute in a microwave-safe bowl and set aside.

Remove pan from heat, re-spray with nonstick spray, and return pan to the stove. Raise heat to medium-high and add potatoes. Cook for 3 - 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thawed and lightly browned.

Add Canadian bacon and cook until hot and a little crispy, about 1 - 2 minutes.

Add potato/bacon mixture to the bowl with the egg scramble. Add broccoli & cheese sauce and mix to combine.

Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of the bowl, and microwave for 30 - 45 seconds, until cheese has melted. Grab a sturdy fork and dig in!

I love breakfast bowls and this was a great interpretation of one.  I like the fact that the broccoli is hidden in there, allowing me to get a serving of veggies without my really knowing it.  However, I will say this: while I love broccoli, I only like the flower part (I'm probably one of the world's picky-est eaters!), and it seems as though the Green Giant tray only contains chunks of the stalk.  When I make this again, I will choose to use my own broccoli and add more shredded cheese if need be.  That's the thing I like most about Hungry Girl's recipes - she gives you a general concept that you can just do all sorts of things with.  For example, you could swap out the broccoli for spinach or change the meat and use turkey sausage links or ground turkey.. or whatever your heart desires! 

Overall it tasted great and was even more special with some Texas Pete dabbed on top. 

Do you have a favorite thing you make/eat for breakfast?

Staying on Track with the August Goals

I have zero good pictures of me from the wedding weekend :(.  I'll still share some later this week though... the bride was a beautiful Peruvian Barbie Doll!

I've been doing AWESOME at keeping tabs on myself for the monthly goals of August.  A few simple Google spreadsheets have worked wonders!  These spreadsheets are also helping me keep things in perspective - we are 10 days into the month of August and it feels like I have been to the gym a boat load of times, when in reality I've only been there 4 times so far, and seeing that in black and white helps put me in my place.

This week I was supposed to start the New Rules of Lifting for Women, but I was behind on the reading, so it looks like I'll be starting a week late.  I'm doing this challenge with the ladies over at Priorfatgirl.com. 

I also discovered that they are doing another challenge over there (you can find out more about these challenges by going to the Community section of Jen's site.  The second challenge is more about the mental aspect of getting healthy and losing weight.  This part may be even more important for me than the actual eating and exercising.  Afterall, I eat because I'm sad, bored, anxious, as a social activity, as an activity period - as in - "hey, do you want to go out to eat because there's nothing else to do?".  The book that goes along with this challenge is titled: The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person.

I plan on posting my results of each of these challenges here, so if you plan to participate in either of these challenges, let me know!! 

I've also been making lots of delicious eats that I have NOT been posting on here, but I promise to get back at it starting tomorrow.   Come on back for Hungry Girl's take on a fast food breakfast bowl - Big Bowl of Breakfast.

Happy Friday!

As I struggled to wake up this morning after a late night (more on this later), I was delighted when I stepped onto the scale to see a 1.4 pound loss this week!  Thank you Lord - I'll take a loss anyday... even if I have lost these sames pounds over and over again.

Last night we had a wedding rehearsal dinner for Joel's friends who will be getting hitched this Saturday!  I <3 weddings :).  The wedding is taking place in Baltimore, and that is an hour away from us.  We didn't get back from the dinner until around midnight.  I am a girl who needs her sleep, and so waking up at 5 AM was rather complicated after only a few hours of shut eye...

I can already cross off half of an item from my August goals list!  I printed out my goals and stuck them up at my desk at work...now I just have to do the same for the fridge at home. 

Stay tuned for some wedding pics!

August Goals

It's time for me to check in on how I did at meeting my goals for the month of July, and then figure out what I'm going to do for August.  Perhaps I should rephrase that last part: "I need to make some actual achievable goals for August - ones that are so simple I know I can meet them! I need a confidence boost!" 

1. Go to the gym 5 days a week.  This will consist of 40 minutes of cardio and 1 day per week of weight lifting. I made it to the gym on average 3-4 days a week.  I'm not sure that I ever did 5.

2. Meet my first 10lb goal. I can do this.  I'm 7 pounds away.  I. will. do. this. I. didn't. do. this.

3. Plan my meals.  By doing this, it will help me stay within my daily Points+ range.  Also, it will help me start going through my cookbooks, as is another goal of mine.   I actually started off strong with this goal and did 2 solid weeks of meal planning for 5 days.  It helped initially.  Then I got busy and didn't make time to meal plan.

4. Take my lunch to work every day.  I do a very good job at this, especially lately. 

5. Divvy up my Points+ balance for each meal and stick to it.  I have a tendency to just eat whatever I want when I want, regardless of the Points+ value.  Sometimes this works to my benefit, most times it does not.  I plan to use a variation of Christina's method and see how that works for me:

I get a total of 41 Points+ per day.  They will be divided out as follows:

• Breakfast: 10 Points+
• A.M. Snack: 5 Points+
• Lunch: 10 Points+
• P.M. Snack: 5 Points+
• Dinner: 11 Points+

This actually worked well for me.  It helped me to break down my day into chunks and focus on those chunks so that I didn't go overboard.  I felt initially that eating 10 Points+ for my main meals was just too much food.  However, I found that when I would eat, let's say, 5 Points+ for breakfast, and start throwing myself off of that plan up above, I would go overboard because I lacked a true structure.  I also found that even though I felt like eating 10 Points+ for breakfast was too much, it kept me full longer.  ALSO, I found that when 7 of my breakfast Points+ are not including my Starbucks chai, I feel a whole lot more satisfied!

Here's what I'm going to do for August:

1. Print out and post my goals on my desk at work and on the fridge.  Let's face it, I type these goals up on my blog, and then I forget about most of them.  If I have them front and center, in my face each day, then surely that will help remind me what I should be focusing on.

2.  Begin the New Rules of Lifting for Women Challenge offered by Jen at the Priorfatgirl.com.  I've been wanting to include weight lifting into my daily gym routine, and this challenge could not have come at a better time.

3.  Incorporate 1 fruit and 1 vegetable into each meal every single day, and keep track of how often I meet this goal.  Ultimately the goal here is to add 1 additional fruit and veg each month so that I'm meeting the Good Health Guidelines from WW.  But I'm going to start small.

4. Keep track of how many days I attended the gym, for how long, and what I did while there.

5. Track and stay on plan at least 5 days per week - and actually keep track of whether or not I've done this.  I cannot let my weekend start on Friday and end on Monday. 

Weight loss is continuing to be a huge challenge for me each and every day.  It sucks. I'm not too proud of myself right now at all.