I know, I know

Yes, I know that it's been almost a full month since I last posted.  What can I say, I'm just bad at blogging I guess.  Oh well.

I'm doing the Daniel Fast again this year.  As always, the goal here is not to lose weight, it's to gain a closer relationship with God.  I'll be reading through the 21 Day Fast plan on my YouVersion free Bible app, and I'm going to be praying that I will learn to recognize God's presence in all areas of my life.

So...the Daniel Fast is about growing closer to God, but I don't doubt that it will likely lead to some weight loss as well.  The diet is basically vegan, only a bit more strict (in addition to no dairy or meat products, I will only be eating whole grains and nothing that has been leavened...like bread).  Since bread and milk are off the list, it makes breakfast a bit more difficult than the rest of the day.  So today I made myself a fruit smoothie with all types of melons, fruits, and berries, and mixed it with a bit of coconut milk (which I'm surprisingly enjoying).

Later today I'm going to make a vegetable and wild rice soup from a recipe that I found online, and also a penne pasta dish with zuchini, squash, spinach and tomatoes with a lemon-olive oil sauce.  I'll be making up the pasta dish as I go along, to wish me luck!

Points Plus Changes

Well, Weight Watches has changed their Points Plus plan, and to be honest, I'm rather excited about it.  The lowest "point plus" value that they would assign to anyone trying to lose weight was 29 points.  That means that anyone ranging from 140 lbs to 170 lbs would receive the same Points Plus amount to eat every day.  This just didn't seem to add up for me, and actually 'caused me to quit Weight Watchers a while back.  At the time, I was 150lbs and gaining weight on my 29 daily Points Plus value.

Anyway, now they've changed this.  29 is no longer the minimum assignment, so now you get a more acurate value based on your height, age, weight, sex, etc.  Mine has gone down to 26 a day, which is going to be harder to stick to, but a lot better in the long run.

In other news, apparently Harry Potter motivates me to work out, haha.  I went to the gym yesterday and while on the elliptical noticed that HP was on ABC Family.  I started watching, and of course got sucked in because I'm a nerd.  The next thing I know I've been there for over an hour.  I did about 30 minutes on the treadmill followed by a lot of weight machines to tone up.  Hopefully there will be something on again today to help keep me motivated ;)

Pedometer Tributes

So I bought a pedometer and tried it out for the first time yesterday.  I got to 9,800 steps before I accidentally reset it, so I know that I hit the recommended 10,000.  I understand that I do a lot more walking on the weekends than I do during the week, and yesterday especially because we remodeled the spare bedroom, but I was still pleasantly surprised to see that I hit my 10k.  I'll keep an eye on it during the week to make sure that I get at least close to that on a daily basis.  Today I'm only at about 600 steps, so I will get in some walking during lunch, and then for sure go to the gym this afternoon.

I ate like a champ this weekend, so I don't even want to step on the scale.  I'm sure that I'm right back to where I started, which is upsetting, but it's all my own fault.  It's not like I didn't know that I was eating.

This morning I had the awesome Kashi cereal and some fruit snacks, and for lunch I think I'm going to grab a Smart Ones just because it's quick and easy and take the thinking out of eating.  Dinner tonight I'm thinking of chicken with some leftover stuffing and some green beans, so that should be good.

I really need to get back into the habit of blogging during the week, because it makes me re-think my choices when it comes to food.  I've also started tracking my Weight Watchers points again, thanks to Temi who got on my butt about it and swore to hold me accountable :)

Kashi

I didn't weigh myself today.  I'm a little afraid to.  We went up to Kansas this weekend to have a pre-Thanksgiving meal with Jason's family, so I'm sure I overindulged.  Oh well, back to square one.

Other than that, I've been doing good as far as eating goes.  I've just cut back on a lot of sugars and have been trying to eat more my portion size.  For breakfast this morning, I had the amazing Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal, honey almond flavor.  Kashi has a realistic serving size on the side of their carton, one cup, so you can eat a normal portion and still feel full for a long time. I was pleasantly surprised when I had it for breakfast this morning, so I'll probably be adding it into my morning breakfast menu.  Oh, it also has tons of protein, so it leaves you feeling full for a good amount of time.

Today is the day that I hit up the gym again.  I'll head there after I get done work at 4, and probably do 25 minutes on the elliptical followed by some basic weight lifting...mostly just the machines and all to try to keep toned.  The first couple of days doing this are the hardest, so if I can keep myself motivated for the next week or so I know that I'll get in a routine and enjoy it.

Workin' Out

So I'm still sitting at 161.8lbs.  It's pretty obvious to me that just eating better isn't the only thing that's going to help me drop this weight, so I'm reluctantly adding exercise back into my daily routine.  Exercise isn't a bad thing, and once you get into a routine it's really enjoyable, but getting into that routine is the hard part.  I'll head to the gym after work today and get in about 25 minutes on the elliptical and follow it up with a bit of weight training.

I'm still trying to cut back a lot of my carbs, but they aren't completely out of my diet.  For breakfast today I had two eggs over easy with some toast.  I'm not sure what I want for lunch, but I've already got dinner in the crockpot :)

Santa Fe Chicken Chili

3 Frozen Chicken Breasts
1 Can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and green chillies
1 Can chicken broth (reduced sodium)
1 Can Black Beans (reduced sodium)
1 Cup Frozen Corn
1 Packet chili seasoning

Add everything into the crockpot, and set on low for 10hrs.  30 minutes before serving, shred chicken with a fork and add back into crock pot.  Serve with rice or tortilla chips or however you want.

YUM!

Really?!

Well, I'm down to 161.4, which is where I was on Tuesday.  I'm hoping that I can get back into the 150s by this upcoming Tuesday.  This weekend we only have plans to eat out once...we're going to Hideaway Pizza for lunch on Saturday afternoon.  I need to really focus this weekend on making that the only day that I cheat, and really sticking to it for the rest of the weekend.

I took the dog for a walk the other day, which was actually really refreshing.  I'll probably take her again today to try to get some energy out of her and excersize this body of mine.  I've noticed that my back has been hurting a lot lately, and I know that it's probably do to my lethargic job.  I know that I've said it before, but I really need to make it a point to focus on getting in more steps and light exercise.  Maybe I'll head up to WalMart today and grab a pedometer...

Well poo

I thought that I did pretty good yesterday.  At Olive Garden I had a breadstick (or two), some salad, and the tangerine chicken.  Dinner was soup, and dessert was some apple slices dipped in peanut butter.  All-in-all, not bad...except that when I stepped on the scale this morning, I was 162lbs.  I'm hoping that this is just from the sodium that is likely found it my lunch and that by tomorrow I will be back to losing weight.

I'll be eating what is probably the last of my taco soup for lunch today, and for dinner will likely have some chicken tenders because they are quick and easy and delicious :)

The soup was a good choice to make this past weekend as it lasted me almost all week.  I'll be looking up some crock-pot recipes this week that have plenty of veggies and protein, so if you have any in mind pass along the recipe.

The Garden of Olive

Alright, ya'll, scale today says 160.8.  This is down roughly another 1/2 lb, so I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll be at or near 160 even, maybe even in the 150s.  Yes!  Remember, my goal is to get to 150 by Christmas, which should be more than easy to accomplish.

I still have a lot of taco soup left, so I ate that for lunch and dinner yesterday, which is good because it's packed full of veggies and protein.  After dinner I lost my husband to the new Call of Duty game, so I went out for some frozen yogurt with my friend.  It's not the best for ya, but at least it's better than ice cream.

Today I made myself a cheese omelet for breakfast and had some turkey bacon with it.  My friend from work and I are meeting up for lunch at Olive Garden, so I'm going to get the Venetian Apricot Chicken.  It's basically some grilled chicken smothered in sweet apricots and coupled with some awesome veggies:  broccoli, asparagus, and tomatoes.  I've had it there in the past and was irrationally in love with it, so I'm excited to get it again.

Other than that, nothing much going on here.  I have had three friends tell me recently that they are pregnant, so I've got me a case of baby fever.  I'm excited to be losing this weight, that way when I get pregnant I'll be starting from a lower number, so I'll just have to lose the baby weight instead of the baby weight plus some when it's all said and done.  Anyway, I've decided that I really love the name Evelynne Grace (spelled that way) for a girl, and my husband love Jaxson for a boy (spelled that way).  I'm not so sure what middle name I want to couple with Jaxson, but I'm thinking Jaxson Daniel sounds nice.

Crazy Night

Well it was one crazy night to say the least.  My husband came home from work a bit early becuase there were some large F4 tornadoes south of us and heading our way.  Anyway, once all that died down we ate dinner and settled in for the night.  Well fast forward a couple of hours and we're in the middle of a lovely thunderstorm, it's hailing, and we're in a tornado warning when suddenly the house starts shaking.  Yep, earthquake right in the middle of it.  Awesome.  Soon after that the neighborhood's power went out, but miraculously our house didn't.

Anyway, all in all it wasn't a bad night diet-wise. I've still got plenty of that taco soup left, and since it's so tasty I've been eating it up for lunch and dinner.  For snack later I made a peanut butter, banana, chocolate shake, which is not healthy but it very yum.

I've been watching what I eat for a week now, and while I gained a little over the weekend, I've still managed to lose 2.2 lbs this week.  Since a healthy weightloss is considered anywhere between 1 and 3 lbs a week, I'm feeling pretty good about that.  I haven't gone to extremes and cut carbs or fruits and veggies or anything complete out of my diet, but I've exercised moderation and self control and wouldn't ya know it works :)  If I'm able to keep this up, I should hit my 10lb goal by the first Tuesday in December.  This is a good thing.

Anyway, I'm feeling good but I do want to increase my veggies to get more fiber into my diet, so that's my focus for this week: Continue to eat healthy and add more fiber into my diet.  Oh, and I want to start working out a bit more.

PB Banana Chocolate Shake

1 Banana
1/2 cup milk
1 cup ice
3 packets sweetener
2 squeezes sugar free chocolate syrup
1.5 tblsp Peanute Butter

Put in a blender, mix it all up, and enjoy!

Bad Weekend for Dieting

Well, I didn't do so hot this weekend.  It was a good weekend, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't all that great for dieting.

Friday I didn't want to cook, so Jason and I went to Wendy's (his favorite).  Instead of just ordering chicken like I should have, I got a burger because on the commercial they just look so good (lol).  After that we went and met up with Jim and Allison for some ice-cream.

Saturday I didn't do too bad, until that night.  I had of course eggs and turkey bacon for breakfast, and made some taco soup for lunch.  That night I went to a friend's house for "girls night".  We ordered some pizza and watched Crazy, Sexy Love.  It was all delicious, of course, but that's why the number on the scale started to climb.

Yesterday was football Sunday, so when my husband asked if I wanted some pizza and wings I of course said yes when I should have said no.  Of course, later in the night, we had Sunday Sundaes...

Needless to say, at the end of all this the scale read a lovely 162 this morning.  I'm hoping that by staying strong this week I can get back into the 150's by the weekend.

Taco Soup Recipe

1-2 lbs hamburger meat (I use ground turkey instead)

1 package of taco seasoning (I use two because I like it a little spicier)

1 package of hidden valley ranch dip mix

1 can of pinto beans

1 can of red kidney beans

1 can of chili beans

1 can of ranch style beans

1 can of stewed tomatoes

1 can of rotel

1 can of chicken broth (I use two cans)

1 can of corn

Directions

Brown the meat and mix in taco seasoning

Put all together into a big pot (don't drain the cans)

Simmer until you're ready to eat

YUM!