Have you ever noticed...

Have you ever noticed you actually lose more weight when you track your food?

I used to think that if I just kept it all in my head I would be fine. Thing is, I think I would start to lose track of just how many flex points I had used during the week. Kind of conviently. Soooooo, I have been tracking pretty seriously for the last 4 weeks. Sometimes I go in the next day to finish up, but I have been honest and accurate. Maybe even a little overboard as a "just in case" type thing.

Guess what? I have actually lost weight. Not as much as I would like, but when the numbers are down I am definately more aware of what I have been consuming.

Now, if I could just get off my butt to exercise. Anyone got some motivation for me?

Chuck e' Cheese

Where a kid can be a kid and a mom could eat herself silly with pizza and pop...
Hey, calm down there. I did say could didn't I?
We took the kids to the big Cheese last night. That place is much smaller than I remember, or I suppose, I could be bigger. Sigh.

Anyhoo, I planned my day well. I knew that a slice of the veggie pizza was 5 pts so I ordered us veggie and got an all you can eat salad bar. Shared my lite lemonade with the girl.
I ate 2 slices of the pizza, filled up on the salad and went home with 2 pts left over. (I told you I planned my day well.)

Sooooooooooooooo, it was pricey but there were 4 adults, 4 kids and 2 hours that we didn't have to do much but watch the holy terrors, umm, I mean the angels play.

Next Tuesday back to Pump it Up!

Memorial Day Blowout...or should I say Awesome COOKOUT!

For a lot of us, grilling and holidays bring to mind overeating, excessive alcohol consumption and more eating.

For me, it brings to mind yummy summer time cookouts.

I planned yesterdays menu and it went something like this...
homeade pico de gallo, cellery, cucumbers marinated in lime juice, salt & pepper...
Then I marinated a tri-tip in garlic and ff itallian dressing, zuchinni, grilled onions and corn on the cob. Finished with ripe juicy watermelon!

Can we say yummy???? I love the grill!

Okay, so I made the pico de gallo w/tomatoes, onions (diced super fine), cillantro, lime juice, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
The cucumbers were marinated just as I said above.
You see the meat....
The grilled onions...well, I used a drizzle of olive oil and garlic powder (I love me some garlic).
The zuchinni is my favorite. You slice it long ways in 1/4 inch strips and marinate overnight in terriaki sauce. Then throw on the grill.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...that is the beginning of my yummy summer grill fest. If you all have any GREAT grilling recipes let me know. I really like a lot of flavor (especially the garlic) and could use some variety.
All that food for so little points. I finished the evening nice and full and not a bit upset with myself!
Hope you all had a fabulous day!

Weekly Weigh In...

Weight change since your last recorded weight
-1.1 lbs
Total weight change to date
-22.1 lbs

and there you have it...keep trucking...

Hope you all have a wonderful memorial day!

Grief

It is a funny emotion. It can create this complete emptyness or void. It can create anger. It can create sadness...it can even create joy.
I got a call yesterday from my cousin. She said our other cousin had killed himself. It kind of knocked me down for a second. You know that punched in the gut feeling? I cried a bit and sat down sort of dazed and then that empty feeling starting forming. The one that you have to fill and will EAT anything to fill it.
So, I went home...oh, didn't I tell you I was at work when I got this call? Well, I went home and started to make dinner for my kids. I realized it was going to take longer than I thought so I loaded them in the car and went to McD's. We roll thru the drivethru and as I am ordering their food I am thinking of all the things I want to eat too...then I order a classic grilled chicken sandwich w/out mayo. That is all.
We go home, eat and they go to bed. I pull out a bag of cherries and eat them. Dh went and got me some frozen yogurt and I ate about half of it b/c I was just not feeling it...which for me to not eat ice cream is incredible. The point I am trying to make is that grief, for me, has always made me eat and somehow, last night I maintained a normal amount of food. Maybe I am finally getting it.
I am still sad, but the food isn't going to make me feel better. Often it will make me feel almost sick afterwards so I stopped myself.

I don't want this post to sound like I am selfish, and I am afraid it does. I loved my cousin and am so upset about this...I just don't think I am ready yet to deal completely with his loss. And I am not sure I can do it publicly.
Okay, I am going to stop rambling now. Sorry.

PUMP IT UP!

Do you have any family fun places around you? I took my kids to one last night...pump it up (http://www.pumpitupparty.com/). It is an indoor jolly jump place. They have family fun nights and you only pay for the kids. We had a blast! My 2 yr old just ran like crazy and you know what? So did the 16 month old (wow, how did she get that big)? Seriously it was great. We climbed slides, did obsticle courses and jumped around. My son was sweating so bad.

I made dh go too and he had fun as well!

I was glad we did it b/c it is to easy for us to just sit at home and get stuck in that rut that we have too much to do there in order to do anything fun at night. True, we got a little hectic there at the end of the day after the kids went to sleep, but every once in a while won't kill us. I really want to raise my kids to be "that way." You know, like to exercise and just creates time for it. I think Roni ( Roni's page) posted something like that once.

Well, just wanted to share the fun we had and encourage you all to try something new and different!

Weekly Weigh In...

Weight change since your last recorded weight
-1.6 lbs
Total weight change to date
-21 lbs

So I guess it is good, but I woke up STARVING this morning. i hate that feeling. I sometimes think tha it will mess up my whole day. Bleck! I'm tired, cut me some slack.

Seriously tho, I am ready to repeat the week. Keeping it simple and staying focused.

10K or 6.21371 miles

I walked a 10K yesterday. Not too shabby. I am actually a walker by nature, but usually I do a bit more to prepare for longer things like that. I took some of the kids I work with to the AIDS walk. It was nice to show them something outside of themselves and they all finished.
So, b/c of the walk I was super hungry yesterday and ate more than I should have...the good news is I still have some flex points left for the day.

I went to a bday party today for an 8 yr old. They had pizza and cake. I ate 2 bites off my daughters pizza w/no cheese and I ate the strawberries out of the cake. I lick of frosting. Then I stopped at subway on the way home and got me a veggie sandwich! Woot!

That is my life. Boring. I actually kind of like it that way sometimes. You know, a break. Anyhoo, WI is tomorrow so we shall see.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Tofu shirataki noodles

A Review...

Have you seen these things? http://www.house-foods.com/tofushirataki_faq.html

They have a recipe for them in the HG cookbook. The flavor was good, I just couldn't get past the texture...which is really too bad, b/c the ENTIRE bag is only 20 calories. Can you believe it? Really, they tasted fine, just a little too chewy and hmmm...how do I put it...I guess slimy? Does that make sense?

Anyway, I know others who swear by these so this is just my personal opinion. I guess I will have to stick to the higher points whole wheat noodles...less chew and more flavor. Unless, any of you guys have better ideas.

Chicken for breakfast?

So, this is the commercial I heard on the radio this morning.
Chicken for breakfast...from McDonald's. Hmmmmm, It is actually a Southern Style Chicken Biscuit that they are serving. That brings up the concept of chicken fried steak and lots of gravy. One of those breakfast I have been fortunate enough not to like but I know people who always order it.
I then had to look up the nutritional info on line, because that is the way my mind works these days.
So here it is...

Total: 420 calories; 20 g of fat; 8 g of saturated fat; 1 g of trans fat; 35 mg of cholesterol; 1200 mg of sodium; 41 g carbohydrates; 2 g dietary fiber; 18 g protien
For those counting points that would be 10 of them. Yikes!!!!

I am amazed at the newer, "better tasting" items that are being created. I actually have no doubt that this will probably be a popular item as my husband is famous for ordering things like that but at the same time, I am slightly appalled. We wonder where we went wrong when most of our nation (including me and a lot of my family) are overweight or obese. Why we are fighting heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. This is truly one of those "yuck" moments for me.
Oh well, thank goodness for sites like Roni's (Roni's page) and her green lites bites (which I don't have the link for, sorry) or swizzles page (Swizzlepops meal ideas) or the Hungry Girl site and cookbook Hungry Girl Cookbook, mothers day and self control (which I reviewed in a previous blog). These are all places I go to get old favorites with a new healthy twist.
Where do you go?

Weekly Weigh In...

Weight change since your last recorded weight
-0 lbs
Total weight change to date
-19.4 lbs

GREAT JOB for logging your weight! We notice that you've gained a little this week. You should know that gaining weight every now and then is a natural part of the weight-loss journey. Here are our tips for getting back on track:

Ummm, can you explain how a ZERO loss is considered a gain? WWOL said it was. I think that is incorrect. I am on track. I logged everything this week and came out with some flex points left. I didn't eat as many veggies as I normally do this weekend tho so I think that is a big part of it. Also I didn't drink all my water yesterday and that usually plays a big part in it too. And...at the end of a WEEK Tom finally left...so there! All my excuses for not losing this week.
Why can I have awesome weeks and then weeks that get me nothing!

Grrr....oh well, I am in this to be healthy and losing weight is a bonus, right?

Happy Mother's Day!

Just wanted to wish you all a great day! You mom's (and future moms) are the best ever! You inspire and encourage and what more can a person ask for!

Hungry Girl Cookbook, mothers day and self control

How do I cover all that in one post? A tall order, but one I think I can handle.

So first order of business...the Hungry Girl Cookbook (http://book.hungry-girl.com/). All I can say is I love it! It is easy to read and the recipes don't look too complicated. They call for a lot of pre-cooked items so an easy to throw together meal. I am particularly happy about th happy hour section of the book...ummm, I mean really, 2 pt margarittas & Mojitos. Life is good.

Next...mother's day. Ahhhhh...what a treat it is. My son's school had a mother's day tea today. So cute. They only had fruit punch and sweetened tea tho. Yuck to both...No water? What is up with that????? They did serve some fruit with all the cookies, cakes and breads so that is what I stuck to. So glad to have some alternatives.

And last, but certainly not least, self control. As seen above with the choices at the tea I am really working hard on my self control. I try to always allow myself some freedom but within a certain area. We are having brunch w/my mom on Sunday and she is making homeade cinamon rolls and belgium waffles. I plan on taking fruit salad and eating an eggwhite omelet. I know my limits and if I so much as touch one of those cinamon rolls it will be all over for me.

So there you have it. Not very interesting but that is where I am. Where are you?

Weekly Weigh In...

Weight change since your last recorded weight
-0.4 lbs
Total weight change to date
-19.4 lbs

Oh well...it can't always be great. It is TOM and I think that is what caused the slow down. I did awesome in eating this week and I got a couple of days of exercise in. It is still slightly discouraging but hey...I didn't gain it overnight...although sometimes it feels that way.

Where did the week go?

I can not believe that it is Saturday already. Such a busy week. We have a bunch of people deploying from my base and we had a big party on Wed...that took a lot of time and then Thur. was recovery while working and yesterday was just Friday.
I did well this week. Stayed OP and walked a couple of days while I was at work.
My dd had her 15 month appt. She got 4 shots but is doing pretty well. She is 25 lbs 6 oz and 32 inches long. 90% for both height and weight. Funny thing is that I have this pretty good looking pediatrician and she started grabbing his phone in his pocket right as he walked in...then she started looking for things in his other pocket...as he is dancing away from her he is cracking up and said "my, aren't you a friendly thing." Got to love my crazy darlings, right?
Hope you all are doing well. Going to try and catch up right now!