Just Cinch It!

Today I moved in one notch on my belt. SUH-WEET! I wore some pants that I haven't worn in about 2 weeks and there was a noticable difference, particularly in my thighs. Instead of feeling the squeeze all day, I was met by the strange sensation of my pants sliding against my skin. I felt pretty freakin' proud of myself all day. :)

Next stop, size 10.

what is a girl to do?

So I have not had a good couple of days between staying within my calorie range and fruits and veggies I have bombed bad.  I think it all started when I went to out to lunch with a co-worker and lost all will power.  That was on Wed and it has been downhill since.  I decided I can't get upset about it or I will end up eating more.  I am going to watch a movie and have some air popped popcorn and chill out.  Hope everyone else's week was great.

Parmesan cheese makes me happy

This delicious farfale recipe above is Mindy's. At her suggestion, I made it with half & half, not heavy cream and cut the amount in half. It was still delish. But since I was low on veggies that day and high on calories, the farfale was my side dish and the veggies were the main course. The tomatoes halves have oregano, freshly grated parmesan and garlic salt on them, then roasted for 350, just until the cheese melted.

The lunch plate of food was all about using leftovers: chicken breast and peas mixed with low fat sour cream, dijon mustard and salt & peppa to taste. Parmesan cheese making an appearance here as faux potato chips. Grate 1/4 c cheese, stick it on a baking sheet in a solid shape at 350 for about 8 minutes. Salty, crunchy and delicious. 106 calories. Oh and I made the vinaigrette on the salad, so easy: 1 tsp olive oil, squirt of dijon mustard, bit of white wine vinegar, whisk. About 45 calories. Toss salad in it. Not the 150 calories of the dressing packs at fast food.

Ms. Thunder Bumper's Challenge #4

This challenge if you choose to accept it will carry over to our next session.

You will receive 10 points for each session for completing this task. Make sure you write down where you started so you can see how you improve.

FIRST-
I would like you to do a plank for as long as you can. Try holding it for one minute. If you can do that....try a side plank. If you don't know what that is, ask. After you time yourself on this keep working on it every other day or so until I ask you to test yourself again and see if your time has improved.

Holding the plank is a great core exercise. Here are two types of plank. Do the one that is best for you. If you need to you can always modify it further by putting your knees on the ground. Try working up to a regular plank.




SECOND- Can you do push-ups? How many can you do? You can try regular, bent knee, wall, bench. Just try to do them. Work on this and see how you can improve over the next few weeks. Push-ups are great for your shoulders, arms, back, and core!

Get to it Ladies! Cardio is great but if you're not using those muscles they won't be toned and ready for swimsuit season. Can't wait to hear how you do!

Nuts!

I wish nuts had fewer calories.
I wish a cup of pistachios had the mere 22 calories of 4 large shrimp or 1 large tomato.

But that's nuts. Cuz here's the truth per kernal:

Walnut 1/2: 13
Cashew: 11.64
Pecan 1/2: 9.8
Almond: 7
Peanut: 6
Pistachio: 4
Pine nut: 1

If I'm totally honest with myself on the nuts and oils front, I'm pretty sure my calorie counting has been a bit off. By maybe even up to 200 calories. That said, I think I'm going do something crazy: count nuts and make my own salad dressing.

Burning...Can't Walk...Falling to the Floor...AAaaahhh!

If everything works out, we'll be going to Lake Powell this summer!! That means swimsuits. And wakeboarding. And pictures of people in swimsuits wakeboarding. So yesterday I thought to myself, "Hmm, perhaps I should get my thighs strong enough to be able to wakeboard without doing a face plant or completely collapsing when I'm done." So I resolved that day (yesterday) to build up my quads and whatever else is on the back of those said quads. Now as my husband has our one car 4 days a week, and the day that I have it, I am doing all my shopping, babysitting, and taking my son to therapy in Tulsa (about a half hour from my house), I don't have time to go to the gym. And, my wonderful husband being who he is, wants my presence at home all night...in fact, last night his prayers included a thank you for the intimacy that our house forces (we have 3 kids in an 1150 sq. ft. house). He said he loves that I am always in the same room as him. Aww...so sweet, but the gym is calling.

Since the gym won't be happening, I must substitute something else for that training. I decided upon lunges, which I did all day. Whenever I walked around (which is quite frequently when you chase a 1 year old and my 3 year old around) the house (most of the time). Let me tell you, I am paying the price!! And because I already have an inflammatory connective disease AND bursitis and arthritis is both my knees and hips (and elsewhere, but that's not really relevant), I am going to be on some painkillers today! What was I thinking??

Unfortunately, I will continue my poor-man's exercising, not only for Lake Powell, but because strengthening those muscles also helps the bursitis in the long run...and I think it will be a LONG run. Wish me luck!

Do something for me?

If you ever do something in the day just for yourself like sit for a few minutes and read a book (that's not religious or educational), take a little nap, or work on anything that YOU want; do you feel guilty?

I find when I am trying to avoid my "to do's" I still want to look and act productive so I can't do something I might enjoy, EXCEPT maybe go grab something to eat out of the kitchen! (everyone has to eat right?) It's fast, no one notices (or do they) and I can hide behind all the things I should be doing or facing emotionally or physically.

I find that when I eat from my emotions I can shovel more food into my mouth in 10 minutes than I would an entire day if I were eating out of hunger!

This is what I am working on changing. I am trying to remind myself that I AM in control of what my body looks like. It is MY choices that make me feel amazing and energetic or exhausted and bloated.

I am grateful to know that all of you are out there working on changing bad habits too so we can do it together. It really does help when I know that I am not alone!

I think women in general are way too hard on ourselves. We think we have to be super moms, wives, friends, community volunteers... the list goes on. I know the Lord doesn't expect this. He needs us to be the best we can but that doesn't mean the BEST at ever single little thing! This is why we are all so different. We have been blessed with different gifts and talents that when we put them together, make all of us do great things! I really think this is one of the lessons God wants us to learn on this earth. We don't have to do it all!

Sorry for my rambling, it's been nice to write down my thoughts.

SO, when you don't want to do your "to do's" today, set your timer for 10 minutes and go DO something that you LOVE. Just stay OUT of the kitchen! :)

Emotional Eaters Anonymous

{image via here}

Hello. My name is Samantha and I'm an emotional eater.

There.  I said it.  The past few days have been riddled with unexpected stresses.  And as I've tried to deal with the stresses, I've taken solace in my bag of chocolate chips.  And the Samoas in my freezer.  Why?  Why, people? 

I don't know why.  I just know that food is comforting.  And delicious.

Mind you, I like Audrey, have been having three healthy meals a day.  I've been drinking all my water, too. And quitting 2 hours before bedtime - man, I'm shoving something in right at 8:59!  But it's those little moments when I think of a problem I'm dealing with and decide (YES, I DECIDE) to calm my worries and nerves with something sweet or savory, usually of the highly caloric variety. 

Ugg.  That's what I have to say about it.  And I've had enough! I welcome any suggestions for change - keeping in mind that I have an infant in tow, so up and running off to the gym to workout my frustrations is not feasible.

Emo - out.

Chasing the Wagon!

Monday was rediculous. I'm not sure why, the morning started off good but by late morning the feasting began. My day looked something like this.



Nothing was satisfying. I actually did eat three healthy means but my old fall back of eating to much between every meal and late into the night seriously kicked in. It was like my mind was fighting back saying hey lady, where's all the sugar, the cup of nuts with chocolate chips....FEED ME! It was a bit discouraging but yesterday was a much better day.

For me progress sometimes is so small that I get frustrated. I want to see super fast awesome results for my hard work. I have to keep remembering that I want to make a real change not a temporary one and that takes time.

So as I get back up on the wagon and keep rolling I'll remember this.

True life is lived when tiny changes occur. -Leo Tolstoy

Shoveling

I just shoveled for 40 minutes and I am TOTALLY counting that as exercise! Anyone wanna argue with me? Have you ever shoveled wet, heavy, early spring snow? It's a workout and a half!

Pant Sizes...

I am THRILLED to report that I went to the store today and bought a pair of jeans TWO sizes smaller than the ones I had been wearing!! Now granted, I've always worn baggy, comfy jeans, but my son Scott pulled them off me one too many times. So I went to go buy some jeans in my (now) real size! The best part, I thought I was just one size down, but it's 2! It feels so good!! (I have a huge grin on my face right now) Keep it up Girlies!!

What's for lunch?

Chicken salad:

1/2 c cubbed chicken breast
2 tbsp lowfat sour cream
1 tbsp cashews
1/2 c chopped celery
curry, to taste (I love curry)
green onion chopped, to taste

383 calories on whole wheat flat bread (but only 300 without the cashews). I indulged with the cashews because I missed my mid-morning snack.

Baked apples topped w/ honey nuts that was my low cal non-desserty concoction today.

Loading up on veggies later today.

Points

I got 22 points today!! Unfortunately, fruits and veggies weren't part of them. How do you eat that many fruits and vegetables?? I can barely manage to get a fruit in at lunch and then a vegetable in for dinner.

Free Day

I thought it would be interesting to post a list of all the food I ate during my free day. It was Tessa's birthday, and my brother from Oklahoma was slow-smoking 2 racks of ribs and a boston butt. With that, all the fixins and a chocolate cake with homemade frosting, I knew there was no way I'd keep under my caloric range, but I wanted to get the point for journaling what I ate. What an eye-opener! I was careful about my portion sizes, and I still got in all my fruits and veggies, but the sheer volume of food when all written out like this is staggering!

Cinnamon Toast Crunch
hot cocoa & graham crackers
sesame ginger chicken thigh

carrots
roasted zucchini

Sam's Jello fluff salad
1 Baked Lay (Yuck)
apple
1 piece See's candy
1/2 banana
3 mini reeses pb cup
homemade chocolate frosting
1 rib
1 slice of boston butt
baked beans
cole slaw
corn muffin
chocolate cake
Reese's ice cream (Yuck- tastes like coffee ice cream)

Before this blog, I would eat like this and not even think twice. Not on a regular basis, but definitely for special occasions. Now that I am more aware of what I'm eating, I never want to eat like this again. I felt so barfy by the end of the day, mentally and physically! When I count my calories, (even though it's a major pain in my big, jiggly booty) I feel really good about myself when, at the end of the day, I find I'm within my range. That is so motivating! This blog is changing my life. THANK YOU AUDREY!

Dessert substitutes?

I love dessert. But I gave it up during Lent. Great for this challenge, but still doesn't eliminate my craving for bready sweet things. I'm wondering about substitutes. So far, my substitutes have been dry cereal, hot cocoa, and, if I have enough points left, a 1/2 bagel with cream cheese and raspberry jam. Any other good low cal ideas? Fruit is fair game, by the way.

Yay!

I came back from Mindy's, and while I didn't keep track of a dang thing, I also didn't gain a dang thing!! Yay! But from now on, I'm tracking...in fact, I'd better go eat breakfast. What should I have?

Put your point totals here!

Two weeks down one more to go!!!! Keep it going.

Sunshine....Makin' Me Smile

I have spent much of this past week outside soaking up the sun. This weekend I loved being outside with my family. We spent a lot of time outside. Bike races, parks, hiking.
These two make me smile. They make me laugh. They make me want to be a better person. They a kind, loving, and love people. They make me want to appreciate the simple things in life. Most of what comes out of their mouth makes me laugh and smile.

Spending time with my family this weekend made me smile. It was a very very busy weekend with hardly time for a break but it was spent together as family, in the sunshine of this great weather we are experiencing.

The other thing that makes me smile is YOU! I can't tell you how many times I've just had a beaming smile on my face from reading your post and comments. Thanks for being the wonderful women I know each of you are. You're the best!

Points

My points for the week: 228

The best part of my weekend

Watching Tessa try to blow out the candles on her cake put a big fat smile on my face. She never figured it out, so it's a good thing she had lots of helpers. This was one of those mommy moments I won't forget... I hope.

Who doesn't love a lamb? (and no, I'm not talking about veal)

This brought a big smile to my face on Friday:

Our friends raise sheep and we got to go pet the baby lambs. Thankfully they were in a barn because it was snowing like crazy outside. (Yeah, true Spring won't be here for at least another month.)

We won't see blossoms for awhile yet, but seeing the baby animals in Spring is one of the best things about living in a rural community.