Working Hard On Changes

After my WW meeting on Tuesday I struggled a bit with my food on Wednesday.  The plan was to increase my protein intake but I didn’t really have a food plan so I felt really out of sorts.  I started to feel a bit scared to eat.  I was also hungry all day.  Staying at home and watching TV most of the day didn’t help as I had a lot of time to think about food.

We started our Wednesday off with omelets.  One egg and two egg whites, half a chicken sausage, half a bell pepper, and two tsp of olive oil.  Eggs must have ketchup!

After a trip to the gym I warmed up some stuffed chicken patties I found at Costco and made it into a lettuce wrap burger.  I had veggies and dip on the side.

Since I am trying to increase the protein and reduce the sugar and carbs I really struggled in the afternoon.  I had coffee and lots of water but eventually I went for a half a granola bar with peanut butter.  I knew I would still need something to eat before our planned meal out at a MS talk that evening.  I got creative in the kitchen and threw together a soup with chunked canned chicken, pinto beans, green chile, and chicken broth.  It did the trick and held me over until our dinner at Cottonwood Grille.  I didn’t take any photos of the Cottonwood meal and it wasn’t up to par from the times I have been before.

Thursday started off with overnight oats in a peanut butter jar.  I had a huge craving for this and after freeing up two peanut butter jars recently I couldn’t wait.  This jar was 20 grams oats, 4 oz NF Greek yogurt, 4 oz almond milk, 1 Tbs chia seeds, and strawberries.

I met Jamie to walk the mall and then we continued our visit at the coffee shop.  I went for a non-fat latte since I had not eaten for several hours.  We kept talking ourselves into not eating out and finally the time came that I had to get home to eat.  I was hungry.  After trying to not eat out, we decided to go across the street to Flying Pie for the pizza buffet.  My plan was to eat a lot of salad and one slice of pizza.  I even took that plan on step further and made my salad bowl my pizza plate and my pizza plate my salad bowl.  I had two big salads with dressing on the side and this slice of pizza.  Another pizza looked equally as good so I didn’t eat the top crust portion of my slice and selected a small slice that I also didn’t eat the crust of.  I felt really good about my eating out venture.

We ate at home on Thursday night as well.  It was mini meatloaf, butternut squash, and green beans.  I’ve also packed my meals for work yesterday and have a crockpot with chicken cooking at home.  I have not done really well in spicing things but I am working on more protein.

I have also been moving more.  I went to Axiom on Wednesday for 30 minutes of the kickboxing class and 10 minutes on the treadmill.  Thursday Jamie and I walked at the mall for 1 hour and 15 minutes and covered 3.3 miles.  I packed my bag and went straight to the gym after work on Friday.

 

My Mini WW Intervention

Good Morning and Happy Friday to you all.   I am starting my work week today after three wonderful days off.  I mean who doesn’t love days off work eh?  I am sorry I missed a post yesterday.  My day off was busy with this and that and spending time with friends.

So I’ll fill you in on my talk with my WW leader Donna from Tuesday.  It has been on my mind (in a good and positive way) and so far has been very helpful.

When I got to my meeting it was quite busy so I did my WI with the receptionist.  As the meeting was beginning, Donna put her hand on my shoulder and said she needed to talk with me after the meeting.  I assumed the worse and thought perhaps she was no longer going to be leading meetings.  She was kind enough to give me a heads up when she quit her Wednesday noon meeting.  Thankfully that wasn’t the case and I won’t be losing one of my favorite leaders.

After the meeting we sat down to talk.  Donna was quite surprised that my tracking was really good.  I have been falling off the grid by the end of my WW week and usually after I’ve run out of WPPA.  My food choices become a bit more lax and my tracking gets sloppy.  Overall, I start my weeks strong.  So I need to build on the positives early in my week to carry me through the weak moments.

We discussed shaking up my food and eating more protein and less carbs and sugar.  We discussed trying to get more food variety into my weeks.  I often fall into the trap of eating the same foods for a few days in a row and then I’m so bored I can’t wait to eat out.  Eating out is enjoyable for me.  Not only is the food better and yummier than what I prepare but it is nice to not have to think about what to cook, prepare it, and clean up.  It is also a social thing for Kenyon and I as well as the times I get together with my friends.

We discussed moving more and why I have let activity drop off completely.  Donna suggested selecting an item of clothing that is too snug or to small that I can pull out of my closet and look at each day as a positive reinforcement.  It was a really great talk and I am so glad she reached out to me. 

Since my meeting I have worked on changing up my food and getting in activity.  I struggled a bit with the eating.  I’ll get all my thoughts into a post on that tomorrow.

Thank goodness for wonderful WW support that understands the struggles with weight loss and maintenance.  It is so very important!

Mini Road-Trip

Hello and Happy Hump Day.

I am on day two of my days off and so far day one wasn't super eventful. I went to my meeting and my leader Donna said she wanted to talk to me after the meeting. I assumed it was because she was going to quit leading meetings. Thankfully that wasn't the case!

Donna sat down with me to discuss how she can be more supportive and what she can do to help me get my weight gain under control and turned back around to losing instead of gaining. We had wonderful talk. I'll share more in a few posts later. I love the support from my WW family.

Kenyon and I had plans to redeem a GroupOn at this place in Eagle called Grinkers. It is a no-frills place that offers sandwiches, chips, pop, and beer. The highlight of the place is there is every video game you can think of all for just $0.25 per play. It was awesome!!

Our GroupOn was for $20 to spend so we each got an 8 inch sandwich. I got whole wheat bread, which their bread is homemade and really delicious, and chose ham and cheese. I stuck to eating half the bread and took the ham from the other half to make it a super meat sub. I also had some salt and vinegar chips on the side. I only ate half the bag. It was a fairly high PPV lunch but was very good.

From there we went on a mini-road trip to the not-so-exciting town of Ontario, Oregon. When you buy a new car it is suggested that you drive it at varying speeds to make sure it is broken in properly. Since Idaho now has a speed limit if 80 mph, we needed to get my car up to speed. We also traveled the long way to Ontario to see some of the area I dispatch for but don't often visit. I may or may not have gotten my car up to 90 mph for a short time. I plead the fifth.

There was a Dutch Bros in Ontario and of course, the line was long. What is it lately with Dutch Bros being so popular? The gal at the post office even commented she wished there was one closer. Funny.

Since we ate out at lunch we stayed home for dinner and tag-teamed some taco salads. It was delicious. We have been eating out way too much! So far we have eaten home today and later this evening we will attend a MS talk at Cottonwood Grill. So that will be our eating out for today.

Have a great day.

Happy Birthday Jamie

Happy Birthday Jamie!!!

Today is actually a very popular birthday as I have four people that share this date.  I love birthdays!

Earlier in the month I met Jamie at Flying Pie.  The first Wednesday of each month, if it is your birthday month, you get to make a free pizza.  We met early so we could have the lunch pizza buffet and then Jamie took her pizza home for dinner.

Flying Pie is such a fun atmosphere.  They let you pick out a hat and then take you back and instruct you on making your favorite pizza.  It is a really neat experience.

8 Years

It was eight years ago this week that I walked into my local Weight Watcher center and signed up.  At the time, I had no idea how much this journey would change my life.

 

I have learned so much in my eight years as a WW member.  Regardless of the struggles I can proudly say that I am still nowhere near my starting weight of 304 pounds.

 

 

I appreciate all the love and support I receive from my family and friends as well as from my WW leaders and members.  My online WW Buddies 100% have my back.  I can’t wait until I can meet each of you in person.

No matter how tough this journey has been, quitting isn’t an option.  If you are struggling, I can’t encourage you enough to KEEP GOING.  Even if you are treading water, you are still fighting.  Reach out.  Ask for help. 

If you are just starting your journey, KEEP GOING.  There will come those times when it will get rough but it is always worth it.

If you have not yet begun your journey but know you need to make a change, DO IT.  You will be so glad you did.

 

Above all, and I can’t ever stress this enough, enjoy the journey.  Losing weight, especially a large amount is a whole life change.  The mental aspect of it all is very difficult.  Once you make up your mind that you will go all the way then trust in yourself.  Take pride in the accomplishments.  Say “Thank You” when somebody gives you a comment

 

Be proud of the changes you have made to become a healthier version of yourself.

Spaghetti Sqush

I threw together a spaghetti squash dish that was quite tasty.  It was so good that Kenyon didn’t leave me any for leftovers.  I guess that really makes this recipe a success.

I roasted the spaghetti squash at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or so.  It just depends on the size of your squash.  I then scooped the innards out once it had cooled down a little.

 

 

While the squash was cooling I sautéed two chicken sausages with two bell peppers and some olive oil.  I am not sure why I thought to add the bell pepper but I am glad I did.  It was a nice addition.  Sometimes I add broccoli and I think spinach would be good too.

I mixed in some alfredo sauce to just the squash.  I find that spaghetti squash isn’t as easy to mix as pasta so adding the sauce to just the squash helps to coat it really well.  Then I added the chicken sausage and peppers to the bowl.  Using a fork I incorporated it the best I could trying to string the spaghetti squash as I mixed.

 

I put the mixture into a 8x8 dish and topped it with some mozzarella.  I put it back into the oven at a reduced temperature of 350 for about 20-30 minutes.  I forgot to take a photo of the whole dish so here is one of the last serving. 

Mighty yummy dinner.

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Feeling In Control

Good Morning.  I hope you have a lot of fun planned for the weekend.

I enjoyed my days off.  I sort of had split days off due to working a last minute overtime shift on Wednesday.  It was nice to have a day off yesterday before returning to work.  Our weather is expected to be better this week.  We even had sunshine!!

Eating has been going well this week.  It has helped to actually plan meals and buy the groceries for it.  Ha!  I have eaten out three meals this week and all are tracked.  I have 16 WPPA left.

Our Ladies Nite get together was at Carino’s Italian on Wednesday evening.  I was really craving carbs last week but wanted to be mindful of my bread consumption.  It was also half priced bottles of wine.  I got there early and ordered a sweet bottle of wine.  Not many people drank it so I could have saved some money if I had just gotten a glass or a different happy hour drink.  They allow you to take the bottle home so I sent it home with one of the other ladies.  I followed my pre-plan for Carino’s even though I did eat more bread than planned and drank more wine than planned.  I felt good when I left the restaurant and that means a whole lot more to me than feeling like I “should have done better.”  It was also all tracked.  Every 31 PPVs of it!

 

Love me some bread with garlic and olive oil for dipping

Yesterday I met Jamie to walk the mall.  We walked for over an hour and about 3.3 miles.  I wore my HRM and earned 5 APs.  Yeah! 

This was a full days worth of APs

I had a coupon that needed to be used at Costa Vida so we decided to go there after the mall.  We had plans for a noon movie but we were standing strong on no movie popcorn (despite how delicious it smelled, we didn’t have any popcorn).  We both got the sweet pork salad and I got the small tortilla on the side to save PPVs.  As usual, it hit the spot.

I made dinner at home last night.  I’ll share that recipe with you tomorrow.  My food is all packed for work today and there is a pork roast in the crockpot for dinner.

It feels good to be in control.

Cauliflower Fried Rice

I have a coworker that introduced me to cauliflower rice.  I have heard of the many ways you can make cauliflower into other types of foods but all the recipes involve a food processor, which I don’t have.  Kourtney had offered to chop up a bunch of cauliflower for me if I wanted but I never took her up on the offer. 

I really don’t like cauliflower but I figured the rice recipe might be a good way to get in some extra veggies but disguise it a little in the process.  I saw a recipe posted online for cauliflower fried rice and decided I would give it a go.  The only problem was, I still didn’t have a food processor.  I was going to take some cauliflower over to Jamie’s house when we spotted this Ninja Ultra Kitchen System at Costco.  I knew Kourtney used her Ninja to chop up her cauliflower so I decided to buy one.

 

I’ve only used it to chop up cauliflower.  I need to look up some soup and smoothie recipes so I can try out the blender.  I also want to try out some of the cookie or bread recipes to see how it works.  What I like about this Ninja pack is that there is the blade for the processing but also a hook for baking.  I just need to spend some time in the kitchen…then share the treats with my coworkers.

I loosely followed the Skinnytaste recipe.  In my dish I added one egg, peas, shredded carrots, diced ham, minced onion, and garlic powder (since I didn’t have any minced garlic).  I added a good amount of soy sauce and also teriyaki sauce

The verdict?

It was just okay.  I love Jazmine rice so I thought the cauliflower fried rice lacked flavor.  When I made another batch I added in some brown Jazmin rice.  Not sure it helped it much and it added a few extra PPVs.

I love the large serving you get with cauliflower rice but I’m not sure I’d do this often.  Perhaps minced garlic and actual chopped onion might help.

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Hard Workin' Gal

Good Morning.  I can’t believe January is almost over.  We only have a week and a half left.  That means we are closer to the end of winter.  Yeah.

I got roped into working overtime today.  Normally that wouldn’t be a big deal but today the President of the United States visits Boise.  While most of Boise, and Idaho in general is happy about this turn of events, those of us in dispatch are working hard behind the scenes.  It is going to be a crazy day.  We also have not had the best weather.  Fog and slick roads have made for some long and busy shifts.  I had two fatal crashes on Sunday and Monday.  This is never an easy job.

Since I’m really the only one that answers my phone, I am now at work for the next nine hours.  Let’s get the party started.

Yesterday was my day off and it was a much needed break from the last two days at work.  I went to my WW meeting and then Kenyon and I went to breakfast at a new place in town, that really isn’t new we just haven’t been.  The Original Pancake House is a no frills restaurant that felt more like a place where regulars go.  The staff was funny and nice and the service was prompt.  The coffee is a bit strong but the refills kept coming.  I like that!

As you know by now my routine for eating out at breakfast is to take my pancakes home.  I selected the eggs and bacon with a side of pancakes.  The bacon was the best part!  It is thick long strips and the back of the menu said it was made especially for the Original Pancake House.  I saw a couple next to us had a side order and Kenyon I had planned to share an order as well.  Then I found out they were out of Canadian bacon, which is what I would have gone for.  So, I got bacon with my meal and Kenyon shared it.  We still had some to take home.

I picked oatmeal pancakes for my pancake choice, although it is $2.00 more if you want a specialty pancake.  I gotta say, I didn’t really taste much oatmeal.  I ate one pancake with my eggs and bacon and also took some home.

I also baked some homemade whole wheat bagels yesterday.  I’m not quite sure I did it right but I used the bread maker and sort of winged-it after feeling like the dough was a bit dry.  They taste okay.  Not sure if there just isn’t enough sweet like other bagels or perhaps if my flour is old.  They are just 5 PPVs.  I am going to make one into a bagel sandwich later this week.

Food was tracked 100% yesterday and I used 3 WPPA.  I also did meal planning and have meals lined up for lunches and dinners this week.  Yeah!

No WW Scale Today

Good Morning.

It's Weigh-In Day...dun...dun...dun...

I suspect I'd be feeling better about it had I not been so careless with my food last week.

Positives:

I worked out three days last week

I actually went to the gym. (I know it is quite a shock!) It was nice being back in the gym environment.

I ate some healthy meals

It might be a short list but there are some positives to my week last week. I have checked in the scale at home and the feed back is ugly. I am going to skip the WW scale and work really hard this week to get my food in check. With that being said, I am not going to allow a pass at the scale to continue to drive my careless eating. I have a lot of social events planned this week and they involve food. I don't want to tell myself I can't enjoy some of the food along with all of the social. I have to be really mindful and I have to track. 100% tracking. My tracking was really loose last week and it is no surprise my food choices were also very lax.

I go through phases of “I look okay” to “I really wish my clothes fit and looked better.” I need to find the balance in my mental thinking but I also need to be more tough with myself. I really got out of control this last week and we ate out a ton.

I've also been starving by the time we get to the restaurant we are eating at. While that isn't driving my food choices as much, it is making me overeat. 

Careless + Overeating = Disaster. And it equals weight gain.

Doh!

2014 FitBit Totals

I wasn’t aware that FitBit gives you a yearly total.  I guess that is because 2014 would have been my first year of actually having a FitBit.

Here is my year in review:

Total Distance: 1,324 miles

Total Steps: 2,950,606

It says my most active month was May.  That is when I walked the Bloomsday 12K and visited Dawny in Spokane.  So I suppose that could be correct.  Not sure how it is factoring that info.

It says my most active day was May 13^th.  Again, I have no idea why.  It says my least active day was June 10^th.  I’m sure I had lots of least active days last year I just didn’t sync my FitBit.

What I do like is at the bottom of the email it says: “You might not have noticed when you were running errands, chasing the bus, or hitting the gym after a long day, but every single step you took added up to something big.  Something really big.  It’s a year to be proud of.  And we’re pumped to be a part of it.”

That was really neat.  It also says to make 2015 the most active year yet.  I sure do need to amp up my APs.

And I need to remember to sync up my FitBit!

Split Pea Soup

 

I have never had split pea soup but I have always wanted to try it.  Eating something green doesn’t scare me!

Katie posted a blog link several months ago with her split pea soup that is cooked in the crockpot.  It looked really easy so I copied the link and set it aside.  With our cold and rainy weather soup has sounded good so I finally got around to making her recipe.

 

It was really good.  I followed her recipe and measurements but I halved the recipe so I only had four servings.  I also left out the bay leaf and I’m not sure if that is why it lacked a little bit of flavor.  I had to add salt and pepper.  After I ate one serving I wanted more so I split one of the remaining servings up and counted each one as 9 PPVs.

The leftovers heated up nicely.  It was a pretty hard and thick blob when I went to re-heat it at work.  I added water until it was the consistency I wanted and put it into the microwave.  It was just as delicious.

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You Are So Good

 

Good Morning.  Happy Saturday to you all.

I am sorry I had to cut my blog content short yesterday.  It was a really busy/steady day with the weather and there were tons of phone calls.  It was exhausting.  I am hopeful today will be a better day.

Yesterday I had planned to share with you my thinking lately on healthy eating and being “good.”  I hate the terms “good” and “bad” when describing food and eating and yet you hear that a lot at the WW meetings and even when talking to other people who are trying to lose weight.  We are not good or bad based on the food we put into our mouth.  Eating something healthy makes you feel good but it doesn’t mean when you indulge that you are bad or that you are somewhat less of a person because.  When those indulgences are planned it can feel “good.  However, it is those unplanned indulgences where guilt can start to set it and we can feel like we did something wrong.  You didn’t.  You ate something, hopefully it was yummy and you enjoyed it, and now…move on.

(Insert photo of a yummy looking dessert here)

 

My eating during my days off consisted of a mix of healthy meals and less-healthy meals.  I ate out several times and on Thursday there was not much overall nutrition content to my food choices.  I blew through my WPPA really quickly and after eating the delicious dessert posted above, I am now in the negative.

When I met Jamie for a movie on Thursday we shared some movie popcorn.  I don’t like the liquid butter on my popcorn so I brought a small brown paper sack to put some popcorn into before the butter was poured on.  When it came time to refill the big popcorn bag Jamie asked if I wanted more to which I declined.  Honestly, I wanted more!!!  However, her daughter wasn’t feeling well (stayed home with a sore throat but had perked up) and so the thought of eating anymore popcorn out of the same bag was a deterrent.  I just didn’t want to make Jamie or Audrey feel bad.  So I declined.  I heard Jamie say, “you are being so good.”  Well, since I just shared with you that I wanted more and probably would have had more had the situation been different, obviously my behavior wasn’t that “good”.  Since I didn’t get the extra liquid butter on my portion of popcorn I had definitely made a better decision.  Plus, I had also controlled my portion size and that too was a better decision. 

It is easy to look at that and think “wow, that person is really good.  I wish I was being good too.”  Such a negative way of thinking eh?

Despite having movie popcorn on Thursday I talked Kenyon into going out to Cracker Barrel for dinner.  Thursday night is turkey dinner night and it is delicious!  Before our meal came (which I was STARVING) I toyed with the idea of ordering a dessert.  I took a few minutes to get my tracker caught up on my food from Wednesday evening, where we ate out at Café Ole, and all I had eating earlier in the day.  I knew I was out of WPPA and I knew I was pleasantly satisfied with my meal.  Yet that dessert still sounded really yummy.  I had a moment of regret after ordering thinking I didn’t need it…and I didn’t.  But I still ate some of it anyways.  It was delicious.

It would be easy for me to think I was being “bad” and needed to eat the bare minimum the next day.  Instead on Friday I got right back to healthy food choices, I packed my food for work and I cooked us dinner at home last night.

I can’t stress enough on learning how to rid yourself of the guilt you feel after you over-indulge.  It isn’t easy and I still struggle with it.  I would at the very least encourage you to break the habit of seeing food as “good” or “bad.”   Nothing that tastes good should be bad! 

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Busy Day At Work

Hello.  It is almost afternoon and I’ve just now had a chance to jot down a few words.  It is busy today at work!!!  I have no idea what it is with moisture on the ground that causes drivers to crash.  I made it to work just fine.  Sheesh.

I set a goal for myself to get in 10,000 steps on my days off this week.  While I didn’t quite actually get there, I did really well.  And hey, it was more activity then I have been doing.

On Tuesday I met Jamie for a mall walk, ran errands, and then cleaned house.  I earned 14,000 steps.  On Wednesday I went to Axiom to attend the kickboxing class.  I walked on the treadmill both before and after the class and attended 30 minutes of the class.  By the end of the day I had logged almost 10,000 steps.  I was too tired to reach for those last 200 steps.  Thursday I was feeling a bit lazy and my plans to meet Jamie for another mall walk fizzled out.  I was just about to head out for a walk in the sunshine when Jamie called to see if I wanted to walk from her house to the cheap seats and see a movie.  So I got some sort of activity in but didn’t quite make it to 10,000 steps.

The thing I have noticed since I got my FitBit over a year ago is that I really have to work to get 10,000 steps.  I just am not that active in my everyday life.  It is always a reminder that I need to use those extra tips for getting in extra steps.

Okay, I’ve got to cut this short.  We are just super busy at work.

Hump Day Wednesday

Good Morning. Happy Hump Day.

I wasn't kidding when I said yesterday was a busy day.

After all our errands were ran and my house cleaning was done, I relaxed on the couch with some coffee and The Bachelor (yes, I would have preferred wine but coffee had to do).

Is anybody else watching The Bachelor? Holy Cow....CRAZY women this season. It is like ABC found the most craziest women to cast on this show. Of course it won't keep me from watching all the crazy unfold. My TiVo has exploded and I have so much TV to watch. It was hard to call it quits and head to bed at a decent time.

Today will be a busy day as well. I just had a healthy breakfast of eggs/egg white scrambled with bell pepper and turkey sausage. I had half of a bagel with some WW herb & garlic cheese spread. FYI, the spread isn't that great. I love the Laughing Cow cream cheese (not the cheese spread) and it has been hard to find. I was hoping the WW type was like that. However, not the case. I'll keep searching for Laughting Cow.

I am going to head to the gym here soon and take the kickboxing class. I really miss kickboxing and last time my back seemed to do okay. Fingers crossed! I'll have to modify my moves and keep it low impact.

I have a meet-up with Jamie today to attend a MS talk and then later a family reunion planning committee meeting. I am on the committee for planning the 150^th Anniversary Celebration of the family ranch, which is still a working ranch and in the same family line. Needless to say, the planning started over a year ago. Doh!

I forgot to share with you yesterday my new WW charm. I love bling and I've been waiting for my WW area to get our snowflake charms. As an incentive for attending six of eight meetings during Thanksgiving and Christmas, WW was giving out this super cute snowflake charm. I've not gotten a charm in over a year, almost two years, so it was really nice to get something to add to my key ring. I hope to add more LT keys to my key ring in the future.

Oh, and I met a new WW member that hopefully we might start to hang out a bit. She heard me talking about my mall walk and is interested in joining me. She recently moved from Miami and is from South Africa. She has a fun accent. Sweet! She also works night shift and shift work so we have something in common.

Have a great Wednesday.