A Busy Sunday

It has been a long day today!! I am lounging with my feet up watching the clock tick closer to bedtime. I am not quite ready to start the work week again tomorrow. Where did this weekend go?

This morning started off with an early morning breakfast (6:30am) with Kenyon's coworkers. We went to Eddie's Diner, which was okay but nothing special. I then headed to the base of Table Rock to meet up with Danielle and Julie for a hike up the big hill. I had my doubts I'd make it to the top and I figured I'd go at a snails pace...but we made it!

I burned 800 calories in our 1.5 hour hike and then I proceeded to eat lots of carbs thus canceling out my workout. I am having a tough time controlling my indulgences this week.

My sister extended the invitation to her friend Amanda's son's high school graduation party. Amanda and Jenny have been friends since first grade. They were college roommates when Amanda had Zach. I can't even believe he graduated from high school. I am so proud of him!! I also got to see Amanda's sister, brother, and Shawn's parents, all of whom I've not seen since Amanda and Shawn got married. I also bumped into a couple who I worked with at BSU during my college years. It is always such a small world.

I have logged 13,000 steps today. It was a pretty late night after the movie and visiting with Rebecca for a bit afterwards. I almost though I might skip out on the hike but I am really glad I didn't. I needed a good dose of activity.

Now, to clean up my food this week!

A Farmer's Market Saturday

Welcome to the weekend.

It was so nice to be able to visit the Farmer's Market today. I met up with Mark at Flying M coffee where we got our liquid gold and continued on our way.

I was in search for the yummy roasted red pepper and olive tapenade spread I feel in love with last year. She ended up being moved to a different location but we found her!

I also found other stuff to by. I had just been to my WW meeting this morning and a gal shared that she got some salt grinders with added spices that she loves to use when cooking. I happened to find their booth so I picked up their Farmer's Market trio. I've used a couple so far and they are pretty good. I can't say it spiced up my food a ton. I might need to experiment more.

I also got some cream cheese. I am not sure why I decided to purchase this as I really don't use much cream cheese. It is made from 100% cheese vs cream like traditional cream cheese.

Kenyon and I sampled my Farmer's Market purchased this afternoon.

Mark and I walked 3 miles today. It was nice to get some steps in. I got my nails done and then took a nap since Kenyon was sleeping. I slept for 2 hours! I hope I can fall asleep tonight!!

I am meeting up with Rebecca to see “The Last Ride” tonight at the cheap seats. I see movie popcorn in my future....

Sticking To Plan A

Happy Friday!  I actually get to enjoy Friday along with you all since my new rotation includes weekends off.  Weeeeeeee…..

On Wednesday I had to revert to Plan B and I am super excited to report that yesterday at my Ladies Happy Hour get together, I stuck to Plan A!

My plan:

• Only one drink
• Order the hummus, pita, and veggies
• Order the croquetas and share
• NO dessert
   

I was 100% on track and the only thing I did to stray from my plan was eat two pieces of Lori’s chicken quesadilla.  Honestly, that was pretty good and I would consider getting that next time.  It was loaded with cheese and anything loaded with cheese is good.  The croquetas were amazing!!!  I wanted to order another round to “share” and eat them all myself.  But I didn’t.  I only had one and thankfully the rest were eaten by the group.

The hardest part was no dessert.  I wanted an iced coffee and knowing I was so close to Flying M coffee I had planned to stop by on my way home.  Jamie wanted to visit longer so we relocated to Flying M to chat and have coffee.  The dessert case is amazing there but I really wanted to stick to my plan.  I also knew I didn’t need to be spending PPVs on sweets.

 

I have the best group of girlfriends.  Natalie brought her friend Ashley and we instantly made a connection with her.  She will be added to the group immediately.  We had a nice size group last night.  The patio area at Cottonwood Grille was not fully shaded and it was HOT out.  Such a beautiful area though.  We had a really great time.

I guess I don't know where I should be looking when somebody is taking a photo.  Doh!

This morning in dispatch there are donuts.  I am not going to partake.  I don’t need to be spending the PPVs on donuts and I honestly don’t really like them.  They taste good but the fried aftertaste always gets me afterwards.  I’ll stick to my meal plan today.  I don’t know what is being served at the reunion planning meeting tonight.  It might be another PPV counting day.

I have my official WW WI tomorrow.  I am not sure yet how it will go.  Happy Scale is telling me my weight is stable/down in the last 7 days and that I am down for the last 30 days as well.  However, I do think I am up just a smidge from last week.  I feel a little scale anxiety in that I am not ready to see a gain.  However, I am happy how my week has gone so far despite having many meals out/off plan moments. 

I have plans for a hike this weekend to rev up the activity.

Plan B

Sometimes the best laid plans can change.  Good thing I’m flexible!  Honestly, if I didn’t have a plan to start with then I have already set myself up to fail.

I started my day off eating more towards SF than counting PPVs.  I knew there was a potluck meal planned for dinner and I had made a pasta salad to contribute thinking I would eat more of that and survey my other options.  My Mom was bringing chicken so I knew I could also have some chicken and stick to SF.  I got a text message after work that instead of meeting for Emma’s pre-school graduation that we would meet in a different park for Hailey’s birthday celebration.  I was still going to stick with my plan of pasta salad and chicken.  All that changed when I saw the birthday cake.

 

OMG!  I think I just died and went to version of heaven that involves happy mounds of sugar.

Needless to say, Plan B begun.  I had filled in my WW tracker earlier in the day with the foods I had eaten but hadn’t yet figured out the PPVs incase I did SF.  At the party I had some pasta salad, a breast of chicken, some baked beans, and some coleslaw.  Oh and a bit of cake.  I ended up using 13 WPPA (best guess on PPVs estimates).

The cake was really delicious.  It is the kind of cake that sneaks up on you though.  It was super moist and went down really easily.  Pretty soon though I realized it was just too much sugar.  I would have been satisfied with just half my slice.  None the less, it was an indulgence for sure.

I’ve got my Ladies Happy Hour planned after work today.  I am counting PPVs again today and I’ve planned a low PPV lunch.  I’ve looked at the drink menu and the happy hour food menu and also laid out a plan.  I even wrote in my WW tracker “One Drink And No Dessert”.  I’ve had a bit too much sugar the last few days so I need to scale back on that this week.

Have a great Thursday.

Busy Week Ahead

Hello and Happy Wednesday.

It is the start of my WW week and this week is set to be a busy one.

Today: 12-hour shift at work and then Emma’s pre-school graduation/potluck and Hailey’s birthday celebration.

Thursday: Ladies Happy Hour with my friends after work.  Girl time, food, and cocktails!

Friday: Reunion planning committee meeting in Murphy after work. 

Saturday:  WW meeting, Farmer’s Market with Mark (Flying M Coffee for sure and maybe lunch), and a nail appointment.

Whew!  The other half the equation is my schedule and Kenyon’s schedule overlaps so I won’t really see him until Saturday morning.  (insert sad face here)

I’ll be working hard to keep my food in check this week.  I am not sure how much of it will be SF vs. counting PPVs.  Tracking will be key along with planning some lower PPV meals.  I have no idea when I will have time to carve out some activity. 

 

I’ll need to ramp it up come Saturday and Sunday for sure!

I hope your Wednesday is off to a great start.

Monday Fun-Day

Good Morning!  Happy Tuesday.

It was really weird getting to work at 6am today when two days ago I was getting off work at 6am.  I’m still trying to adjust my sleep so it was a bit rough last night.  Nothing a few shots of espresso can’t fix eh?

My Monday day off was a fun and busy day.  I stopped into the gym on Sunday to change over the credit card billing and saw they had a step class at 9:30am.  I rushed to get some breakfast in me and to the glass.  Holy cow it was packed!  With my back issues I am trying not to push it too much when it comes to classes so I did about 25 minutes of the class.  It was a heart rate booster (and a sweat booster) earning me 4 APs.  I was feeling a bit low on my APs this week but my total is coming in at 12.  I’m happy about that.

I met up with Janet for a bite to eat at Cracker Barrel before our first movie.  The Monday lunch special was baked chicken, cornbread dressing, and gravy.  I thought it was a chicken breast but it was a bone-in-chicken.  Still yummy but not sure I’d get it again.  The cornbread dressing is 8 PPVs and I usually only eat half.  I also got cooked carrots.  It was a pretty high PPV meal for very low volume.  I always hate that.  None the less, it was tasty.

Our first movie was Pitch Perfect 2.  I did like the sequel and there were many laugh out loud moments.  However, it has nothing on the original.  I really liked the first movie best.  Of the two movies we saw yesterday, this one was the better of the two.

We had about an hour to kill between movies and since we figured we might use some calories for popcorn why not go to On The Border and make our calories count!  We enjoyed some chips, salsa, queso, and black bean dip.  We may have also enjoyed an adult beverage as well.

 

I am not used to that much sugar and boy was it a splurge.

Our second movie of the day was Hot Pursuit.  I had high hopes for this movie but it fell flat.  You can’t win them all!

It was a very enjoyable day.  I love spending time with Janet.  I’ve not had that much of a food splurge since re-committing to WW three weeks ago.  It showed up on the scale today.  I am mindful of the trend vs the day-to-day WI and the scale will come back down.

Wanting Something

Good Morning!!

Happy Memorial Day. I saw a really great sign as I was driving to The Village yesterday. “All give some and a few give all.” Thank you to those that serve our country past, present, and future.

Happy 11^th Birthday to Hailey Bug. My niece is growing up so fast. We will celebrate her birthday later this week. That is one bummer to a birthday near a holiday.

I'm happy to be blogging in real time and IN THE DAYLIGHT today! I got some really good sleep last night and I am planing to hit up a 9:30am step class at the gym this morning. I have plans to meet up with a friend or two later.

My scale dropped quite a bit overnight so I am not sure this is my true weight. Sure is nice to see though. I was awake less hours so that could be part of it. My activity has been really low this week but my food has been in check.

Speaking of food, yesterday early evening after we had our lunch/dinner I was feeling like I wanted something. I wasn't sure what something was. Maybe sweet? I was going to get a Dutch Freeze when I stopped by Dutch Bros but wanted to wait and see if Kenyon was up for a movie at Overland Park Cinema. They have caramel corn so I thought maybe I'd save some PPVs for that. He wasn't up for a movie so that ended that. A short while later I still wanted something. Cheesecake Factory was open until 10pm so I suggested going for dinner. I love the Asian chicken lettuce wrap tacos. The WW Gods were looking out for me in that there was no brown bread in the bread basket. I love the brown bread (a little too much) so I skipped the bread in lieu of cheesecake.

After I had my tacos I was pleasantly content. I asked Kenyon if he thought he would eat any cheesecake if I got a piece and he didn't really want any. I really felt as though my "wanting something" craving had been satisfied and that I didn't really need cheesecake. Sure, if I had gotten a piece I would have enjoyed a few bites and brought the rest home. I just really felt content. I chewed on some gum while we waited for a very long time for our server and our check to get me over that hump of wanting dessert.

The craving for something sweet was still there so I checked out the ice cream section when we stopped at Albertson's on our way home. I got the Dreyer's NSA mint chocolate chip ice cream. In the past this has been really good. However, this time I felt as though the mint could have been stronger. The chocolate chips were still tasty. It at least served the sweets craving and I only had my one measured bowl.

I might have some dessert today when I am out to dinner. We shall see! I think we will do dinner between the two movies in hopes of deterring popcorn eating (and money spending).  

Last Night Shift In The Books

Oh my goodness.  My last night of working graveyard shift went out with a bang.  We assisted Boise Police for an hour pursuing a suspect/vehicle all over Boise.  Thankfully he was taken into custody without incident.  It was an eventful night!  Once we got that all wrapped up there was still a lot of troopers in for a Saturday night.  I’m ready for bed!  Only about 30 minutes left in my shift.

Our lawn, which I am now calling The Amazon, needs mowed desperately.  We have had several days of rain and I had planned to mow the lawn yesterday when I woke up.  It was a no go when a storm rolled in just as I was going to head out and tend to it.  Darn it!  I’m hoping I can mow later today.  I’m not even sure if the mower will make it through both the front and the back on one battery charge.  We shall see.

I’m hoping I will ramp up some activity over my days off Sunday and Monday.  I didn’t feel like exercising today, despite having the time to do so since I wasn’t mowing the lawn.  I think I’m feeling a bit bored with my exercise routine again.  I might try and hook up with my friend Mark for a hike later today.  We will see.  Lawn mowing is on tap first!

Monday I have plans to meet up with a friend for a double feature movie and also dinner.  We are planning to see Pitch Perfect 2 and Hot Pursuit.  Fun!

Okay.  That is enough rambling for one blog post!

Homemade Lasagna

One of the reasons I really love SF is that I don’t have to calculate all the PPVs that goes into a recipe.  I know if you put it into the Recipe Builder it will calculate it for you, however, that takes just as much time as doing it by hand.  With SF it is good to weigh and measure your portions but sometimes it is nice to just throw it all in, mix it up, and go!

I’m eating all SF these next few days and decided to throw together lasagna.  Another thing I really like about SF is that I feel like I can eat higher PPV foods (pasta) and not feel like I'm breaking the bank.  My lasagna was all SF except for the Italian cheese I added to the FF ricotta.

I used lean ground turkey in my lasagna sauce since turkey is cheaper than beef these days.  I cooked up a pound and then split it in half to use for a different meal.  Pasta sauce isn’t SF so I had to make my own.  I mixed one can of tomato sauce, flavored with roasted garlic, and half a can of petite diced tomatoes.  I also added some minced garlic.   I had the tomato paste just in case I needed to thicken it up but I didn’t need it.  I added some Italian seasoning as well.

Boiled the whole wheat noodles.

And mixed some FF ricotta with 56 grams Italian shredded cheese.

Layer it all up and into the oven at 375 until it is cooked.  I did about 20 minutes covered with foil and then about 5 minutes un-covered.  It got a little bit dry.  If you wish to add more PPVs you could top it with more cheese.

I served my portion up with some salad.  It was actually really tasty.

MIA

Oh my gosh it has been a busy few days. I didn't mean to leave you hanging!!! My days off have flown by. Let's rewind.

Wednesday: I had a great WI again this week. I lost 1.2 pounds for a total of 6.4 pounds. I have my sights on you 10 pound star! I'm coming for you. I also saw two green squares on my Happy Scale app this week. I am really happy with my progress and my re-commitment to my weight loss.

SF is still going strong. This week I need to work on spicing up my food choices though. I can fall into the trap of the same foods all the time and I don't want to derail the SF train. Changes this week in my meals are on tap.

I got in a great walk to/from WW and beat the storm that was rolling in. I earned 4 APs and started my week off with some good activity. I was tempted to walk to SouperSalad but wasn't sure I wouldn't get poured on. Instead I drove to SouperSalad for lunch and then ran a few errands. I wasn't impressed with the soup choices but built myself a nice big salad.

I took a nap and then met Kenyon for a midnight meal at Denny's. Pancakes for the win!!

Thursday: Yesterday started off full speed with a full day planned. I had an early morning appointment and then had to take care of some things afterward. I had plans to head to Murphy for reunion planning for the Joyce Reunion/150^th Celebration but before that I stopped by work for a retirement party. Sgt. Burke, who is also a close family friend, retired after 29 years in police service. Sgt. Burke's son has just graduated from the POST Academy and will soon be on the road as one of our new troopers. He will be taking over his Dad's old number. That is really exciting!

Photo credit to Shauna, who takes amazing photos!

It was such a wonderful retirement party and I am so glad I was able to be there. I'll see Sgt. Burke around Silver City as we both have cabins by each other. He is such a great guy and has such a wonderful family. Best of luck to Sgt. Burke.

From there I headed to Murphy. Always an experience when we all get together to plan this celebration. Only a few weeks left! The cows are out and about on the ranch and whenever I drive up/down the long driveway to my cousin Tiffany's house I feel like the cows are saying “slow down!” My cousin Chad said they were also saying “that is a weird car.” I would agree with that. I doubt those cows see many bright green cars. (I suspect I'm over thinking this).

I caught a nap when I got home and then met up with a coworker (Hi Cathy) for a late night meal at Denny's. Our service was less than stellar but once again...pancakes for the win! I'm now refreshing my memory in anticipation for a friend date on Monday to see Pitch Perfect 2. WhoooHooo!

Meet Our Newest Employee

Say hello to our newest employee: Mr. Treadmill Console.

Several months ago our LT contacted us about using yearend money to purchase a treadmill or bicycle that would be used at the console.  I was sort of on the fence as I just wasn’t sure I would want to stand for a full 10-hour shift.  However, I also know having a treadmill in the dispatch center would sure pass some of those slow downtime shifts (i.e. graveyard between 4am and 6am). 

I came to work today to see our new employee has arrived.  I haven’t had time to use it yet but I do plan to bring my tennis shoes to work on Friday and Saturday.  We have approval to change into tennis shoes while we are using the treadmill console. 

There are those nights were it can be hard to stay awake so I think a little activity will go a long way.

Monday Happenings

I had an enjoyable day off with Kenyon last night.  Unfortunately he woke up not feeling so great but is possibly on the mend.  He thinks it is something he ate.  Yikes!  I hope for a speedy recovery.

We had our massages yesterday afternoon and then went to Cracker Barrel.  Kenyon had dinner and I had breakfast.  Since we are both on night shift and got up early for our massage appointments we took at nap in the late afternoon/early evening.  We were able to stay awake until 4am doing this and that around the house.  It was tempting to eat out again, Denny’s pancakes, but we stayed home.  The scale was down this morning.  Yes!

Today I had my PT appointment and then a follow-up with the doctor at the Spine Center.  I hate to talk about my back feeling better for fear of jinxing it.  I have been feeling really good since last Friday’s PT appointment.  I was a bit achy after the massage as the therapist pushed too hard on my lower back.  Thankfully the PT brought me back to comfortable.  We are pushing my next appointment out two weeks due to my changing work schedule and the Memorial Day holiday.  I must stay on track at home to see how I have progressed at our next visit.

I am now at work after grabbing a quick nap and preparing my food for work.  Here is today’s food.  It is a SF day:

Breakfast: egg sandwich made with 2 slices light toast, egg/white, 1 slice bacon (1 PPV), and homemade strawberry jam (2 PPV).  Coffee but not cream.

Snack: salad with pinto beans and 14g  blue cheese dressing (1 PPV).

Lunch: mini meat loafs, corn cob, and sweet potato cooked in olive oil.

Dinner: chicken sausage (3 PPV), peas, and sugar free jello with mandarin oranges.

Late night/early morning snack at work: 6 oz FF Greek yogurt and frozen berries.

Extras: Human Bean Iced Americano with cream (1 PPV) and Dutch Bros decaf Americano with cream (1 PPV).

I used 9 WPPA today.  I still have plenty of  WPPA left with Tuesday being my last day this week.  I earned 2 APs today, one at PT and one doing an easy 20 minute walk on the treadmill.

How To Make A Boca Burger Taste Good

The trick to a delicious tasting Boca burger is to season it up juuuuuust right!

When I started losing weight I sought out all the low PPV foods. That included meat substitutes like Boca and Morning Star. While I like something of each of the different name brands, I prefer the Boca name brand burger best. 

My favorite is the All American Flamed Grilled and while only 3 PPVs, it isn't considered a SF food on the SF plan. Only the original Boca Burger.

When I have eaten the All American burger in the past I decided I would spice it up (litterly) by getting some McCormick hamburger seasoning. I also added some Red Robin seasoning we had at home. The real key in what makes a Boca burger taste good is adding some liquid smoke too.

I always have liquid smoke on hand at home because I use it on pulled pork for my Hawaiian parties. It gives food a nice little kick of flavor. I also use it when I make mini meat loafs. I really like the deep flavor it adds. Even though I wasn't sure how I would like just the plan 'ol Boca burgers, since they are SF approved, I doctored it up just as I do my All American one and I like it just as much. I always serve my Boca burger in a lettuce bun with ketchup, spicy mustard, and pickles. Delicious!

What I Ate Yesterday (Friday)

Welcome to (your) weekend!  I just started my work week.  I had wanted to check in with you all yesterday evening but we were super busy at work.  So I’m just now getting a blog post published.

I started my Friday using some “indulgence” points on a delicious breakfast.  I wanted to do Simply Filling today and knew my planned food was mostly SF.  What I really like about SF is that I don’t have to count the PPVs for everything I eat.  Even though my breakfast wasn’t SF and I would be using PPVs for it, I still wanted to do a SF day and just take those breakfast points from my WPPA bank.  Since I consider my pancake an indulgence, I didn’t have any other sweets yesterday.

 

Breakfast: leftover Denny’s whole wheat pancake (4 PPVs), 9 g peanut butter (1 PPV), drizzle of honey (0 PPV), apple sautéed in coconut oil (1 PPV) and 1 tsp brown sugar (0 PPV).  I drank my coffee black so I used 6 PPVs at breakfast.

After PT I stopped by The Human Bean again for an iced coffee with cream (1 PPV).

Lunch: chicken breast sautéed in olive oil, green beans, frozen peas and corn.

Dinner: pasta salad made with whole wheat pasta, pinto beans, red bell pepper, and Greek dressing (2 PPVs).

Late night/early morning snack at work: 6 oz FF Greek yogurt and strawberries.

Extra: Dutch Bros decaf Americano with cream (1 PPV).

I used a total of 10 WPPA today.  I earned 1 AP at PT, she had my sweating, and then did a 35 minute treadmill workout with incline and speed for another 3 APs. 

I am really liking SF and it appears to like me.  When I got on the scale at home I saw I dipped back into the 190s.  I am hoping to stay in the 190s but I am mindful the scale can jump all over the place.  I was really happy to see the Happy Scale app shows I’ve been stable for 30 days.  And, the numbers for 90 days and all time has also dropped.  At one point it had me at a gain of 4 pounds.  So I must keep the momentum going!

Girls Day Out

I was contacted on Monday about helping out with the training section at ISP today. They were going to show Field Sobriety Testing, the test administrated when a person is pulled over for Driving Under the Influence to prosecutors attending a conference on campus. My coworker Ian and I were all set to be the “drinkers” but than Ian wasn't able to attend anymore. I scrambled last minute and was able to wrangle my sister Katie and her boyfriend Keith into being the “drinkers”. I was the Designated Driver and also the Designated Babysitter while they helped with this training.

After dropping Katie and Keith off, Emma and I headed to the car wash for a much needed watch. Avacardo was really dirty from my trip to Murphy yesterday...bugs everywhere! I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use Emma to my advantage and I had her vacuum the car. Okay, I confess. I helped too.

We headed to Kuna to wait for Hailey to get out of school. We got in our walk by going on foot. We killed time on the swings.

Once we walked back to Katie's house the three of us girls, along with Hailey's friend Tory, walked to Arctic Circle for an ice cream treat. Emma hit me up for a treat as soon as I picked her up today so I knew we would end up somewhere.

As soon as we got back to Katie's house I got the call the “drinkers” we ready to be picked up. They had a good time. We went to Texas Roadhouse so they could get something into the belly that wasn't just alcohol or energy drinks. I didn't eat since Kenyon would be off work soon and I thought I could meet him for dinner. I balanced out my sugar indulgence with Cracker Barrel's Turkey Dinner Thursday.

Mmmmm...it was delicious!