Not so Smooth-ie sailing...

Was a snoozer this morning…..

Wake-up: 5:50am… YIKES!  I kept hitting snooze.  I just didn’t want to leave the comfort of the bed…. After I peeled myself from the sheets….

Shower… hair… coffee… make-up…. Smoothie disaster…. Clean the kitchen…. Make another smoothie… pack food…. Get dressed…. Drive to work… work.... walk…. Work…. Lunch…. Work…. Walk….. work… drive… gym… drive… McDonalds…. Drive… church… drive… home…. Blog… shower… bed…..zzzzzzzzzz

Coffee: 2 TBSP of SF Hazelnut Creamer + 2 sweeteners

New Smoothie Recipe!!!!! : ½ can of FRS natural energy drink in Apricot Mango flavor + 1 small organic banana + 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein + 1 tsp of SF orange Metamucil….. OH MY!!!!!!!!! This was like a tropical vacation for my taste buds!  This will be something I do on a regular basis now! This totaled about 225cal give or take.

There was a smoothie disaster…. I was almost in tears…  I had started getting all the stuff in the cup when somehow the world shifted and I dropped ice cubes everywhere cause my cup of mixable all over the counter wasting and FRS, protein powder, a banana, and SF Metamucil… I was sad… I was panicking…  After the disaster was over I thanked God that that would probably be the worse part of my day…. J

Snack: 2 cups of the same very large grapes I ate yesterday.  Here is what they are called:

Here is what 2 cups looks like on a plate!

Walk: 3 lapse in the sunshine around the exterior of the building I work in.

Snack: Blueberry Dannon Light & Fit yogurt

Lunch: You will notice that I could pretty much just copy and paste yesterdays lunch here…. 1 Italian sausage with onions and peppers on a light whole wheat bun, a few tomato slices, and 2 cups of watermelon on the side…. J YUM! This is the last of the sausage soooo I will be searching the pantry for something for tomorrows lunch!

Walk: 2 lapse in the hot afternoon sun around the exterior of the building!

I decided to skip my last snack of the day because I am going with a bit of a calorie dense dinner….  I’ve also been experimenting again with the apple pectin supplement… I’ve taken two today and I wouldn’t say I feel soooo full… But I would say I felt fuller longer after lunch… I’ve had minimal windy side effects today… J

Gym: 30minutes on the treadmill... I was in a rush to get to church.... That's a good place to be in a rush to!

Dinner: Southwest grilled chicken salad from McDonald’s with dressing totals 390cals! It’s a touch on the high side but I wanted to break away from the weekly snack wrap attack.   I need to add diversity to my weekly menu.  Maybe next week I’ll choose a different restaurant… We shall see..

Church: Tonight was Bible Study… Sometimes I feel really stupid at Bible Study, but tonight it was just like God gave me some brains!

I got a random gift in the mail from my friend Mary or as I call her MnM:

I'm getting really spoiled with all these random gifts!

I'm so thankful for the people in my life and all the blessing they bestow on me and I'm not just talking about gifts! lol

Calories: My total for the day is approx 1250 I have just over 300 calories left.  I'm really not that hungry for actual for, but I'm thinking I could use a sweet little treat before bed!

Praises: Tonight I decided that I would show you some of the beautiful sights that God graces me with while I drive to and from work.

I'm so blessed to get to see all of these beautiful visions that Christ provides us to enjoy and rejoice in.

Thanks you for reading... xoxo

The scale is the devil....

Grrrrrrrr good morning….

Wake-up: 5:10am

Caution I had a serious case of the grumps today… The scale is not moving… I mean I get that I’m not always going to magically lose weight in my sleep…. God is not going to come down from the Heavens and suck all my fat cells out of my big belly while I’m sleeping…. I get that… It is just soooo incredibly frustrating when a week has gone by and the scale hasn’t budged.   I was moping most of the morning. 

I cried out to God and the answer was something I think we all need to hear…. God whispered to my heart ‘The scale is not of me’….. ok…. Well God I’m not really sure what you mean by that… then I started to think about the past 2.5months… The way I feel as a person, the confidence I’ve gained, the struggles I’ve overcome, the power over food that I’ve finally gained control of… Those are of God.  Those things were things I prayed about and with God’s help, strength, and love grew…. The scale is not of God.  The scale is of man and of satan.  Used to shred the feeling and future God is promising me.  It is a tool used by the demons in my life to break my confidence to make me doubt myself and everything I’m doing to make me distrust who I am and where I’m going… I’m more than just something that is to be measured by a scale.  I shouldn’t consume myself with the “weight” on the scale, but by the weight in my heart.  My heart is light and filled with joy and happiness it’s not held down by the number of pounds on this earthly body.  So I’ve resigned myself to only weigh on Mondays.  This is hard for me as I have a habit of jumping on the scale first thing every morning.  This I realize now is not part of my journey.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t weigh yourself regularly, but my journey is more than just about the number.  My journey is also spiritual.  I will only use the scale once a week to measure the progress of my weight.  In addition to the progress of my weight I will measure the progress of my heart and relationship with God.

My day went like this: Wake-up/coffee/shower/make-up/hair/clothing/pack food/drive to work/work/drive to the gym/lift weights/drive to my Faithfully Fit meeting/ meeting/drive home/ eat/ blog/ shower/ bed…. J

Coffee: 1 TBSP of SF Creamer + 2 sweeteners

NEW Protein Shake RECIPE: 1TBSP of Peanut Butter + 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder + 1 small banana + 4 ice cubes and 1 cup of water…. Blend well… Let sit in freezer for 10 minutes… enjoy! This was super yummy!

Because this protein shake is a little on the dense side I decided that I would move more calories to my 1^st snack of the day.

Snack: 2 cups of the largest grapes I’ve ever seen in my life.  1 blueberry Dannon Light & Fit + ¼ cup of Corn Chex mmmm crunchy salty sweet!

Lunch:  I went a little more creative for today’s lunch!  1 Jennie-O Turkey Italian Sausage sautéed with onion and peppers(I had made this as part of my prep work on Sunday) on a lightly toasted light wheat bun as a side 2 cups of watermelon.  This was a nice change of pace for lunch and very satisfying.

Snack: ½ of a 100 calorie popcorn

Exercise: 12 minutes of upper body weight lifting 12minutes on the recumbent bike 20+ of volley play at Faithfully Fit

Dinner: 1 Aldi’s Fit and Active brand breakfast sandwich of the Canadian bacon variety! I wanted something light, but filling enough to power me through my women’s meeting.  This was enough protein and heft to keep me going.

Faithfully Fit: My friend Tiff made everyone heat pad thingies… You know those things filled with beans you put in the microwave… I soooo love mine…. J  Its black with skulls and hearts…. Yeah even my church friends get that I’m weird J I ate a small salad… According to the Faithfully Fit scale I’ve lost 3 pounds… According to my scale I have not lost any… We will see next Monday morning!  We volleyed the ball around for at least 20 minutes.  It was great.  You get a full body work out and have a blast!  I’m so thankful to have these women in my life! They are precious and special to me each and every one!

Snack: I made a little snack plate to eat while finishing up my blog = 1 serving of roasted red pepper hummus and 1 serving of tomato ‘cracker crisps’ and a frozen strawberry bar

Praises: I’m sooo thankful for the people I have in my life.  From my internet friends on MFP, to my church family, to my real family…. Each person shines in my life.  You yes YOU were put here by God to read my silly little blog, to offer me support, to be encouraged by my progress, to make progress yourself.  I’m thankful for my relationship with Christ that is getting stronger daily… I don’t know why it took me so long to turn towards Him and lean on His strength…. My life continues to be blessed daily….

xoxo

Sat/Sun/Mon A gift from God and a look at Christians' love for food.

Long/Short catch up blog!

I had all intentions of blogging yesterday, but due to some comp malfunctions I had to hold off until tonight so I will try to give a brief recap of where I’m at and what’s going on…..

Saturday---- Kennywood Amusement Park!

Breakfast- Egg McMuffin

Snack- Potato Patch Cheese Fries (½ an order) 1 small box of Hot Tamales Candy 1 small box of Mike&Ikes

Dinner- 2 3oz chicken breasts, ½ cup of pasta salad, 1 cup of salad with what I’m assuming was full fat Italian dressing, ½ cup of fruit salad…..

This is where the small binge I had occurred…. 1 large chocolate covered salted carmel, 1 chocolate covered pretzel dipped in M&Ms, and 1/3 of a hard rock candy… Still all in all for all of the walking I did not that bad!

I know I let myself get extremely dehydrated and today… Monday… I’m paying for it! But there was not weight gained!

I had a great time at Kennywood however I wish my BF would have wanted to ride some roller coasters. Sometimes he is an old stick in the mud!

Sunday!

Coffee- 1 cup with 2 sweeteners and 2 TBSP of SF Hazelnut Creamers

Breakfast: 1 order of oatmeal from McDonalds.  If you haven’t tried there oatmeal and are stuck for a choice of food to eat there I really recommend this.  It’s filling, tasty, and satisfying…. CHURCH!

I love Sunday mornings…. Maybe it’s the hugs…. I think it’s funny before I started going to this church I hated hugs. In fact I’d usually recoil and cringe if people tried to hug me.   I was brought up in a very non-affectionate family.  I could probably count on my fingers how many times I’ve hugged my own mother.   We just weren’t that kind of family…. Not now…. Now I’m a church hugger…. That’s right I’m one of those people who will run up to you and grab you…. I will hug tell you I missed you and ask how your week was… Annoying as it may be I love it.  It’s like having a giant extended family…. 

I taught Sunday School again this week… my whole one person…. LoL she’s so darn cute and easy to teach. Plus she was pretty impressed with my craft! YAY!

After church we headed to Kroger’s to get some groceries for this week… I bought several types of wheat bread, grapes, and frozen veggies.  I also bought some veggie burgers… they were very… gross… I made them… I took a bite…. I tossed them…. $3.50 down the drain! YUCK!

After putting the groceries away I grabbed a quick bite to eat…. For lunch I made a BBQ chicken wrap with a Fiber OneWraps, 4oz of chicken, and TBSP of BBQ sauce.  I also munched on a few veggies….Then I started to get to work on my normal Sunday tasks, clean the bathroom, sweep and mop the floors, do the dishes, clean the counters, cut up watermelon, prep food, clean the kitchen again….

For dinner I had a peanut butter sandwich and some baked bbq chips.  I also made an iced coffee for a little pick me up…. I had a brief stent at holding the couch down… The it was off to meet my friend Karen at the walking trail…. We walked 1.5miles in  45minutes! YAY! CCC Girls!

Then it was off to evening church…….. More hugs… wonder how many calories that burns.

After I got home I had about 250 calories left…. Mmmm what  to eat….

I went with a 100 calorie ice cream bars yummmmms!

Off toooo bed!

________________________________________________________________

Present! Today is Monday! It’s a beautiful day with perfect weather. I didn’t get to enjoy much time outdoors today, but I’m hoping to change that for tomorrow.

Wake-up: 5:40am

Shower/Coffee/Dressed/Makeup/Hair/Pack food/Drive to Work/Work/Drive to Girlfriends Night!

Coffee: 2TBSP of SF Hazelnut + 2 Sweeteners

Shake: 1scoop of protein whey 1tsp of SF Metamucil blended with 6ice cubes and 1 cup of water

Breakfast- two mutli-grain waffles with 2Tbsp of SF apricot jam

Snack- 1 Dannon Light&Fit Strawberry Yogurt + 1/4cup of Corn Chex Cereal--- I know that seems like an odd combo, but I've really been digging the who crunchy stuff in my yogurt phase. It was super low in calories and added the perfect amount of crunchy salty to my sweet n creamy

Lunch- Today's lunch was rather kinda blah. It was tasty don't get me wrong, but exciting far from it! 4oz of chicken on a toasted light wheat bun with spicy mustard and 2 cups of watermelon. I've really missed watermelon this year. It seems like last year they were everywhere and super cheap. This year they've been over priced and lacking quality.

Snack- 1/2 of a 100cal bag of popcorn

Dinner @ Girlfriends-  I had brought 4oz of chicken brought from home and snuck it in in my purse! There were limited choices by the time I made it through the line so I only grabbed two little tomatoes and a diet cupcake.

I was a little disappointed BUT I realize now I should know better.  It wasn’t that there wasn’t any food. There was food, but no food I would eat.  Why? I’m not willing to sacrifice everything I’m working for for a brief moment of pleasure.  I’d rather be hungry and eat when I’m home then eat chips or desserts.  I have a tendency to wait… Go through the line later… let people go ahead of me… It’s usually to my disadvantage and tonight was one of those instances or was it? See sometimes I think God has a sense of humor and tonight I think He was feeling like He should throw a little irony in my life.  See earlier I had prayed that God would keep me from making bad choices and take away the temptation.  Well He did just not in the way I had hoped.  But it was His way.  I could have eaten junk but He kept me strong and true to Him and true to my mission.

Once I got home I ate two cups of watermelon and an FRS low cal energy drink.

I love 'Girlfriends' once a month women of all denomination from across the tri-state meet for food and fellowship. It is an amazing time. The people who run it Cinda and Terri do a great job making sure the topic is fun, a great time is had, and that everyone is well fed. 

Fed?!? That’s right it’s a meeting of Christian women there is going to be food…. Why? Why can’t you just meet and have coffee? I don’t know… Why are all Christian based meetings/get togethers centered on food?  We have a Sunday School class meeting once a month based around food…. Picnics…. Spaghetti dinners…. Fish fries…. You name it some denomination has it.  I read an article the other day that was talking about how 80%+ of Christian women who are involved regularly in church activities are overweight?!??! What? We are God’s girls.  Warriors on a mission to spread His Word… To spread His love… and to spread our waistlines?  How do we combat this?  Do we not realize that our excessive weight is the devil having a hold on our lives? Tempting us and torturing us with food?  So that we will stray from God and rely on cake or candy or fried garbage? There has to be a way to fix this….. Maybe we only fix it one person at a time… Maybe that’s my mission.  To fix it one person at a time starting with ME!

No exercise was done today and I used tonight as my rest night! My feet and ankle are thanking me!

Praises: I'm so thankful to a God who hears our cries. Who shows us mercy. Who never forsakes us. I’m so thankful to have amazing Christ loving women in my life.  For the hug of a friend I had been longing for.  For the ability to listen, love, and spread His Word.  May you all be blessed my friends.  If you are 1/10 as blessed as I am your life is amazing.  I may not financially be wealthy but my wealth is not of this world it is of His world.

 XOXO

Will give blood for chocolate!

Good God given blessed Friday morning!

I feel like a little kid on Fridays! I get excited to get the day over with so I can start my weekend fun!

Wake-up: 5:50am utoh running a touch late but no biggie…. Very little stresses me out on Fridays!

Weight: 252.2 wooohoooo another -.8lbs! I’m only .2lbs away from 20lbs! Why couldn’t I have just pottied a little more this morning  :/

This brings me to an interjection of a funny store… The other night I was at the pet store and there were two young adults… maybe 18-20 getting stuff for their first dog… I thought it was cute and was ease dropping on their conversation…. The girl says ‘what does lib mean’ the guy ‘I don’t know why’ the girl ‘It says 4.99 per lib.’ The guy ‘I have no clue’ ….. I was dying laughing on the inside…. I mean really I think more than anything I’m thankful they were only getting a dog and not having a kid… I did turn around and explain that LB was pound…. They found that odd…. J

Coffee….. 2 TBSP of SF Non-Dairy Creamer + 2 sweeteners……

**NEW Protein Shake Recipe: 1 scoop of chocolate protein whey + 1 TBSP of Peanut Butter + 6 ice cubes + 1 cup of water

I needed to bulk up a bit on this morning’s calorie intake! I decided for the first time in my 28yrs that I was going to donate blood.  There are some loved ones in my life who have had to have blood transfusions.  I felt it was my duty because I have an ample amount that I should donate! YIKES! I was a scurred! It oddly wasn’t bad…. Not at all…. In exchange…. I got a certificate for a 6piece chocolate covered fruit set from Edible Arrangements… YUMS! It says I can pick it up at my convience so I will wait a little bit….. :P

I went with something new this morning for an extra energy boost… FRS is a natural energy drink that is mostly vitamins and minerals very low on calories.  It was well delicious…. I mean I’m not 100% sure on the energy thing but for 25calories the taste was worth it!

For breakfast I went with a Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla Yogurt and I mixed in 1/8cup of cranberry&nut trail mix…  Something unique and well I liked the salty crunchy sweetness!

I also tried a new supplement today… here is the claim ‘ Apple Pectin will help you feel fuller longer by slowing digestion’ oh ok… well I’m always starving… so I guess maybe this could help… To my surprise it did seem to help… however… it doesn’t warn of a severe side effect…. GAS!  I mean serious….. wind… worse than any fiber one bar or fiber cereal… It was bad….. would I take it again…. I might…. I plan on trying it on Monday again… Maybe I’ll team it up with some GAS-X

I then gave blood…. The silly guy made me eat… I told them I was fine…. Grrrr…. So I ate a pack of Keeber whole wheat animal crackers and a bottle of water…  I feel really good about giving blood… and I’m glad I had the opportunity to do so!  Here is the small downside…. I needed to up my calories by about 200 and not do any exercise… Well I did cheat a little on the exercise… But still I did bump up my calories! Grrrr…..  The ‘nurse’ for the Red Cross said it was important that I eat more because I need to remake my blood…. Well maybe I don’t wanna Mr.Male Nurse!

Once comfortably back at my desk I ate two cups of grapes….. Then it was lunch time! Yum…..

For lunch I had 4oz of chicken…. Plus a salad which consisted of cole slaw mix, light poppyseed dressing, and nuts… It was tasty.  I also had a couple of celery sticks….I also had mixed some light blue cheese dressing with hot sauce for dipping.... yum!

I mentioned yesterday that they were doing a food day at work. I’m sooooo glad I decided to not participate…. There was nothing healthy… All sugar, carbs, and fried chicken.  I didn’t need or want any of it… except…. The cake… mmm I love cake… for a while I had a serious cake addiction… So I had a bite… just one… I ate it slow…. It was good and just enough to satisfy that craving!

By this time I was stuffed…. I completely skipped my normal after noon snacking and hunger pangs…. So maybe ‘apple pectin’ does work. Now I’m not endorsing it or saying to run out and buy it… For me today it seemed to help.

I decided to run some errands and shopping after works.  I bought myself a couple of new tops…. Then hit Sam’s Club….. mmmmm rotisserie chicken and chopped salad for dinner! I heart chicken!  This helped me at least get a little walking in today!

Crud traffic! I needed to potty bad!

Dinner: Rotisserie Chicken 8oz and ½ of an Asian chopped salad

I worked on my Sunday School teaching for Sunday morning….

Now I’m sipping a cup of coffee completely exhausted… I have to get up relatively early tomorrow as we are going to Kennywood. I’m excited I have gone to Kennywood since I was a kid and my BF has never been.  If you don’t see a blog tomorrow you’ll now know why. I will try to get to the blog, but we’ll see!

I’m a little nervous about Kennywood tomorrow.  There is going to be tons of unhealthy food readily available…  Additionally it’s a lot of walking… way more then I’m used to..... and well my biggest fear… probably one of the reasons that I haven’t gone to Kennywood since I was a kid… what if there are rides I don’t fit on… What if I go to get on a ride and it doesn’t latch because my cuncky legs or big tummy get in the way?! Just praying that doesn’t happen. Lord knows I embarrase myself enough!

Calories: I'm just shy of 1,500 for the day. So over my norm by about 200calories.

Water was spot on today. I probably drank 40oz more then needed. YAY for H2O!

Praises: So thankful for Friday! I’m glad that the Lord made my body healthy and strong enough to be able to donate blood to others, I’m also thankful he made it not painful!  I’m thankful for my friend Karen who texts makes me smile.  I’m thankful for not going potty in my pants in the car. I’m being strong in the Lord with the choices I make.  I’m most importantly aware of God’s love in my life. I feel it, I see it, and I’m beyond thankful for it. How it took me this long to realize it was there all along I’ll never know but I’m glad I’ve found it now!

xoxo

has super typing fingers.....

Eeeeeckkkkk! Thunder and lightning so very very frightening!

Wake-up: 5:10am.  That’s extra early.  It was storming really badly this morning and it woke me up.  I figured I might as well get up and start my day!

The grumpies are gone for the most part…..

Shower…. Coffee 1½ TBSP of SF non-dairy creamer + 2 sweeteners

Make-up, get dressed, put hair in pony tail, put on running shoes, pack breakfast lunch and snacks, drive to work….

Breakfast: 1 frozen breakfast sandwich (muffin/cheese/egg white/Canadian bacon) + 1½cups of seedless grapes

I really do love these breakfast sandwiches. The convenience alone was worth the cost.  I might try to make some on my own once these are gone…

Snack: 6 celery chunks 1 single serve PB

**TIP: Measure out your peanut butter.  Before I started this journey I probably would have just sat down and dipped out a big glob of peanut butter.  That’s a no no!  Peanut butter is great!  It is high in protein and you can get sugar free, low sugar, low sodium, low fat, all natural… There is a great variety to peanut butter.  That said all peanut butter is extremely calorie dense.  This means for the amount of food you get the calories are high.  1 serving of peanut butter is only 2 leveled off tablespoons.  This is not a lot of peanut butter, but if you dip your celery or apple in to it you can make it go a long way!

**Weighing your food: This brings me to my next topic.  If you are struggling to lose weight and you feel like you are eating healthy and you aren’t sure why the pounds aren’t coming off you may want to invest in a food scale.  I bought mine for $5 at our Dollar General.  Once you start weighing and measuring food you’d be amazed how much you are over eating or at least I was amazed.  I would eat 1 large chicken breast and think that that was good it was one serving.  Most large chicken breasts are 2-3 servings and can add up to 400 calories.  I try to weigh or measure most of my food.  The only area I usually ‘guesstimate’ would be things like celery, onion, green peppers, mushrooms.  These things are extremely low in calories.

**All food:  Yes all food has calories.  It drives me insane when people say things like celery doesn’t have any calories… Lemons are a zero calorie food…. Lettuce has no calories…. This is incorrect.  While there are some foods that are extremely low in calories, mostly fresh whole vegetables they all have some calories.  I track all food that I eat.  Even if it is just one lone celery stick!

Ok I’m done ranting about those things now J……

Lunch: a giant salad! Mmmmmmssss

2cups of lettuce mix, 3 celery chunks sliced up, ½ of a green pepper, ½ of a tomato, 4oz of grilled chicken breast, and 3 TBSP of Kraft Light Italian dressing…. Allllll shook up!

This was soooo tasty and refreshing…. The grilled chicken was a left over from the other night.  I like to make large packs of chicken on the grill at one time then I can pull out as much as I need for salad, sandwiches, and wraps throughout the week!

Snack: ½ of a 100 calorie bag of popcorn! I also took a couple of bites of oatmeal.  And made a cup of coffee 1 TBSP creamer with a sprinkle of cinnamon! Again all day I’ve been very hungry.

How to make your boss embarrassed about your weight: Tomorrow we are having a food day…. My boss’s boss was going around and asking everyone what they were bringing…. I said that I wasn’t participating…. When she asked why I told her because ‘I would just binge eat anyways’.  It wasn’t the most tactful answer, but I get tired of people trying to push food on me and not realizing that yeah I have a serious food issue. You don’t get to be over 200lbs and not have a serious food issue. And the binge eating answer is the truth of it. I have ate my entire day away on food days at work. I refuse to allow myself to ever have that personal shame again. If that means not participating to safe guard myself so be it.  People don’t understand that when you have food addiction one bad choice can wreck months of progress.  This is not a diet for me this is a new way of looking at food and exercise.  For the first time in a long time I actually feel some control over my food and what I am choosing instead of just grasping for anything I can get my hands on.  I fear that one bad choice at this point and I would be back on a spiral of binge eating and fad dieting and then just giving up.  I’m doing my best to stay close to the Lord, to stay strong in his love, to know He is always faithful, and to know He expects more of me.

Gym: Today I decided to really work out as hard as I could.  Since I will not have a work out tomorrow!  Weights: 15minutes of upper body weights Treadmill: 30 minutes at an average speed of: 2.7  Bike: 15 minutes with a total of 2.5 miles completed 

Tomorrow I’m giving blood for the first time ever! YIKES! IMMA SCURED!!! Anyways they said ‘you can’t exercise for 24hrs’ so I will be chillin’ and ‘laxing on the sofa Friday night!

I made a quick pit stop at ‘The Vitamin Shoppe’ which is right next door to the gym…. I bought some natural energy drinks…. We shall see how those work out for me tomorrow!!!!

Dinner: Tonight for dinner is an ohhhhh so ah-mazing I-talina dinner! Mmmmm

2 cups of broccoli, 1 cup of whole wheat gnocchi, 4oz of grilled chicken breast, 1 TBSP of Wal-mart brand ‘cardio smart’ spread(mixed in the gnocchi), 1 TBSPs of parmesan cheese(sprinkled on the gnocchi and broccoli).

This was amazing! I loved the whole wheat gnocchi. My BF said that it had a slight oatmeal taste… I thought it had a slightly off texture…. Will I eat/buy this this again?!?!? OH HECK YES!!! It was soooo filling and satisfying! YUMS!

Now for my final topic of the day….  Processed food…. A reader suggested that I try a ‘clean’ diet.  I agree that clean diets have an amazing benefit to our bodies.  Fruits, veggies, protein, and grain are what God intended for us to eat and our bodies to be able to process.  However over the years man made food that was tasty and good and fattening and unhealthy and addictive.  For me my journey isn’t about always eating the healthiest foods.  It’s about losing weight and strengthening my bond with Christ.  Getting healthy is a benefit I hope to find in the process of that journey.  I am finding a balance between whole and natural foods and manmade delicious foods.  I tried the ‘whole/organic/clean’ diet for about 3 days.  It drove me nuts.  I felt like I was deprived and starving.  This leads me to binging….  Also…. It had ill-effects with my IBS.  There is only a certain amount of veggies I can eat a day before things in my body go out of whack.  I may not always eat the ‘healthiest’ foods but I do always strive to meet a specific calorie and exercise goal.  I am also working on controlling a severe pattern of binge eating in my life and emotional eating as well.  Please remember everyone is different with what they are able/like to eat and works for their individual body.  This is my diet and my journey.  It works for me on a personal individualized level.  I thank the individual who recommended this as it gave me a chance to clarify my mission which is to lose weight through the help of Christ, hopefully helping others along the way! I always appreciate your suggestions and tips for food, diet, and exercise!

Calories: I have enough left that I may eat a 100 calorie chocolate ice cream bar or…. An 80 calorie frozen fruit bar….mmmmm I love tasty frozen treats!

Calories I'm at 1367 I have just over 300 left! 

Water: I’ve drank well over a gallon…. I sometimes think the more water I drink the thirstier I am!

Praises: So thankful for all the power God is giving me.  I know that may seem odd but 6months ago I would have participated in that food day tomorrow and gorged myself into a world of misery.  I wouldn’t have stuck up for myself. I certainly would have never admitted that I am recovering food addict.  See God gave me this power… A power to speak the truth from my soul, to heal from the inside out, and to forgive not only those who have wronged me but most importantly to forgive myself.  God has made this road for me to travel back to Him.   God gave us all this power for we know that in Him we are always made new, we are always loved by Him, and we are never alone no matter how alone we feel!

~XOXO~

Someone wore her grumpypants today!

Woke up on time this morning! Praise the Lord I think my prayers to become a morning person have finally been answered! I woke up not only on time, but a few minutes early! Stay tuned.... it goes down hill from here.....

Wake-up: 5:15am

Weight: Not moving… still stuck where I was on Monday.  I’m not going to let a number get me down.  Just work harder to get it moving…

Shower… Coffee= 2TBSP SF Hazelnut Creamer +2 sweeteners…. Drive to work J

Breakfast: ½ cup of dry oatmeal cooked slowly on the stove top with 1½ cups of water and 3 TBSP of SF Polamer’s Apricot and Fiber Jam.

Breakfast was good, but it wasn’t enough.  Next time I will either double the amount of oatmeal/water or I will add some protein powder.  Some morning I feel like I’m starving. Do you get that way? No matter how much you eat it isn’t enough or you feel like the food is running right through you? Some days I eat breakfast and I want to eat again.  I realize I’m probably not really hungry just bored or maybe anxious about something.  However occasionally there are days where I feel famished all day.  Not because I’m not hydrated, stressed out, or bored but I genuinely feel famished. Today is one of those days.

Snack: 1 ½ cups of seedless red grapes

Snack: 1 Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla Yogurt with PB

That was all before 10:30am L  *sigh*

I decided to make a 100 calorie bag of popcorn.  Filling and salty that will work.  I ate just over half and gave the rest away.  I’ve drank nearly 60oz of liquid already and it’s not even noon….. odd….

I also wore about 8oz.  I didn’t screw the lid down on my cup and forgot.  Grabbed said cup and splish! Oh my I see it’s going to be a rough road today Lord.

11:35am I started praying hard that things would change themselves around today. That I would straighten out my calorie mess and finish this day strong in the Lord and faithful in my journey.

Wonder if I can count all the times my hand went from a plate to my mouth today as exercise!?!?

Lunch: mmmmmm tasty wraptastic lunch-a-liciousness!

Today I had a fiber one wrap, 4oz of grilled chicken, 1 cup of lettuce, and 1 cup of tomatoes.

I made a wrap with 2oz of the grilled chicken half of the lettuce and 1 TSBP of Kraft Honey BBQ Sauce.

I at the rest of the lettuce and tomatoes with some salt and pepper sprinkled on.

This was satisfying yet I kept having that hungry feeling all day.

Snack: 1 Fiber One Chocolate Chewy Bar

Gym: 30minutes on the treadmill with an average speed of 2.5. Not bad.  Not the best.  15 minutes on the recumbent bike.  15 minutes of lifting weights.

I was going to skip church tonight.  This isn’t like me.  I just really wasn’t in the mood.  I’ve had a serious case of the grumpies all day! I just frankly don’t want to be around people.  I know that sounds awful and horribly unchristian of me, but you know what? Sometimes I have some seriously unchristian moments! Today is one of them.  I’ve been trying to work it out with the Lord asking him to help me out.   By the time I was half way through my work out I was feeling a little better and decided to go to church.

Dinner:  I stopped at McDonald’s and grabbed a ranch grilled chicken snack wrap.  I of course added extra lettuce and pickles!  This helps to bulk it up without bulking up the calories. I also got an apple dipper with caramel.  Yummms 100 calories and super sweet!  That definatly hit the spot. 

Church… home…. 100 calorie ice cream bar…..

Back to the grumpies.  They came back after church.  I’m not sure why it is.  Maybe sometimes my BF just gets on my nerves or maybe it’s because I’m stressed out or striving too hard.  I was thinking a lot about this while on the treadmill.  Why are you so grumbypantsed today? What is so wrong? Is it because you are disappointed because you haven’t lost as much weight as you would like? Is it because sometimes you work so hard and don’t see the results? Is it because you are jealous of other people’s happiness? Other people’s success? Maybe…. Maybe it’s all these things…. Maybe it’s none of these things…. Maybe….. Maybe there is some ripple or some flaw in your relationship with Christ…. Or maybe just maybe you woke up on the wrong side of the bed? Either way I’m thankful that Christ makes us new each day and I’m hoping the me He makes me tomorrow is not grumpy!

Now I’m gonna hit the hay and call it a night before I hit my BF!

Here are my calories for the day:

 Totals: 1,474    Goal:  1,647   Remaining: 173  Calories earned from exercise: 367

Praises: I’m thankful I got through the day without seriously flipping out, saying something totally ignorant, or hitting anyone.  I think before I found Christ I would have been a ranting lunatic today. I’m loving and keeping faith that Christ will make me new again.  I’m thankful for the people God has put in my life to keep me real and keep me praising!

 xoxo

my heart is in but my head just isn't

Thank you Lord for another beautiful and bright morning!

Wake-up: 5:45am

Shower , coffee = 2TBSP SF Hazelnut Creamer, make up, clothing, hair, pack breakfast lunch and snack, rush to work.

Breakfast 1 frozen sausage/egg/cheese sandwich (heated of course) and 2 cups of cantaloupe

I had a 2^nd cup of coffee at work today which I try not to normally do. 2 TBSP of non-dairy creamer

15 minute brisk walk  It was a beautiful day today.  Since I’m usually cooped up in a box all day I like to be able to get outside when I can.

Snack: 1 cup of celery+ 1 cup of green pepper + Honey Mustard Dressing for dipping= YUMS!

Lunch: an Italian Garden Salad + 1 yogurt + PB

Recipe Alert: Italian Garden Salad

2 medium cucumbers peeled and cubed

2 medium tomatoes seeded and cubed

1 TBSP of salad supreme seasoning

3 TBSP of Light Italian Dressing

2 TBSP of parmesan cheese

Mix and enjoy! Ps if it sits together a little while it gets extra tasty!

Yogurt Mix-IN! I love to mix stuff in my yogurt everything from fruit to trail mix.  Today I went with something completely different 1 TBSP of PB slightly melted (15sec in the microwave) mixed in then re-chilled.  This is AH-MAZING! I mixed it into a Vanilla Dannon Light & Fit.  It totaled about 200cal and isn’t something because of the high calories I would eat every day, but when craving PB this is a great way to stretch it.

Here are some of my other favorite yogurt mix ins:

Fresh fruit, dried fruit, SF jam, whey powder, nuts, trail mix, granola, fiber one cereal, grape nuts, and flavored oatmeal packets.

I posted this on the forum boards on MFP and I got so additional ideas I plan on trying….. SF Hot cocoa packet, honey, apple butter, flax seed, sliced almonds, pumpkin with pumpkin spice and brown sugar( I’d you splenda), hot cocoa and strawberry jam, Tahini (sesame paste) with a teaspoon of honey, pumpkin butter, sugar free flavored syrups, fresh figs with honey and walnuts. 

Now the calorie content on some of those mix ins would get pretty darn high if you aren’t careful however if you need a calorie dense meal or are substituting the yogurt and a mix in for a meal there are some brilliant ideas there.  The ones I have not tried I hope to in the future.

Currently I’m working on eating a case of mutil-flavor Dannon Fit & Active I had bought.  Once this case is gone I will either switch to a plain vanilla or a greek yogurt.  I like great yogurt however the ‘plain’ variety is not that great unless you have some seriously sweet’n tasty mix ins!

Snack: ½ of a 100 cal bag of popcorn

Gym: utoh…. I had a headache most of the afternoon. I decided I could hang tough and headed to the gym… mistake… I lasted only 15 minutes on the treadmill when I realized I had a choice…. Call it quits for the day or pass out on the treadmill… oh the decisions! I packed it in and headed home….

Dinner: 4oz Grilled chicken, 1 can of green beans, ½ cup of baked beans.

My bf grilled up some chicken for us…. It was good… spicy…. But good… I normally don’t eat canned veggies however green beans are the exception… I prefer them canned...

Here’s what Ed dipped his chicken in:

Here is why you shouldn’t:

2 TBSP is 110cal

You can eat 2 cups of cantaloupe for the same amount!

J

After dinner I had a 100calorie frozen fudge bar from aldi’s.  These are spppp freakin yummy! My bf tried his first frozen fruit bar.  He really enjoyed it. To be exact ‘I’m surprised how good these are.’ LoL Yes dear healthy food can be delicious! Lol

Here are my calorie totals for the day:

Totals	1,414	214	39	79
Your Daily Goal	1,438	197	48	53
Remaining	24	-17	9	-26
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein
	*You've earned 158 extra calories from exercise today

Praises: I’m thankful for a God that makes me new every day.  I’m glad that I don’t stay stagnant and that I’m constantly changing.  By the guidance of His hands I find myself here. The path I’m currently walking on amazing and blessed. I’m so thankful for the way Christ is working in my life.  I hope you are allowing him to work in yours as well.

xoxo