a shocking lunch time revealing!

Time?! I need more of it how about you?

I’m just now sitting down to write my blog at 8:20pm L I dislike that…. I like to have it done early so I can add to it throughout the day… So here is the best to my knowledge of how my day went!

AM drinks: 2TBSP of SF Hazelnut Cream in my 8oz coffee ….. 1 cup of ‘diet’ minute maid with 1 serving of FRS concentrate.  I’m really digging having this fruity drink on the way to work.  I had purchased this juice on clearance for 99cents… yes I’m a manager’s special kind of girl! I hate spending money of food and I find that mostly all food is overpriced.  However if I find Manager’s mark downs I tend to snatch them up then find a way to incorporate them in my diet.

Breakfast: 2 Hard Boiled Eggs + the final piece of pumpkin oatmeal cake

Snack: 1 banana slices up and mixed with 1 TBSP of peanut butter + 4 TBSP of fat free cool whip… this was ah-may-zing! Seriously it was so tasty…. I could eat this every day!

Lunch: Ha! Here is a funny story…. I’m glad I remembered this…. For lunch today I had ½ of a serving of whole wheat noodles + 4oz of chicken + 1 large fresh cucumber cut up with ranch dressing for dipping…

I heat up my noodles and chicken and set them on the table my co-worker says:’ It’s odd that you don’t have any vegetables in your lunch today’  Me: ‘Oh I do’…. I then reach into my lunch bag and pull out an incredibly large whole cucumber…. She had a look of shock and confusion on her face… I then explained that I was running late this morning so instead of cutting it up I just threw it in my bag… I then sliced it up with a plastic butter knife… I’m sure that this was an interesting scene for all the people around me… Seriously it was a giant cucumber!

I also had 3 tootsie pops (minis) and a fun size 3 muskateers!

This candy basket at work is killing me!

Snack: 1 small plum

I skipped the gym after work and hit Sam’s Club!  I decided to park pretty far away:

I needed a few items that are best purchased at Sam’s Club… however, there is always a trap… something so tasty it can hardly be resisted… something so amazingly priced it calls your name… so tempting soooo tasty… evil Sam’s Club!  Today my greatest temptation was this:

These were Duff brand cake pops... 

These looked so amazing…. Sooo calor-ific-ly fattening! I wanted them… I resisted!.... Instead I bought some new crunch granola bars, a case of greek yogurt, and some salad!  I was checking out the calories on some potential treats and wow! I’m amazed… 600calories for muffins, 400calories for danishes, 450 calories for bagels, and to think these are things I used to eat without abandon!  I also dodged a 3.5lb pumpkin pie! I mean really who needs a 3.5lb pumpkin pie!!!

I DID BUY myself a new shirt… I’m currently swimming in my clothes I’m trying to get together a new skinnier wardrobe.  I do not however want to buy clothes in every size on the way down… So I’m buying several sizes smaller…  I’m hoping to build up a decent size 16-20 wardrobe.  I did put this shirt on… It was tight… spandex kinda tight… but it fit… I’m think 15-20lbs and it will fit amazingly well! Or so I hope!

After coming home and putting away all purchases I made some different foods for the next few days… Tonight for dinner I ended up with some brown rice + tons of zucchini and onions… it was so tasty!

After that I decided to have on of the new crunchy granola bars as a snack:

After typing this I’m going to partake in a nice 40 calories fudge bar!

Here are how all my totals for the day look:

Praise: I’m soooo thankful for all I have… we don’t know how rich we are until we see others struggle… I’m not talking about worldly goods… I’m talking about having love for Christ, having Christian friends, having a church family, and having the support that I need for this journey.  I’m glad that I have my focus and that I’m not longer struggling.  I’m glad I’m able to have little treats and eat in moderation.  I’ve had a lot of demons that I’ve been ridded of.  I have new perspective and a new joy.  Thank you God for answering my prayers and holding me accountable to the Highest of all.

xoxo



treat day = defeat day? I think not!

Good morning! Back in the swing of things!

Here are a few pictures from my drive to work:

Most people dislike having a long commute… I only mind it in the winter… other than that it’s 45minutes of me time… God time… praise time… thought time…  Usually while I’m driving I’m listening to Christian radio or I have the radio off.  I typically sing along or talk to God… I look at the scenery… Praise God… and well take picture to share with you!

Breakfast: 1 cup of ‘diet’ minute maid orange juice, 1 serving of frs concentrate, 2 eggs, a whole wheat English muffins, and a large banana.

Snack: 1 apple with peanut butter/cool whip mix… oh you don’t know what that is? Well you take a small amount of peanut butter and mix it with fat free/sugar free cool whip and stir… it turns creamy and sticky and amazing!  I know this secret thanks to one of my weight loss group leads! Thanks Dreama! I'm now thinking about making a dessert based on this!.... stay tuned!

Lunch: wellll…….. it goes a little astray here…. I had brought some left over chili mac from the previous night… and some cucumbers and ranch… wellll…. Ummm… yeah … I … uhh… i…. ummm… well I lost my danged mind for a minute and went insane! I kid you not! I don’t know who I thought I was eating like a glutton… but I attacked the all you can eat snack buffet at work…. It was like an alcoholic’s relapse… however… I still stayed relatively in control… relatively… I ended up with a plate in my hand… then two cookies…. They just well they jumped on my plate! I was shocked! Then a diet coke jumped in my left hand and a bag of Sun Chips in my right…. This is insane who is eating this?!?! Me….. I did not however eat my chili mac… I honestly was so full from my little binge fest that I didn’t want the chili mac.  I did however eat my cucumber and ranch! I also had 4 mini tootsie pops!

Now… I did not beat myself up over this… I tracked the calories… I still kept in check for the rest of the day… I think and occasional splurge is necessary however… here comes the down side… the stomach pain!  I’m really beginning to think that God gave me IBS to show me what not to eat… it seems every time I have a little splurge I have some serious painful tummy bubbles… is it worth it?

I managed to get in a 12minute walk at work today… then I hit the gym… I did 10 minutes of weight lifting… 20 minutes on the recumbent bike… and I did a 19minute mile! Wootwoot!

After my workout I came home and made some de-li-cious din din!

I had 4oz of chicken, ½ a serving of whole wheat egg noodles with promise ff spread, and 1 cup of raw broccoli with ranch dressing.  I also had 1 serving of pumpkin cake.

I saw this photo online today and thought wow this is really how I feel:

I often joke that I’m thin on the inside and fat on the out and that photo really hit home for me!

Here is where I ended up for the day:

Praise: I’m soooo thankful for a God who shows us our errors… He doesn’t punish us or harm us, yet He gently guides us exactly where we need to be…. I’m so blessed for the people in my life and for the amazing life I’ve been given to live!

xoxo

The devil put his thumb on the scale...

**step on scale* wipe eyes * step on scale again* make annoyed face * kick scale**

The morning started out a little rocky.  I stepped on the scale and wouldn’t you know it I’d gained a pound… I thought about rationalizing it, I thought about beating myself up over it, and then I just let it rest on me for a while. 

Breakfast: 1 8oz cup of ‘diet’ orange juice + 1 2oz serving of FRS concentrate served over ice = delicious wake up call….

While driving to work I was really focused on the fact that I had ‘gained’ a pound… I thought back over the previous couple of days and calories vs movement and it just didn’t make sense…. Then I thought back to a comment a friend had made to me on FB yesterday.  I had titled yesterdays blog “ I found it! I found it! I finally got it!” … a friend commented the following : “ You got it back! Take it all back! You take back what the devil stole from you….”  Now I’m not going to sit here and say the devil controls the scale in my bathroom although I think I could make a pretty valid and fair argument for that reasoning however I’m going to say this… If I did gain a pound by my own volition fine so be it… but wouldn’t it be just like that dang old evil devil to try to use this ‘1lb weight gain’ to rock my boat and make me loss that feeling of confidence and happiness that I  had just gained yesterday?!?!?  Soooo I stopped myself… I realized that 1lbs + or – is nothing considering I’ve gained 10lbs in a wk before from poor food choices and binge eating and in this circumstance I know that is not the case… as for the evil scale controlled by the devil J I’m going to stay off of it for a few days and let things even themselves out… J

Breakfast: 2 packs of apple cinnamon oatmeal… served cold with 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond breeze… allow to set… for approx 1 hr… then stir… amazingness... pure amazingness!

Snack: 1 Kroger’s Strawberry Greek Yogurt

Snack2: ½ of a large cucumber

Lunch: 1 ‘lite’ whole wheat bun toast + ‘egg salad’ + 2 cups of raw broccoli + 2 TBSP of Honey Dijon Mustard Dressing.  My ‘egg salad’ consists of the following… 2 eggs+enough Dijon mustard to make it all stick together… that is how I like my eggs J

I was able to get in two brisk and exhilarating walks while on my breaks at work today. Totaling 27mins and 1.5miles! It felt great.  It was cool and sunny.  It was a great day for a brisk and heartbeat rising walk.

Snack: 1 plum

I rushed home and made a quick dinner.  I made some whole grain pasta and mixed it with 1 can of veggitarian chili and some extra veggies.  I had mine with 2TBSP of FF sour cream.  I also had a fiber one bar.

Picture driving home:

Faithfully Fit night!!!! I was nervous as I approached the scale… I however did lose 1lb this week! YAY!!!! We had a great meeting even though we were short a few people… We played a game to see who could guess the most organic foods… I won J YAY! I got some great produce which is an awesome prize!  We did a 20min Zumba.  I really stink at dancing.  I have no rhythm… I wonder if I can buy some at Wal-mart J

My prize!

I came home and had a piece of my 115cal pumpkin cake… ½ of a banana and a few bites of apple!

I’m thoroughly exhausted! Time to grab a shower and get a good night’s sleep!

Praises: So thankful for my girls… it’s so encouraging to be in this journey with people who I know love and care about me… I’m thankful for a Lord who lifts me up… Without Christ I am nothing… without Him this journey means nothing!

xoxo

I found it! I found it! I finally got it back!

Up not so early and not so on time for work ooppsies!

Breakfast- 1/2 of a container of pre-made frozen smoothie 'mix' (courtesy of cleaning out the freezer) + 8oz of 'diet' orange juice + 1/2 of a serving of FRS concentrate = YUM!!!!

+
1 Non-Fat Honey Greek Yogurt

Photos on my drive to work:

Snack 1: 2 Hard boiled eggs! I am trying to amp up my protein intake and eggs are a great way to do that! Not to mention that they taste super yummy as well!

Lunch: 1 small frozen pepperoni pizza (also from the frozen tundra of deep freezer land)+ 1 cup of fresh broccoli + 1/2 of a large cucumber + 2 Tbsp of Honey Dijon Mustard dressing

Snack: 1Large non-fat sugar-free french vanilla Latte from McDs

Photo on my drive to Girlfriends Night:

 

Dinner: Here is where it gets tricky! The last Monday of every month I go to Girlfriends Night.  It’s a meeting of women of all denominations in the valley.  We eat, laugh, pray, win prizes, hug, love, encourage, laugh some more, and lift up the name of our Heavenly Father.  I was so happy and lifted up that one of the key people who run this thought of me and my girls enough to get us ‘light’ hot dogs!  Wow, it blows me away when people think of me.  It was so touching and wonderful.   I had two… one with and one without a bun!  I also had a piece of cotton candy… a few bites of chili… and a bite of funnel cake…  here is the irony… it was so ironic it almost wasn’t funny, but I found it amusing… The girls serving the food tonight… you know the hot dogs, nachos, and funnel cakes… yeah it was a couple of the faithfully fit girls… that’s right… it was the girls who every week drag themselves on to a scale and fear the number they are about to see… some of us who deal with serious food issues… I thought it was funny… I thought it was ironic… I also think I probably worked off what calories I did consume!

J

Today something great happened…. I got it back… ‘it’ is a feeling I used to have… where I felt good about myself… today I got dressed…. Jeans that hadn’t fit in a while… a shirt that didn’t fit when I bought it last yr… I was looking fly and feeling great…. J  I got it back… now I’m feeling fierce… be prepared for a bit of attitude and swag in my step!

Totals: I am not going to calculate to the tee… I’m tired and it’s late… I am estimating I came in right on goal at 1500 maybe over by a 100… It’s not something I’m going to sweat!

Praise!  Lord I’m soooo thankful… people are moving in my life to keep me strong in so many areas, to lift me up, to give me support, and to love me like the sisters I never had.  I’m so thankful that I’ve gained back some confidence I lost over a year ago.  I’m thankful that you have lightened my heart oh Lord and given me a joy that I have not felt in a quite a while.

xoxo

A catch up!

*sneaks back in*

 HI! I’ve been gone a few days…. It seems really hard for me to blog every single day lately… “life” tends to just get in the way…. Sometimes I question if writing the blog is what I’m supposed to be doing… if it’s just a waste of my time… however I know that it’s a great outlet for me… it helps me to explain where I am and what I’m doing… it also helps me to share my thoughts, ideas, and recipes…. I hope that it helps you… If I can inspire or support just one person then it’s worth my time… Although I’ve not been faithful to writing the past few days I’ve been faithful to my ‘diet’.  Here’s what I’ve been up to and where I’m at:

Friday! A hectic and busy day at work, followed by a brief yet satisfying day moment at the gym, a meeting for my church’s Fall festival, and finally a long overdue chitty chat with one of my favorite church sisters.

I stayed well in my calorie range for the day:

I had a great 20 minute workout on the recumbent bike at the gym.  In 20 minutes I managed to go 3miles… I believe that is my best time thus far for the recumbent bike.

I want to share a great tip for ordering ‘coffee’ while out.  Whether it’s Eat’n Park, McDs, Sheetz, or Starbucks I always look for ‘skinny’ ‘low-fat’ ‘fat-free’ or ‘sugar-free’ options.  Friday night was an Eat’n Park night.  I order a large sugar free, fat-free, iced latte.  It was yummy!

Saturday-

Woooooaaaaahhhhhh! This house was out of shape just like it’s owner!   I’m not sure exactly how it all happened, but it was like a fur bomb exploded all over this house!  I did some serious cleaning and tried to get things organized and back in order.  I spent over two hours scrubbing the bathroom, sweeping and mopping, vacuuming, dusting, and rearranging…. Now that is an intense calorie burn! I sometimes wish I could be a stay at home wife so I could do that every day.  I need to start being more active while home.  Cleaning when I have time will help with that!

On Sat I was desperate for a quick and protein filled lunch… I rummaged the freezer and went with this…

6 turkey meatballs, ¼ cup of sauce, and a ¼ a cup of marinara… I stuck it all in the microwave and somehow it turned out amazing!

You’ll notice for dinner I had Chinese food! Oh yumms I’ve been craving Chinese for a while now… Here are a few tips when ordering Chinese:  Skip the fried appetizers, ask for the sauce on the side, ask for brown rice instead of fried or white,  ask for your food to be steamed, have a cup of broth based soup, and finally exercise some portion control and self-control as to not binge!  I also ordered food from a Chinese Restaurant…. Normally we would go to the all you can eat sushi, hibachi, and Chinese food buffet…. That in general is just a bad idea… I mean I know I cannot control myself in that type of environment…. Therefor I just avoid it! Sometimes we have to avoid putting ourselves in the fire J

While my mom was on vacation recently she purchased my BF and I a large gourmet candied apple:

I sliced this up and at a good deal of it.  I’d say half.

I then was still hungry… This happens when I eat Chinese… I know the sign says ‘No MSG’, but I seriously don’t believe it because I’m ALWAYS starving after eating it… I made a ‘light pumpkin latte’…

** 100 calorie Pumpkin Latte

¼ cup of canned pumpkin

2TBSP FF Non-Dairy Creamer

4 sweeteners

1 cup of cold coffee

6 ice cubes

Spice to taste

Blend well

2 TBSP of FF Cool Whip

Here are my end totals for Saturday:

Sunday!

I weighed in a few days early….. *shhh don’t tell** I am very excited…. I lost 2.4lbs this week! YAY!!!

This gives me a total of 27.6lbs lost! Woot woot!

Sunday mornings are always busy for me! I have to leave by 9:30am and I like to eat a before I go so I’m not gnawing on my arm while the Pastor tries to put some biblical knowledge in my brain J Sometimes I think that is harder done then said!

I had a cup of coffee and two slices of toast… I ran through the McDrive-Thru and got a small iced non-fat sugar-free latte…. Yums!

Church was amazing today…. I mean the study message really hit home for me this morning.  I love the woman who was teaching… I wish I could adopt her and make her my sister and talk to her every day just to have some of the knowledge and passion this women has. The message smacked me right in the heart and is something that I think I will refer back to and lean on in the future.  Then the Pastor’s message touched on a subject that I’d been thinking about for such a long time.  About how blessed we are in America, over consumption, how being a Christian who is a Christian of faith and action.

After church I went to have lunch and spend some time with one of my church sisters and her family.  I’m so blessed to have all these amazing people in my life.  These women who are strong, passionate, loving, and beautiful inside and out, I thank God every day for these women who He has moved in my life to encourage and support me.

For lunch we went to Eat’n Park.  I had a Chicken Fajita Salad as an alternative to dressing I decided to just have salsa and I had a Diet Coke.  Even with the shell and salsa it was only 425calories!  I love eating at eat'n park because they offer a calorie guide that includes all of the food! Even ketchup and mustard!

I went grocery shopping and purchased all the things that I need for the upcoming week.

I came home from church and cleaned up the house a little more.  I made a pumpkin oatmeal cranberry cake and also made a fantastic dinner!

**Pumpkin Oatmeal Cranberry Cake

1 cup of oatmeal

1 cup of flour

1 cup of Splenda for baking

4 egg whites

½ cup of pumpkin

½ tsp of baking soda

½ tsp of baking powder

1/8 cup of dried cranberries chopped

1 TBSP of cinnamon

A dash of pumpkin pie spice

Mix all ingredients together. Spread in a rectangular cake pan. Bake at 350degrees for about 20-30 minutes.

Cool and cut into 8 pieces.  Each piece is approx. 115calories.

**Gnocchi with brussel sprouts and turkey bacon

1 package of whole wheat gnocchi cooked according to the package

1 package of frozen brussel sprouts thawed and cut in half

6 slices of turkey bacons chopped finely

Fry bacon in a pan until slightly rendered, add brussel sprouts and allow to brown and crisp up, you may want to add some starchy water from the cooking gnocchi to loosen up the tasty bits on the bottom of the pan, mix cooked gnocchi in the pan… serve with parmesan cheese…

Here are all of my totals for the day:

I’m feeling really great.  I’m trying to eat a little healthier.  I want to shift my focus not only from calories, but also to adding more fruits, veggies, and whole grains.  We are currently working on ridding the house of all the food… no major shopping is being done until all frozen and pantry items are GONE!  Then there are going to be MAJOR changes… my poor BF! J

I have a really busy week coming up.  I need to rely on God’s strength to be able to get through a few long days this week.  I know that it will be worth it.  I’m hoping to make a few tweaks to my routine so that I will be victorious again this week. 

I hope that you had a blessed and beautiful Sunday.  I hope you made your way to church today and that your teacher/pastor’s message touched you. If you don’t go to church try it.  If it’s not your thing pray in your own way.  Closeness with Christ will deliver you through all things.  Whether it’s struggles with food, exercise, or one of millions of other problems in life struggling alone is a choice you make.  That is something that I learned today.  The Lord will always keep you and move you in the right direction if you have faith in Him, know Him, and trust Him.

May you have a blessed and beautiful Sunday evening. 

XOXO