Friday, August 31, 2012

Sam's Reveal!

Well...it's time for the Sam's reveal !!  Let me start out by saying that I have mixed emotions about this!  My goal was to go to Sam's twice for the month of September and spend $200.00 each trip. Ummm.......we spent ...


$354.84!!! This was a total bust!!!!  I was so anxious while watching our total rise and rise.. and I still had a few things that I needed that I either couldn't get at Sam's or simply didn't want in bulk.  I stopped by DG on the way home and here's my second total for the night..


An additional $26.34..for a grand total of $381.18... that's $18. 82 from my WHOLE MONTH'S BUDGET.  Needless to say, I'm not happy about this.  DeShazo and Martinez have tried to explain that this is ok because I don't realize that I really won't need to purchase much at all for the next trip. In my mind right now, I'm thinking about the three gallons of milk that I know we will be buying each week and that will be almost $40.00 alone.... not to mention fresh fruits.  So, I'm going to revisit my menu for September (full of meals I know won't be wasted) and see what I can do to make the bulk of my items last.  After I redo my menu for the third time, I'll post it!  I have to see this through and I'm hoping DeShazo is right ! 
Sam's was completely stressful for me.  I didn't know where anything was...my buggy (yes, that's what we call carts in south Arkansas) was loaded from the huge cases of tomato sauce, cream of chicken, etc....straight out craziness for me !  Thankfully, the DeShazo arrived and rescued me!!! She located the things I couldn't find and calmed me down.  While DeShazo and I were off searching, our two sweethearts were just hanging out... and I'm talking about the little ones....NOT the big ones:)



My car afterwards..
I have got to figure out how to lower my expenses, yet still keep things simple. 

Favorite purchases at Sam's:

     * Swiffer Dry Cloth Refills - I got 80 for around $12!  Way better than Walmart
     * Nature's Own Whole Grain Whole Wheat Bread - 2 for $4.17!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's almost like I got one free!!
     *Cocoa Almonds (YUM)

Disappointments at Sam's:

     *No Fat Free Miracle Whip
     *No low fat sour cream
     *Having to separate and organize the bulk items

Enough about that!

Today has already been a busy day!  I still have the cable guy and the Home Depot guy coming by... so I need to get some things done!  My new microwave will be installed today.. Martinez wanted one over the oven.... and I gave in!  We will see how it works out! I'm so thankful to have Fridays off.  I am able to run errands, do some chores.. and most importantly, spend time with LG!

Have a great weekend peeps!!

Until next time......

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Before and After Photos


No 5am jog today... I'm happy to report that I am not the person who cancelled....D did !  I keep surprising myself because I was actually disappointed not to go!  I wanted to see if I could keep going! Let me be clear... I enjoy my accomplishments... not the sweat!

DeShazo has been telling me that I should post some before and after photos of my weight loss...I have the Biggest Loser type in a sports bra and shorts... but let's all be honest... not everyone should be scarred by that view!  So, I've scrounged up a couple before losing, halfway, and today!  I wish they were all uniform, but this is the best I can do!

September 2011

April 2012

August 2012

These gals in the last photo have been awesome !  They have been exercising and eating well and kept me going.  DeShazo has kept up with her stats... she's lost 6.5 inches and 5.5 pounds! YAY!  V didn't keep track of her success, but man, she's running like crazy and in shape like nobody's business!

Well, today was the day!  Sam's it was!   Something I forgot to share last night.....the new recipe I tried last night was a bust... and it went down the drain.  If you are keeping count, yes, that's two bad meals out of four this week.....I.CANNOT.COOK....unless it's ridiculously easy (and sometimes those even suck).  I'm feeling even more certain that the new recipes are part of my grocery bill issue.

Speaking of this issue...the gals at work do not understand why I feel the need to cook dinner every night, rather than serve up a salad or sandwich.  There is NOTHING wrong with doing this, I just can't do it!  I was raised with a home-cooked meal EVERY night and I feel like this is something I should do.  While discussing the meals we used have as kids, I discovered that DeShazo and V have NEVER even HEARD of a sweet potato pie!!!! How can this be??!!  I've tried to convince myself that "It's a Southern Thang", just like sweet tea (2 cups of sugar).. but it's not really working.  These gals thought Alabama was singing about sweet potato casserole in their fabulous country song... I had to break the news and inform them otherwise!!  Needless to say, I fully began to realize just how hard my mom worked to prepare those home-cooked meals and desserts!
I did take from this conversation that I can stick with only the things I know I can cook (even though they are easy and not like my "mama") and that it will be just fine.  So, that's what I HAVE to do!

Oh..... DeShazo and V have also never heard of purple hull peas....I just do not understand.  Shelling those suckers was a family affair at my house.  We used to sit in the living room with five gallon buckets to put the pea hulls in...all that hard work and these girls have never even seen one....Oklahomans:)

Sam's..... This was EXHAUSTING! and so STRESSFUL!!!!  In fact, I'm going to give you guys numbers tomorrow...when I'm not so tired and can actually analyze my purchases (DeShazo and V are eye rolling right now).

That's all for today folks!

Until next time....

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

What?? Chicken Butt! ( this is a title for when you can't think of one)

5am jog... I. ROCKED.IT. THIS. MORNING.
Ok....I've been thinking we've been going a really long way in the mornings. Per D and her little fancy-smancy exercise gadget, we've been going a little over a mile.  STOP YO LAUGHING.  So, this morning, I JOGGED a 1/2 mile WITHOUT stopping.  This was huge for me!  I usually try to make it to the stop sign at the T in my neighborhood before pretending to die (ok.. sometimes I'm not pretending... it really feels like it)- this morning-I just kept on going.  Mostly to prove to myself that I could and partly to shock D (who was super impressed with my lack of dramatics this morning) !  I cannot believe I'm about to say this... but I actually enjoy getting up and going.  I just put my Ipod in and let Steven sing to me about dudes looking like ladies and Randy sing about how his love is deeper than the holler..What is a holler??? In south AR (Woo Pig Souiee).. that's what your mama does when you don't make your bed!  Listening to music really helps.. Steven Tyler, Randy Travis and The Beach Boys can get ya through anything!  Just sayin'.
Another plus to getting up in the mornings- you have time to CLEAN before anyone else is up making messes and touching things!  I cleaned the guest bathroom this morning ( it's little) before I had to get ready for work.  Just sayin'.. it's something I won't have to do later.

Another weight loss tip that worked for me...a tiny one:  Buy a smaller size in something you really want..Just like other tips on my weight loss, this may not work for you...but find something that does! I really wanted some jeans I saw one day.  As explained in my previous post, I'm cheap with clothing shopping... but I really wanted this pair of jeans I found that was more expensive that I usually pay.  So...as motivation and a future reward, I bought the jeans.. in a smaller size.  I worked hard to get into those jeans.  After a few weeks, I was able to get them buttoned (even though I had to jump up and down... and you know you've done this before!), and then in a couple more weeks, they fit !!  This was extremely motivating for me !

I feel like I need to blog about this little girl who has been on my mind since last week.  If any of you have seen Prayers for Kaley on Facebook, you know that this little girl had surgery last week to remove a tumor on her brain.  The parents of this little girl are being so strong and are relying on their faith to get them through.  They have a 2 month baby that they are away from while Kaley is recovering and I cannot imagine how they feel. This is not to depress anyone.. it's just something on my mind.  A Paypal account has been set up for donations to help pay for the medical bills.

OK...something different to talk about... At the beginning of August, I decided to track our expenses for grocery shopping for the month.  I am completely DISTURBED at my discovery.  From August 1st-24th, we spent $645.00 and we've added since then!!!!!!!! This is NOT ok for our family !!!!!!  I suspected a few months ago that the grocery expenses were ridiculous.. and I was right. Groceries to me include: food, toiletries, cleaning supplies (which I love:), pullups, ect.    After pondering over this for a few days, I've come to the conclusion that this is all because of PINTEREST!!!  I have random ingredients in my house and don't have a clue what recipe it was for because I'll pin a blog- and then search the recipes- buy the ingredients- and then not remember where the recipe is!!  I have to STOP!!!!!!!  My solution- no more ingredients for any new recipes for 1 solid month.  I need to see if this is truly the problem.    So, I've had Martinez list off his favorite meals and I've written them down, along with mine, and we are just going to repeat these for the entire month of September.   We are also going to renew our Sam's card and get the bulk of things there, per the extremely wise advice of DeShazo.  Our first trip to Sam's with this new plan will be either Thursday or Friday and my goal is to spend only $200.00.  The gals have helped me "prepare my list" and helped me refrain putting things I do not need to buy.  I'm hoping for only two Sam's trips for the entire month and a total of $400.00 in expenses for September !  I'll keep you posted and let you know what happens!  I'm still in shock over my discovery.. and I need to add to it because we've bought pullups and some other things since the 24th !!!!!  I hate grocery shopping.  I'd rather clean toilets at the grocery store than shop at them.  Martinez and I have attempted the whole cash/envelope method.. but that doesn't work for us.  Neither one of us like having cash on us and it just became a hassle.  Hopefully, no new recipes and Sam's will change things !

Speaking of cash and envelopes.... I do have one envelope that I keep cash in for birthday and Christmas gifts.  I thought I had lost it today and went into a panic !  Thankfully, the hubby found it ! 

This evening has definitely been a challenge.  LG has been in an awful mood.  She's teething and this is just straight out rough!  Although she's been moody, she gave me the sweetest smiles and hug before bed. 


I'm pretty sure this smile made up for everything.  She is duplicate of her daddy!  Man, I'm so thankful for my family. 
That's all for today !

Until next time.....


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Microwave Sadness

World.....I'm BACK!  Please refrain from the eye rolling.

Let's play catch up!

Friday we had dinner at our house with some friends.  We decided to do Mexican food and everyone should be super proud... I resisted the urge to pick up On the Border and dish it out as if I made it!  Friday was my first time to actually marinade chicken... We had fajitas, tacos, refried beans (from a can), spanish rice (from a bag), guacamole and salsa ( compliments of Meredith), and yummy brownie dip for dessert! The chicken was edible.. but a little tough (something to work on). Sweet Meredith rescued my attempt at "sauteing" the peppers and onions....Thank goodness!!! Overall dinner was good.. but game night that followed was the best!  If you haven't played Things go out right now and get it!  SUPER fun... I suppose this partly depends on who you play it with... you have to be able to get crazy with your responses:)

Here's a recipe for a low calorie and EASY Crockpot Fajita Meal that Martinez and I have eaten a couple of times.  I LOVE Mexican food and we all know it's not favorable on the weight loss end, so I found this recipe and love it:

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

2-3 chicken breasts
1 Cup of chicken broth ( you could use water but it tastes better with broth)
1/2 Tsp salt
2 Bell Peppers sliced
2 Tbsp cumin
1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp of lime juice
1/2 Cup sliced onion
Whole Wheat Tortillas ( my tortillas are 130 calories each)

Mix up the dry ingredients; place your chicken breasts on the bottom; pour in chicken broth; put your sliced bell peppers and onions in; sprinkle your dry ingredients all over and let it cook on High for 3-4 hours if the chicken is thawed or 6-7 hours on low if the chicken is frozen.  I always do frozen.  EASY.

If you do this recipe with 3 breasts and exactly as listed and get 6 servings out of it, the calorie count is 225 per serving.  Of course, this does not include condiments. However, salsa is SUPER low. You can use low fat sour cream (you will eventually adjust to the taste...just tell yourself when you initially gag that that smaller size in jeans will be worth it) and MEASURE your cheese!!! Cheese will sneak up on you and beat the crap out of your hard work of calorie counting!! Don't let it win! MEASURE!
We eat this meal with fat free refried beans.  You can have half a cup for 90 calories! (that's a lot of beans FYI) Beans, Beans, good for the heart, the more you eat, the more you....oh man.. I got distracted.

Saturday... I'm trying to remember.............I've got nothing. Oh well.

Sunday started with church, included a nap, and ended with mowing the yard.  I mow as if I'm vacuuming, so you can imagine the look:) The Homeowner's Association didn't say the mowing job had to be pretty... just mowed:)

Monday was a busy day.  D and I jogged in the horrid humidity!  I will say that this was the most sweat expired from a jog yet, thus I felt successful... even though I know it was from the humidity:) Before work, I put this new recipe in the crockpot and had really high hopes for it... FAIL.  I almost threw up tasting it.  Needless to say.... down the drain it went ....which led to a pizza delivery.  BIG MISTAKE.  I felt so gross after eating two greasy pieces of pizza and three cheesesticks.  It was so yummy... but the way I felt afterward overtook the taste.  For nights when I try a new recipe, I need to have a backup plan with a healthy choice.

Another weight loss tip:  Limit eating out!  Try for 1 whole week of not eating out.... then try 2 weeks!  This was extremely helpful for me.  Martinez and I are takeout junkies.  Chinese and pizza were twice a week occurrences.  This HAD to stop!  We both love pizza, so a healthier choice of pizza is to get a Papa Murphy's DeLite! Yes, you have to go pick it up...and cook it... and wash the baking sheet... but the calorie savings makes up for it, you save money, and the taste is AMAZING!  For the Pepperoni DeLite Family Size, you get a large slice for 196 calories.  A regular piece of pepperoni pizza is around 356 in calories per slice (of course every place is different.. and Old Chicago is BAD just FYI).  You can have almost 2 for 1 with Papa Murphy's!!!!!!!!!!  The crust of the DeLite pizza is a cracker crust..it's super thin... but great!  All of the ingredients are measured for each pizza, so the work is done for you!
I think of calorie counting like shopping.  I know this won't work for everyone, but for all the cheap folks like me, it works.  I try to get the most out of my money when shopping for clothes.  I'm weird with how I spend my money and I'm CHEAP with clothes.  So, I shop mostly at  TJMaxx, Marshall's, Ross, Amazon (for shoes) and Maurices.  I would rather have more things for my money (which is why I shop at certain stores) than fewer (Duh).  It's the same with food.  Wouldn't you rather have more slices of pizza than fewer (insert another Duh)????  Bethany Frankel has a book about being healthy and weight loss.  She uses an analogy of thinking about calories as money.. essentially... you are allotted a certain amount of calories everyday and when you eat something, you are subtracting that calorie amount from your total... Just like a bank account... you have a certain amount of money in it.. and when you spend, it's subtracted... and when it's gone... NO MORE.  I had to compare this to something that worked for me... which is shopping.


Reverting back to Sunday... my fantastic, Spanish speaking microwave showed signs of dying.  She (her name is Tivo) started making this terrible sound and it looked like fireworks going off inside!  No, I didn't have metal of any kind in there!! That's only happened a handful of times! The explosion kept happening, despite my numerous attempts of using her.  I convinced Martinez not to trash her, as I was holding out hope that she just needed to rest.  Yesterday, I tried again.  SAD day.  She's still exploding inside and making lighteningish (yes, that's a word) sounds.  I ended my attempts at revival, as DeShazo instructed me before I left work that water could not be poured on an electrical fire (no, I didn't know that) and I didn't have any of that foam stuff she was telling me about (firefighter's kids ) in case I caused a fire. She even busted me out to Martinez!  I had this whole plan of trying to resuscitate her before Martinez got home... since he told me not to mess with the microwave... I still attempted to save her... but he knew about it... and was home:)

I will never again get to hear her say, " Hi, I'm Tivo and I'm ready to cook!". In loving memory of my wonderful microwave ( fantastic wedding gift from my bro & sis-in-law)...


Sniff, Sniff..

Today....finally !

I failed to roll myself out of bed this morning.  I let the runny nose and sore throat win, and I went back to sleep.  I'm going to try to jog tonight to make up for it!  I feel successful when I go.  Even if I walk, that's still exercise and I feel better and know that the more exercising I do, the better chance I have of leading a healthier lifestyle for my baby girl.  Speaking of LG.. she loves music and dances to almost anything.  We never seem to capture her best dance moves (inclusive of some "knock yo socks off" hip swaying...in sync!), but we did get a cute little video last night.


I'm gonna have to get that baby in dance!

I'm all talked out for today. Again,  please refrain from the eye rolling.

Until next time......

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Confessions & Flatulence

Today has been an interesting day.  I overslept this morning ( but made it to work on time:)- dealt with some phone calls today that really raised by blood pressure...and the list goes on!

After dinner last night, Martinez and I took LG out to play.  She LOVES to be outside.  Lately, we've had an issue with her eating grass... She just pulls it out of the ground and gets angry when we take it from her.  I finally gave up and let her chew a blade.  I figured after she got a good taste, she wouldn't try anymore...I. Was. Wrong.  She's alive.. so I'm guessing she'll be ok!  And yes... those are BLUE BOY Pullups on her butt!  I'm mom of the year and bought blue...and she's wearing them until they are gone!

A few pics of her playing ..




While watching LG play, I asked Martinez what we did before having a child in the afternoons....neither one of us could remember.  This is SAD.  We finally agreed that we probably just watched TV.  Ridiculous.


This morning she was happy and ready for the day!  Here's one of her and Martinez before we left.




For the good stuff... the gals and I had a very interesting conversation at work today. Topic... Flatulence..  Let me tell ya, we're classy women around here ! I wish I had a good explanation for this conversation, but like most other conversations with this group, there AIN'T one:)Well, truthfully, there is an explanation... and V & A are laughing hysterically right now.  For your complete entertainment, please watch the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhd0QTdQ1gY

Terms used in the flatulence convo:  potent, crop dusting, lifting off, dutch oven... you get the point.

Today is the boss' birthday! Translation- sweets in the office!  After consuming a scrumptious cookie... I felt something jabbing me in the stomach. For your complete entertainment once again... see below:





Those would be cookie CRUMBS in my SHIRT! Classiness at its finest:)

That's all for today... and I'm sure you're happy about that.

Until next time......



Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Counting, Counting, and more Counting

Hello World (translation..Hello to the two gals who actually read my posts) !

Yesterday was a looonnggg day!  Work was crazy busy- home was crazy busy- and I was pooped !  Monday night- D and I jogged again!YAY! Yesterday, we jogged at 5am and it was my best jog yet !  Today....NO JOG.  We slept in and we'll just have to make it up tonight!

Last night, I tried a new recipe! Sweet and Sour Chicken......yes... a Pinterest recipe !


It was soooo good !  Martinez loved it !  

I made some adjustments to the recipe to lower calories...and the original recipe called for distilled vinegar and I absolutely hate the smell of vinegar - so I won't ever own any:).. thus it's been deleted from my version:)

Martinez' Version of Sweet & Sour Chicken

3-5 chicken breasts ( I used three and Martinez is eating the leftovers for lunch today)
1 cup of corn starch ( I had a lot left over)
2 eggs beaten
1/3c vegetable oil

Sauce:

4 tbsp of ketchup
2 tbsp of soy sauce
1tsp of garlic powder or garlic salt
1/4c of Splenda, plus 2 tbsp

Directions:
Preheat oven to  350 degrees; Cut the chicken breasts into 1in cubes; dip the cubes into cornstarch (coating completely) and then into eggs; Heat the oil in a skillet and brown both sides of the chicken; remove chicken and place in a greased baking dish; whisk sauce ingredients until smooth and then pour of chicken; turn chicken to coat both sides; bake until chicken is no longer pink (turn chicken over halfway).  It took mine about 15 minutes total... but the original recipe said 30 total. 

ENJOY!  LG sure did!


Tonight will be an easy night~ Leftover Spaghetti from the freezer!  Hopefully, I can get some cleaning done since I won't have to cook.

Another helpful thing I did to lose weight....keep a food journal!  I know this sounds dorky... but IT WORKS.  I kept a log of everything I ate for two solid months.  WRITE down EVERYTHING you swallow... if it's a 5 calorie stick of gum ( and you know you have swallowed your gum at some point).  A lot of times, you don't really know how many calories you intake, even though you think you do.  

Here are a couple of photos of my journal from the beginning... a good day.. and a bad day:)... and yes... even though I'm not logging it anymore... I have kept my journal as a reminder.



Why yes, that does say " Not Counting"....I consumed too many at TGIFriday's that day:)

There is an app you can download called "Lose It".  This app was introduced to me by a friend and it has been paramount in my weight loss!  You can use it to scan the barcodes of your food packages when inputting recipes and it breaks down the calorie count of the entire recipe.  I was totally in shock at how many calories were in my recipes.. especially Chicken Alfredo!  Needless to say, we don't eat a lot of the old recipes like Chicken Poppyseed or Chicken Alfredo anymore!  Those were two of the worst  (although extremely tasty)!

That's really all I have for today!

Until next time....

Monday, August 20, 2012

Clean, Clear and Under Control

This weekend was busy and too short ! Martinez, LG and I were able to hang out with two couples from our church and have a great dinner on Saturday evening.  Shout out to Meredith- one of the BEST cooks EVER.  Basically- she needs to teach cooking classes!

Time for confessions of the day..... my 5am jog sucked this morning !!!  When my alarm went off at 4:57am... I was in shock!  I felt as though I had just fallen asleep... and after watching the Lion King with LG last night, I woke up hearing "it's our problem free... philosophy" in my mind.  Needless to say,  I did NOT do well this morning.  I only jogged two and a half streets the entire time and ended up walking ( not even fast paced) the rest of the way.   I wish that I had powered through and jogged more, but I didn't and I'll just have to do better tomorrow! My  neighbor/jogging partner (D) totally let me know how lame my jog/walk was... and so did her fella.  The best thing about having a jogging partner is having someone hold you accountable.  D is brutally honest- which is good for me!  She's actually dragged me down the street before...so I better step it up before that happens again.  I had shin-splints for a week after that!  She also calls me out for my dramatics while exercising.  I can't count the times she rolls her eyes while I'm "coughing" and heaving:)

Another weight loss tip that worked for me:

Clean out the food in your house!  Try to get rid of everything you know that is unhealthy... like flour pastas/breads- just go ahead and convert to wheat.  It's WAY better for you and the taste isn't that much different.  Get rid of the cookies, chips...even those mini candy bars or oreos you've hidden for emergencies-All of the crap- don't wait until those boxes/containers are empty-get it out now.  If it's not in your house, then you won't eat it.  It's simple.  This doesn't mean you can't eat these food ever again, but for now, eliminate it.  On days when you want a reward for your effort, stop by the store and buy ONE treat...that way when it's gone, it's gone...not 9 more in the box!  Something important to realize is that if you want to lose weight and maintain the loss- you are NOT dieting.  You are changing your eating habits forever.  Fill your pantry/fridge with healthier options.  I love chocolate... so.. I had to find a snack with chocolate in it that wasn't too high in calories.  Special K Chocolatey delight is something in my house all the time now.  It's a low calorie snack and it's delicious.  You have to find replacements that work for you.  Of course, I have days where I totally splurge.  This is not really ok ( per the Biggest loser:))), but it happens.  Specifically, I totally splurged on birthday cake when LG turned one....and for a few days after.I could not resist that buttercream icing...it's the BEST.  Forget that whipped crap.  That's my tip for today !

This week, my goal is to clean one room in my house each night thoroughly.  Last night, I mastered the kitchen!  Tonight, I'm going to try to deep clean the guest room and the guest bathroom.  Hopefully, I'll succeed... and maybe even try to jog before bed!  I guess this is actually another thing I do to distract myself from snackin' at night... find something to clean and organize!  There is ALWAYS something that can be cleaned or straightened!

Until next time...

Friday, August 17, 2012

No Excuses

A little about my evening yesterday...

Before getting home yesterday, I had planned to clean house and do some general housekeeping organizational things once arriving. This did NOT happen.  My neighbor came over and totally called me out for skipping out on our scheduled 5AM jog... two mornings in a row. So, my plans changed from preparing dinner, playing with LG, cleaning and bed to.. preparing dinner, playing with LG, JOGGING, showering, and then bed.  As mentioned in my previous post, I CAVE under pressure... but in this instance... it was positive.  Not only did I burn off the chocolate pumpkin muffin I consumed, I reached yet another accomplishment...the most jogging I've ever done!  Of course, I still felt as though I was having a heart attack while doing it, but I didn't feel the need to call a taxi to come get me ...and yes.....I've almost done that before:) I tend to be slightly dramatic and make about a million excuses as to why I can't exercise or follow through with it.

EXCUSES...I am a PRO at making excuses. As promised yesterday, a little more about my weight loss. I had to eliminate excuses for not losing weight.  I had a huge list.....I like to eat, I don't know how to prepare healthy meals, the hubs is a picky eater so I can't adjust our meals, fertility drugs made me gain weight, I just had a baby, I have PCOS, I don't like to sweat so I can't exercise, I don't have anyone to do this with... this list goes on and on and on!!!! Bottom line, there is NO excuse...for me at least.  While I do feel that there are many people who cannot help being overweight or even obese, I feel there is a greater number of people that make obstacles in their lives into EXCUSES...or even pretend they don't care.  For example, after finding out I had PCOS, I let myself believe that I was just going to be obese forever and that I couldn't help it.  Yes, obese.  For my height, age, ect, my BMI was in the obese category.  I was lying to myself.  Even with PCOS, I can and have overcome this and I'm in a much healthier place.... I'm NOT done...but doing much better and no longer in that obese category.  STOP making excuses.   This is paramount. I was the queen at saying that I would try the following week or month so that it would be a fresh start... EXCUSE. A clear mind and vision was first and foremost for me in this weight loss journey.

I hear LG starting to wake up from her nap, so it appears my new blogging venture is done for now! Of course, more to come later.

P.S.  I fully realize this blog is not grammatically correct, as I've used several contractions, ect.  It's a blog....and I don't intend on making it grammatically correct...ever.  I don't have time:) (excuse).  :)  Told ya... I'm a pro at this.

For a great weekend snack full of chocolate explosion, yet reasonable in calorie content, try the following recipe...of course... it's from Pinterest:

Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins/Cupcakes

1 chocolate cake mix
1 15oz can of pumpkin puree

Mix the two ingredients at medium speed until well blended.  Pour into a cupcake/muffin tin and bake at 350 degrees until toothpick comes out clean.

Only 147 calories per muffin/cupcake!  This is LESS than a banana folks!!!

Until next time....

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Peer Pressure


Really? I’m blogging?!?! Let me start out by saying that this blog is completely in existence because I continuously cave under peer pressure.  The two sistas responsible for this know who they are and are smiling because they know they have won.  Ok... these are the only two people who will consistently read my fabulous words of wisdom in the weeks to come!  Not only have these gals pressured me into doing this blog, they have pressured me into exercising, which is something I'm allergic to because I wasn't made to sweat.  I'm pretty sure I was meant to watch reality shows, read books, drink pops and eat bonbons.  Wait.. what are bonbons??


Let’s get down to the nitty gritty...I’m an extremely boring person with nothing really to talk about, though I talk NONSTOP.  My life has changed significantly over the last six years, but definitely for the best. Within these six years, I’ve met my husband, had a beautiful baby girl, completed my college degree, made-kept-lost friends, learned to cook about five edible meals, moved to a different state, along with many other things.  All of these events have shaped my life in ways that I would have never imagined or chosen.  I always imagined living in the small town I was raised in for the rest of my life, married to a country fella, and teaching high school.  With that being said, I have the complete opposite.  I live in the city, married to a SO NOT country fella, and I work as a legal assistant in a law firm. Though this is not what I imagined, it’s a wonderful life (no pun intended:)) and I wouldn't change it.

 Something super exciting happened this week and I’m still in a bit of shock.  I have lost 50lbs!!!!!!  This fact is exciting and a great thing in so many ways; however, I also wish that I didn’t ever weigh enough to need to lose 50lbs. I’m going to be totally honest... at the beginning of the year, I weighed 225lbs-size 18 (your eyebrows should be raised to the top of your forehead at this point) and I now weigh 175lbs-size 12 (you should be smiling now)! Now, I still need to lose at least 20 more pounds and would like to be in a single digit size, but I’m extremely proud of myself for getting this much weight off.  My weight loss journey has been 8 1/2 months of work and totally worth it.  I initially told myself that I needed to lose weight so that Martinez (hubs) wouldn't have a fat wife and LG(my baby girl) wouldn't be embarrassed to have a fat mom. This was a LIE.  Bottom line, I didn't want to continue my life with the embarrassment I felt of my weight.  No one MADE me feel this way, as I have a completely supportive husband and friends...I alone felt those feelings.  Now, I chose to reference my previous weight (225)as "fat".  This term isn't meant to offend anyone in any way- it's just the simple truth of how I felt and how I still see that weight for my body. My advice to anyone who wants to lose weight is to stick with it and fully realize why you want to do it! I had to cut out ALL excuses and make it happen. I halfway attempted to lose weight numerous times- with no successful outcomes because I truly didn't want to put in the effort. Again, I had to really WANT to do.  Basically, I spent three and half years gaining weight- which was a little of fertility drug side effects, pregnancy and a whole lot of snackin' fat. I'll post more about how I've lost weight and update about my progress, but that's enough about it today.

Before ending this post, I have to comment about my little family.  Martinez and I are a completely boring couple as far as "getting out", etc. However, our little sassy pants baby girl has thrown my previously scheduled to the core routine (more about this in the future) out of whack and we adore her! Last night, Martinez and LG were in the living room dancing and listening to The Black-Eyed Peas.  I couldn't help but smile to myself and watch them and feel thankful for my life.  For those of you judging that we allowed LG to listen to the Peas... get over it... what your concern should be- is the hub's fabulous dance moves !

Until next time.....