Day 59 of 120

The weather redeemed itself today and it stayed sunny and was in the 50's. It was a much better day to be outside.

I had an odd eating day. I stuck to plan but totally wasn't in the mood for breakfast this morning so had my chicken salad for breakfast. Actually, I put salsa as my dressing to make it like a taco salad.  For breakfast. It totally was what I was craving first thing in the morning. Go figure. Then I had breakfast for lunch.  Waffles with real fruit jam instead of maple syrup. It was awesome.

It's also amazing how much longer the day seems now that I'm getting up at 5.  It's 8 pm now and my taco salad breakfast this morning seems like days ago. The kids are munching on popcorn and I'm so ready for bed.

Day 52 of 120

8 days of menus, today I picked #2.  It's cereal day!  What a choice!  Frosted flakes, Fruity Pebbles, Corn Pops, Fruit Loops, Cocoa Krispies...  Oh wait.  It says "not sugared kind goofy kids kind".  Hmmm...  Aw shucks, lets break out the Raisin Bran kids!  So it was cereal for breakfast.  I said I'd try to stick to the plan so I will but I don't like cereal for breakfast. It makes me more hungry.  My kids and husband eat it daily.  We usually have cardboard shredded wheat, multigrain cheerios and raisin bran at all times in the house.  Plus a few "sugared kind goofy kids kinds".  I so can't believe my kids eat shredded wheat, they totally didn't get that from me.  But yet we buy it in bulk at Costco.

So anyways, today's menu is cereal and banana for breakfast.  Skim milk and strawberry smoothies for snack.  Sandwich and fruit for lunch.  100 calorie something for snack.  Mexican fiesta for dinner and strawberries for snack.  I added all this up and I came to just over 1200 calories.  I can do that.  Actually, I tried to make up for yesterdays overage so I ate less for dinner and skipped the bedtime snack. I came in closer to 1000 calories for the day.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, so I have to share this awesome recipe. I am backlogged on the recipe blog so it won't show up for a few weeks probably.  It is not on the Phase 5 menus of course so feel free to make it after, if you are a challenger. It seriously rocks. Healthy, simple, low calorie and delicious.

Black Bean & Pineapple Soft Tacos

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 can (20 oz) pineapple tidbits, drained
1 jar salsa (16 oz)
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chiles
1/4 cup minced cilantro
Whole wheat tortillas

Saute onion and pepper until soft. Add everything else, heat until warm.  Add cilantro last. 

This came to 820 calories without the tortillas.  This made 7 cups worth.  I put 1/2 cup on each 100 calorie whole wheat tortilla so each tortillas was 159 calories.  You can add lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, avocado, cheese or whatever but careful on calories. The 159 calories is just for the goo and the 100 calorie tortilla. I thought it was awesome as is, super flavorful, didn't need any cheese and you don't miss the meat at all.  So 2 wraps for 318 calories.  Nice.

Day 22 of 120

I woke up really, really hungry today. I ate breakfast early and ate my yogurt early too.  Then I ate a big lunch.  Early.  Usually I spread my lunch out from like 1 - 3. I think I ate it all by 12:30.  It was all healthy and stuck to the plan, I just ate it early. 

Funny, I didn't feel like binging or anything but I knew I HAD to eat.  Odd feeling.  I know that yesterday I way overestimated my calories, I am quite sure that I came in way under 1000 but I hate for people to think I'm starving myself so I tend to round up. Yesterday I way rounded up.  I just wasn't hungry.  So today I woke up with a headache and felt I really needed to eat. I had an apple for my afternoon snack and then 2 cups of soup for dinner and then felt really full.  So it started out odd but then came together fine by evening.  I still have this stupid headache.  Though now I don't believe it's from hunger, I ate well today. :-)

There is a new challenge at Plus Size Bloggers this month.  Record your measurements at the first of the month and the last of the month.  I have yet to take a tape measure to my body.  So just for the fun of it, I am going to do it and I'll post the measurements tomorrow and again at the end of the month.  Should be interesting...  Join up! It will be fun to see how you do!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eats -
Breakfast - 200
Snack - 100
Lunch - 450
Snack - 100
Dinner - 300
Total - 1150

Day 19 of 120

This is my new favorite dressing.  Paula Deen Peach Dressing. 


It's only 15 calories for 2 tablespoons.  Amazing that it's from Paula Deen!  Interestingly, it's not even labeled as a light dressing. I was SHOCKED when I saw the stats.


Here's the funny part, it just showed up in my refrigerator.  Seriously. I don't remember buying it. I might have won it in a giveaway, I just don't remember. I found it, it had about 1/2 cup missing out of it so clearly I had used it. Hubs and brother claim they didn't put it there. Scary that I wouldn't remember it.  Even more scary that I found something in my frig and used it!  I'm sure I am just getting old and forgot. 


Anyways, it's amazing.  I looked for it at our local grocery store. It wasn't there. I looked online, and didn't see it.  I had a hard time finding it. I finally found it at Walmart, not the first Walmart by us, but another one. So I hope you are able to find it, it's delicious! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eats:
Breakfast - 200
Snack - 100
Lunch - 450
Snack - 100
Dinner - 225
Total = 1075 calories

What To Wear!

So what do you wear when you are weighing yourself?  I suppose to be 100% accurate, we wouldn't wear anything.  Right? 


I weigh myself wearing my clothes.  I figure I'm wearing clothes when the Dr. weighs me and I'm not walking around naked all day. So for me, it makes sense to weigh with clothes.

The weight of my clothes doesn't differ much.  I do daycare so the normal day attire is t-shirt and pants or capri's. 


Granted, there might be a SLIGHT difference in certain things but for the most part, I don't wear a tank top and short shorts one day and a pair of jeans and a parka the next. 


Nope, they are always pretty much the same.


That being said...


Before my shower last night, I picked my new clothes for the following day.  Tomorrow is weigh in day.  Hmmmmmm...


"The pink shirt IS lighter than the blue one."  "Oh, the capri's are lighter than pants", "Oh, wait, these capri's are really THIN". 


Seriously?  This is what went through my head tonight.  Pretty pathetic right?  I think the outfit I am wearing is like 1/2 lb. lighter than another typical outfit I wear, that's it.


I did lose weight though. 14 lbs. for the month of December.  I'll take it  :-)

Today's Eats:
Caramel Sticky Rolls - 250
Peanut Butter Cheesecake - 100
Salad = 120
2 Broccoli turkey wraps = 450
Hash browns - 100
Total = 1020 calories
Lots and lots of water

Ok, so I had more of the Caramel Sticky Rolls than I intended. Gosh those puppies were good.  Highly caloric, super bad for you and not very filling.  At all. I just had a little bit too.

Then I had to taste the cheesecake that I made for my brother.  Remember, the skinny, runner brother of mine who eats a cheesecake every weekend just because he can?  Freak.  Well, each piece was 318 calories, I just took a sliver, I know it wasn't even 1/3 but I still counted it at 100 calories.  Boy it was good! 

So moral of the story, breakfast wasn't smart. Then I started chugging water, had a salad and was good. We made our usual easy go-to dinner, and I had some of the kids' hashbrowns.  Another not so healthy choice.  I am finishing off the day at less than 1200 calories but I am hungry.  I just started feeling it. I know I could go have a yogurt or something but I'm going to bed soon so it will be okay. I've gone too many years of not being hungry, a little hunger won't kill me.  :-)

Sleeping Late!

I didn't wake up until like 10 am this morning. Well, part of that was cuddling with the kids but still, getting out of bed at 10 on a Friday totally rocks!  Started with water, totally skipped breakfast and went straight for the leftovers in the frig. I had made a double batch of the Butternut Squash Rancheros earlier in the week so there was one more portion left.  I'm not used to eating that much for breakfast so I was quite full for the day. 

I made the family banana waffles for dinner.  2 sticks of butter in these babies.  I'll put these on my blog but I would not consider these low calorie. I think they were over 450 calories a piece.  I ate about 1/4 of one, or less.  I'm planning to make Caramel Sticky Rolls for the family tomorrow as well.  Again, I plan to have a taste, but that's it.

Dinner consisted of more chow mein. I told you it would last all week.  Hubs ate the rest so the refrigerator is officially out of leftovers for the week. I guess that means I have to cook tomorrow.

Today's Eats:

Butternut Squash Rancheros = 425
Yogurt = 100
Banana Waffles = 125
Pretzels = 100
Chow Mein + noodles = 180
Yogurt = 100
Pea Pods = 35
Total = 1065 calories
Tons of water

My Motivation For Weight Loss...

Clothes.

Amongst the obvious reasons like to feel better, look better and well, to live longer.

I want nice clothes.

My friend donated a bunch, I mean a BUNCH of her clothes to me as she was losing weight. These are some nice clothes.  I'm a sweatpants and tshirt kinda gal, except for when we go to our religious meeting, then I try to look nice of course.  But, when you weigh so much, it's hard to buy things that really look nice, you know? At least within a budget. So even my dress clothes are pretty simple and nothing to sneeze at.

When I first saw some of these clothes, I thought, "These really aren't my taste."

But then I thought, "What IS my taste?  Oversized tshirts and elastic banded pants?"

So I looked again and saw that they were really nice and I would love to see how they look on me!  They vary in size so many might fit in another 20 lbs. and many will take another 40 lbs. or more I'm guessing. Hard to say. I'm eager to find out though!! 

Today's eats:
Ham & Egg Beaters = 120
Yogurt = 100
2 BLT Hummus Wraps minus the B = 360
Salad = 120
2 Mini pizza burgers = 380
Popcorn = 100
Pea Pods = 35

Total = 1215 calories
Plenty, plenty of water


I didn't mind eating my BLT's without the bacon, it was really all about the hummus, and now it's gone. :-(  The mini pizza burgers were nummy but way not worth the calories. If I had MADE the burgers, I could have eaten plenty more for the same amount of calories.  As it was, I had premade steak mini burgers that were highly caloric.  That and a salad were enough but then I munched the rest of the evening. 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hot 100 = Update 14 - Last One!

Posting:  Very regular, I hope to continue this as it is keeping me focused. 

Food tracking:  I've been doing this all month, haven't missed a day.  Again, this is something that I need to continue to do on this journey.

Exercise:  Still a struggle for regularity. I have a feeling that is about to change...

The Hot 100 may be over but it isn't ending for me. I got a late start but really refocused this last month.  It isn't going to stop anytime soon.

Loving Leftovers

Got nothing today.  Still busy beyond belief. Just wrote down the eats.  I love leftovers.  :-)

Today's Eats:
Ham & Egg Beaters = 120
Orange Yogurt = 100
Butternut Squash Rancheros = 425
Pea Pods = 35
2 BLT Hummus Wraps = 500
Total = 1180 calories
Plenty of water!

Tuesday

I've had a really bad headache all day.  Could have something to do with the 12 kids here today, or the fact that the daycare inspector paid a surprise visit, who knows.  It's over and I'm cold and tired and just want my bed. 

Today's Eats

Ham & Egg Beaters  = 120
Yogurt = 100
Granola Bar = 150
Chicken Chow Mein - 150
1 tbsp. hummus (had to taste as I was making it) = 30
2 BLT Hummus Wraps = 500

Total = 1050 calories
Lots of water but not quite enough.  :-(

Butternut Squash Dessert!

Same boring food.  Well, not boring for me, I don't mind eating the same thing for breakfast and leftovers for lunch.  I did run out of my favorite dressing, the Kens Vidalia Onion lite.  So I had to use light ranch and 2 tbsp. doesn't seem to go as far so it isn't as good. Gotta get to the store!  I need more lettuce too.

Ok, the butternut squash is like dessert. At least it is when you are eating very little sugar.  If you cook it in the oven and let it caramelize a bit. Holy cow is it good and sweet!  I ate WAY too much but it was so good.

Today's Eats:

Ham & Egg beaters = 120
Salad = 120
Chow Mein & noodles = 200
Granola Bar = 120
Black Bean Butternut Squash = 425
More Squash = 150

Total = 1135 calories
Water = Way a lot.  Flooding here.

I doubt I had as much as 150 calories of extra squash but I didn't weight it and I'd rather estimate high.  Not that I'm planning anything else to eat, I am way full.

Still Eatin Well

Food today mainly consisted of leftovers. Which was perfectly fine with me.  It's been a pretty uneventful weekend.  It was nice just to stay home and be with the kids.  We watched some movies, played games and read a lot.

I still have a WHOLE bunch of chow mein so you'll be seeing it for lunch all this week.  Unless I give some to my dad tomorrow.  This chow mein is the most filling, low calorie, delicious food I can make.  The whole gigantic crockpot was only 2250 calories.  It sits well in the refrigerator too.  I recommend it for anyone who is looking for an awesome low calorie choice.  I did alter the recipe from what is linked here, if you are interested in the revised version, let me know. I won't be reposting it for several months probably. 

Today's Eats:

Ham & Egg Beaters - 120
Yogurt - 100
1/2 banana - 50
2 cups Pumpkin Chili with sour cream - 400
Salad = 120
Yogurt - 100
Chow Mein - 180

Total = 1070 calories

Amish Bread

Today I made more amish bread. Ya, this stuff is way more like cake. I usually make 2 pans of it.  I give one away and the family usually just eats one.  I had one small piece. I figure if I am cooking and putting things on my blog, I certainly should taste it. It was good but not one of my favorites.  So it isn't "calling" me to want more. 

It's still annoying to me that yesterday was cheesecake and today is amish cake.  2 days of sweets when I have been so good avoiding them. The main reason I want to avoid them is it just isn't a good use of 250 calories.  I'm guessing it was less than that actually but I'd rather estimate high.  For 250 calories I could have eaten 2 1/2 yogurts.  Or a cup and 1/2 of chili.  Or 1 cup of turkey broccoli mixture without the tortillas. Or an entire turkey sandwich. All of which I have in the frig and all of which would have filled me up WAYYYYY more than the tiny piece of cake.  It's no big deal, it's not like I'm overly hungry but if I am to stick to this 1200 calorie thing for a duration, I need to make the most of my calories.

Today's Eats:


Key Lime Yogurt = 100
1 cup Pumpkin Chili = 180
1 piece of bacon = 45
Salad with ranch dressing - 120
Orange Amish Bread = 250
Chow Mein = 360 (I used less chicken so it's less calories than my site says)
Popcorn = 100


Total = 1155 calories
Lots and lots of water

Socks

I used to hate socks.  I seriously felt claustrophobic wearing socks. I would get SO hot! I even hated wearing boots. I used to be a flip flop gal. Even in winter. No joke.  I was also over 300 lbs. and eating whatever I wanted to.  That was apparently enough fuel to warm my body. 


Now. I can't go a day without socks and I am STILL cold!  I used to have one blanket on my bed, now I have 4. I just added the 4th last night as it takes me FOREVER to warm up. And we don't keep our house unusually cold or anything. It's just I'm now eating less calories and have less padding. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Today's Eats -


Yogurt = 100
Chicken Chickpea Soup = 230
Salad = 120
Hashbrowns = 200
2 Turkey broccoli wraps = 450
Apple Cheesecake - 175


Total = 1275

I made an apple cheesecake for my brother today. He exercises a LOT and is a runner so his food of choice lately is cheesecake.  It would be mine too if I was skinny with an extra 3600 calories to burn.  There have been so many sales on cream cheese lately he's been buying a bunch.  I took that as a cue that he wanted me to make him another cheesecake. I made him a pumpkin cheesecake last month, ate one piece and he ate the rest. Plus, he has some frozen in the freezer downstairs. Today, I made him an apple cheesecake, I took a small piece and he will proceed to devour the rest over the next week. 

Hot 100 - Update 13

Today's Eats


Ham & Egg Beaters = 120
Salad = 120
1 cup chicken chickpea soup = 230
Vitatop = 100
2 cups Pumpkin Chili = 360
Apple dried fruit crisps = 40

Total = 970 calories
Tons of water!

The pumpkin chili was adapted from this recipe. It really was good. I altered the seasonings and subbed some stuff that I had on hand but it turned out really well.  I was surprised on the low calorie count. I have 8 other chili recipes on my blog and this one came in the lowest calories of all of them. I got 13 cups from it at 180 calories a cup.  I checked the stats twice just to make sure.  I didn't even pack it with veggies like I often do.  I didn't add the cheese or sour cream to it either.  Or slather it on a hot dog like my brother did!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hot 100 Update -

Posting = I'm keeping up with the blog which is helping a LOT. Notice how I didn't seem to have time for posting when I was eating everything in the house. I didn't think it was but I'm sure it was guilt that kept me from posting. 

Food Tracking = Everyday. Spot on.  It's really getting easier.  Once you GET in the habit, it's SO much easier. I just needed to get into the right attitude about it. 

Exercise = Not nearly as much as I would like.  This week has been INSANE and next will too with extra kids here with school not in session.  Does wiping snotty noses and cleaning the pee off of the toilet seat count as exercise?  Ya, I didn't think so. 

All in all, it's been going well.  I've lost over 10 lbs. since the first of the month and going strong.  I'll post my official weight on January 1st. 

Award!

I got an award!  Allan's challenge is awesome. He sends uplifting and/or friendly reminder emails daily in this challenge.  We're sending him our weights on Sundays and he's counting all the calories lost. I think his goal is for all in the challenge to lose 1/2 ton by the first of the year. That is staggering to me and makes me motivated to do well! 

His logic is simple - Eat less, drink lots of water.  It's not rocket science.  He simply woke up one day from his own denial with obesity and started doing something about it. Now, he's passing his self acquired knowledge along to others who are willing to listen.  This Sunday, 8 of the participants lost 10 lbs. or more for the first 12 days.  He sent an very nice award to us for our blogs.  At first I was embarrassed.  I don't get things from people too often so I was touched for the recognition.  While this is NOT a contest, I am proud to be one of the 8 women who have "rocked the scale".  I've been keeping the 1200 calorie meal plan as accurately as possible and I've been drinking more water per day than ever!



 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today's Eats

Egg, ham and cheese omelet = 220
Salad = 120
Pumpkin Pasta = 450
1 cup Chickpea Chicken soup = 230
Popcorn = 100

Total - 1120 calories
Plenty of water

Delicious Temptations...

That pumpkin pasta I made was quite the temptation today.  It was SO good!  When I ate it for lunch I was TOO hungry and I ate it too fast.  So after dinner, I snuck another 1/2 portion so I could ENJOY it more!  Not that I really needed it, that chickpea chicken soup was MORE than filling.  I'll be posting that recipe soon.  I still have a little less than a portion and 1/2 of the pumpkin pasta that I'm sure I will eat for lunch tomorrow!  Is it bad that I'm getting ready for bed and already looking forward to lunch tomorrow? 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Eats


Yogurt - 100
Salad - 120
Pumpkin Pasta = 385
2 cups chickpea chicken soup = 460
More Pumpkin Pasta = 200

Total = 1265 calories
Plenty of water

Looooooong Day!

I'm certainly not going to gripe about my annoying day, I know everyone is going through stress.  Everyone has busy lives so mine certainly isn't that unusual.  It's funny where our minds go when we are angry or stressed. Food. 

As you might know, I homeschool my kids and do daycare. Well today the middle child and I were on opposite sides of the fence and well, lets just say, it wasn't pretty. I stormed into the kitchen and just wanted to grab pretzels to eat.  I didn't. Then I opened the refrigerator without even thinking.  I didn't succumb to anything bad, I DO feel like I am in control enough not to.  But, why do we do this?  Will this EVER go away?  Even if I do make my goal and start maintaining.  Will I still keep opening the refrigerator every time I get frustrated?  I don't want the refrigerator to become my hiding place. Not that I could fit my big butt in there, even if I tried. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today's Eats

Oatmeal = 120
Yogurt with Blueberries = 120
Salad = 120
Leftover Chicken with apples = 250 (it was soggy and kinda gross so I doubt I even had this many calories)
Pumpkin Pasta with Bacon = 600 calories (I ate a portion and 1/2, it was SOOOOO good!)

Total = 1210 calories
Water = Lots and lots!

Cookies, Appetizers, & Cake Oh MY!

We always seem to go to Costco on Sundays.  I feed like 14 people here so we go through an enormous amount food.  I usually go and estimate 25 - 30 calories per sample and come out of there with about 200 calories under my belt.  Today they were clearly putting out samples trying to woo people to buy their goodies for the Christmas festivities.  Here's what they had:

Doritos
Ritz cracker with cream cheese and some spread
3 bean salad
Chicken soup
Corn
Cherry biscotti
Fruit and veggie smoothie
Shortbread cookie with a chocolate kiss
About 6 different kinds of flavored popcorn
Bacon Quiche
Spinach Quiche
Crescent Rolls
White Cheddar cheese
Chips with salsa
Chips with hummus
Tortilla soup
A bunch of different christmas cookies

I'm probably forgetting a bunch more too.  It was insane.  Now, I didn't eat all of them and a lot that I did take, I split with my daughter. So we each had half a bacon mini quiche, we each had half of the half of crescent roll.  I had 2 kinds of popcorn, only like 5 pieces of popped corn in each thing but they were GOOD. The best was the shortbread cookie with the chocolate kiss.  I ate that whole baby, yes I did.  It was tiny but I'm sure it packed in 100 - 150 calories just for the cookie!

So, moral of the story, I ate lunch at Costco with just samples. I drank my water along the way, shopped and munched. I estimated it as about 450 calories, that probably is high as I avoided too much of the sugary samples (except the cookie), but I know I was hungry going in and full going out! 


Today's Eats
Eggs & Ham = 120
Yogurt = 100
Costco Samples = 450
Apple Pie Pork Chops = 550

Total = 1220 calories

The apple pie pork chops in the slow cooker that I came home to, were AMAZING!  It was like more dessert for dinner!  I subbed the sugar for splenda and doubled the recipe.  I totally recommend it!

Still Feeling Crummy

I"m not trying to set any records by not eating enough calories but I still feel crummy and I just don't want to eat. Or drink.  I am slightly concerned as it's not just a normal sickness.  I have this stupid pain in my side and arm, sometimes it goes to my back. The concerning part is that I'm short of breath and it hurt the most when I breathe.  Nice, right? 

Going to the ER would involve tons of test and would be highly annoying. Of course, ending up dead would be quite the imposition as well.  I'm going to sit tight for a bit, it doesn't seem to be getting worse. It just started yesterday morning.

I did take a 3 hour nap this afternoon, mainly to get warm as I was just SOOOO cold! Ya, I probably need to eat more.  I might get a snack here in a bit but I'm really not hungry for it. At all. I can only sip at water, at best.  Weird. 

Today's Eats:

Yogurt = 100
Salad = 120
Broccoli Slaw = 250
Tortilla = 100
Broccoli Slaw = 250
Salad = 150
Granola bar = 100 (updated: I caved and got a granola bar)

Total calories = 1070
Water = good but not enough

Slightly out of sorts...

Today has been an odd day. I haven't felt like eating.  No clue why. It was even hard to drink. My stomach doesn't exactly hurt, it just doesn't really feel like eating or drinking.  I ate mainly because I should have, not because I was necessarily hungry for it.  I'm sure I'll wake up ravenous tomorrow!! Super tired, off to bed.

Todays Eats:

Eggs & ham - 120
Salad - 120
Smart Choice frozen bean and rice meal - 310
2 Broccoli Slaw Turkey Wraps = 450
Total = 1000
Water = enough but not as much as usual