I believe in signs......

So after a really frustrating weigh in last week, I had pretty much decided I was not going to my meeting tomorrow. It's been a crazy busy week, and I just didn't think I could handle the disappointment in myself. I haven't tracked my food this week, which really just pisses me off. I mean, who do I think I'm kidding here? Who am I hurting? Yip, me.

As disappointed as I was in myself last week, the meeting was really awesome. The leader had all of the members who were at Lifetime (goal weight and keeping it off) tell what they do that works best for them to keep the weight off.

One member focused on power foods. Lean meats, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Another member walked 30 minutes everyday, rain or shine. And another member continues to journal her food to hold herself accountable.

One member said that no matter what, she always comes to a meeting. She mentioned that when she was given her goal weight, she thought there was no way possible she could get there. She felt that she was at an age that it wasn't possible, and that she weighed more than that in high school. I was crying like a baby on the inside. THAT'S MY STORY! Then other members mentioned how they too, had thought there was no way possible they could reach their ideal weight, and had gone to the doctor to get a note to say their body weight could be higher than the BMI guidelines and that they would be perfectly healthy. I DID THAT! You have to have a note from your doctor if you want your goal weight set above the BMI.

So, I had decided the next time I saw the woman that made me cry (on the inside, like a baby), I was going to ask her for her number, and see if she could help me get to my goal weight. Well, today I had decided NOT to go to the meeting, but weigh at home, and I would be fine, and return next week with happy results.

So I walk into a store, I rarely shop at, and there she is! That woman that made me cry (on the inside). She works there! I had to talk to her. I said "Oh my goodness, we're you at the ww meeting in Olathe last Friday?" To which she replied "yes". Then I said, "you made me cry, on the inside". And then I explained why. She totally wrote down her name and phone number and is meeting me at my meeting tomorrow.

Coincidence, I don't think so.

Never..........give..........up.

"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Well....here goes

The day before St. Patrick's day was an awesome day! I was so pleased with the scale, and well, of course myself. St. Patrick's day was also an awesome day! My biggest concern was figuring out just the perfect outfit to go with my kick ass accessories.



I felt great about my successful week, and well, I thought I looked great! See?


As i backed out of the driveway, i was amazed that it was snowing, Bradford Pear!






So i had to snap a shot! Then I headed out with a girlfriend for a great afternoon in Kansas City in search of other stupid people, like ourselves. It didn't take long. We found a local news anchor, John Holt, and he was more than willing to put on one of our hats and say "Green Beer!"


The rest of the day was a blast! I must admit, I lost count of points throughout the day. I spent the rest of the week exercising, making smart food choices and drinking plenty of water. The scale last week was at 171.8 and I was super excited to see how much closer I had gotten to seeing 160 something on that darned scale! Friday morning came and I jumped out of bed and headed to my WW meeting! I went through my routine......pee'd, she'd any extra clothes and jewelry, exhale and step on the scale.



I don't even know what this means. I ALWAYS have a pretty good idea what the scale is going to say, but this was truly unexpected. I have been stuck in the 170's for a really long time, and weighing 169 is going to make me, quite possibly, the happiest girl in the world! So I am not quitting, and I won't until I get to goal, but this was truly a very frustrating way to start the weekend. When I get pissed, I work like a horse, so my entire house, after four days, is quite possibly the cleanest it has been since we built it, 13 years ago. I suppose something good came of it? I discovered my highschool volleyball kneepads and put them to good use while I cleaned all of the hardwood, ON MY HANDS AND KNEES,



My knees thank me.

I found this on Pinterest, and I love it because, for the most part, it is everything Weight Watchers tells us to do!



"Live the life you live, live the life you love"

Green Beer? Yes, please.

I just got off the phone with a friend I have had for over 25 years. Do you have that friend you like to have coffee with, or the friend you like to discuss books with, or the friend you like do projects with, or the friend you call to run errands with, or the friend that knows all the latest hot spots? Well, this is the friend I like to go out and about with and maybe get a little crazy with! We both just agreed that throughout the day, we are 32. We are both 45+. Kansas City is such a great place to live. There is always something fun going on and I am always willing to participate! Today we are headed to Waldo and Brookside areas for some "green beer" and most likely, some very interesting people watching!

I thought it best to start off my day with some protein, so here's my yummy breakfast. I can't promise to remember to take any pictures the rest of the day. I get to chatting and always forget I have my camera!

I assembled my breakfast sandwich nice and slow, so you could see how I manage to get so much flavor in every little bite for only 6 PPV. My banana is zero of course, and the peanut butter is 1 PPV.

I start and end with light wheat toast.........



I like to divide my cheese so it all stays together nicely!


Then I took one sausage link and sliced in into 3 pieces, plenty of sausage for me!


Added my egg cooked in Pam. Then topped off my banana slices with one T of Better N Peanut Butter.



More cheese!









Now, THAT, was some yummy goodness!

Happy St. paddy's to all!

I am off to the treadmill to earn myself a few Green Beers!

"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Feeling sassy!

It really has been a great week! My "at home gym" that I created has really worked out much better than I had expected. I was pretty nervous about making myself work hard at home by myself. I always have known I work a little harder at the gym. I think having other people around you working hard can be really motivational, but on my quest to save some money by cutting back on a few monthly expenses, I told myself I would just do it! In order to know I am getting in a great workout, I always put on the heart rate monitor! Huge help! I am doing 60 min on the treadmill whereas before I thought 30 was sufficient. I also found a great idea on Pinterst! If you don't know Pinterst, you should!


I wrote down what i found on a legal size sheet of paper and posted it in GYM! I am amazed at my heart rate while doing these exercises! I totally suck at the knee highs, so I just run in place and bring my knees as close to my chest as possible! I watched myself in the mirror, I'm so glad I'm home alone! It was suggested to do all of these, then repeat 3-5 times. I'll work up to that. The upbeat tunes are really helpful too! Love me some Black Eyed Peas!

I exercised every day, I got all my H2O in, kept within my points, and still had a great night out with friends twice this week!

One night for dinner at home, I bought one of those marinated turkey tenderloins in the vacuum pack? I had never purchased one before, but really wanted to throw something on the grill since it was 80 degrees this week!



I made a great big salad and dinner was delicious!

Ok, I am only posting this picture because I think it's just so stinking cute! I bought a few cute colored eggs and wanted a center piece of some sort. I just took the candles out and replaced them. Cute, huh?



I had to share!

Moving on......I was really busy running all over this week, so lunch out a few times was a grocery store salad bar. Lots of veggies, a little grilled chicken, (I have learned to love my salad without cheese, amazing!), and top it off with salsa and a wee bit of sour cream. Love it. All though, this is a blurry, terrible picture, it tasted fantastic!





I try to eat light the day and night before my weigh in, so last night I had grilled salmon, steamed broccoli, and a baked sweet potato. I guess I was starving, because it all tasted very gourmet. It wasn't, I was just starving! That's a T of country crock light on that broccoli, and well worth the 1 PPV it cost me.



So I decided to take my new BFF, my IPad, to my WW meeting every week from now on and take a picture at the scale. I know. Friggin crazy, huh?

I was hoping for 173 today. I stepped on the scale and took the picture.



Then I screamed......."Wait! I'm holding my IPad! Please don't record that!" Well, we all got a good laugh, then I found someone to hold it for me, then take the picture.



That Ipad weighs a LOT! YAY! So much better! I was very pleased with myself.

Looking to be down a pound a week until I get to goal! I started out at 212.

I just need to remember to have someone else hold the IPad!


"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Yay! Recovery!

My last post was a total Debbie Downer! Thankfully, with the incredible encouragement of my awesome husband, (I really don't know how I got so lucky!), I have recovered! It has been an awesome few days since with a great Girls Night Out on Friday.



I counted all points and made great choices on my food and limited my beers! I actually RAN Intervals on the treadmill Friday morning! I NEVER do that! I felt great afterwards, on top of the world, really.

Saturday I hit the treadmill again and then decided to pass on a party because it was an entire crowd of some of my favorite people, but they like their adult beverages, and in keeping with my goals to only have alcohol once a week, I really feel like I know myself well enough, it was best to stay in and have Movie Night on the couch. We made it a special night with KC Strips, baked potato and salad......no wine! So proud!

Awesome Sunday as well. Slept in to make up for that lost hour in the "Spring Forward"! More on that in a second. Made a big breakfast, but point friendly of course! Then a little paper reading and snuggle on the couch with the dogs, then to the treadmill, and I RAN AGAIN! Hope I keep this up! It really feels awesome! Then to Mike's parents for an afternoon coffee and visit. Mike's mom offered up cake with the coffee, one of my favorite treats, and I PASSED! Pat myself on the back, thank you very much. Then out for an early dinner, and home for movie night again on the couch with the dogs.





We do love this empty nester thing!

So, I really wish I could tape the conversation my husband and I have every single time change. It will take him a good three weeks to adjust. It's ridiculous. He has kind of a crazy schedule in that he works a lot of hours......goes to bed VERY early and gets up VERY early!

Me...."Hey, you will probably make it all the way through The Good Wife tonight, because it's on a 8, which is really 7"
Mike....."No....8 is really 9, so I' m gonna fall asleep for sure"
Me......"No it's not, because when we got up at 8, we made all the clocks say 9, so really 8 is 7"
Mike...."I don't think so"

Then we drew a diagram. It's like two kids in math class with the worst word problem ever! Here's how the conversation ended.

Mike..."Oh, yeah, you're right."

THANK YOU!!!

The following got me back in my groove after my Debbie Downer day.....


"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Yeeee.......Ike's!

Things were going along so nicely too. I came home from 4 long hours of errands, and no, I did not exercise before I left my house, which I am supposed to make myself do, and I......was......starving! I unloaded the car with items from the grocery store and Costco. I picked up a WW cheese pizza and lots of stuff to make a salad to go along with it for my lunch. I had a small breakfast 6 hours earlier so I had planned on a bigger lunch than usual. As I was putting everything away, all I could think about was EATING! So I opened the pizza and put it in the microwave and made my salad. I ate it. Then I was craving something sweet, so I had a WW mini fudge bar. Then I wrote down my points. The pizza was TEN POINTS! I hadn't even thought to look. I assumed it was 6. EGADS! Well now I'm just pissed.

So I ate a granola bar, then a chocolate rice cake, (actually very tasty), so I had another, then a Special K strawberry bar (reminds me of a pop tart), had that with a cup of coffee, which made me wanna try the new Laughing Cow Strawberry Cream Cheese, on a bagel thin, so I did.



Now I just added about 15 points to my 10 point pizza. Nice. Then I tried to cry, but I didn't want my mascara to run because then I would be bloated and have messy eyes. Oh, I'm on my period.

So I got on the treadmil.

The following could not be more appropriate.......




"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Another Childhood Favorite!

In Junior High (back in the old days, before Middle School) I had a girlfriend named Ashley. She lived really close to the school. Several times we would all go over to Ash's house to play pool, make up dances, and of course, have a snack! One that I really remember as a favorite was her Mom's milkshakes that we would top off with granola! They were so yummy and creamy and delicious!

Here is my equally tasty replacement! And it is only 3 PPV!






It's the WW French Vanilla Smoothie!



I make it with 1 cup of cold water, 1 cup of ice and 1 cup of frozen strawberries (whenever they are on sale, I load up and bring them home right away and wash them and freeze them). I top this with 1 PPV worth of Kashi Go Lean Crunch!

Ahhhh, the memories!

Childhood Memories.....Food....

I have a lot of childhood memories that are related to food. I am sure many of us do. Family trips to the DQ, favorite birthday dinners and favorite birthday cakes, after school snacks of Little Debbies perhaps? Many of my childhood memories involving food are when I was in grade school and I spent a lot of time alone. That might be where the Little Debbies came in, or the bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos! I used food to fill the void. I still struggle a bit with that when I am home alone. I notice I don't eat too much in public. I guess I don't want anyone thinking "No wonder she's fat, look how much she's eating!" I never have a hard time at a party with all the food choices, and eating out is usually easy for me to make the healthiest food choices, but I do know that when I am home alone, it's easier for me to over eat.

As a kid, my mom would come home from the grocery store on Saturday afternoon and we would unload the groceries together. Then I would snack on the Ritz crackers and pimento cheese while she would make the best tuna salad ever! Then I would sit there with a new bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos and dip it in the tuna salad until it was gone! Then I'd rinse it down with a full bottle of Pepsi!

Another favorite? All those Little Debbie's!

Here are a couple of healthier options.

I still love tuna salad and my Doritos! But now I make it a meal and eat it over a large bed of raw veggies and ONE serving of Baked Nacho Cheese Doritos! Super tasty and very satisfying!





I really love a sweet! My new find, 3-2-1 Cake, is my Little Debbie substitute, and it was so stinkin nice outside yesterday (March in Kansas!), I had my cake and ate it too, on the deck! I drizzled a bit of Lite Hershey's over the top!








Another childhood favorite? Sloppy joes and tater tots! Now I make my Joe's with lean ground turkey on a wheat bun, and I sub sweet potato fries for the tots! I usually make my own sweet potato fries, but tried some frozen ones tonight. They were okay, but I will make my own next time.


















I like to eat my Joe open faced. Makes me fill like I get more food! I try to make a salad with each dinner, but if that doesn't happen, I get a few raw veggies in. I did a few cucumbers and some hummus! Yum!





Well, here is this mornings breakfast! A banana, a Nutri grain low fat waffle (2 PPV) with a little nonfat vanilla yogurt and some sliced strawberries.





Now I'm headed upstairs to my at home gym! Tons to do today! Oil change, post office, grocery store, gift to buy! Gotta get busy!

"Love the life you live, live the life you love"

I love Kansas City!

I have filled my Sunday morning with VERY important things. Facebook, thumbing through my "do it Yourself magazine", drinking coffee, mostly recovering from a long afternoon yesterday.

I went with a girlfriend to the Westport area yesterday afternoon to do a little thrift store shopping, with absolutely nothing to buy in mind, except for maybe lunch. Well, the sun was shining nicely, not a bad breeze, QT coffee in hand, lots of friendly people out and about, and really just a great Saturday afternoon. We had noticed several people walking in groups carrying putters? We assumed there must be some kind of pub crawl that we were oblivious to. There was. We were.

More on that later.

We hopped from thrift store to thrift store to antique shop meeting great people, buying nothing. Then, there it was. The high chair I have been looking for and had almost given up on! I just wanted an old wooden high chair, with a tray, not too beaten up, sturdy, that the grand kids could use when they come over, and something that would just look cute sitting around when not in use! I thought it if was too beaten up, I could do a little work on it and maybe paint it fun, animal print? But it really is perfect, as is! Big bonus? $48! They took 10% off and I was pleased as punch!



Then we head across the street to one more antique furniture shop before lunch. Those people and their putters seemed to be mulling around outside the door of the place we were headed. Great! We can get the scoop! Where's the party? We step around a few of them, the putter people, and inside the store. The nice lady and man at the door tell us the store is unfortunately closed today due to the event up stairs, but we are more than welcomed to go upstairs and buy a drink to support the Aids fundraiser and to Support the upcoming Gay Pride Walk. We then asked what the putters were for because after seeing so many people walking around with them, we thought perhaps a brawl was about to break out. The man (super cute and feminine) says...."A bunch of gay guys? Honey, the worst thing we could do is give them a little bitch slap!" I was in love. The putters were to use at each stop for the golf themed pub crawl fundraiser. Well they were super nice and we NEVER turn down a drink opportunity, so up the stairs we go! Well the room was packed! And through the crowd we see the cutest little thing (20 something male) wearing only tight purple shorts, hanging from the ceiling on a SWING! He had glitter body spray all over and was totally entertaining the crowd. He just happen to be hanging OVER the hole the pub crawlers were there to putt into! We immediately went to the bar and got a Bud Light. The only table available was a little one in the corner, so we grabbed it! We recognized the Pub Mix on the table from Costco and we were in heaven! Snacks, beer and free entertainment! Soon a lady comes over to ask us our group number, we then explain we were there by accident and really had come to shop! She welcomed us and thanked us for our support! At least five people came over to us and asked us if we were the accidental shoppers? Then thanked us for our support! We were really popular! We had five....wait....maybe six beers before we decided we needed to head home!

We signed up to volunteer the event next year!




"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Lot's to blog about!

It's been a crazy, but awesome week! I put my Goals, Obstacles, and Why's on a big sheet of paper and posted it on my bathroom mirror, right where I see "The Weight of My Weight" every day. It proved to be a successful little idea when I weighed in on Friday! So happy.

One of the items on my list? Exercise 5 times a week, no excuses. And I am sooooo good at coming up with excuses. Really they aren't excuses. they're real stuff.......see if you can relate.

1) My hair is a mess and I'll have to shower and fix it before I can go. Then I'll have to take TWO showers today! I'll go this afternoon......or tomorrow.
2) My favorite workout pants are dirty......from last week.....and I look really fat in this other pair. I'll do laundry, then go........probably tomorrow.
3) My friends just called and want to have lunch. I need to jump in the shower. I'll go to the gym AFTER lunch.....or tonight after dinner (I have NEVER gone after dinner) or probably tomorrow.
4) I slept later than I had planned, darn't, now I don't have time to go to the gym.......I will get up REALLY early tomorrow!
5) I hate to leave the dogs alone for so long (one in a kennel), especially since I will be gone all afternoon......I'll take them for a walk instead of going to the gym......maybe.

You get the idea?

Here's my solution.

I actually have quite a bit of equipment at home. Don't we all? I have never actually hung my laundry on it or anything, but I have gone longer than I'd like to admit without using any of it! Well, I spent a full morning getting it all set up in the spare room and I utilized it ALL week long.

I can't use any of those excuses with my gym at home. I might create some new ones though.

The treadmil......





The weight bench, which can also be used for crunches and triceps dips!







I have had the green step for a long time, but it has been hidden under the bed for a REALLY long time. I got it back out, looked up some exercises and had a great cardio leg workout a couple of different times this week! And the BALL? Also awesome workouts for your legs, abs, back and arms!


And of course....I have my TV. It's huge, isn't it? OH MY GOSH! See the three little tables in this picture? One on each side of the TV and the other Zebra striped one in the corner? I bought those for $9 ($3 each) at a Flea Market and painted the zebra stripes on the one. Isn't it cute? Now I need to pick a pattern for the other two! Wow, totally got off track there......


Then I also have become in complete love with.......my IPad.


This is me running into the bathroom to take a picture of it! Behind that Ipad, I have really bad bed head, thank goodness I have my home gym!

One of my new favorite IPad apps is Pandora! My IPod died some time ago, and I haven't replaced it. I think I'm cheap. The "IPad" was a gift, and I am certain I am not worthy. Well, until I realized how much I love it! With the Pandora app, I just type in Black Eyed Peas or Lady Gaga and I can workout FOREVER! Ok, not REALLY forever, but while I am going at it, the music really helps me get my heart rate up!

I track my WW points on my IPad using WW etools. I can save recipes to my notepad. This comes in handy since I use the notepad for my grocery shopping list, and it's so compact, I just take my Ipad to the store! I use the calendar on it for everything! I am loving the camera, if you couldn't tell. I have FaceTime! I didn't have a clue what that was until I got the IPad, but FaceTime allows me to talk to my daughter, who is away at college, via video! I love it! AND I BLOG! :)

I also love the Internet access. I have become a big fan of Pinterest! Lots of yummy recipes to try! I have tried a few I MUST share!

This is a yummy chicken crock pot recipe. I totally forgot to take pictures as I went, but it's pretty simple.

4 chicken breast
8 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese
2 cans 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1 pkg of Good Seasons Italian Dressing

Put it all in the crockpot for 4 hours on low. Serve over rice or pasta. We had brown rice! I loved this! As a side I roasted some Brussels sprouts.














Now for dessert! I love a cake or a brownie or a donut! Problem is, it is super hard for me to,stop at one! Well, here is my dream come true!

1 points plus cake....

On Pinterst, this is called the 3-2-1 Cake.

1 box of Angel food cake mix
1 box of any other cake mix, I used Devil's food

Yip. That's it! Open each box and pour into a large Tupperware type bowl. Mix well. Now put 3 T of dry mix into a coffee mug. Then add 2 T of water to the mix and stir until completely mixed. then put in microwave for 1 minute. Like magic, you have a great warm individual cake! For one point! Top with fresh strawberries, cool whip, or look at this! I topped mine with a little Better N Peanut Butter! Yes, I added a point. Curled up on the TV with my cake and a cup of coffee! Guilt free!



Here is another simple dinner I made this week. I LOVE pizza. I buy the whole wheat crust a lot, and I always bake them right on the rack for a crispy crust!

This is peanut sauce, canned chicken, green onion, carrots and mozzarella cheese!




This one is traditional pizza sauce, bell peppers and onions, turkey pepperoni and mozzarella cheese!


I love them both!

Well, that about gives you all the details and highlights of my week!

Here is my Sunday morning breakfast! It's an easy favorite!

1/2 smashed banana
1 pkg oatmeal
2 egg whites



Cook for about 3 minutes on medium low heat.


Cut into four pieces for easier flipping!



Flip it!




Top it with whatever you like! I like the remainder of my banana sliced on top with 1 T of Better N Peanut Butter!






Make it a great week!

"Love the life you live, live the life you love"