Friday's Weigh In

Well, here's the deal.

August 30th was my "Goal Date" to reach 150. I set that goal back in February after my surgery. The day I set that goal with my coach, I weighed 173. The thought of actually weighing less than 160 didn't feel like it could be a reality. 162 was the lowest I had been as an adult, and that hadn't happened in years.

After my weigh in on Friday, I STILL weigh 157. Weighing less than 160 took some getting used to. I think each time I go down 10 pounds, a part of me has to get used to it before I move on. Maybe a part of me WANTS to get used to it? I cant explain it. But I know that with each few pounds, there is a comfortableness that happens, and I just seem to hang out there for a while before I get the urge to move forward again. But now, 157 is starting to not be okay. I was pretty stoked about it for a few weeks, but a few weeks has turned into more than need be, so this is the week I plan to move PAST that 157. (I did weigh 156.6 when I broke through the 160 Plateau.)

We had a great Meeting on Friday morning. The leader asked us to write down on a sheet of paper something that we wished that we knew BEFORE we joined Weight Watchers. We all wrote something down, then dropped it in a bag. The bag was passed around and we each drew out a piece of paper, hopefully NOT the one we wrote on. Then we shared and discussed.

My favorite was..........

"Don't do anything to lose the weight that you're not willing to do to maintain your weight loss." We all thought this sounded like great advice!

It's then that I looked at "D", who I have been sitting beside for the last several weeks and adore, and said...."Then tonight, I'm drinking wine!!"

"D" is a Lifetime Member and she has assured me that coming to the meetings weekly has been crucial to her maintaining her weight loss!

There was a lot of great advice at today's meeting! One member mentioned that she views our weekly meetings much like an alcoholic would view an AA Meeting. I've thought that before too. I do believe my issues with food will always be a bit of a struggle. Knowing that there are other people that struggle in the same way, is comforting.

I never eat before my weigh in, but I always get myself a Starbucks on the way to my meeting to enjoy after I weigh in. After chatting with a few of the members for a bit after the meeting, it was now almost 11:00 and I was ready for some food!!

Early Lunch






Snack






Snack







Snack's....






Sometimes Girl Time requires one of these, and sometimes, it requires Two!!





Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise, and eat them if I choose.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate and it's PPV

Breakfast = Starbucks Nonfat Latte (2)
Lunch = Salad Bar with Veggies, Chicken, Edamame, Kidney Beans, Guacamole and Salsa (10)
Snack = veggies and Greek Yogurt Guacamole from Trader Joe's! (2)
Snack = Whey Protein, 1 C. Frozen Blueberries, Water and Ice (3)
Happy Hour Dinner = Veggies, Hummus, Guac, Cheese, Crackers (12)
Wine = 11

Total = 40

Today's Exercise = None.....but lots of walking/running and meeting with my trainer in these next 6 days!!!!

How many glasses of water I drank today = 12
Activity Points Earned Today = 0
Activity Points Earned This Week = 0
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 35
ALCOHOL consumption = 12 oz Red Wine

It's gonna be an AWESOME week!!




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

Fresh From The Garden!

A friend of mine was kind enough to share some extra's from the garden!!
So, I decided to take a break from the five hours I had spent cleaning out Tess' room and closet and put together a fun photo!!






The big white one, we thought, was a zucchini of some sort. Nope! It was a cucumber! But I did grill up the zucchini and toss some of the big white cucumber into our salad for dinner!!







My "Wake Up & Get Busy" drink!! Then I had like 6 more!!!





After scurrying around the house like I was on something way more powerful than coffee, I had a little Breakfast......





Lunch was the night before's appetizer that I never got around to due to the 1/2 Burger I ate instead!




Snack




Snack





Dinner







Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise, and eat them if I choose.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate and it's PPV

Pre-Breakfast = Coffee with Milk (1)
Breakfast = 5 Egg Whites, 1 Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge, Strawberries (3)
Lunch = Shrimp, Cocktail Sauce (7)
Snack = Whey Protein, 1 T. Chia Seeds, 1 C. Almond Milk, Ice,
Strawberries (5)
Snack = Grapes (0)
Dinner = Salmon, Grilled Zucchini, Salad with Balsamic Vinegar
and Olive Oil (14)

Total = 30

Today's Exercise = Cleaning Tess' Room and Closet????

How many glasses of water I drank today = 15
Activity Points Earned Today = ?
Activity Points Earned This Week = 28
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 21
ALCOHOL consumption = none

It would be nice to know this every day.........




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

Guest Room Ideas????

I'm getting ready to turn Tess' Bedroom into a Guest Room. I'm thinking a bit of an "Oasis"or a "Spa" feel. I want her to come home and feel like she has a special room to stay in and it would be nice for "Out of Town Guest" too!!

All of the rooms in our house have the same color scheme, and I've decided to make one room completely different. It's just paint, right???

Being Empty Nesters, I've already made one bedroom into a "Guest Room" and I love it! Another spare bedroom is now full of exercise equipment, and I love that too. This past winter, I was really glad we had it!

I think for this "Guest Room", I've decided on Light Blue walls with White bedding. I recently acquired a dresser and night stand that look like a very light maple, so I might paint one wall a light tan, or maybe a pattern on one wall?? Now, I just need to make it all happen. These are the rooms that I have found on Pinterest or online somewhere that are Inspiring me!!














I really like this "Be My Guest", and I want that bedding!!







Love this headboard........




How cute.......




Probably too fancy, but I still like it.....




I'm crazy over ALL of the following headboards.......



















Breakfast




Lunch




Snack
Almond's in a Baggie in my lap. I have no idea why this picture is so darn cool. Sometimes accidents are awesome!




Then there was this accident. Not so awesome.





Then I ate what I could.....





Then for dinner, I had planned to eat a piece of salmon, and a nice salad. Well, I guess I'll have that tonight, because I ended up taking a bite of one of Two Burgers that I brought home for Mike to sample from "The Food Truck" that I went back to work at yesterday for the first time since my surgery! One bite turned into eating half of this huge burger and a bit of homemade Mac & Cheese too!!!! I have no idea now many points that was!!!

It was really, really good, but in the end it really wasn't worth it because I really want to see 155 at tomorrows weigh in, and this morning I feel all puffy!!

Today is going to be lots of protein and water!!

Crossing my fingers.......


Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise, and eat them if I choose.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate and it's PPV

Breakfast = 5 Egg Whites, 1 Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge, Salsa, 1/8 Avocado, Red Bell Pepper, coffee with Milk (5)
Lunch = Pulled Pork Taco Filling....no shell (8)
Snack = 12 Almonds (2)
Snack = watermelon (0)
Dinner = 1/2 of a Huge Burger, 1/4 to 1/2 C Mac & Cheese

Total = I Don't Know!

Today's Exercise = none, which didn't help.

How many glasses of water I drank today = 15
Activity Points Earned Today = 0
Activity Points Earned This Week = 28
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = ????
ALCOHOL consumption = none




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

Protein Pancakes.....Banana Bread Style!!

I follow another blogger, and she always has the BEST and EASIEST recipes! And BONUS!! I usually know what ALL of the ingredients are!!

Tuesdays Breakfast and Dinner were inspired by her!

Click HERE to check out her awesome website! You can come right back to me!!

Me, trying to write today's Blog......like he just won't get off!!




It's like he's not happy unless he's touching SOMEBODY!!!
Look at Mishka's face.
Tucker is all like...."ahhhhhhhhh".
Mishka is all like......."Please Get It Off".





Banana Bread Protein Pancakes
You can click HERE for the recipe I was inspired by!

Here is the recipe I made with a few of my own tweaks.....trying to increase the protein.

1/2 C. Quick Cooking Oats
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
3 Egg Whites
1/2 Smashed Banana
1/4 Nonfat Plain Greek Yogurt

Beat all ingredients vigorously with a fork until well blended. Pour into three pancakes onto a heated skillet sprayed with cooking spray. Cook for about 3 minutes, then flip and cook for approximately 2 more minutes!





I topped mine with 1 T. Better n' Peanut Butter!




Breakfast completely tasted like Banana Bread......in a Pancake!!!




Lunch





Snack




Snack






Click HERE for the inspiration for tonight's Dinner





Dinner was an awesome Cheesy, Broccoli, Chicken Pasta Bake!






Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise, and eat them if I choose.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate and it's PPV

Breakfast = Coffee with Milk, Pancake with Better n' Peanut Butter (8)
Lunch = Whey Protein Shake with Vanilla Protein Powder, 1 C. Almond Milk, 2 T. Chocolate PB2, 1/2 Frozen Banana and 1 C. Ice!! Yum! (5)
Snack = Apple (0)
Snack = almonds (2)
Dinner = Pasta Bake, Salad (14)

Total = 29

Today's Exercise = 7.5 Miles, with a few Up Hill Runs and a couple of sprints thrown in!! Whoop Whoop!!!

How many glasses of water I drank today = 12
Activity Points Earned Today = 7
Activity Points Earned This Week = 28
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 25
ALCOHOL consumption = none

I've found myself inspired lately by a lot of different people, anywhere from meal ideas to exercise, so this seemed appropriate today!!






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

Monday FunDay!!

I have been meeting a friend at a large park with great walking trails for the last few weeks. It's been a great way to get together and get caught up on life, while also getting in a good hike!!

This week, we mixed things up a bit. She came to my house and we walked with with one of my friends that lives in the neighborhood, who keeps up an AWESOME pace and we got in 6 miles!

Then to the Pool! I had the entire pool to myself one day last week, and I assumed with school starting, it might just happen again! And it did! We got all wrapped up in conversation, and stayed a bit later than I had anticipated, but it was a great Monday FunDay!!






Breakfast

Click HERE for this awesome recipe for Banana Bread Protein Pancakes!!! The recipe calls for 1/4 C of cottage cheese, but I used 1/4 C of Nonfat Plain Greek Yogurt, and these were AWESOME!!

They were dense like banana bread, and as usual, I topped mine with
1 T. of Better N' Peanut Butter and a few blueberries that I put in the microwave to pull out the juice! Another Peanut Butter and Jelly Creation!!

Breakfast




Snack after the pool......





Lunch



Dinner....I continued Monday FunDay into the evening with meeting Mike for dinner out. I should probably hit the grocery today!!




Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise, and eat them if I choose.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate and it's PPV

Breakfast = Banana Bread Protein Pancake, Egg Whites, Better N' Peanut Butter, Coffee with Milk (10)
Snack = un-pictured 1/2 Smoothie (2)
Snack = Turkey, Carrots, Hummus, Homemade Ranch (5)
Lunch = Greek Yogurt with PB2 Powder (4)
Drink = un-pictured Beer (4)
Dinner = Salad with Grilled Chicken, Cheese, Avocado, Dressing (12)

Total = 37

Today's Exercise = walked 6 Miles

How many glasses of water I drank today = 12
Activity Points Earned Today = 7
Activity Points Earned This Week = 21
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 28

This ones a repeat, but it's just SOOO true!!





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