Fit4Life Friday - Week 1

Today begins Fit4Life Friday!! Deedra at Nspired by Faith is hosting Fit4Life Friday as a way for us to encourage each other, not only in weight loss, but more importantly in healthy life style changes and in becoming a better “you”.

I’ve been posting my weekly goals and started posting my weekly menu this week and today I’m going to do something that I’m a little uncomfortable with, I’m going to post my weight “stats”. (I think this will be a HUGE accountability point.) I’ll post these each Friday in conjunction with my new weeks goals. Those of you who have been with me for the last few weeks know that I’d been doing my official weigh in on Sunday, but after 3 weeks with no change, I think Friday will be a better day for me. I tend to do really well with my goals during the week and slip a little on the weekends, and then I would weigh on Sunday, only to be disappointed. So here goes my first Fit4Life Friday set of goals.

Week 1 Stats:
Starting weight: 175 lbs.
Current Weight: 170.2 lbs.
Weekly change: 0
Total lose: 4.8 lbs.
Goal weight: 145 lbs.

Weight Loss Goals:

• Drink at least 48 ounces of water a day (I know this is less than the suggested intake, but this is a huge undertaking for me)
• Stick to my weekly menu plan
• Write down everything that I eat with its point value / only eat my 22 points a day
• Get to the gym 3 times per week
  

Better Me Goals: (these are some things that I’ve been struggling with and could use some encouragement with)

• Being faithful with my daily quiet time. (not letting other things take this time away from me)
• Using my “at home” time more wisely: doing a few things each evening after work, rather than cramming ever thing into Saturday and Sunday and never feeling like I have a day off.
• Being a better steward of the money and talents that God has blessed me with: setting and following a monthly budget, volunteering at church, etc.
  

Wow, I’ve searched deep down today and look what I’ve come up with, some pretty high standards that I’m asking you to hold me accountable for, are you up for the challenge? I hope so; I’m looking forward to all of your words of encouragement and wisdom.

Happy Fit4Life Friday!! And thanks to Deedra for hosting!!!

Update

I promised that I’d post about the outcome of the Meatloaf Muffins and I’d love to but our menu and our "eating out" budget are shot for the week. We’ve eat out every night this week with the exception of Monday. Tuesday we got a late start on our trip to the gym and frankly I did not want to go home and cook, so we picked up Subway, a good choice. Then last night I was going to make the Meatloaf Muffins only to realize that I didn’t have any more ground beef in the freezer, so we took the lazy way out, Pizza Hut. I didn’t do bad, only 2 pieces of pizza and 2 breadsticks. Even with pizza last night I was only 1 point over on yesterday’s point count. Tonight is grocery night, so we’ll likely eat out again. I think it will have to be a salad at Zaxby’s, that’s all my points will allow. I have gotten in two great workout sessions this week and have managed to drink all 48oz of water each day, so I’m making progress and seem to be back on track with my goals. We’ll see what the scales say this week. I wanted to mention to those of you who have not seen it Deedra over at Nspired by Faith is hosting Fit4Life Friday starting tomorrow. Check it out; she’ll give us all of the specifics tomorrow. Until then, I hope everyone is have a great week.

Sharing...

My friends Jodi and Jess inquired about Meatloaf Muffins, so I thought I'd share the recipe. I've only made these once before and they are one of those things that you make the first time by following the recipe and then revise to your likin'. Unfortunately, I can't give due credit for this recipe, because I don't remember where I found it, maybe on the Weight Watchers site!

Original Recipe is a follows:

1lb. of lean ground beef
1 box of Stovetop Stuffing
1 cup water
2 egg whites
1 tsp A-1 or other sauce

Mix all the ingredients together. Spray a 12 muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Divide meat evenly. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Just a side note: the first time I made these I used the cornbread Stovetop Stuffing and the muffins were a little bland. This time I'm going to try the Savory Herb in hopes that it will add some extra flavor.

I'll report tomorrow on how this version works out. If you've tried these or make them often give me your secrets.

For those of you counting point these are only 2 points per muffin and well worth your 2 points.

Menu Plan Monday

I thought I'd join Laura's Menu Plan Monday. I just recently started planning weekly meals, and this is a fun way to see what others are eating and also a great way to get new recipes. I'll start posting our weekly menu on Monday. Hope you enjoy.

Monday: Grilled Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes and Salad

Tuesday: Meatloaf Muffins, Black eyed peas, steamed broccoli and carrots

Wednesday: Grilled Chicken, Green Beans and rice

Thursday: Grilled Hamburgers, Chips and the fixin's

Friday: Salmon patties, pinto beans and mashed potatoes

Saturday: Eating out (we have a wedding at 4pm)

Sunday: Eating out after evening service

Friday Already?!?

Oh my goodness, where did the week go? I'm sorry I've not posted this week, but I've been busy at night getting my chores done. Wow, make a list and I feel totally guilty when the items aren't marked off on their respective day. And I'm not talking about tasks of epic proportion, I'm talking, put away laundry, sweep floors, wash 2 loads of laundry, but with a list I can see all of the little things that need to be taken care of. So, my house is a little cleaner - but I must tell everyone that Jay did a large part of the cleaning. He was off from work on Monday and did tons of stuff, he got the oil changed in my car, got new tires put on my car, painted the window seals on the back of our house, washed, folded and PUT AWAY 3 or 4 loads of laundry, swept the floors in the "main" part of the house and cleaned the toilet in the guest bathroom and if that wasn't enough, he'd had a shower and was dressed and ready to head out the door for his belated b-day dinner with his parents all by 5pm. He totally gets the Hubby of the week award. Way to go Honey and a great big Thank You!! :)



Along with my chores, I've done well this week with sticking to my menu plan and exercise schedule. We've only been to the gym once, but it was the best and longest workout I've done, umm, probably since we joined... in February... I'm struggling with my water again, my goal was to drink 48 ozs. per day, and I've only been getting about 40, but I'm trying not to get discouraged, I'm just keepin' on keepin' on, as the saying goes.



I'm a little ahead for next week, I've already planned our menu for next week, because I needed to go the the grocery store, on Thursday, to pick up a few thing that I needed for 2 dishes that I'm cooking for work and thought I might as well go ahead and make this my weekly shopping trip. I've found that if I make a menu, buy only the things needed for those meals and a few healthy snacks, it does 2 things: 1. it cuts down on the grocery bill and 2. it makes me stick to the menu, which in turn makes me stick to my diet... I'm finally getting it, slowly by surely!!

This weekend looks to be quiet. This Saturday is Jay's Saturday to work and we have no Saturday evening plans, yay!!! Then it's Sunday as usual, church (oh, nursery "duty" - that's always fun), lunch, loonngg NAP (to recover from nursery), back to church, out to dinner and bedtime!!

Hope you all have a great weekend, I think it's going to be a scorcher here...

Week 3's wrap up

This week was not a good one for dieting, with the aforementioned birthday lunch at work, Jay’s Birthday and Father’s Day celebrations with both my parents and Jay’s, the scale was not kind for my Sunday weigh in. I have 1.8 pounds to re-lose… I hate when I have a plan that is working and I stray from it, but as Michele commented on my previous weight loss post the great thing about WW is you can pick up right where you left off.

So for this week I’ve already planned our dinner menu for the entire week with enough leftovers that I can have lunch every day, (that was a huge part of my problem last week, no dinner planning. We ate junk for dinner and then I had to “find” something for lunch the next day.) I’ve made myself a chore list (to keep me active at home and cut down on the TV/snack time) and I’m just about to make a “workout” list of thing to achieve at the gym.

So there you have it: THIS WEEK THERE WILL BE NO EXCUSES.

Here are my Week 4 goals:

• Use my lists to stay on track
• Drink at least 48 ozs. of water per day
• 3 days at the gym
• Only eat the allowed amount of points
• Write down everything when it’s eaten with its point value
• Lose 2 pounds
  

I hope everyone has a successful weight loss week.

Rain, Rain please come to stay!!

There was a great rain shower at our house tonight. It rained steady for about 30 minutes or so with very little thunder and lightening. After the rain had just about quiet Jay noticed a deer trying to cross the street in front of our house. I kept trying to get her picture, but every time she would get close to the street a car would come and scare her back into the woods. When she finally get into the road and was about to cross, my camera dies, errr!! While I went to find new batteries, the deer just wondered down our side-yard and into our back yard to the pear and apple trees. There she had a feast. Finally, her friend arrived and they had a little apple-pear party.

"Just takin' it in. (looking for that crazy dog that lives inside the fence)"

"I found some over here."

"Eatin' mindin' my own business, still being ever mindful of that stupid barking dog that lives just inside the fence"

As a side note I will tell you that the deer nor the dog were ever in any harm. The dog lives on one side of the fence and the deer think he's crazy. He stands as close to the fence as possible and barks the biggest, meanest bark he has and the deer just look at him. He gets no respect, poor guy. Jackson, the dog, was no where to be seen in these photos, because it was thundering and he doesn't like thunder, these deer could have been inside his pen - he was not coming out of his "house" (dog house that is).

Hope you enjoy the pictures and hope that you got some much needed rain at your house.

Wasted Days

I've been in a rut yesterday and today, not only with my eating habits, but with life. We call this being blah - kind of ho-hum, not really caring about what's going on around you. Yesterday didn't start out well with my diet, my office has a monthly birthday luncheon and yesterday was the day. I was to bring peach cobbler so at 6:00am yesterday I was making peach cobbler. In order to get myself, my peach cobbler and my daily "snack basket" ready and at work by 8:00am there was no time for breakfast. I grabbed a 2 point package of Quaker Oatmeal-chocolate snacks and ate those on the way to work. I did pretty good until about 10:30 at which point I had to have another snack, seeing as lunch wasn't until about 12:15 or 12:30. Got a snack. Fast forward to lunch, OMG at the food. We had hamburgers and hot dogs, chips, potato salad, pasta salad, deviled eggs, chocolate cake, peach cobbler, blackberry pies, key lime pie, blueberry cobbler, a huge fruit tray with cream cheese/marshmallow dip and carmel drizzled brownies. SOOOO, this is where my diet started heading DOWN hill. I had a hamburger, a tiny spoonful of potato salad, lots of fruit, a little taste of my peach cobbler (I had to know what I was feeding everyone else) and diet coke. Not bad... It could have been MUCH worse. Then for dinner I opted for Jay to make waffles, my thought was hey I've blown the diet for today might as have a dinner that I want. And did I mention the we had bacon. OOPS!

This morning didn't start off much better. I had 2 pieces of cheese toast and a pack of grits for breakfast. Not too bad, but lunch again was my demise. LEFTOVERS at the office. I only had a hamburger and grapes today. I've had a couple of 2 point snacks thru-out the day, but I've not done too bad. We had chicken tenders and chips and salsa for dinner. Again not bad, but it could have been much better. I've not been doing meal planning this week, I'm flying by the seat of my pants, not good. Anyhoo, I think the lack of meal planning and then feeling like I've failed is what has gotten my down and blah, as we say. Wish me luck for a better day tomorrow - its back on track - no excuses.

Tagged

My friend Jodi tagged my with the Restaurant Meme in which you write down your 5 favorite places to eat and why you like them. Then you tag other people to do the same. So here are my Favorite Five, in no particular order:

1. Amici Italian Cafe: this is a quaint little local restaurant. Jay and I like to go here for special occasions. We typically get 10 honey hot wings which are to die for and then a large pizza 1/2 meat lovers for Jay and 1/2 with ham and pineapple for me. Sometimes I get the fettuccine, the sauce is "home made" and is it great. None of their food is great for the diet, but that's why they are only for special occasions.
2. El Charro: is a local Mexican restaurant. This is our usual Sunday night stop. It doesn't need much explanation. I love their chimichangas.
3. Chop House: is another local one. It's kind of like an Applebees. They have steak, burgers, chicken, pasta... We actually ate there yesterday. I had the Hawaiian chicken and Jay had grilled pork chops, yum.
4. Longhorn: We frequent the local branch about once a month.
5. Nagoya: is our local Japanese restaurant. It is so good. We usually go there on our anniversary (which is not until September). I usually get the chicken and shrimp with fried rice, of course.

This wraps up my version of the meme. I'm supposed to tag some friends, but think most everyone has done this one. If you've not participated and would like to, please feel free, but leave me a comment and let me know that you've played along, so I can check out your favorite places.

Week 2's Wrap Up!

WOW, what an exhausting weekend. I can't believe that tomorrow is already Monday. Jay and I left yesterday morning about 10:30 a.m. heading to his parents for the night. We arrived there about 1:00, we only stopped for a quick bite to eat. Lunch is where my struggle started... The only place to eat was McDonald's, I was very good, I had a Happy Meal with only 4 chicken nuggets, fries and diet coke. When we arrived at Nana and Papa's we attuned a small birthday party for one of the nephews, yeah, I know what your thinking, but stop, I was good, AGAIN!!! I only had a small piece of cake AND I forfeited the chocolate ice cream. So, birthday party winds down about 4:30p.m. and family reunion kicks up about 6:00 p.m. Thanks to Nana for baked chicken, green beans, corn on the cob and a small piece of bread. I did splurge and have some dessert, it was a chocolate chip, vanilla wafer, pudding - yummy, yummy, yummy dessert. And get this the label said "sugar free" - HA that was my ticket. I know that sugar free doesn't always mean low cal., but hey I was at a family reunion with IN-LAW distant relatives - give a girl a break!!!! (Sugar-free chocolate chip vanilla wafer, pudding - yummy was the strongest thing I could find - trust me, we looked) So, anyway, I've digressed again, that was that for meals on Saturday. I'm thinking Sunday is going to be a breeze, until I see Nana getting out the breakfast fixin's - powder-sugar covered donuts, cinnamon-sugar covered donuts, fried apple pies (from a local N. Ga. apple orchard) and sticky buns... GREAT I'm doomed. We leave the reunion location and go to the house where were to sleep - fast forward to Sunday AM. Jay and I decided that we'd skip Nana's version of breakfast and we went to Waffle House (I know, your thinking NOT MUCH BETTER, well give me a minute to explain) I opted for 1 single waffle with a little bit of butter and some syrup. I'm at the Waffle House and did not have bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs OR grits. Does a girl get a pat on the back??!?!? So we finish breakfast and head over to the reunion were lunch is served at 11:45 - Hello, do they not realize that I just ate breakfast at 10??? SO, I skipped lunch - fired chicken tenders - Nana had no sympathy on my diet today. Anyway, we visited for a while and then left there at 1:30 and headed home (ah, home sweet home). Came home took a little nap, grabbed Hubby and headed out for dinner, where I had "Hawaiian Chicken" and a baked potato with butter and 2 very small sliced of bread. I have enough left overs to have lunch tomorrow, woo hoo.

OK, now that I've bored you with my weekend let me get down to business - in spite of my weekend with Nana's menu and Waffle House I still lost 2 pounds this week. YAY!!!!!

I think I'll stick with the same goals this week (they need some perfecting):

• 48 ozs. of water a day;
• gym 3 times and
• 2 more pounds lost

Good Luck to all of you May Day Challenge girls for your Tuesday weigh in. I'll be checking up on you.

Cereal Review and More!!

I promised you a review of “the new cereal”. So here it is: Jodi suggested that I try the new Strawberry Frosted Mini Wheats, well I must say I was a little apprehensive, but I bought it anyway. I knew I was doomed when Jay was excited that we were getting that kind, because he “really likes Frosted Mini Wheats” this means it did not really matter if I liked it or not, I might get 2 servings and then the box would be empty, but I digress… So, anyway back to the cereal – I was not brave enough to try it Thursday, however, I did try 1 biscuit “dry” this morning. It was OK, but I still was not sure that I wanted to waste my milk on them. I decided to check out the serving size and point value before I made my final decision. Well, good news, 24 biscuits are only 3 points. WOW!!! That’s a lot for only a few points. So that I could give you the review that you deserved, this is what I did (seeing as I was running late and did not really have time to sit down and eat a whole bowl of cereal anyway) I took a 1 point Strawberry yogurt cups and added 1 tablespoon of Lite Cool Whip (that's another story/trick for another day, remind me) and 6 crushed Strawberry Frosted Mini Wheats and taa daa, breakfast on the go for a mere 2 points. I also had chocolate milk, for another 2 points (1 package of Lite/Low Calorie Carnation Instant Breakfast mixed in 1 ½ cups of milk – the package only calls for 1 cup, but I like it better with more milk). And how crazy is it that it’s now 11:15 and I’m not hungry?!?! Usually I can have a bowl of cereal or 2 waffles with my chocolate milk and I’m starving by 10:00. All that said: I’m not sure if I’ll ever acquire a taste for the Mini Wheats alone, but they make a great addition to yogurt. So, thanks Jodi for the suggestion, it was a good one!!!

In other accomplishments:
I drank ALL 48 ozs. of water yesterday, YAY!!!! We went to the gym last night and I walked 2 miles on the treadmill in about 35 minutes. YAY!!!! And, I’ve finished 1 bottle of water for today, only 2 to go (NO “YAY”, yet).

I’ll check back in late Sunday when we return from the in-laws. Wish me well with my food choices over the weekend and a weekend with the in-laws!! :)

Also, on Sunday I’ll do the Restaurant MeMe that I was tagged with. (I know you are on the edge of your seat waiting, right?!?)

Mid-Week Check Up

I've had a really good week, so far. We finally made it to the gym today. I did 1 mile on the treadmill, 10 LONG minutes on the bike, 35 crunches (with 40 lbs. of weight) and 3 reps on "twisty" machine (with 40 lbs of weight).

see picture for explanation of "twisty machine"

(OK, so it's called a Rotary Torso machine, la te da)

My challenge this week has been drinking my water. I met my goal Monday, only got 32 ozs. Tuesday and just a little over 32 ozs. today. I'm really going to work on that Thursday and Friday, getting in 48 oz for 2 days may be my incentive for a treat this week. I know there will be NO Mexican this week because we are spending the weekend with Jay's parents, thus I'll need another "light at the end of the tunnel" or treat at the end of the week - in this case. I picked up some new cereal that came recommended by Jodi, so I'll try that tomorrow and give you a review.

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Hair Yesterday, Gone Today!!

OK, because after only one week I'm tired of writing everyday about my weight, I'm going to include some everyday happenings. Today I though I'd share before and after pictures of my baby.

This is what Jackson looked like yesterday!!! See all of the hair?

And after half of the day at the groomer's this is what he looks like today!! We have him shaved each summer, because his hair is soooo thick. He's like a different "person".

Week 1's Wrap Up

My, here it is Sunday already. I have great news for week 1's ending. I'm down 2.5 pounds from the first time I posted which was Saturday, May 26th. I've had a great week with my points, my exercise, however, did not go so well. I only made it to the gym once this week, but this is a new week!! I met my water goal everyday this week with the exception of Saturday and today. (Weekends tend to be a "deal breaker" for me). We didn't go out tonight for Mexican, but I did get a treat this week!! We went out last night with another couple and stopped off at and I indulged in a Reese’s® Peanut Butter Cup Sundae, and oh my was it sinful...

Tomorrow starts a new week of flex points and goals.

My goals for Week 2 are:

• to bump up the water consumption to 48 oz. a day
• to get to the gym THREE times with activities to include: at least 1.5 miles on the treadmill, 7-10 minutes on the bike, 35 crunches and 3 reps of "twists" - OK, so I don't know what the "twisty" machine is called, but I DO know that it gets rid of the dreaded love handles - and that's all that matters) :)
• to drop another 2 pounds

I'll check in during the week to let you know how it's going. Hope everyone has a wonderful week.