Week 25 Day 2 or On the brink of my future!

 

I was really sick last week and have been getting better each and every day.  Nothing could have kept me away from my Weight Watcher meeting last week (12/21/13).  I stayed the same weight which was good.  The room was virtually empty but for about 8 or so steadfast believers!  Snow and ice didn't keep us away.

 

Yesterday was a much nicer morning weather wise and there were some new faces at the meeting in anticipation of the New Year and their new futures.  I jumped on the scale not quite knowing what to expect since I really didn't eat for the first really sick 3 days of the week, last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  Christmas day involved a bit of cheese ball, a big piece of fudge and a slice of turkey and a baked potato.  I lost 2.7 pounds.  I was excited and squealed and jumped around.  At 265.9 pounds I have lost a total of 33.1pounds!  Imagine that!!!!  My daily points have dropped one and I can use 34 plus points.

 

2014 is going to be a great year.  I have decided my focus will be on me, my weight loss journey, my sewing and my cross stitch.  I intend on getting moving with my girl friends when the weather is warmer, walking that is!  I have started a new little cross stitch project to ring in the new year.  I threw away all my past failures that were holding me back from my future successes at yesterday's meeting and I am so excited about the rest of my life.

Oh yes, Santa gave my Prince and I a new Canon Camera! Plus I got a cool tripod so I will be able to bore you with plenty of pictures too! 

 

I do need to go as I need to be somewhere in a half hour.  Until we eat again my pretties!



Week 23 Day 1 or Good Bye 270's, Hello 260's!

I hit it folks!  I am so happy with myself.  Today I weighed in at 268.6 pounds, that is a total loss of 30.4 pounds and I lost 1.6 pounds last week!  I received my Weight Watcher key chain at the meeting for losing 10% of my enrollment weight.  I am so excited and pleased. 

I know I can do this! 

I KNOW I CAN DO THIS! 

I KNOW I CAN DO THIS!

 

We had the rain and cold yesterday after work but the Prince and I went to the grocery stores.  We have grapes and clementines and bananas.  We have chicken and ground beef.  We have cauliflower and tomatoes and cukes and broccoli.  We have yogurt and rice and cottage cheese.  I am ready for a great week.

 

I found some sugar free apple pie filling and a Pillsbury Apple and Caramel cake mix.  I plan on making a dump cake tomorrow. 

 

I am ready to take on the week before Christmas and do it well.  Until we eat again!

 



Week 22 Day 2 or great chocolate fix!

 

I wanted some chocolate.  I had a brownie mix in the cupboard.  I did a little figuring and made me brownies.

Brownie mix
½ cup of unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup of water
cinnamon

I mixed those 4 ingredients up.  Sprayed my Pyrex square glass pan with cooking spray and spread the mixture in the pan.  Sprinkled some cookie decorative stuff on the top and baked at 350° for about 40 minutes.  I cooled and then cut into 16 squares.

Three points each and they are good cake-like brownies.  Love them and will make them again!

I am going to wrap them up individually and pop them in the freezer.  They will be great to throw into my lunch bag for work!

Until we eat again!

Week 22 Day 1 or Dang close

Well I got knocked down last week with a gain of 1.6 pounds.  At weigh in today I lost 2.8 pounds which was amazing!  So I lost the 1.6 I gained and added 1.2 more pounds to boot!  So I am now down to 270.2 pounds and about ready to say hello to the 260's.  I am 1.2 pounds away from a 30 pound loss.  I have lost a total of 28.8 pounds!  I am proud of me.

I did not write down 100% of my bites.  I petered out on Thursday at dinner.  One day this week I hit 103% of my daily activity goal, it is the first and only time I have done that.  It is so blasted cold right now.  I have taken to taking the long way to the bathroom at work when I am at work.  I walk all the way around the perimeter of the call center to and from the bathroom.  That helps get me closer to my activity goals.

We have had some fruit in the house and that has helped this week.  One day, Tuesday I got off of work starving because I didn't take lunch with me and I stopped at Wendy's on the way home.  I got a cheeseburger deluxe at 9 points and a small chocolate frostie at 15 points!  Yikes!  But I didn't eat when I got home and actually came in that day using all my daily points and none of my weekly allowance.

At a meeting months ago I briefly heard mention of meal planning sites.  I went looking and found "Shrinking on A Budget" last Sunday.  Some enterprising woman puts together weekly meal plan using foods and ingredients that you would normally have in any kitchen.  Each week you get the meal plan for Weight Watcher meals and snacks with the recipes for those meals and the shopping list!  It costs $10 for a year!  I absolutely love it.  The meals are reasonable, have you ever seen recipes in magazines and cookbooks with these wild ingredients?  This is not like that, it is real world.  I joined and love this!  I print off the weekly meal plan and then put them in a 3 ring binder.  LOVE IT!!

It has been a great week, really, and I will sign off for now.  Until we eat again!

Week 21 Day 2 or Bumming about my Activity

 

See there is that little Active Link scutter plugged into my computer to spit out my wonderful attempt at walking yesterday.  Well it spit alright, right in my eye!  Damn thing!

I only got 65% of my activity goal yesterday.  That big long bar is me walking at noon and the rest is me sitting on my donkey/mule/ass all day long!  Crap on toast!

This is a good day of journaling my bites.  As you can see I had 9 points left at the end of the day!  Good girl.  The highlight of my day was my cauliflower on toast.  This is one of my favorite childhood meals my dear Mum used to make for us.  I think I was the only one of her four kids that liked it.

 

Green Giant has Steamer bags that are 3 points total, or 3 servings of 1 point.  Cauliflower and cheese, broccoli and cheese and I forgot the other.  LOVE IT!

 

I am so excited about this recipe I found at Weight Watcher girl.  It is a soft pretzel with cinnamon and icing and it is 5 points.  Easy to make, quick to make and decadent. http://www.theprettyyouproject.blogspot.com/2013/11/cinnamon-glazed-soft-pretzels-quick.html The neat thing is I had soft pretzels in the freezer and now I can make myself a great treat.  Life is good!

 

So today I have had one bottle of water with my medicine and I am going to search some more for good recipes.  I want to hit the grocery and take some books over to the dear Mum.  My Prince has Christmas Carols blasting on our home theater system, ugh!

 

Well happy eatings from your Pink Cricket!

 



Week 21 Day 1 or New Beginnings

I realized last week I was just playing at this Weight Watchers venture.  I knew I wasn't investing 100% of my efforts.  The past 2 weigh in's I lost weight and I was surprised because I hadn't journaled my food or really seriously done much to deserve the loss.  I knew a gain was coming.  This past week I ate pretty much what I wanted and wrote down nothing.  I had a couple of candy bars, some donuts and big cookies and Thanksgiving was small portions of everything.  So today I had a 1.6 pound gain at the scale.  I wasn't surprised and amazingly enough relieved.

The meeting had a mere handful of people there.  I guess many were not able to face the consequences of their Thanksgiving week for whatever the reason.  I am certainly NOT  judging them, far be it for me to do that. 

It was a good meeting and I think everyone shared at some point.  We wrote down reasons we want to lose weight.  Some of my reasons, of which there are lots more, are written down for the inspiration, the need to kick myself into gear and fully engage in this venture to a new life.

I am going to sit down and plan some meals for this week and write a grocery list.  It is supposed to be warmer today and I intend on taking my Active Link and going for a walk.  Water, drink some water and just revel in the delightful life I have been blessed with.

So until we eat again I will remain Blessed!  Season's Eating's!

Week19 Day 1 or The Winds of Change are Howlin'

Let's just say I am astonished and amazed by the wonders of God.  I did not blog last Saturday.  My beautiful Prince and I were and are going thru a stressful time.  We will overcome as we have the grace of God as our armor.  He has our tomorrows already prepared for us and fearfulness is not something in our vocabulary.

That being said I really did not expect much when I stepped on the scale.  I had not journaled my food last week.  I didn't really over eat or eat bad things but just had no desire to weigh and measure and jot.  Last Saturday's weigh in I gained 0.4 pounds, today I lost 1.8 pounds.  I am down to 272.2 pounds.  I don't feel like I deserve it but I will take it. 



The topic of our meeting was about Friends and Family without Food.  Having fun with our loved ones doesn't mean it has to be about the food.  We talked about creating new traditions for holidays and celebrations where the centerpiece of the gathering is to be around the people, the activities and not so much the food.  Last Thanksgiving was a wonderful one because it was the second Thanksgiving with my Prince.  I enjoyed being with him and my family and listening to the conversation and the jokes and the joy and love and being a part of it.  I plan on finding a great new recipe to make to take to our family get together Thanksgiving, which will be over at Brother 2's home.

Case in point, last Sunday was my Mother's 77th birthday.  We all went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  I so enjoyed the banter and the atmosphere more then the food.  I ate half of what I was served and I was happy and satisfied.

I love my family and that is the joy and celebration, not the hash brown casserole and the pancakes.

I had been contemplating a new gadget/investment in my journey to a better life style, so in true girlish style, I bought it.  It is a Active link personal activity device.  The device is 39.95 with a 5.00 per month fee.  It tracks my activity, creates a activity plan for me and it will motivate me to reach a personal goal.  I downloaded the software to my computer and then activated the device.  I attached it to my person and it tracks all the movements.  At the end of the day I plug it into the USB port on my computer and it tells me how many activity points I earned thru out the day.  I can add those points to my daily food allowance or not. 

For these first 7 days it will be gathering information on me.  Next Saturday, I will sit down at my computer and I will then begin to plan my activity goals.  I am excited about it.  It is just a gadget but I need to do something to help motivate me as far as activity.  I think I have invested a lot of money so far and a little more to help me achieve my goal is worth it.

 

The above to items are new food products I have "discovered".  The first is coconut oil and it can be used as a fat substitute in recipes.  The second is PB2 which is powder peanut butter.  Far less fat and calories and I can add a bit of water and make a paste for a sandwich.  I want to go and find some recipes for both.  I will let you know.

 

I went to the cross stitch shop to find me some new designs to help keep my hands and mind busy while I watch TV.  I love Sue Hillis's new design "Reindeer Games".

I saw the old fashion sled and the sweet little designs and thought what a darling gift for my Mom.  She would love it for her Christmas tree.

I bought some GAST threads for a Not Forgotten free design.  I want to stitch this over one for a ornament for my Mom.  She loves snowmen.  I am going to use reddish colors for the leaves and the blue for the body of the snow man.  He is SO cute.

 

So my fine loved ones I look forward to a new week filled with tons of love and tons of joy.  God Bless and until we eat again!





Kitchen Cheat Sheet

How to Properly Store Fruits and Vegetables

Zero Point Plus Foods

Week 17 Day 1or 25.4 pounds lost and an anchor gained

A gorgeous Autumn morning, crisp and chilled and sunny.  I had a good week and even if I hadn't lost at the scale it would have been a successful week.  I did journal every bite.  I drank one bottle of water each day.  I did walk, once.  We had rain several days so walking to the corner was not possible.  I feel really good about keeping my goals for last week.  So when I stepped on the scale today I did not expect what happened.  I lost 2.8 pounds for a total of 25.4 pounds lost!  I was blown away! 

I received a second charm for my charm bracelet.  It is a 25 pound anchor!

So I am 3.6 pounds away from my 10% award and 3.7 pounds away from saying good bye to the 270's and hello to the 260's!

The cookie dough I made last Sunday is still in the freezer unbaked.  I haven't had the inclination to roll it out.  Perhaps today I will.

Thursday after work we went to Aldi's.  I generally don't shop there because it is further away and quite frankly, they don't have the variety of fat free or sugar free items that I would like.  Here are some things I found and bought.

These Breakfast sandwiches are 7 points and very good, I just had one.  Weight Watchers are 6 points.  I have to say I like the Fit and Active better and the one extra point is worth it in my view.   I can't find the receipt right now to tell you which is the better price value.

These are very comparable to the Quaker or HyVee brand.  They are 2 points for 7 cakes which is the same as the other 2.  Again no receipt to compare.

I do like the Fit and Active salad dressings, they are good.  This is 1 point per 2 Tablespoonsful.  It is a great alternative for dipping my fresh veggies in.  I really don't like the yogurt with the ranch dip mix in it.

We also went to HyVee to get a few things last night.  I was looking at the ice cream and I saw these and they were a better value to the Weight Watchers.  Weight Watchers has only 6 bars in a package and they are 3 points each and 50¢ more.  There are 8 of the Blue Bunny and they are 2 points each.  These are good but the ice cream isn't as creamy as the Weight Watchers.  I prefer the Weight Watchers.

I have my food diary all prepared for the week and ready to go.  Last week's has been put to bed.  I have lost 1 point daily which is okay with me.  Losing points is a badge of honor, it shows I am losing weight.

My personal goals for this week are to up my water from 16 to 32 ounces a day, write every bite and to walk twice in this coming week.

Bending over the grocery cart to pull things out to put on the conveyor belt the Prince says "your jeans are getting baggy in the rear".  My question is why is he checking out my butt?  I told him I liked hearing that.

I don't know what I am going to make for dinner but what ever it is I will enjoy it.  So I hope you have a wonderful week and be good!  Until we eat again!

Week 16 Day 2 or Balsamic Rosemary Chicken

Balsamic Rosemary Chicken recipe from Skinny Kitchen was delicious.  I definitely will make it again.  I had to trim the chicken breasts down to 5 oz, but I froze those bits for fried rice or quesadillas or some other dish.  My Prince ate 2 of the breasts and 2 cups of the rice.  I put onion and an envelope of brown gravy mix in with the rice and it tasted lovely.

I did write every bite yesterday and drank my one bottle of water.  Goal for Day 1 was met!  I had 8 points left at the end of the day...good girl Sandi Jo!

I have some lean ground beef thawed and will patty up 4 burgers and cook them up for dinner and lunch tomorrow. 

Well just a quick entry while I drank my water and ate my Banana.  Until we eat again!

My inspiration.

Week 16 Day 1 or I will!

Oh it could have been so much worse than it was.  I had a very stress filled week at work and it showed on the scale with a 0.2 pound gain.  I did not grocery shop, I had none of my treats or fruits or Weight Watcher meals.  I did not journal my bites, I did not pack my lunches.  I munched on whatever was here in the house and I ate the cookies in the vending machine at work.  I am lucky I didn't gain more.

So this week I am buckling down.  I am declaring my goals for this week.

• Journal every bite!
• Drink one bottle of water each day.
• Walk down the block to the end of Walnut each day after work!

Hold me to these goals my dear and gentle readers.

At the meeting today I was given a clapping hands charm for attending 16 weeks of meetings without a miss.  It means a lot to me.  I love the meetings, look forward to them.  I like the people, the motivation, the wisdom and they always end with giving me the excitement to get a good start for my week.  I want to get a nice little link bracelet to begin to put my charms on for a nice charm bracelet.

I went to the grocery store after the meeting and spent $156.50.  I got apples to make an apple bread or apple crisp.  I got grapes and bananas and tomatoes and cucumbers.  I wanted cauliflower but didn't want to spend $3 on a small head.  I need to visit Aldi's.  I bought onions and canned beans and fruit, cottage cheese, bread, kosher salt, chicken breasts, WW meals and ice cream.  I bought Chai tea bags and liquid smoke and lunch meat.

I bought some of these sandwich rounds to make small sandwiches to take to work with the Progressive soup.  They have 3 points per round which is the top and bottom half.  With some lunch meat, a small piece of cheese and a bit of lite mayo, I think they will be super for lunch.

For dinner this evening I am making Balsamic Rosemary Chicken, rice and cauliflower/broccoli medley.  The chicken is a Skinny Kitchen recipe. And it is very low on the point scale, just what the chicken weights. 

I am also going to throw some of my cukes in the vinegar and equal liquid for snacking.  Plus I want to bake the 1 point sugar cookies.

I am looking forward to a challenging week, where I challenge myself to do better and I know I can!

So next week I want to report on all the successes of "I Did's"!

Tomorrow, Best Deals Magazines http://www.bestdealmagazines.com/ will be having Weight Watcher Magazine subscriptions for $4.29 a year which is 6 issues. They are 11.99 usually thru Weight Watchers.  I think I can order up to 4 years worth so I am going to!  I am excited about that too!

So life is great and all is well.  Until we eat again!

Hungry Girl Halloween Goodies Point Guide

LOW-CALORIE CHOCOLATE TREATS
These tiny treats can't be beat. Each one has 20 - 35 calories and 0.5 - 1.5g fat (PointsPlus® value 1*).

3 Musketeers Minis
Hershey's Kisses
Sixlets 8-piece tubes
Tootsie Roll Midgees
Whoppers Malted Milk Balls 3-piece tubes

CHOCOLATE MINIS Minis are the small, typically square, morsels. The kinds below have 35 - 55 calories and 1.5 - 3g fat (PointsPlus® value 1*) per piece.

Baby Ruth
Butterfinger
Hershey's Special Dark, Krackel, Milk Chocolate, and Mr. Goodbar
Kit Kat
Milky Way
Nestlé Crunch
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Snickers
Twix

SNACK-SIZE/FUN-SIZE CHOCOLATESnack-size and fun-size candies are usually about 2 inches long and weigh in at around half an ounce. The ones listed here have 60 - 85 calories and 1 - 4g fat (PointsPlus® value 2*) per piece, pack, bag, or box.

3 Musketeers
Baby Ruth
Butterfinger
Hershey's Milk Chocolate
Junior Mints
Kit Kat (one 2-piece bar)
M&M's Milk Chocolate
Milky Way
Nestlé Crunch
Raisinets
Snickers
York Peppermint Patties

SNACK-SIZE/FUN-SIZE CHOCOLATE PART IISame specifics as the previous list of snack-size/fun-size treats (about 2 inches long and half an ounce in weight), but these are a little higher in stats. Each bar or pack has 90 - 95 calories and 4 - 6g fat (PointsPlus® value 3*).
100 Grand
M&M's Peanut
Mr. Goodbar
PayDay

LOW-CALORIE CONFECTIONS
These goodies are impressive in the stats department: 30 - 50 calories and 0 - 1g fat (PointsPlus® value 1*) each.
AirHeads mini bars
Laffy Taffy mini bars
Now and Later (2 pieces)
SpongeBob SquarePants Gummy Krabby Patties
Starburst (2 pieces)
SweeTarts Chews
Twizzlers Cherry Pull 'n' Peel snack-sized pieces
Twizzlers Strawberry Twists snack-sized pieces

CALORIE-BARGAIN TREAT-SIZE/SNACK-SIZE BAGSPouches, packs, bags, and packages! Each of these small sacks has 50 - 55 calories and 0g fat (PointsPlus® value 1*).
Brach’s Candy Corn
Hot Tamales
Mike and Ike
Sour Patch Kids
Swedish Fish

MORE MINI BOXES 'N BAGS
While not quite as pint-sized in the calorie department as the list above, each petite pack has a reasonable 60 - 75 calories and 0 - 1g fat (PointsPlus® value 2*).
Dots
Mini Chewy SweeTarts
Skittles Fun Size

 

 

 

 

LOW-CALORIE SWEETS & SUCKERS

All-star stats here! Just around 20 - 25 calories and 0g fat (PointsPlus® value 1*) each.

Dum Dums

Everlasting Gobstopper mini pouches

Pixy Stix (3 straws)

Smarties rolls

MID-CALORIE CLASSICSWith 50 - 60 calories and 0 - 0.5g fat (PointsPlus® value 2*) per pop, these long-lasting goodies are some of our favorites.

Blow Pop

Ring Pop Halloween

Tootsie Caramel Apple Pops

Tootsie Pops

Week 15 Day 1 or bad is done good is beginning

It has been a horribly tough week with tons of stress at work.  I was not good but not horribly bad.  I lost 0.4 lbs in spite of myself this week.  I was surprised.

After a late night of a stitching orgy with my girls.  I did not want to get up and go to the meeting this morning.  I did make it to the 0930 one and I am glad.  Made a new friend named Kathy and that is a good thing.

I am going to go in and make myself a nice salad and the grocery shopping will wait until tomorrow.

I have been enjoying my Kindle and have been reading again.  I love my Kindle.  Off I go with blinding slowness and wish all of you the most wonderful of God's blessings.  Until we eat again!

Week 14 Day 1 or Pitfalls of weight loss!

Good Morning all of my pretties!  It is a wonderful early autumn morning.  My Prince is off to church, April is annoying me by nervously pacing from room to room, the dog next door is barking at random nothingness and I, your girlish girl, am here slaving away at the laptop.

I had a week, as most of you did too!  I found that 3 of the days last week found me with not much of an appetite.  Are you as shocked and appalled as I am at that little factoid?  Those days I left the day with 15 or more uneaten points on the table!  What is the matter with her royal chubbiness? 

Two different tops I wore this week were no longer too tight.  Amazing!  And I would have to say the most disturbing moment came when I was in the bathroom having a private moment when I jumped up to answer the ringing phone.  I pulled up the jeans and ran to the phone, which had by that time quit ringing. But hold on a minute, something wasn't feeling quite right.  Much to my amazement I discover my snickers were still around my knees but the crotch was properly where it should have been.  Could it be that my snickers are getting too big for me?  Alas it is true!  And here is where the pitfalls of weight loss lie.  Clothing is amazingly growing when it is hanging in the darkness of my closet or folded in my closed dresser drawers.  Life is good!

Today I am going to reorganize a shelf or two in the garage.  I want to take the can goods which my well meaning Prince stores in any of 3 cabinets and put them on the shelves in the garage, so I can see what I have and what I need.  I will do that when I finish here, before he comes home and gets under my feet.  It seems to be a pattern with my dear one, if I am in the kitchen he has to wander in and begin to rut around for something to eat.  He is a 6'2" eating machine.

Chili and rice will be on the menu today.  I will make it with the Morning Side Griller Crumbles which is a non meat product but tastes pretty good.  Beef doesn't sit well on His Highness's tummy so I try to avoid beef when I cook for the two of us.  I also want to make a cookie recipe I found.  It is a sugar cookie recipe which is 1 point per cookie!  I'll let you know how they turn out.

Oh and my results at the scale?  I lost 2.4 pounds and weigh 276.6 pounds.  I was chatting with a couple of ladies before our meeting and told them what I was at when I started my journey in July.  One of the gals said I was brave because she didn't tell anyone her weight.  I said I want to speak in truths and truth is the numbers on the scale, good or bad.

Have a grand week loved ones, until we eat again!

Week 13 Day 2 or Take it off, take it ALL off!

Oh my dear and darling devoted cheerleaders, this past week has been agony which did not end in defeat but VICTORY!!!!!

 

Last Saturday at weigh in I gained 0.6 pounds which wasn't devastating.  I went home determined to make it a good week.  Then a letter came in the mail that just about crushed and destroyed me.  I won't go into that personal issue but know that I was beyond panic.  I couldn't think or breathe or even eat.  The whole weekend I ate virtually nothing.  My appetite was gone, imagine if you can that preposterous notion. 

 

Sunday things improved slightly as my darling Prince ordered a Kindle Fire for me with a dazzling pink case from QVC.  Things were looking up.

 

Monday saw me do somewhat better when I returned to work.  My appetite was coming back and I was only crying part of the day.  The week definitely improved as I anticipated the arrival of my Kindle and as things began to work themselves out and my beautiful life was not going to come to an end.

 

I still was not eating the right things but I had vowed to write down each bite and I did.  Friday ended with a trip through the Popeye's drive thru window with my Prince riding shot gun.  You know I enjoyed every tasty morsel of my thigh and breast, mashed 'tatoes and 2 bites of a biscuit.  And success came when I wrote it down in my food diary and had to use my extra points allotment.  But that WAS a great success considering my stressful week.

 

Yesterday morning I opened my eyes at 0745 and jumped up and threw clothes over my PJ's and ran over several squirrels dashing in front of my speeding vehicle as I flew down Walnut Street to get to my Weight Watcher meeting.

 

I lost a gerbil last week and met my personal best of losing a car tire!  I mean who do you know who would be happy about losing a car tire?  Translated to real world I lost 0.8 pounds for a grand total of 20 pounds!  I HAVE LOST 20 POUNDS!!!!!!

 



To the grocery store I flew and bought fresh veggies and fruits, not so much Weight Watcher meals.  But I am so jazzed and ready to lose more!!!  I can't wait to see Dr. Cutie Pie in January.  I can't wait to show off my grocery cart to Casey in the HyVee!  My beloveds, I am ready for this, I am ready!  TAKE IT OFF, TAKE IT ALL OFF!

Loving this and until we eat again!  Hershey Hugs and Kisses!

Week 12 Day 1 or when whales become butterflies

I am writing this at 4:00 in the morning.  I can't fall back asleep probably because I was asleep by 6:30 yesterday evening.  I thought I would be productive by putting down my thoughts about my last Weight Watchers week before I know the results of the scale.

This past week has been a challenge at work and at home.  I fell down on several things such has not writing down what I ate and I only drank half my water one day.  We ate at Chick-Fil-A last evening as a political statement which explains the waffle fries, right!?  Yesterday I even found out what "sin" tastes like.  A co-worker brought me a very small piece of Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie and now I know why humans sin!  Oh my gosh it was the most amazing goodness in my mouth.  She gave me the recipe which I will treasure and make at the holidays for my family.

I also found out that if I take snacks to work that I want more and that I will eat them even if I'm not hungry.  If I snack I want more and more and more.  The days I didn't take snacks I was fine and didn't go hungry and stayed more focused.  I suppose I won't be taking snacks to work on a daily basis.

I didn't eat many fruits nor vegetables last week and I will change that.

Here are the positive things about last week.  I took my lunch to work every day.  In the evening I had my turkey soup.  I had turkey, carrots, onions, rice, thyme and rosemary in it.  After I boiled the carcass, I put the pot in the ice box and the next day, I got as much fat as I could off the top.  There was quite a bit of meat in it.  Really the turkey soup was delicious and filling so there wasn't a lot of after dinner eating last week.

I have found my back hurting less and less and my energy level increasing.  I find my thoughts turning to making decorating changes in the house which hasn't been there in years.  I curled my hair and that was new and positive.  I slept a lot, probably from the stress at work. 

A couple of nights ago I jumped up out of bed and sat on the edge of the bed thinking something was wrong or different.  Then I realized I hadn't flailed around like a beached whale trying to get out of bed.  It is easier to tie my shoes and my girlish snicker's are getting a little waddish.  I wore a long sleeved white shirt yesterday which was much looser then it had been.

I suppose I will never have a perfect week but I want to re-energize myself.  I am going to make my sweet and tart cucumbers today.  I will pull some chicken out of the freezer to thaw and bake a couple of potatoes.  I am going to take a walk this weekend and see what my stamina is like.  I want a nice salad!

All in all I like this past week and I shall see at the scale how well I did!  Stand by...............

Week 11 Day 1 or This little piggy made magic!

The above saying is SO apparent to me today!  I had such a tough week filled with challenges galore.  I didn't think for one moment I was gonna lose this week when I stepped on the scale.  I was SO sure I wore my jeans which are heavier weight wise.  I figured if I am gonna gain I might as well wear my jeans and then just continue to wear them thru the winter and spring until next summer.  I guess I made magic happen, I lost 2 pounds!  I am 0.2 pounds away from losing 20!  Yes my fine friends, I have lost 19.8 pounds!

This is my score card and you can see my weigh in every week.  I am so amazed and really look forward to seeing my doctor in January and showing him what I have done.  The last time I was to see him I was in tears and asked him not to give up on me.  I think he will be pleased.

 

This little piggy went to the market and spent big bucks!  I screamed wee-wee-wee all the way home because my bank account was $144 poorer!  I would have been proud to have my Ms. Casey see my grocery cart.  I did get my Prince some Little Debbie snack cakes so he would leave my Weight Watcher snack cakes alone!  They are expensive, six snack cakes are 2.99 and Little Debbie's are 12 for 1.50 so he should be happy.

 

I got my Weight Watcher meals and my AE Yo-Lite yogurt.  There was chicken and light margarine and celery, lettuce, tomatoes, turkey bacon, green grapes, bananas, Weight Watchers ice cream treats, bread, cooking spray, orange cake mix and frosting (for a co-worker's birthday Monday).  I got my diet Pepsi, cottage cheese, Morningside griller crumbles for chili, Flax seed oil (Omega 3) gel caps, Pantene shampoo and conditioner and paper products.  So see I was a good girlish girl! I had $8 in coupons and missed one of my $1 coupons because it stuck in the homemade coupon keeper pocket.



I want to share that these Weight Watcher Divine Triple Chocolate Ice Cream treats are to die for!  3 points and they are creamy, fudgy and delicious.  They are not cheap, 6 bars are 4.99!  But to me they are worth it!

I did treat myself to some of my wonderful needlework stashy goodness.  Of course my Uncle Si had to get into the picture!  Actually my Brother 2 bought him for me.  He knows I love Duck Dynasty.

This will conclude my missive for today and I want to thank everyone for their loving support.  I appreciate the love more then you can imagine.  Until we eat again!





Week 10 Day 2 or all is right in the land of Pink Crickets

So I just wanted to let everyone know that I added several new links to "The Cricket's Favorites" on the blog.  Lots of  new sources for figure friendly meals.

I just finished the best banana and I am getting ready to start on some water. 

The sleeping dog is lying. 

The Prince in happily ensconced in domestic bliss.

The turkey was good yesterday and I went over my points by 7 but I recorded them.  If I bite it, I write it.  And that is about it from the Lilac Thicket.  Do check out some of the favorites.  One site had baked liver and onions which my family knows I am a slave to good liver and onions.  Until we eat again!