January 2014 photo shoot!

I updated my Before and After pics tab at the top of the blog.  But, I thought I'd post some crazy pics from our afternoon shoot. Life is never dull around here!

Progress pics

Okay, well, for some reason, blogger won't let me update my pages.  I made a collage of our last six months of progress. I'll post that here for tonight.  I LOVE seeing this!

And....drum roll....I DID IT!!!  I got into the next decade today!!!!  Feels pretty awesome to have met my goal! :D

Progress pics collage

New progress pics for this month are posted on the tab up above.  Thought I'd share a collage I made of our monthly photos we've been taking.

We take a photo on the 10th of each month to show our progress on weight loss this year.  It's exciting to see how far we've come and to think of what we'll see on our anniversary in June!

 

Super excited to see I've reached the 40 Pounds Gone mark!!

See this shirt?

ItYooStaNotFit. :)

I bought it after I had my seventh baby just *knowing* I was going to be able to button it fully within months.  That was over three years ago. *ahem*

I've always worn it unbuttoned over another shirt, dreaming of that day. 

In less than four months, I can button it easily with a shirt underneath!! 

It's my new favorite shirt for our new favorite night out on the town.

Square Dancin' anyone??  In this shirt, I look the part. ;)

Still Going

I'm not sure why I haven't gotten much blogging done. Life has been insanely busy, leaving me scrambling to keep up with food prep and basic life.  I haven't had a whole lot of time to think, never mind write without interruption.

Stepped on the scale today and I was a little surprised to see the scale down.  The last two weeks it hasn't moved hardly at all. Now, I haven't been completely faithful to the 6 week plan, but I have been more strict with myself. I thought I would have seen a bigger loss. Yet, any loss is welcome here. Last week was O week, and I think I had some issues seeing the scale move that week last month. It will be interesting to watch for that trend.

A few new things in the last couple of weeks:

1. We've found some new recipes for salad dressings that we're trying. The Southwestern Ranch is growing on me.  Without a decent dressing, it's really hard to look forward to a salad for a meal.

2.  I tried a really yummy vegetarian chili that we brought to dinner with friends. It was a hit with everyone.

3.  I watched a very thought provoking talk, The Starch Solution, on youtube from Dr. McDougall on the benefits and importance of starch.  So intriguing to learn and think on the science and history of how starch has sustained civilization and even fueled the strongest gladiators of all time.

I'm sure there are more new things I should and could be sharing.  However, life has begun here and I am determined to get into my bible before any fires begin that need putting out.

I have NOT been exercising.  Wonder what it's going to take to get me going again. I feel like I am crashed out after two weeks of solid running.  Likely, it's an excuse, but I'm giving myself some time to rest and recover from a really stressful past couple of weeks.

Hello New Decade!!

I did it! I cruised right through the 190's and said goodbye without a tear.  I'm SO excited. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw those pretty numbers on the screen. :D

This weekend was another marathon of cooking and shopping.

I prepped a lot of baked goods for my new Continental Breakfast idea I have for back to school.  I'm planning to have a grain, fruit, nuts, and hard boiled eggs out for the children each morning.  They can make their own in hopes that our mornings will be a little more efficient. 

I found some great recipes to try at this blog.  I made Zucchini bread, Banana muffins, and Orange-Berry muffins.  Most all of those are in the freezer.

I also made up some nutritized Sloppy Lentil Joe's.  I then made some of our applesauce cornbread. I worked on putting some of the lentil mixture in with the cornbread batter to make some sloppy corn muffins for our picnic lunch tomorrow. The first batch didn't come out just right. Then I decided that I would work on it another day since I didn't want to be up until midnight babysitting muffins.

I did, however, stay up until 9 so that I could experiment with my Baked Oatmeal recipe. I am SO glad that I did!! I think it may be the best dish I've made yet.  Everyone was loving it this morning.  I posted the recipe on my Recipes page at the top.

Speaking of that page. I deleted a few recipes that are not Nutritarian.  I also highlighted a couple of the recipes in red to remind myself that I want to work on nutritizing those.  I think they are worth saving. ;)

Today we attended a church potluck.  They grilled chicken and we all brought the sides.  I brought a pot of Indian Spiced Lentils.  Not too many people ate it, but I sure was happy to have a filling and healthy choice for my lunch.  I also brought some raw cut vegetables.  Also a good choice, as the only salads available were covered in dressing.  I will admit that that Caesar salad looked really good and it was very hard not to take a little bite while I was cutting up the chicken for my younger ones today.  But, I was so happy to eat right and know I wasn't going to regret it later. I also packed a few strawberries and walnuts for myself and David to share.  I was surprised to see fresh fruit at the dessert table, so I enjoyed a little indulgence of extra fruit with my meal.

Oh! I also scored more points with our Sunday Munch today. (haha! I just made that name up, but it's cute!)  See, we used to enjoy this yummy dish on some Sunday afternoons. I would layer a pan with cream cheese, then salsa, then shredded cheddar or mozzarella.  Bake and serve with corn chips. Everyone loved it.  Especially David.

Today I wanted to use up some bean dip I made that was in the fridge.  I got the idea to try a variation on that cheese dip. 

I layered the white bean dip in a glass pan. Then I spread a layer of freshly cooked black beans.  Then thin layer or salsa.  I topped half of the pan with vegan "cheese" and the other I sprinkled with "parma". (Parma is finely chopped walnuts mixed with nutri yeast.)  Baked it for about 20-30 minutes.  I served it with some "chips" that I made out of some corn tortillas that I cut, seasoned (with lime juice, chili powder, cumin, onion and garlic powder), and baked in the oven with the dip.  I also served some carrot sticks and bell pepper slices to eat with the dip.

It was great!  I've been mulling names around for my new dish.  Layered Bean Dip, Sunday Bean Dip, but now I'm thinking Sunday Munch Bean Dip is perfect!  I'll work on getting the recipe posted soon. :)

So happy to see the scale go down again.  Man, am I excited to keep pressing on when I see that kind of progress. :D

No Exercise = Big Loss

That's some crazy news!

I haven't exercised formally in the last five days, possibly even 7.  My broken toes and how busy we've been with life have given me great excuse to put off the workouts.

However, I was so restless yesterday, I knew I had to get in some exercise.  And a weigh-in. Gulp.

I was thrilled to see that even with an afternoon weigh-in, my weight was down a little.  After eating grain-heavy for David's bday, I was a little scared to see the scale. 

Then we went out for dinner last night.  Fried mushrooms and restaurant bread. Yeah. Double doom.

The scale was down AGAIN this morning!! In fact, since my last weigh-in, I'm down almost TWO pounds!! Now, that's an impressive loss without exercise. :D

Bonus:  I got in a BWP this morning.  Whew! My heart works a lot harder with that one than the wii fit yoga stuff. I've got an accountability friend now for T-Tapp, so I'm hoping that will motivate me to work hard at getting in a daily workout with Ms. Tapp. :) I did notice that, even while the T-Tapp Twist still brought that same cringe to my brain when I started, I didn't feel quite as *un-able* during it as usual. In fact, part way through, I felt a bit energized.  That's progress!

We're on break this week from school. I've got some sitting projects to do, some visiting, too. But, we do have some active stuff we can work on, like yard clean up and cleaning and setting up the attic space. 

So ambitious.  I honestly would love to just take a nap at some point as well.

Here's the link to our family blog where I posted pics of our Birthday Brunch Feast that we made for David.  There are links for recipes there. :)

This Month's Progress Pics Posted!

One month of before and after pics are posted!! Click on the button at the top if you want to see them.

I'm so excited that I can SEE a difference in my face, just like I was hoping!!

David looks amazing, like I keep telling him. :)

Today was good all around.  Food wise, I probably didn't eat enough. We were busy and on the go, mostly, so I didn't have time to prepare much for meals.  Quick breakfast, reheat some beans on the go for lunch, and warm up a Lentil Loaf and a couple bags of frozen vegetables with mushrooms and onions added for dinner.

We did our grocery shopping today and then I spent the afternoon in the garden.  I dug up some things and planted some seeds for a fall harvest.  Really hoping it all comes up because we could use all the greens and cauliflower we can get!

Boy, I just keep looking at those comparison pics. It's SO motivating to SEE progress right before your eyes.  It's like becoming a whole new person.  :)

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Snacky-snacky. 

That was me today.  The children and I made plans to go visit friends. I stopped to pick up some snacks for the children and caved when I saw those yummy Terra Exotic chips.  My oldest daughter and I munched on them in the van. 

We had to skip our visit due to a child getting sick on the way there.  Detour back home.  Cleaned up the house and then sunk down to enjoy a movie and snack.  More snacky. I munched on some blue corn tortilla chips and salsa. 

The food wasn't bad.  A little outside of ETL due to the oils and grains I'm supposed to avoid.  But, I really enjoyed the treat with the children. 

I felt SO full, though, by dinner time.  Maybe that was a good thing.  I made Lemony Steamed fish and chicken (separately, but same seasoning) and roasted vegetables.  I had one bite of chicken (eh, I haven't been missing much) and a small pile of vegies, only two bites of sweet potato in the mix.

I think I'm *okay* on calories for today. Maybe a bit over. But, wow, can I snack if I let myself! I really need to stick to that rule if I want to stay on track with weight loss.

I nutri-tized my taco soup recipe today.  I posted it on my recipe page. It turned out really good.  As I was eating it, I had the thought, "THIS is what I was wanting," as I remembered my frustration yesterday in finding something satisfying to eat.  I'm not sure what it was, the familiar taste/texture? This is one of our favorite meals.

Oh, and I weighed-in today. I'm calling that last weigh-in a fluke, as I'm up today. BUT, if I look at Tuesday's weigh-in compared to today's, I'm still down a pound. I will take that, for sure!

I pinned a few recipes tonight. I want to try making some crackers from juice pulp tomorrow when we finish up school.

My new habit building list has been a huge help to me.  I'm really happy with how our days are going.  We're getting lessons done and I'm pretty much keeping up with checking and grading work.  Still wishing I had a bit more time to keep up with meals, but, judging from the slow and steady progress we made with school and routine this week, I think it'll eventually come.

Well, Waddya Know?!

I was just posting on how this cycle has been quite mild for a first pp cycle.  I remembered sharing this article on the blog some years back.  As I read it again, I can see that I am eating exactly how they recommend.  Maybe, just maybe, that has something to do with how well I'm doing, physically, right now.

Emotionally, I have some room to grow. Sigh.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Good Things:
Great choices while eating out after church
Snacked on the way home, but healthier choices than old habits
30 minutes on the wii, added hand weights to my advanced step
Scale is going down again

Not So Good Things:
Too much salt with my snack
Sugar today

I was so glad to be exercising again. The last two days have left me with no activity and I was feeling so sluggish.  I got in a good 30 minutes that left me sweating.  I was down 1.5 since my last weigh-in.  Whew!

David got some greek yogurt bars at the store today. I have such a hard time saying no to him when he gets me a treat. Thing is, I didn't WANT to eat it, it was high in sugar. And, even though I did, it didn't even taste good, so it felt like a waste of a treat. I need to figure out a kind way to decline or at least redirect his efforts. I did the same thing with Josh this week when he saved part of his sub sandwich for me.  

I know I shouldn't rejoice so much over the scale going down. But, well, I am.

Day 7 Vice-Busting

Februay 4, 2013
Day 7 Vice-Busting

Scripture Affirmation:
As I turn from sin towards God I experience wonderful times of refreshment.
"Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you." Acts 3:19-20


I'm using the same affirmation today. We have a wondeful time of refreshment to look forward to this afternoon, and I need to keep this truth before me that I will enjoy it as I turn AWAY from sin and towards the Lord.  Working to keep a bridle on my tongue that I wouldn't discourage others or frustrate myself.

Action:
Keep making drinking water your daily habit. Choose water above any other beverage.

I did it!! This morning, when my husband AND my son both brought a cup of coffee to me, I chose to fill my water bottle and drink that first. Yay!

One Week Review:
How do I feel about my progress up to this point?
I feel good that I've stuck with my water goals. It hasn't been hard to drink that much water.

How does my body feel now compared to when I started?
I feel stronger. I feel more energy. I am sleeping a little better at night. I feel like I am eager to move.

Can I do more to improve what I have done so far?
I can keep working on choosing water over coffee, even though I'm not adding calories. The coffee is my relaxing drink, water is cool, refreshing, and invigorating.

Is this something I can do for the rest of my life?
I CAN do it. I need the Lord's strength to see it as important enough to commit to it. I admit, just simply drinking water every day seems like an easy thing to let go.  It's hard to think that that kind of commitment would make much difference. Yet, even though I am not breaking a vice of replacing high calories with water, like the examples she gives in this book, I am replacing habits. Often, when I drink something other than water, I choose another something to go with it. A diet soda or a vitamin water usually calls for a snack of some kind. A cup of coffee definitely equates to a nice relaxing sit with my feet up.  Choosing those drinks over water lend to other habits that are defeating my efforts.

Marriage Action:
Made lunch for my husband last night. He brought me coffee this morning and kissed me goodbye. That's a big deal. 

Evening Entry:
All my water in. I lowered my calorie count on mfp and also lowered the amount of calories I take off for breastfeeding. Ended the day under just a bit on calories but, wow. I am hungry! Finishing off another bottle of water before bed and we'll see if that does the trick.

After hanging out with the kids while they ice skated with friends today, (1.5 hours standing in the freezing cold!) I trucked over to the gym for a full circuit on the machines and a quick 10 minute jaunt on the elliptical. I was in a rush home to get dinner on the table and give my Number One a break, as she is not feeling well tonight. Going to bed still cold, but feeling great about my day. Along with getting a good dinner put together this morning I experimented with some sugar free chocolate orange muffins. They weren't the best, but it was kinda fun trying. :)

January 30, 2013 - Exercise Update

Got in my orientation on the weight machines last night. What fun! I forgot how much I enjoyed using those.  I liked going through it with the trainer, as I was able to understand the purpose of the exercises and get my weight ranges set right.  I am excited to use them again and kinda bummed I need to let my body rest from them tonight since I did a full set last night. :-/

I've been getting in 20 minutes of cardio on the machines 3 times a week on average. I'll admit, it's pretty boring and I have a really hard time pushing myself to do it. Probably if I had a better distraction while I'm on it, I would do better. Last night I used the ARC which is a sort of cross between a nordic track machine and an elliptical. I was feeling strong, I guess, because I was really coasting along for a bit there. Didn't burn a ton of calories, but I felt like I was pushing myself a bit more than usual.

I'm not sure if I'm sad or happy about what I'm doing cardio-wise. I've been so sedentary for so long, I'm not surprised that so little can wear me out. I'm actually happy that I can even plug along the 20 minutes I can do and that I could lift the weights I did last night. At the same time, I'm sad because I know I had worked so hard to get stronger and all that is gone. Sigh. What's gone IS gone, though and beginning again will have the same great feelings of victory and satisfaction as they did before. Hopefully so much so that I won't let myself lose what I gain this time.

Weigh-in tonight. I'm really excited about seeing the scale even though I shouldn't be focused so hard on those numbers. I guess it's the measure of progress and I hope I see some. I'll update here when I get home.

Update:  Weigh-in rescheduled for tomorrow night. Tried the wii and it has me down 4.6lbs from 2 weeks ago. Not terribly reliable, though, as I had just put in new batteries and I was wearing some different clothes. BUT...it was going DOWN and that's the right direction. :)

Wednesday January 23, 2013

Today's Good Things:
Logged and Blogged
Ending the day under in calories
Went to the gym for date night even though it's FREEZING out there
Made good choices for my after workout dinner
Really nice visit with a friend

Today's Not So Good Things:
Didn't get all the choring done for today
Moving really slow on the elliptical

I'm down a pound and half for the week! Yay!!  Big confession that I had pizza on Sunday night when we took our son out to use his Pizza Hut birthday coupon. Then I ate the leftovers on Monday. Then my husband took us out for pizza last night after we stacked 2 cords of wood. So....*blush*....pizza THREE days in a row for me and I'm still DOWN a pound and a half. Incredible! 

I felt so tired and slow on the elliptical tonight. I just couldn't make myself go, but I stuck with the 20 minutes and then the 5 minute cool down, so I'm feeling good about that, at least.

I'm thankful my husband and I are doing this together. I had convinced myself that it was way too cold (below zero...brrrr) to go out tonight, but he wouldn't let me do it. We had a great time and I love how good it feels to push the stress away on those machines.

It's funny how a little pound and a half can renew your determination and get you excited to keep on keeping on. :)

Another progress report

Today has me 2.5 inches down. That's cool.

However, I'm unsure about measuring and don't really trust it. I feel like I need a sharpie marker to mark where I measured from last time. Seems like a lot of room for user error. At least with me. I'm going to look around for some info on getting the most accurate measurements.

Still happy to see a tiny little part of me disappeared. I didn't want that part anyways. ;)

Progress...slowly

Not much time for my usual report. Not that I've been good about reporting anyways.

David and I started Ttapp-ing together. He challenged us to work together to lose 2lbs per week. That is a lot for me, I think, especially with nursing, but it's not going to hurt to work towards it at least.

My last weigh in was 13 days ago and I've lost 3 pounds since then. Yay. David weighed in tonight after our first week of the challenge and is also down 3 pounds. Double Yay!

I'm measuring tomorrow. I was SHOCKED to see a loss tonight. I haven't been working very hard on my diet and Ttapp doesn't usually help you drop weight as much as inches. Now I'm nervous about weighing in, thinking it will be disappointing. Either way, though, I'm feeling stronger. I have more energy in the day and I'm sleeping a bit better at night, though my insomnia is still giving me trouble a few nights this past week. So, several goals have been met even if the tape doesn't show it in the morning.

Now that I saw a loss, I'm re-motivated to work harder at my diet and water intake. I'm SO thankful he's willing to work on this with me. Not only do we both need it, but we keep each other from giving up...I hope!

Monday February 27, 2012

Today's Good Things:
Up early for family devotions
The children, esp the boys, had great attitudes today and got their schooling done with little pressure from me. Whew.
Went to look at a house and made an offer! Gulp.
Coffee with two precious friends that I haven't been able to join for coffee for over a month!

Today's Not So Good Things:
Slumpish this morning
No exercise
Bed too late

I need to get myself to bed earlier. I know I'm struggling some because of that. Today was really good, though. Probably the distraction of looking at the house and running around helped.  But, my one boy that has been so tough lately was a dream today! Just need to keep praying and pressing forward.  Deep breath. ;)

Wednesday May 11, 2011 Another Day

Today's Good Things:
Up early-ish
Prayer & reading
family prayer time
No snacking!!
Decent on calories
Caugh up on some housework
Shared dessert instead of ordering my own

Today's Not So Good Things:
No exercise
Was not patient with minor irritations

I was moving all day. That was good. I didn't get in any real exercise, but I stayed active. I had a hard time working through some bad attitudes with the children today, but didn't stress-eat to deal with it. That's some progress right there.

We went out for dinner tonite and I was careful with my menu choices. I REALLY wanted to try the new flavor of ice cream, but was in the bathroom while it was being ordered. Good for me, 'cause I wouldn't have resisted that temptation. Thanks, Lord!

Praying tomorrow is a better day.

Another Birthday....

What can I say?  I started out the day decent.  Skipped the high carb snacks while we played at the park. However, lunch was nothing even close to decent. Well, I did make sure I got in some fresh vegies with my Mcd's. Then came the birthday dinner and it was all over. Well, I guess I did make some choices that were good, considering what I was choosing from. Skipped the chips and ketchup on my hot dog. I also skipped the birthday cake. So, while I didn't eat particularly healthy, I did avoid and chose to skip some things, so I was thinking.

Still managed to devour an ooey-gooey s'more around the campfire. I didn't want my newly turned 3yo to think I was happy about her special day. ;-)

Monday Weigh-In

Finally.

Noticed how I've been avoiding this for the past 2 weeks? I should've recorded the numbers, even though they weren't pleasant. I always gave myself an excuse....

....there's no way I gained 3 pounds in a week! That must be water...
....dumb scale won't give me a consistent reading....
....well, of course it says that, I've not been working hard...

blah, blah, blah!

The last two weeks have been confusing with the scale. However, it was easy to see that my lack of diligence and discipline was not getting it moving in the right direction.

After working hard all last week, though, I'm pleased to see that I'm down nearly a pound from my last recorded weight! Hooray!!! 

That right there is such great motivation. I'm excited to start the new week with new energy!