April 24: The Day That Got Away

Today kind of took on a life of it's own.  I got a lot of things accomplished around the house, but food prep was NOT one of those things.

The plan is to just wing it with what I have.  So with no further ado and as little effort as humanly possible:

~ Monday ~  Spaghetti bolognese for the girls and marinara for me
~ Tuesday ~  Broccoli Pizza
~ Wednesday ~ Pierogies with veggies
~ Thursday ~ Ummm..........
~ Friday ~ Burgers (veggie for me) and oven fries

Hopefully I come up with Thursday's dinner before Thursday!

I did make a delicious pot of veggie chili today and eats were far under my calorie range!  All in all, a wonderful day, even if I could have used about 6 more hours in it!

April 23: Yoga and Yumminess

How Do You Like Your Eggs? Chocolate please!

This morning I got up and made a breakfast that was positively decadent!  I recreated some pancakes that I had a while back at IHOP.  Here is the recipe.

 "Cinnamon Roll Pancakes".

Filling:

1/3 cup of softened butter

1/2 cup of brown sugar

3 tbsp of cinnamon

Mix together with a fork until the combination is crumbly.  Because you aren't using as much butter as most recipes, you may find that the ingredients don't mix well enough.  If this happens, sprinkle a few drops of water to help with the mixing.

Cream Cheese Drizzle:

1/2 a block of light cream cheese

1/2 cup of icing sugar

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Beat this mixture until smooth.  Pour into a Ziplock bag and snip off the corner when ready to use.

Make the pancakes with your favorite lighter recipe.  Between each pancake, sprinkle the filling (about a teaspoon).  We used three pancake per serving.  The heat and moisture from the pancakes melts the filling a little.  On the top, drizzle the cream cheese icing and sprinkle a little of the filling as a garnish.

This rich delicious breakfast is way less fattening than cinnamon rolls, our usual holiday morning breakfast.  A 3 pancake serving is around 400 calories, depending what type of pancake recipe you use.  No additional butter or syrup is necessary!

Make pancakes with the recipe of your choice.

Eats went well today, even though I was out and about all day.  I got a falafel pita for lunch and a Caramel Light Frappacino from Starbucks for a snack. I did some shopping for Easter and didn't even feel tempted after my yummy breakfast satisfied my sweet tooth.  I got a new lunch pail which always makes me a little happier to pack my lunches!

The girls are gone to their grandparents for the rest of the weekend, so I'm on my own.  Tomorrow I will do my cooking for the week and attempt to be very organized!

April 22: VERY Good Friday

Why was today such a GOOD Friday?

Besides the usual religious reasons, and the fact that it is Earth Day, I had a really good weigh in.  I lost 3 pounds this week and am under the dreaded "deuce" again.

Yesterday and today were pretty much write-offs.  I had a great plan yesterday and then I got into the cookies that a co-worker brought to share. (I think she secretly hates me.) Cookies and ice cream are my dietary nemises. They also tagged in their friend "Barbecue Fritos."  It was a WTH kind of day.  Today hasn't been quite as bad but it was far from stellar. 

So deliciously addictive!!!

We went to the movies and saw "Hop" - it was a very cute movie.  I was saved from a total pig out on popcorn when the little kid next to me hurled all over the floor partway through the movie.  Popcorn lost it's charm after I saw it partially digested.

Something very nice has been a day of getting along.  My girls and I had a day without arguing and I didn't even have the urge to sell any children to the first passing gypsy caravan.    I've managed to cap my eats at 1700 not-so-nutritious calories so I am not going to beat myself up.

The keys for me this week were:

~ Planning my eats the night before, including weighing portions and calculating calories.

~ Allowing some room for ice cream or crunchy salties throughout the day

~ Drinking mostly water - soda pop really seems to trigger me to eat more junk.  Doritos just aren't as tasty with a glass of water instead of a Diet Coke.

~ Taking extra servings of fruit with me to work to help offset the munchies.

Tomorrow the kiddos are going to visit their grandparents for a couple of days.  I plan to do some big batch cooking for healthy meals throughout the week.  Organization is KEY!

April 19th: One of These Days is Not Like the Others

Today was a little good, a little bad.

I got totally off-track but I figured out why.

If I don't take a lunch I'm happy about, I simply won't eat it.  I didn't have a very good breakfast and I was very short on protein today. 

I ended up eating way too much junk today and ended up with 2159 calories.  Less than stellar.

My goal for tomorrow is to up the protein - A LOT!

I need to start off by having protein at breakfast - I am going to boil some eggs.  I also need to plan my eats the day ahead so that I stay in my realm of calories.  (I'm shooting for anywhere between 1200-1600 in a day.)

Today I had:

~ humongous muffin, glass of skim milk
~ yogurt (ff)
~ bean burrito and nacho chips
~ bag of microwave popcorn
~ mini bag of Crispers
~ baby carrots
~ leftover eggplant parmesan on whole wheat bread, a handful of chips

I'd really like some ice cream, but I'll do without it for this evening.  Did I mention that my freezer holds a delectable creation called Drumstick Ice Cream.  Little bits of chocolate dipped cone...vanilla.....oops....*shakes head to get rid of the image*

Tonight I'm going to boil a big pot of eggs for a quickie breakfast that I can eat at my desk, and I'm going to add more fruit to my days.

Here's to a learning experience and a successful tomorrow!

April 18: Ick

Nothing keeps one's caloric intake on track like the stomach flu!  Today I was only around 1100 calories.  I'm sure (TMI ALERT)  I expended at least half of that in the rest room in one way or the other.

I'd post eats but they consisted of most crackers and other dry crunchy items. Boooooring.

Back tomorrow with a more interesting post!

Square One

Well, here I am, nearly a year later, almost back at Square One.  I'm just over 200 pounds.  I seem to be great at losing weight and horrible at maintaining the loss.

Set backs don't just knock me back a step or two - it seems like they hit things out of the park for me.

Last October, we lost our home and our car.  No real harm, in the grand scheme of things.  We don't live in a cardboard box and we have a different car (one almost as old as my teenage daughter, but wheels and a working motor.)

When we moved out of the house, I hurt my back.  Badly.  I herniated two discs, which completely eradicated my exercise program.  More than six months later, I'm still struggling with the injury.  I'm working hard to find a program that doesn't worsen the pain.

I'm back at work, full time, thank the Lord.  I have a job I love, but it's high stress and that triggers me to shovel in the food that is abundantly present.

Biggest of all, and the worst of the stressors, has been the death of my children's father.  We did not get along.  There was not a lot of love lost between us.  However, it was somewhat sudden, my girls found his dead body and were subsequently traumatized.  They are devastated and their lives have changed forever.  My oldest has moved back in with me.  My heart just breaks for them and home life can be very tense.  As always, food is the "blankie" of choice for me.

Obviously, I've lost these 35 pounds before.  I know how to get rid of them.  I know the lifestyle I need and want to live.  I know how I want to feel and how I want to look. I know that accountability is necessary for me.  I know that it is TIME.

So today marks the day that I am back at it.  I am eating vegetarian now, so the foods are a bit different than before.  The budget is very tight, so things will look a little different than the last time around.

I will be planning my meals for the week, cooking ahead of time, and eating clean.  I'm counting calories and staying accountable.  I can't tell you how many times I have considered starting up the blog again because I really missed writing it.  But the timing was wrong.

Please forgive me for disappearing on you all.  I hope you will stick with me as I backtrack through this journey again.

^ I think this must be a photo of ME ^

Jan. 25: Still vegging out!

Sorry - I missed the big weigh-in post on Sunday.  I'm now down to 189.  That is 3 pounds in the week and a bit that I have been a vegetarian.

This, of course, makes me ecstatically happy.  I've caved a few times and had some junk food, but none with meat.  I think just removing the meat and replacing it with other protein sources has been enough to allow me a little leeway on the salty-crunchies.

This week, I had a meal plan but it's shot to heck because my baked beans were gross.  So, I've recreated my meal plan and I'm including a recipe.

Tuesday: Baked mac and cheese
Wednesday: Bean burritos with green chilies and tomato salsa
Thursday: Leftover mac and cheese, steamed broccoli
Friday: Broccoli pizza

I had to work late tonight so we had leftover baked mac and cheese. Here is my high protein recipe for it:




1 bag of pasta, cooked (we used wide egg noodles)
1 can of cream of whatever soup (we used c of mushroom)
1 tub of low-fat or fat-free cottage cheese
1 handful of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 eggs (optional)
Seasoning salt to taste

~ Mix all ingredients except the pasta in an oven proof container. Preheat oven to 350*F
~ Gently stir in pasta and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.
~ Let it sit for 10 minutes to thicken.

Makes 6 generous servings.

You can add meat and veggies to this if you'd like and turn it into more of a casserole - we usually just have it plain with a veggie on the side. My daughters absolutely LOVE this mac and cheese and go back for seconds and thirds. 

So, I'm loving the veggie thing and as I read more and more about it, I'm really glad I've made the change for so many reasons.

One thing I noticed that is sort of funny is this:

Sometimes my 10 year old comes home from school and says, "Mom, the kids made fun of my lunch because I had a blood orange - they said it was disgusting and called me a vampire" or "Mom, the boy sitting next to me said my stir-fry looked gross."

I work with a bunch of guys.  I didn't make a big deal out of going vegetarian but they've noticed.  You should hear all the stories they tell me about :
~ vegetarians they know who dropped dead of a heart attack
~ it's God's plan for us to eat meat
~ don't you want a big juicy steak?
~ did you know that plants die too, just like animals - your broccoli screamed when they picked it

The list could go on and on, but it makes me laugh to realize I work with a bunch of 40 year old 5th graders!

I hope you are all having a wonderful and productive week!