Not Just A Journey

This is not just a journey that I am embarking on.  It is the biggest baddest fastest roller coaster I have ever been on!  There is no get off point either.  I got on.  I plan on riding it until I am the healthiest person I can be.

Yesterday I was tested.  Everything seemed to be on my nerves, including myself.  I was tired and feeling a lot of emotions.  I had no interest in working out, counting points, or being awake!  Thankfully, I had a great friend who talked me through my urge to binge on whatever I could get my hands on.  She helped me plan my dinner and dessert for the evening.  Thanks "A."   I wish I could say that kept my roller coaster on track, but it did not!

Before I knew it,  I was at Target, for some much needed mommy away time, standing in the candy aisle. I don't exactly know what I was doing there.  I wasn't planning on buying candy.  I don't think I even wanted candy.  I was standing there though.  Breathing in the sweet smells of chocolate, licorice, and peanut butter!  OY!  Just when I needed to be shaken out of the sugar smell coma, my phone rang.  It was another WW friend calling to check in.  

I answered the phone laughing.  Busted again!  HAHA  I confessed my placement in the store to her and turned my cart right around.  Second loop of the roller coaster was a success!  Thanks "J."  

I headed over to the magazine rack and decided to reward my behavior with something a little more positive; A Weight Watchers Magazine.  It took me a while to go through all of them, because it looked like there were none left.  As I was just about to give up, I moved a Cooking Light Magazine and there it was.  Jennifer Hudson staring at me from the cover of the magazine.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.  Of course I grabbed it and was on my way out of Target!  I didn't even grab a much thought about Starbucks coffee.

On the way home, I just drove.  I did not listen to music or talk on the phone.  I just enjoyed the silence.  It was exactly what I needed.  My reset button was pushed and I felt like I was ready to get back on the roller coaster of life.  Sometimes I forget to take care of me and in the end everyone pays for it!  Sorry family and friends!  

In the end, I stayed on plan.  I counted my points.  I survived.  I hate days like yesterday.  I wish I never had them, but that just isn't life.  We all need to break once in a while.  At least that is what I am telling myself today.

Progress - and weigh in!

Good morning!

Weigh in this morning was a little nerve wracking.  I made my handsome hubby look at the scale for me.  I just couldn't do it.  I knew with my flare up I'd had to spend a lot more time lying in bed than I otherwise would.  Plus, let's not forget losing my mind and eating a week's worth of Flex Points in one day at the beginning of the week.  I was just hoping to be the same as last week, or maybe gaining only a pound.

I'm actually down a half pound!  190.5!  I'll take it, for real.

Here's what my thermometer looks like.  Take a good, hard look:

Yeah, buddy!  That says I'm officially 30% of the way to my goal!  I'm still trying to decide about rewards.  I was thinking to do something correlating to the percentage of progress, but I just realized that's only a few pounds at a time.  I'll have to talk to the hubby and see if he has thoughts. 

Thanks for the support!  And leave us comments so we know you're with us!  <3

It's cookie time!

Those Girl Scouts...they've got it figured out, haven't they?  In the winter time while we're all snuggled in our homes near hibernation, noshing on all the not so healthy food that the holidays bring, the adorable neighbors, nieces, and/or daughters of co-workers come around with the order form.  Before you know it, 5 or 6 boxes have been ordered, and they'll let you know when they come in.  Then the first of the year arrives, with the resolve that THIS year will be the year that your healthy eating plan lasts longer than January 7th.  A few weeks into this resolution that's actually sticking this time, they show up: those little boxes of sugary-sweet, for a good cause, temptation.

Yeah.  I have 5 boxes right now.  Impressively enough, they've been in my house since Sunday, and we haven't eaten a whole box yet.  I ended up with 2 boxes of Thin Mints, which will be devoured by the males of the household, 2 boxes of Caramel de Lites, which I could devour in a single sitting, and 1 box of Lemonades, which are for JUST me.  Funny enough, many of the ladies in our Weight Watch Us group on base all received our cookies on the same day.  Really quickly there were posts declaring what the Points+ values were for each flavor because we'd all run to look them up.

I needed to face the fact that 2 cookies at a time were going to be it.  What if I could pump up the size of my snack without adding points?  Aha - I SO can!  Insert sliced strawberries and FF Cool Whip.

Uh, YUM! Right?!

The only problem is that the mooch problem that I've had in the past with pears and other just-for-Mom snacks reared it's little fingers again:

Seriously.  Whipped cream with bare hands?  What savage kind of household is this?!

But hey, if my kids can learn good eating habits from me, embrace treats in moderation, and include healthy fresh fruits and vegetables into their diet, it can't be all bad, right?  And speaking of not bad, how GOOOD does this look?

I had a stroke of genius this afternoon, and I'm thinking I'm going to take 2 Lemonades, put some FF whipped cream mixed with sliced strawberries inside, and sandwich it together, then freeze it like a super yummy no-ice-cream-ice-cream-sandwich.  I'll let you know how that goes.  I've done it with graham crackers in the past.  

Now to figure out which fruit will pair best with Caramel de Lites...

***UPDATE***

I made the ice cream sandwichy thing.  OH MY.  I am a genius!  I do wish I'd sliced the strawberries a little thinner or maybe diced them up.  They were a little hard to bite into frozen.  It was a super delicious snack!  Take a look!

~ Weigh In Day/ Week In Review ~

I am just too tired tonight to get into my week.  So here are the details, short and sweet....


I lost 2.9 pounds this week. 


14 pounds gone all together.


I hit my 5% mark.


I have 11 pounds to go before I reach 10%.


I logged 12 miles of walk/jog/wog. 


I am eating a veggie with lunch and dinner.


I feel better when my day has included an early work out.


My boys should sleep more, so I could sleep more.


I had a wonderful time with my weight loss support group.


I plan to continue with exercise and log 15 miles this week.


I hope to lose at least 1 pound this week as it will be TOM.


I cannot wait to reach my 15 pound goal so I can order my reward! 


Night Night. 

Where's Amber?

I missed my Tuesday weigh in day, so let's start with that:  I was down 2.5 lbs and am at 191!  Yay!  That gave me an 11 pound weight loss for the month of January.  On the right track, moving forward, and keeping one foot in front of the other on my journey.

Then one of my feet hit a pothole.  I've had so much stress in my world lately.  Not all of it is bad, but balance is hard to find right now.  (For my high school friends, I totally just had a Coach Stank "homeostasis" flashback.)  Stress moving into a new position at work for a little while.  Stress trying to find a clue about time management.  Stress with issues at school/on the bus with my kids.  Stress rolling off my husband with things going on at work.

Tuesday morning, I weighed in.  I was so excited to see my loss!  I went to WalMart because we needed dog food.  I dashed into the grocery store and saw one of my fellow WW girls, and commented on her healthy veggie choices in her cart.  I snagged the produce items of my choice, and moved on to see what I wanted in the meat section.  As I walked by the frozen seafood section, I saw the Margaritaville Coconut Shrimp was on sale.  Dangit.  I kept walking, though I hesitated for a moment.

As I continued through the grocery store, the temptation was harder.  I was actually speaking out loud to myself as I saw the Ben & Jerry's on sale.  "Come on, Amber.  You're working so hard.  Just keep walking."  I did.  I did keep walking.  Right to the discounted Yesterday's Bakery Items and a box of Danishes that were marked down.  Then right back to the freaking coconut shrimp.  I did stand there and plug the points into my WW app on my phone, though.

I went home and ate the shrimp.  No, not a serving.  The whole 2.5 serving box.  Before the day was through, I also ate 2 cheese Danishes.  (6 points+/serving of shrimp and 7 points+/Danish)  Yeahhh.  My stress got the best of me.  I wasn't physically feeling well, and I was starting to feel the stress getting to me.  I did not start the day intending to lose my mind at the grocery store.  No one does.

Wednesday, I actually left my house looking like this:

I am a girl who generally only will leave home with mascara.  You can see in my eyes that I don't feel well.  Emotionally, I matched my physical BLAH.  

Thursday I got up, got made up, plucked my caterpillar eyebrows, and looked forward to my date with Coley.  I had a good day at work -a productive day.  We went shopping because I needed some new makeup and wanted to reward myself. 

Friday I had another productive day at work, and Friday evening I walked (in 34º weather) with a friend to Coley's house for a WW support meeting.  By the end of the night I was physically hurting, but we had some fantastic snacks (we'll share recipes and deets later).  I even walked home, though it would've been so easy to ask for a ride.

By Saturday, I was tired of feeling funky.  Tired of being stressed.  Tired of being tired.  SO tired of hurting!  I decided we needed a family outing to one of our favorite hiking places.  We beach combed ad found some great pieces of sea glass.  We stopped at the observation point on the trail and had a snack, and I was serenaded by my younger son.  His song was "Who Would I be Without You?" and included a dramatic extended arm for me to join him on his "stage."  Yeah.  He's got a flair for the dramatic, and loves to make up songs.  

I had been sneaking peeks at the scale, and those pounds I'd lost had crept back and weren't budging.  (193?  REALLY?!)  Ugh.  But on Saturday, I let that go and just embraced life.  I remembered who I am and what my journey is all about.  I took this picture on the beach yesterday:

I didn't have a face full of makeup, but I don't even look like the same person from Tues/Wed of this week.

Here are the things I learned this week:

1) I make choices each day.  The choices in one day do not determine the choices I will make the next day.  It reminds me of my favorite scripture in Matthew: 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. "  I can say the same thing about my choices.  Each day brings new challenges and new choices.

2) I cannot give up on myself.  I did not give up on myself.  In the midst of the bad days, I didn't lose hope.  That is HUGE, because in the past those days have been my downfall.  So bravo to me on that one!

3) Just changing my outlook will open my life to good things.  I know that sounds cosmic and whatever, but as I was lying in bed yesterday afternoon, after having a day exponentially better than the ones before, I got a Face Time call from two of my favorite people on the planet.  We laughed and talked and laughed and laughed.  I had FB messages from people I hadn't spoken to in months and some years.  They all made me feel better.  I felt needed.  I felt loved.  

So what's the moral of the story?  Stress will eat you alive, but you can't give it that much power.  You never realize how powerful you are until you look stress - FEAR - in the face and tell it to shove off.  I am not well; I am running fever this morning and dealing with a fibromyalgia flare up.  I am not defeated, though.  If I make each day the best it can be within my power, the rest will be taken care of by a Higher Power.  

God's got my back and a plan for me.  He is in control, and all these stressors are lessons.  They are opportunities.  On the days I struggle, He has friends to embrace and encourage me.

I am one blessed girl - no matter what the scale says.

Cheese Stuffed Turkey Meatballs with Pasta

Cheese-Stuffed Turkey Meatballs with Pasta 

                            Adapted from WW Points Plus Cookbook 10 WW Points+ Ingredients

8 ounces ground skinless turkey breast

                                                       1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

1/4 cup plain dried bread crumbs

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup fat free milk

1/4 cup of egg beaters

2 garlic cloves, minced

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 ounce part-skim mozzarella string cheese cut into 16 cubes 

2 cups Fat free marinara sauce 

1/2 cup water

8 oz whole wheat spaghetti 

2 cups thinly sliced escarole (I skipped this all together, I didn't have it)

Directions

- Mix turkey, 1/4 cup Parmesan, bread crumbs, parsley, milk, egg beaters, garlic and cayenne in a bowl.  Make 16 balls.  Stuff them with mozzarella chunks (1/16th of the mozzarella).

- Bring Marinara sauce and water to a simmer ... I just now realized I skipped the water.  Oops.  I'll need to figure out if that adds a point, but really, why would you want to thin down your sauce ... it's prob for the meatballs so too much moisture doesn't cook off or something like that, but whatever.  Simmer your sauce.  Add the meatballs, cover and let simmer until they're cooked through (approx 10 mins ... make sure to get your pasta cooking at the appropriate time).

-If you're going with escarole add that during the last minute of pasta cooking

-Divide pasta into 4 bowls, top evenly with meatballs and sauce.  Use the rest of the Parmesan to sprinkle evenly on top.

"He who fails to plan is planning to fail."

In a week full of things to do, it is often hard to fit in much needed "me" time.  It is even harder when you need to fit in that much needed "friend" time.  

That's why I was so excited when my sister from another mister, Amber, asked me to go to Plymouth with her after her work day!  We decided we were going to do a little window shopping and maybe even grab a bite to eat.

Enter anxiety.  OUT TO EAT?  How in the world was I going to handle this?  Of course, our options weren't stellar either, but we knew if we planned ahead, we could make anything work.  

I was very careful with my points+.  I wanted to make sure that I had some strong points+ left over for dinner that I didn't have to stress myself out about it.  We decided on TGI Fridays.  LET THE PLANNING BEGIN!

Amber and I spent a couple of hours, and no I am not even exaggerating a little here, planning what we were going to eat, how many points+ we needed to have available, and how we could make sure we got through the meal without over indulging in a bad choice.  

My first instinct I must admit was to order the Fried Green Beans.  I mean, people, these should be illegal!  How else should veggies be served?  Hot?  Yes.  Fried?  Of course.  With a dipping sauce?  Duh!  Looking over their nutritional info (which they have so nicely shared on their web site), I found that those veggies were a bit more points+ than I was looking to spend.  Especially knowing that I would be hungry and not very satisfied (or happy with myself) later.  Back to the drawing board...

Amber had mentioned trying the Dragonfire Chicken Entree and the Spinach and Artichoke Flatbread (she had enjoyed that before).  I took a look at it and agreed that sounded great and for just 17 points+ for the entree, I believed it was a winner.

The Dragonfire Chicken was amazing!  It was a grilled chicken breast glazed in Kung Pao Sauce served over a bed of jasmine rice with a salsa of sorts (that was a little disappointing), madarin oranges, and a side of broccoli.  My plate was full!  I couldn't believe what I was getting for 17 points+.  The best part was it tasted so fresh and light.  It had so many different flavor notes; spicy, heat, sweet, savory, fruity.  It was just so good.  

I also tried a triangle of the Spinach and Artichoke Flatbread that Amber ordered.  Goodness me!  I am getting that bad boy for a meal next time!  WOW.  If you are craving something that you think should be bad for you, this is it!  The spinach and garlic, the cheese, the crisp crunch of the flat bread.  Just totally worth every 2 points+ bite.  

Unfortunately, I was so entertained by my company and the yummy food that I forgot to take a picture of my plate like I wanted to.  Here is a picture I found via the web of my meal.  Again, the salsa was not that impressive on my plate, but it still was a beautiful dish.  I also included a picture of the flat bread...yumo!