Ugh- Disgusting

That is how I was feeling both physically and emotionally last night.

We went to eat at IHOP since someone was (finally) doing a walk-through of our house last night, and they have free kids meals there. I ended up getting an omelet, made with egg whites for $1.30 extra of course, which also came with 3 pancakes. The meals all came out and they were huge!

Even though it was an egg white omelet, it was still almost dripping in the butter sauce that they fry it in. Luckily I was able to control myself from eating the whole thing, but I did eat Emily's strawberries with whipped cream that she didn't want for some reason...

So anyway, the grease started giving me a stomach ache before we even left the restuarant. And then I was feeling down about how I thought I would doing will with my choice of meal, but I just felt FAT after eating it.

So yesterday just wasn't a great day.

I did have an early weigh-in today though, since I am going to a co-worker's farewell lunch during my regular meeting time tomorrow. I was down 0.8 lbs from last week- which just makes up for the gain that I had recorded.

There is definitely more work to be done, but hopefully I am back in the right direction.

Oh and I'll mention the Black Bean Brownies I made this week. You pick the brownie mix of your choice and instead of adding the eggs and oil that it calls for, all you do is add one can of black beans. Make sure to rinse the beans, then pour them back in the can and fill it with water. Then puree the HECK out of the black beans/water and add in the brownie mix. I think they may have a shorter cooking time when you use this method. They probably could have come out of the oven a little sooner, and I even used the shortest estimated time. Enjoy :)

Week 14

I just had my week 14 weigh-in/meeting today and it was another backslide. Up 0.6 lbs, but luckily it didn't put me back under 18 lbs total.

It doesn't take much thought to realize what happened this week, in fact there are several things I can come up with.

#1: I had a pasta dish for at least one meal this ENTIRE week. On Sunday the whole onslaught of inlaws descended on our house so MIL made a huge pot of ravioli. I had that as leftovers for a few days after that. Then we made spaghetti with florentine meatballs for supper on Wednesday, which I have had for lunch on Thur and Friday as well. Thur night we had beef stroganoff with egg noodles. I will probably be eating that for lunch on Saturday. Whew- a whole lot of carbs and not enough veggies. I also had pizza and leftover pizza on Sat and Sun. So all in all a delicious but not weightloss-inducing week there folks!

#2: My portion sizes have been creeping steadily bigger. I need to get back into the habit of measuring rather than eyeballing. As my meeting leader said today- our eyeballs tend to grow on us!

#3: I've been falling victim to the classic BLTS: bites, licks, tastes, and sips!
Michael made jack and coke for himself several nights this week, and I had my share of sips. When getting Emily's food ready or, once again, putting away leftovers, I would take little bites and licks of the spoon here and there. Unfortunately it all adds up...

So here is hoping for a better week. I'd like to try and make it through without pasta or pizza this time!

Better Late than Never

We ended up being a lot busier this weekend than I realized, so I've just put up the new picture in the side pane.

Wow- I looked really bad in May! I knew there had to be a difference, it's good and bad to see :) But there is definitely still a way to go.

whew...made it.

Down 1.6 lbs this week (so I blew by 18 lbs), and now I only have 11 left to make goal!

However, it's going to be another tough week ahead, with a baby shower and ladies night get- together. It seems like when I look back though, every week has had its obstacles. Whether it is eating out when the parents come to town, parties to go to, or vacations. So the fact that I've still lost this weight amongst a lot of "hard" weeks, should give me some confidence for the future.

I will say that I am not ready to face the challenge of Nov/Dec yet though. With my birthday, Thanksgiving, then Christmas parties and visiting 2 sets of relatives for the holidays, what a lot of desserts there will be to drool over!

I will really really try to get an updated picture up this weekend! I know I will look thinner compared to the first picture, but I am still flabby all over. Once I *hopefully* become a WW lifetime member, I want to apply that $40/mo to a gym membership to work on toning. I know it will make a big difference in my appearance even though I won't necessarily be losing any more weight at that point. I hope I can start this soon!

I've got a problem

That's pretty obvious given that I was so overweight. But this is a problem that is still plaguing me even as I am losing weight and learning to do things better.

I can't seem to stop eating even though I may not be hungry. This is most often a problem at restaurants and when cleaning up and putting away leftovers after a meal. For instance, last night I was putting away pizza for lunch today and also Michael hadn't gotten home from work so his pizza was still sitting on the pan. I had just eaten broccoli and 2 pieces of pizza and yet I just COULD NOT STOP myself from picking at what was left. A bite of crust here, a cheese covered mushroom there. It's ridiculous! Why is it so hard for me to stop myself when I am satisfied? Maybe to my brain, satisfaction isn't necessarily linked to a full stomach. Eating yummy food is satisfying to me, whether I am starving or about to burst.

Any tips to help me in this way of thinking?

Brick walls, favorites, and a recipe..

Sorry, it’s been a while. I have been quietly and not super successively plugging along. I feel like I am never going to reach the elusive 18 pounds that I’ve been hovering near for several weeks. I was so close two weeks ago, only 0.4 lbs. Then when I weighed in on Friday I was only down 0.2 lbs- who even counts 0.2 pounds!? That could be the difference between weighing on an empty stomach or having just drank a glass of water. Geez.
There is some kind of wall built up around the 18 lb mark, and I’m not sure whether it is going to be busted through or not. I do admit that I have not been tracking for the last few weeks, but I’ve been pretty good with food choices- better than in the past at least. That’s really what I need though; to get back to basics since it is so easy to slide in a few or lot of extra points when I’m not religious about writing things down. I have started this week off right though, tracking yesterday and today- so hopefully I’ll have the momentum to smash through and go beyond 18!
Now on to a positive topic. Callie tagged me a while back to name my 6 favorite things, and here they are in no particular order:
1. Emily’s face: all of her really, but I just love holding her sweet face between my hands and gazing at all her cute perfect-ness :)
2. OBX- mostly Nag’s Head/manteo area: I spent a semester of college here studying with a small group of other students. It was one of the best times of my life and it always feels so “right” and magical to be back there.
3. Books: my favorites at this point are the Harry Potter series and Pride and Prejudice.
4. That first night sleeping in crisp clean sheets. I don’t know why, but it is just more relaxing to sleep in a freshly made bed.
5. Dessert! I don’t think I could pick favorite out of all desserts, b/c I just love so many. I will say that I don’t generally like desserts with nuts or raisins.
6. Sleeping in. It happens so rarely and I have always loved my sleep, so it’s an extra special treat now.

I’m not sure that there are a lot of other readers out there that have been tagged, so I’ll just tag Miche.

And lastly, here is the recipe that I mentioned in a previous post. Sooo yummy and if you find some low fat chips- or even just use it as a salsa to go on southwestern-style turkey burgers, quite healthy!

Corn Salsa
* 4 medium ears fresh corn, husks removed. (canned is fine, but get “no salt added” kind to cut down on the extra sodium)
* 1 (12 ounce) jar of roasted red bell peppers. Drained and chopped.
* 2 ripe avocados, chopped
* 2 green onions, finely chopped
* 1 large tomato, seeded and minced
* 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and miced
* 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
* 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
* 1/2 teasoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon cumin

Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Cover and chill at least 2 hours

Enjoy!