I didn’t make it….

It’s time to admit defeat :-(  I didn’t complete the 30 day Shred, in fact I haven’t touched it since I came back from my weekend away!

It is what it is!  I just can’t keep myself motivated when it comes to exercise. That’s not to say I’ve given up completely. The past couple of weeks I’ve just been eating and drinking what I want again, and my weight (and well being) is suffering for it.  I went out last night with my friend Cheryl and her sister. Cheryl was treating me to dinner for my birthday. We went to a little Italian Market restaurant and I once again ate Waaaaay too much food. First we had Mushroom Bruschetta with truffel oil which was to die for, then I had a pizza. Granted the crust was very very thin, and it had basil pesto, grilled ribbons of carrot and goat cheese on and mushrooms, but I just ate too much of it, and had a couple of glasses of wine too. Cheryl took our picture with her phone and I couldn’t help but think that my face looked so fat! That was it . . .

Today I start again, to make a concerted effort to eat less, eat better and get out and walk again. I got on the scale last night (just for the record I’ll mention this) and was 130lb! This morning I was 127.8

I went out for a walk this morning for 30 minutes around the neighborhood. I’m going to count my points again and use WW to help me eat better and less.

We’ll see how it goes.

Day 20

So Saturday was day 18 and Sunday day 19 and didn’t do the workout as I mentioned because I was doing yard work instead. Yesterday I didn’t even do the yard work! I was awake a lot on Saturday night when my throat started to hurt. It wasn’t a scratchy kind of sore throat but just hurt on one side when I swallowed and it was making my ear ache a bit too. When I got up on Sunday morning my head and face were aching a lot too. I took some Ibruprofen and Sudafed and after a couple of hours felt a little better, but I just didn’t feel up to working out be it in the yard or with the dvd.

I went to bed last night at 8pm I was so tired and my head was aching again. Today I don’t feel so bad, still took the Sudafed and the Ibuprofen this morning for the face/headache but I felt well enough to do the workout.

I can’t say I’m noticing any changes to my body though, and if I’m honest I’m really not putting as much effort in to it as I probably should. After this many days I really feel more worn out than better for it. I can’t wait to have this over with!!

Day 15, 16 and 17!!!

Wednesday was day 15 and I must confess I didn't do the workout. I had to go for my yearly well-woman appointment at the Dr's and then I ran errands so by the time I got home it was lunch time, and well, I just kept putting off, did laundry etc and then it was bedtime :-(

It's getting really hard to stay motivated doing this I must admit. I did the workout on Thurday before 8am even and then again yesterday. But it's the weekend and guess what . . . I'm not gonna do the dvd! I'll be working out in the back yard instead. It's like a jungle out there in the veggie beds and now that the mornings are cooling down I can get out there and start pulling weeds (and old rotten veg!) outta there! That will be my workouts for Saturday and Sunday.

Day 13 and 14

If I  don’t get on here and post right after I do the workout I seem to totally forget to do so! That’s what happened yesterday. I did the dvd but didn’t jump on here right afterwards.

Wow, today is day 14, I’ve been doing this for two weeks already? OK, so I missed two days and technically I’ve only done 12 workouts but I’m posting every day regardless if I’ve actually worked out or not. That way I can follow my progress over the full 30 days and I can see why I missed some of the days I missed.

You’d think after two weeks this would feel easier, but if I’m honest my body just seems to feel more and more tired. That might have something to do with the fact that I’m not a spritely young twenty year old!  I think after these 30 days I’ll go back to doing something a little more enjoyable, like walking around the neighborhood ;-)

Day 12

I skipped the workout again today!!! But I had good reason, I actually had a work out and a half when I mowed the front yard this morning and pulled a lot of weeds out of the flower beds and trimmed the bushes. I usually don't have to cut the grass but the guy we have come every two weeks is overdue, it happens sometimes, and usually we can just wait, but this time the weeds were getting too high and I didn't want a letter from the HOA telling me to get my yard tided up, so I cut it.

SO, I will start back again tomorrow. I realize now how hard this is going to be, but I'm nearly half way through it, so I'll keep on trying.

Day 10 . . . . and 11!

It’s Saturday, I didn’t get a chance to get on here and post for yesterday. I did the workout yesterday but I’m going to skip today!! I know, I know. .  . but honestly I just need to rest.  This is harder than it seems, more from a discipline thing really, ok the workouts only last 20 minutes (not really true, with warm up and cool down it’s more like 27 minutes) but I just know I don’t have it in me to do it today.  I just want a break from it.

I don’t know why, I just do. So I’m not going to pretend I did it when I didn’t, I’m going to be up front and honest and say today, I’m taking a break.

Tomorrow I will start again.

Day 9

I'm just off to bed, but realized I didn't post on here for today! Meant to do it earlier but the day got away from me.

I had to go out again first thing this morning to a music store of all places to get Kristen some new books for her piano lesson. It meant I didn't get to do my workout til nearly 12pm!

It also meant that I didn't put as much effort in to it today. I don't know why, I just know I could have done better. I'm hoping tomorrow I can stay home, have breakfast as early as I usually do and do my workout at 9am. It always seems to feel better at that time.

Yesterday I did better with my eating and actually counted points. Got on the scale this morning and was happy to see 126.4 :-)

Day 8

Some days seem easier to do than others? Today not being as easy a day as yesterday . . . don’t really know why. I had to go get the oil changed in my car today so didn’t do my workout until 10am.

I had a banana when I went out and had oatmeal again when I got home, then did the workout. 

I really must get better with the eating, my weight has gone up to 128lb this morning, and if you know me at all, you know I’m freaking out at that number, although some of you will tell me that I’m probably gaining muscle and that of course weighs heavier than fat! But I know the truth! I’m still eating the ‘wrong’ things. . . some how a bag of Cheetos found it’s way on to my lap last night, when I was watching Biggest Loser of all things!  I only have myself to blame.

Today I’m counting my points, and hopefully will do so for the next week to see if there’s any change on the scale.

I’ll keep on keeping on ;-)

Day 7

Whoooo, now that was a better workout :-)  I had oatmeal for breakfast this morning and two slices of ‘light’ whole wheat bread (only 1 ww point for two slices). What a difference. I had so much more energy because I fueled my body first.

Today I even managed to do more of the cario. I’m totally out of breath as I type this because I just finished day 7. Wow, day 7, that is one full week of working out EVERY DAY.  I’m so proud of myself.

Eating better today, I called in to the grocery store after taking Kristen to school and bought fresh fruit and veg. Lunch today will be a nice spinach salad, perhaps with fresh apple on top, fat free raspberry vinaigrette (my fav) and some walnuts – kinda like this . .

My friend Judy is hoping to start the dvd with me this week :) It’s always great to have a friend help you along. Not only do I hope to motivate Judy as she starts this, but I know she will be motivating me too.  So, let me know when you get started Judy. I’m not sure if that will be today or if you’re still waiting for the dvd to arrive?

Anyone else joining in? Or are you doing any other daily exercise? I’d love for you to share with me.

Day 6

I did day 6 of the Shred today, but barely got through it. I made the mistake of trying to do the workout a little earlier today, meaning I didn’t bother eating breakfast first… just had some coffee!

Big mistake. I could tell as soon as I started I just didn’t have the energy like the other mornings, and so the effort I put in to it was pathetic :(

Still, you live and learn. Tomorrow I will be back to it ‘in full force’, breakfast first, then dvd at 9am.

Day 5

Sunday, 11am – I just finished day 5, and I actually think its getting a little easier :-) Not easy by all means, but easier. I managed to do some of the jumping jacks today, so I can see some improvement when it comes to the cardio. I also moved up to the 3lb weights. These felt a lot heavier so some of the movements were a bit modified. I like this weight though for the chest/butterfly press that she does on the floor.

The last 1 minute of crunches is a killer! But I’m so proud of myself for doing it, AND for sticking with it over the weekend. Tomorrow I might up it to level 2 but still do the ‘easy’ version of that.  Gotta get back to better eating and drinking more water too.

Day 4

Well, if nothing else it’s just good to have it over with! I did day 4 at 10am this morning :-) Now I can get on and enjoy my day. I can’t say ‘weekend’ because I will have day 5 to do tomorrow!

For the most part I’m feeling good, legs still ache like crazy, still can’t do the jumpin jacks, but I can tell I am getting better at cardio – just a tad! It’s only day 4 and I can feel an improvement, so I can only imagine how good I’ll feel at day 14.

I must get better at the food intake though. I did eat Tilapia this week and had a few salads, but I can do even better and cut out some of the junk food I’m still nibbling on. Still trying to drink more water too – it’s a process for sure!

Day 3

I did day 3 of the Shred yesterday, I just didn’t get around to posting an entry. It’s Saturday morning now (8.30am) and there’ll be no rest from a work out. Jillian says you do 30 days straight!

Yesterday was ok, it’s the cardio still that gets me, I just can’t keep up and really modify it, to the point that I’m just marching in place at some places!  But at least I’m still moving!

Still aching too, but not as bad as the first day. I will stick with level 1 until next Wednesday, that will be my first week over, after that I think I will try out level 2 just to change it up a bit. That’s the only down side, you do the same routing every day, you know what’s coming . . . and it can get a little boring.

I haven’t been cutting back on the calories as much as I wanted, had a piece of pizza last night and some wine! But I keep trying. I’ll weigh in on Monday and see if there’s any change there.

Day 2

I just finished day two of the workout.... I'm so out of breath I can hardly type!!! Phew, this is gonna be HARD. What I find the worse is the cardio, I get out of breath really easy (even just walking up the stairs), it could be because of my asthma and sinus issues, or it could be just that I am totally out of shape. I'm hoping I get better with time. But the cardio - I really had to modify it today, those jumping jacks kill me!

The other thing I find hard is transitioning from the floor for the ab work to standing up again with the weights, if I move too fast I can feel rather dizzy! I'm just taking that part slow so I'm usually a couple of reps behind Jillian and her girls. Still, I'm doing it, that's what counts and I'm feeling it. I was really aching this morning, but proud of myself for putting the dvd on again.

I'm off to shower now ;-)

It starts today. . . .

As you can tell from my sporadic posts, I kinda fell off the wagon when it comes to good eating and exercising. I let myself indulge over the whole summer, ate whatever I wanted, drank when I wanted (and I’m not talking water!), and didn’t get out walking or do any other form of exercise. As a result of all that, I managed to gain the 10lb I lost and as of today I weigh in at 127.8lb!!!

THAT is way too much for me to feel comfortable. SO, today I am starting this -

I’m motivated by the fact that many other girls are doing this too. Jen at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam has started it. She’s asked anyone that wants to, to join in with her, keep us updated on her progress at her blog AND her Facebook page.

So, today, bad eating stops (again) and exercise STARTS!  I hope to post on here EVERY DAY for the next 30 days to confirm that I have done the 20 minute routine that Jillian puts you through each day. I will miss only two days in the next 30 because we have a weekend away planned with our neighbors. I know I won’t work out on that Saturday and Sunday. I will workout on the Friday before we leave, and actually depending on the time we come home on Sunday I may actually be able to pop the dvd in later that day – we’ll see.

Any other day  . . . .  THERE WILL BE NO EXCUSES!!!!!

I did the workout today, and it is HARD!  But I felt good afterwards. The test will come tomorrow when I know I will be sore and I have to do it all over again. Today I’m cutting out the bad eating habits too. I don’t want to totally deprive myself of the things I like, but I must not eat them so often. I WILL have a glass of wine when I want and I WILL have Margaritas on the front porch with the neighbors at the weekend. I will NOT deprive myself but I will NOT overindulge either.  I took some ‘before’ pictures this morning, I may (or may not) share them here at the end of the 30 day challenge.  I took some measurements too, which I will post here :

Bust – 36”

Waist – 31”

Hips – 37”

under bust – 31”

Top of thigh – 20 3/4

Top of arm – 11’

I know to some of you I am not over weight. Everything is relative, just because I don’t ‘look’ overweight’ doesn’t mean I don’t feel overweight. When you’re used to being about 117-120lb then an extra 10lb (sitting mostly around your middle) makes a big difference. I feel sluggish, no energy and my pants are all tight! And one thing I can definitely vouch for – I am NOT fit. I get out of breath just walking up the stairs, I’m so out of shape. 

These posts are mainly for my own motivation, but if you’re here reading it, I appreciate the time you took to do that, and I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment if you would like to, it would surely help keep me motivated if I thought you were out there checking up on me;-)

I fell off. . . .

I'm talking about my 'healthy eating plan'... I fell off the wagon so to speak :-( It was probably obvious by the lack of posts in here. Since I last posted I haven't eaten good at all, I got totally off track once summer really kicked in, got lazy I guess . . . the walking stopped because it got too hot outside, that and the fact I didn't have to get up early every morning to take Kristen to school.

I hate to say this but I have gained ALL of the weight I lost in just these past 3 months. As of today I am back to 125lb. I was 126lb last summer and after Christmas I decided I wanted to lose about 10lb. I know 125 isn't big, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, none of my pants fit at this weight and my belly just feels bloated all of the time. It's not surprising at all, I've been eating what I call 'all the wrong things' - white pasta for starters, chips, chips and more chips, glasses of wine every night, peanuts, more pasta, white 'instant' potatoes.... basically everything I used to eat that got me 10lb overweight the last time! Why do we do it?!!!

Anyway, I'm blogging here because I'm ready to get back on track and blogging about it always keeps me motivated. When I look back at these posts and see what yummy food I was eating and still losing weight, it helps me focus on what I need to do to lose a little weight again, and start exercising too.

School starts back on Monday, so I will hopefully start walking every morning and eating less during the day. Dinner time will be slightly different than before, I am on a budget with grocery shopping (I have been blogging about it at my daily diary) so I am trying to use things we already have in storage (unfortunately a lot of that is pasta and potatoes!). I will just have to make a concerted effort to have a smaller portion and fill up on salad or veggies with each meal.

My goal is to get back to 117lbs which was where I was at in May. We have the holidays fast approaching and I don't want to gain another 10lb by January!!!

So, that's where I'm at today. . . . . ready to start again on Monday!

Join me for breakfast....

Hi there, another quick update from me. I wanted to share with you this morning what I had for breakfast. . . . and for only 3 WW points! Care to join me?

Being on a diet is not all about eating 'rabbit food'! In fact I don't even like to call it a diet, the way I'm eating is a life style, not just something I want to do for a few months to shed a few pounds. I must be honest and tell you I never ate a breakfast for YEARS. Of course I know how important that first meal of the day is, I've read about it so many times. But my stomach was just never in the mood for food as soon as I woke up. Actually it still isn't ready for food at 6am in the morning, but I've come to realize that I don't have to eat my breakfast the minute I fall out of bed. I get up at 6am, and usually just have a cup of coffee while Kristen is eating her breakfast and getting ready for school. When I come home about 8am is when I will make myself something to eat. Lately it has been a breakfast like this one.

Yes, this is only 3 weight watcher points (that's not including the creamer in my coffee!). Turkey bacon (1pt for 2 slices, I had 3 here but I probably only need the two - 1.5 pts), 1/2 cup of baked beans - 1pt (these are Heinz baked beans that I buy in the 'English' section of my grocery store, they are the kind I used to eat back home, and they are fat free. I've checked out the Pork and Beans we buy here, they are 2pts per 1/2 cup). 1 slice of toast - 1/2pt (I'm using Nature's Own Light bread, only 1 pt per 2 slices) :-) Mushrooms and tomato are o pts.

I'm happy to say I didn't gain any pounds back over the weekend like I usually do. (and I did have some wine and chips AND an Appletini on Friday night) ;-) started off this morning at 119.6! I did my walk this morning and have already done over 6000 steps today. This week I need to work on drinking more water.

Time for an update . . .

Well I'm obviously not getting on here on a weekly basis despite still wanting to, it's just hard to get motivated some days. But I'm here today and am happy to share with you a little update of how well I'm doing on my healthy eating plan (and losing a few pounds).

When I started this blog I weighed 126lb and I know that isn't heavy at all. Many of you have asked (or mentioned) that I don't look overweight and I don't need to lose any weight, to which I would reply "I know, you are totally right" ;-) BUT, it all boils down to the fact that I WANT to lose weight. At 126lb my jeans and capris I wore last year were uncomfortable tight and I know the weight that I lose will come straight off my belly and no where else, so that is why I chose to lose a few pounds. Of course the main part is I want to eat healthy. I really do enjoy fresh fruit, salads and veg more than fried foods. I've been trying to get back to counting Weight Watcher points and walking more each day. It's working ..... as of this morning I weight 120lb :-) Last week I was actually 119.8 - the weekends are still my downfall and although I was happy to see 119.8 on Friday morning, I was not happy to see 122.8 on Monday morning! It's my goal this week to try and eat good over the weekend too so I don't gain 2 or 3 pound again. It's not like I over eat, but I just don't watch my points and I have a few glasses of wine too.

I've started planning out some daily meal plans for myself. Rather than try to follow examples of meal plans in the Weight Watcher magazines (which always have things I wouldn't bother cooking) I've written out 7 days of 'daily eating', keeping my points below 19 as best I can and making simple meals where I don't usually have to even follow a recipe. Here's a sample of one of my days:

You can click on the menu to make it bigger if it's too small for you to read. It's much easier seeing in advance what you will eat each day rather than trying to think of things for mealtimes every few hours! Some days my snack is a smoothie made with fresh or frozen berries and a fat free yogurt, and my night time snack is often a 1pt bag of popcorn .

My sister recently sent me her WW magazine from England (which I must say is much better than the one we get here in the US). It has so many more recipes and they have a lot more ww ready meals and chips and cookies and even wine, that I wish I could get my hands on! I made a 0pt vegetable curry from the magazine, so this dish above was a total of 3pts (for the 1/2 cup of brown rice). A few have asked for the recipe so I will try to share that in the next day or so, giving you my US version.

and here's on e of my simple low point lunches. A 0 pt salad! I make it 0 points by just having lettuce, tomoatoes, cucumber and a little bell pepper and a few sprays of 'salad spritzer' instead of light ranch dressing. Then I pair it with a cup of Progresso soup that is just 1 point. If I'm still hungry (which often I'm not) I will have a fat free greek yogurt for another 1 point.

I am wearing my pedometer every day now too and trying to get in 10,000 steps per day. I go walking for half an hour most mornings with my neighbor Cheryl. If I do that then I usually can manage 10,000 steps or more. If I don't do my morning walk I average only about 6 or 7k.

So, how are you doing with your eating habits? Are they healthy, could you do better... do you want to do better? I'd love to hear from you :-)

Goodness, where'd the days go?

I had great intentions of posting here weekly and I already see it was April 11th for my last post... it's the 25th today, where'd the past 2 weeks go?

I'll be back soon with an update... doing really well I'm surprised to say, been out walking a lot more and now my neighbor has joined me too. Busy painting Kristen's room today. Happy that I got on the scale this morning and am 122lb :-) That's a full 4lb gone.

Motivation!

My friend Mel started walking on her treadmill last week. I haven't been walking for a few weeks now but just being told that someone is getting off their butt and starting to do something again really motivates you - don't you think? It certainly did me. So I decided it was time to get myself moving again too. I ordered some 'walking music' from the Biggest Loser sight last week. It was an MP3 download of an hours worth of music, it was THIS ONE to be exact! Hip Hop/R&B. You can click on the link and listen to samples of the songs. Very 'hip' and current. I went out earlier this week and power walked around the neighborhood for 35 minutes, it was great and I felt great :-) So thanks Melanie for getting me started again. Sadly I didn't get a chance to get out again the rest of the week but I will start again Tuesday. Tomorrow the kids are off school for a day and I'm going to get my hair cut!

I still weigh myself just about every day and where I used to be around 126lb I am now weighing 123 most days and on some mornings it's about 122. 4 :-) So I'm slowly making progress.

I've also started eating a better dinner. Last week I simply grilled some chicken breasts that I'd marinated in Krafts zesty Italian dressing and had it with a simple salad.

This is one of my favorite salads right now. It's simply mixed lettuce with some cherry tomatoes, a drizzle of light ranch dressing and a sprinkle of bacon bits. The ranch dressing is only 70 cals for 2 tblsps (I don't even think I use that much) and the bacon bits is only 30 cals for 1 tblsp (and again I think I barely use that much).

See that little red lettuce leaf all by itself? That is from my garden! My mesclun salad mix has started growing :-) Here's a picture of it in my garden. . .

I may have enough to make a full salad this week? So, how about you? Are you feeling motivated. What are you going to do to 'get moving' this week?

Still struggling....

I've had such lovely comments and emails from those of you who still pop in to see how I'm doing with my weight loss and I appreciate it so much. I have once again let this blog slide, basically because I feel like I'm getting no where with the weight loss! I'm not exercising at all these days either, except for yard work, which actually does feel like a work-out I must tell you. Bending and mulching flower beds and planting seeds does make you feel it in your legs.

I'm not really following any diet now either, not even weight watchers, which I was doing before. I'm really just trying to eat less during the day and have a decent meal at night, not a huge meal but just something I like. This past weekend I let myself indulge in the wonderful dinner I made of baked honey ham, creamy mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and 'watergate salad' (that green fluffy stuff made with pistachio pudding and marshmallows and pineapple) you can get the recipe for it HERE.

In saying all that about not losing and not exercising my weight is down a couple of pounds. A few of you have mentioned that I don't seem to be overweight for my height, and I will say this again.... I agree, I'm not :-) I'm not overweight at all I just know that I've gained a little weight since last summer and my pants don't feel comfortable, they feel tight. You know how it is when that happens, you just don't feel good at all do you? I know I don't. I could go out and buy the next size up but I don't want to do that. So, I'll keep at it and I'll keep posting here if it helps motivate some of you.

I want to get better at posting here and perhaps share some healthy recipes with you all (and pictures)! So, I'll try to work on that this week ;-)

A little Update...

I appreciate all of you who keep coming by here and leaving a comment :-) I feel this blog is a little boring for you but it's nice that you still take the time to say hi and encourage me with your kind notes. I really just try to keep updating here for myself, but I know some of you are wondering how I am getting on too so I shall try to do better with more posts.

Last week, after a few days of eating from the Flat Belly Detox I managed to get down to 125.2 lbs. I was rather pleased with myself but then guess what. . . I had a couple of glasses of wine on Friday and Saturday night and some cheese and crackers, and yes you guessed it, went back up to 127lb! I decided not to beat myself up about it. What was the point!

Anyway, this week I'm trying to still be very good. Yesterday and today I'm doing 'liquid', that meaning I'm having a slimfast shake for breakfast (usually around 10am), I have coffee when I first get up. Then in the afternoon I have a fruit smoothie, and last night for dinner I found a South Beach recipe for Egg Drop Soup (simply chicken broth, green onions and egg) and had that. Then later that evening I indulged in a bag of fat free (almost) popcorn and water!

My friend Judy posted on her blog this week about a smoothie she makes every morning, I am sharing this picture that Judy posted (because I didn't take a pic of the one I just made). . .


Doesn't this look so yummy? I was truly inspired so I went out this morning and stocked up on some fresh strawberries, blueberries and bananas. I also got some blackberries because they were only $1.97 (I only wish the blueberries were as cheap!). So, I made my smoothie just like this, added a few canned pineapple chunks at the bottom, then a tub of fat free greek yogurt, then 3 strawberries, some blueberries and half a banana. It blended up really easy (I was worried that it wouldn't because it didn't have much liquid in it, but it was great. I usually use frozen fruit and that is harder to blend). This was super yummy and was my lunch today.

Later today I will have a spinach salad, I know it's not liquid but I'm gonna have one anyway. I just feel in the mood for lots of fresh fruit and salads :-)

Still here... still no weight lost!

Wow, I fell off the wagon posting here didn't I? Can't believe it's been over a month since I last wrote something. In that time I've been home to England and back and am happy to say my Mam is doing well and getting better and gaining more strength each new day.

As for me, it's one step forward, two steps back ... as usual! Granted I haven't really been trying to cut back on the 'wrong' foods these past few weeks so I wasn't surprised when I got on the scale last Monday morning and found I was still 126lb! A few days later however I was happy to see 124.6 :-) Then I don't know what happened. I guess I just ate what I wanted and I paid for it today. Another Monday morning and I'm not 126 today but 127lb!!

So needless to say it's back to the 'ole drawing board' so to speak. I've put myself back on the Flat Belly Detox for a few days. I don't mind really, I like the foods (for a couple of days anyway) they make you feel 'not bloated' after you've eaten, which of course is the whole point of them. So today I had Cheerios for breakfast (cos I had no cornflakes in) with skim milk, apple sauce and some sunflower seeds. I had no coffee :-) For lunch it was deli turkey, 1 string cheese and quite a few grape tomatoes. The diet calls for one pint of tomatoes for lunch but these seems WAY too much for me, so I just tend to snack on a few more throughout the afternoon. I've just had a strawberry smoothie (1 cup of milk and 1 cup of frozen strawberries with 1tblsp of Flax OIl) and tonight I will have Tilapia with roasted red potatoes and green beans. And although the diet doesn't say so, if I'm feeling like a snack tonight I'll have a fat free greek yogurt.

Day one is always easy, I hope I can do as well tomorrow. . . and the next day. . . and the next!

The dreaded weekend.....

I've been doing really well this week using the Flat Belly Diet's detox days a few times.... I started off on Monday and Tuesday eating from the detox plan and it was actually pretty easy. I had no coffee on Monday and Tuesday either. On Wednesday I allowed myself a morning coffee and a girl scout cookie! Forgot what else I actually had but there were a few other 'treats' I allowed myself. I figured I can eat 'normal' for a few days a week and be a bit more strict on some days too. So far it is working as I've already lost just over 2lb.

Now the tricky part.... trying to keep the weight loss off until Monday. Remember the weekends are my down fall :-( I'm determined to be good though. Today I've had my cornflakes for breakfast, but not the applesauce because I've run out. I will have the deli turkey, tomatoes and string cheese for lunch and will then have a smoothie for a snack later, then have something healthy for dinner, probably tilapia and veggies.

I'll check in on Monday and let you know if I managed to keep the weight off or if I am yet again back to square one?!!

Back to square one...

:-( Last week wasn't a good week. This morning I weigh one pound more than I did last Monday, instead of at least one pound less. Seriously, can I not just even lose a pound a week (and keep it off)? Of course I only have myself to blame.... I got off track on Thursday when I went out to book club. The host always puts snacks or finger food out and I wasn't going to deprive myself of any of it. Plus I had a couple of glasses of wine too. The thing is, because I knew I'd be eating at night I didn't even bother eating dinner. Things went down hill the rest of the week and I just didn't feel like watching what I ate. That's not to say I 'pigged-out' because I really don't eat a lot, I guess I just eat the wrong things.

Oh, Friday was a fun night at my neighbors tasting wine and cheese, but again, because I knew I'd be doing that I skipped dinner! So by Saturday and Sunday I just ate what I wanted and I paid the price for it this morning.

I know one pound is nothing really, but in the scheme of things this is my whole point about trying to lose weight.... if I don't lose it I will gain it and I don't want to end up at 50 being 30 lb heavier than I am now!

So, today I'm being strict. I'm trying to do the Flat Belly Detox again, but I doubt I'll do it for 4 days (I tried that a couple of months ago and only made it to day 3) but I think I will do it today and tomorrow then go back to counting points by midweek. You can see my first post when I did this in December HERE, and my second post HERE and my third post HERE.

Eating well, wish I could say the same for blogging!

I did really well last week with my eating, but not so much with the blogging on here. I wanted to add some photos with this update but the camera my pics are on is charging right now so I will try and do that later or tomorrow.

I want to log my weight each Monday morning because I keep forgetting what it is and I'm not making a note of it anywhere. I get on the scale nearly every day, sometimes I miss it but for the most part it's at least 5 times a week. My weight will fluctuate up and down a pound more or less through out the week but when Monday rolls around I feel like I'm back to square one. So for my personal record I'm saying this morning I weighed myself and I was 126lb. Not very encouraging considering that was the weight I was last June when I knew I'd gained the 10lb and was determined to get it off. One day last week though, I weighed 125.8. I had an off day on Saturday when I allowed myself to not count points and just eat what I wanted. I probably went a little crazy, had some chocolates a couple of glasses of wine, some chips etc, but you'd think I could have one day off a week? Obviously not!

So, this week.... another concerted effort at keeping my points at around 20 and not indulging in anything 'bad'. I do have popcorn or WW icecream most nights so I still feel like I'm having treats and 'non-diet' food. We'll see how I do.

I made my own WW 0pt soup this week... those are the pics I've got on my camera. I'll blog about it later.

Update

The week is going so fast and my days are busy (although with what I don't really know). I just know that I can't seem to get on here every day and post, so I will try to update 2 or 3 times a week, more if I can.

I'm still doing good watching my points. Need to drink more water and exercise every day. I didn't do it yesterday cos I had an appointment at the ENT. I was going to do my dvd in the afternoon, but then never got around to it. The key is to get it done in the morning.

A Picture of Health!

Doesn't this look fresh and healthy? I'm lucky that I love fresh fruit and vegetables like I do. They don't appeal at all to my hubby (nor my 9 yr old for that matter) but I get more excited at seeing something like this than I do at seeing a McDonald's quarterpounder - seriously! That's not to say I don't eat the 1/4 pounder (thankfully it's not that often I do). Hubby will eat the fruit, at least the apples and oranges (bananas make his mouth itch) and Kristen will eat a few fruits but not much of them!

I got on the scale this morning and I've really only lost a pound since last Monday, but overall, I'm about 3lb down from what I weighed just before New Years Eve (when I was eating all the junk food we had in the house, and drinking a couple of glasses of wine every night - it was Christmas after all!)

I guess I always want the weight to drop quickly, but I think because there's not much I have to lose it will take time and probably more exercise than I'm currently doing. It's going to warm up this week some, so hopefully I can get out and walk as well as do some Pilates on my dvd? I know I need to 'move' more, so I shall make more of an effort this week. Also got to drink more water.

Here's something we had last Friday.... the skinny pizza's from Heather's blog. Made with Oroweat thin sandwiches. Kristen really liked these!

Take the sandwich and split it in half (it's actually already split for you), I popped these in a hot oven for a few minutes to crisp up a little. Then spoon on a tablespoon of pizza sauce. This sauce worked out at 0pts because it has very little fat in it and 3g of fiber.

Kristen just topped her pizza with reduced fat cheese (because I forgot to buy some pepperoni!) but for mine I sauted some mushrooms, onions and bell pepper) I added a spoonful of this to my pizza and just a small amount of cheese.

There was only the sandwich and cheese to count for points so these turned out at only 1pt each half!(approx). I had mine with a spinach salad for dinner on Friday, and I was pretty full afterwards. We'll be making these again, and no doubt trying different toppings, they were really tasty.

Doing good...

I was good over the weekend, didn't even have a glass of wine. I usually get off track on weekends and end up back at square one on Monday morning. This time I didn't want to spoil the good streak I'd had all week so I counted my points and didn't even bother having a glass of wine.

I'll up date later this week with my progress.

Food Journal for today:

Breakfast:
coffee 2pts
bagel w/cream cheese 3pts

Lunch:
1 cup progresso soup 1pt
1 Oroweat thin sandwich 1pt
Spinach w/1tblsp raspberry dressing 1pt
1/2 large apple 1pt

Snack:
fat free greek yogurt 1pt

Dinner:
Tacos,
2 taco shells 2pts
1/2 cup ground turkey taco 3pts
1/4 cup refried beans 1pt
Spinach w/ 1/2 tblsp dressing 1/2 pt

Evening treat: WW Icecream cone 2pts

Total Points: 18 1/2 :-)

Exercise: Walk away the pounds, 1 mile walk

Hump Day .... week 1

Well today is day 3 and I'm doing great. Yesterday I made the skinny chili cheese fries (you can see part 1 of the recipe HERE on Youtube). Oh my gosh, they were yummy. I would never have thought of having these because, well to be honest it sounds like 'junk food', not something you associate with healthy eating. But when you watch the portion size, and use low fat items like the turkey chili and the cheese, there isn't any reason why you can't have these.

This morning I made Heather's breakfast sandwiches, using Thomas's light English muffins, egg beaters, ww cheese singles and a slice of bacon on each one. I had one for breakfast (4pts) and 4 others are in the fridge for the rest of the week. This is the kind of thing my hubby would pop in the microwave in the evening (he stays up much later than me and gets a little hungry before bed time!) so they are there if he needs them.

I'll definitely be making more of these. I also found some low carb cinnamon bagels that only have 2 pts each so that is another breakfast I like.. I ad one serving of the ww cream cheese, I honestly can't taste any difference in it being low in fat and calories. It's well worth eating this way.

I've added my food journal to yesterday's post, and I'll post below what I've had today as I'm writing this in the evening.

Breakfast:
coffee w/creamer 2 pts
Breakfast sandwich 4 pts

Lunch:(total 5pts)
1 cup progresso soup 1pt
Tuna wrap:
low carb wrap 1pt
1/4 cup tuna 2pts
1tblsp light 1000 island dressing 1pt
spinach 0pts

Snack:
fat free greek yogurt 1pt
carrots 0pts

Dinner:
side salad w/1tblsp dressing 1pt
Jenny O turkey burger on thin sandwich (forgot what they call these!) 5pts total
some left over oven fries from last night,about 1/2 potato worth 1pt

Total Points: 19, so far. I may have a snack tonight!

Great Chicken...

We tried the WW Chick's oven friend chicken last night and I have to tell you it was really good. Hubby and daughter liked it a lot. I have to say it is the crispiest oven chicken I've had. I've used Panko crumbs before but not with cornflakes too.

As you can see from the above picture, I made a whole batch of them. This was a packet of 12 fresh chicken tenders. I froze them on this tray for an hour before putting them in a ziploc bag and putting back in the freezer. The nice thing is I only used 5 tenders last night so I have a few left for another meal, and I also made some chicken pieces like this, so I have 'nuggets' in the freezer too. This is so much nicer than buying the pre-made ones, which make me wonder just what it is they use inside, cos it very rarely looks like 'white chicken'! I love knowing exactly what is in and on these.

For dinner I had 2 tenders on a salad with Asian Sesame Seed light dressing. See yesterday's post for my food journal that day.

Can I just say though, when I first got my Weight Watchers pack I calculated how many points I was allowed based on the questions it asked. I am only allowed 19 points per day! It's really hard to stick to such a low number, so I'm going to be more realistic and set myself a limit between 20-25, hopefully staying nearer the 20 mark.

Today I'm going to try WW Chick's Skinny Chili Cheese Fries ;-)

Food Journal:

Breakfast:
coffee w/creamer 2pts
Bagel w/ ww cream cheese 3 pts

Lunch:
Progresso French Onion soup 2 pts
Light English Muffin 1pt
ww cheese slice 1pt

Snack:
Fat free greek yogurt 1pt

Dinner:
Chili cheese fries 6pts
boiled carrots 0pts (I like boiled carrots, and they were from our garden!)
small salad w/dressing 1pt

Snacks:
Popcorn 1pt
WW Icecream cone 2pts

Total Points: 20

It REALLY starts today....

I got off track a little on Saturday and Sunday because I got in to the mind set that Mondays is always the best day to start something new! Despite the fact I had a yummy healthy meal of baked Tilapia and sauted swiss chard on Saturday night, while the hubby and kids (Kristen had her friend Connor from next door sleeping over) ate greasy Digorno pizza, I still allowed myself a couple of glasses of wine while watching tv later. And on Sunday I let myself have a few chocolates "one last time" and we had spaghetti and meatballs w/garlic bread for dinner (and it wasn't a small portion!).

But with that all said, things REALLY start today... for me anyway. Hubby says he's on board but it's the lunchtimes that are his downfall when he goes out to eat with work colleagues. This blog is all about and for me, so I won't worry too much about what he's doing ;-)

I have been surfing around looking for some good 'diet' blogs or Weight Watcher blogs and came across a great one yesterday - www.thewwchick.com Click on the link and it will take you to Heather's website where you can access her blog AND some great Youtube videos of her recipes.

I'm already trying one of them out tonight....Oven Fried Chicken using Panko and Cornflake crumbs. I've done similar dishes before but I like that I know the ww pts value of her meals. You can CLICK HERE to see her video on how to make them. I'll let you know next time how they turn out.

Also, I think I will use this site as a food journal too and at the end of every day list what I've eaten and how many points it totalled. Heather does that at her blog too and recently completed 365 days of her food journal. She's continuing with it in 2010. I'll be lucky if I journal 36 days, but I hope I can.... and more.

Food Journal:
Breakfast:
Coffee 2pts (I can't give up my creamer!)
Oatmeal 2pts
milk (less than 1/2 cup) 1pt

Snack:
Hummus 2 pts
veggies 0 pts

Lunch:
Smartones Angel Hair pasta 4pts
1/2 an apple 1 pt (? I'm guessing, need to look this up)

Snack: Took my Kristen to the movies and took along healthy pop popcorn
Popcorn 1pt
diet coke!

Dinner:
2 chicken tenders 4pts
salad w/dressing 2pts
Yoplait Parfait 2pts

Bedtime: I was really cold last night and couldn't warm up, so I treated myself to a cup of Horlicks! 2 tbps =2pts and I used 1/2 cup of milk topped up with hot water 1 1/2 pts.

Total Points: 24 1/2

Exercise: Walk Away The Pounds 1 mile walk

Day 2

I did pretty good yesterday with eating better, and this morning when I got on the scale (I can't help sometimes checking every day!) I was 1lb lighter :-)

Yesterday I made some hummus so that I could snack on veggies instead of candy! The recipe is a weight watchers one, and has only 1 pt per 1/4 cup. I'll post the recipe later when I get more organized in here ;-) For dinner last night I made 'WW Skinny Chicken Parmesan' from Gina's wonderful website. If you want to check out some great weight watcher recipes, go visit her site HERE.

I've tried a few of her recipes, and intend to try many more. I loved the zucchini soup!

Today while I was out I picked up some yummy fresh berries at the store, and also some WW yogurts and the new 'Yoplait Delights' to try. I would have liked to try the strawberry or chocolate parfait but they only had the lemon and caramel, so I got the lemon. I'll let you know what I think next time... but for only 100 cals per serving, I'm sure it will make a nice after dinner dessert

I love fresh fruit, berries in particular, so I'll be snacking on these and having them on top of cereal for breakfast too.

Welcome

Hi there, welcome to my new blog, 'The Healthy Den'. It's January 1st 2010 as I type this, the start of a brand new year.... a new decade! I'm creating this blog mainly for motivation for myself, but if you happen to stop by here I hope it may inspire you or help motivate you toward your own 'healthy goals' this year.

So, before I start I need to 'tweak' the look in here and add some cool links etc. Check back soon.