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.