Goal #2 achieved!!

This is HUGE! I have met my second goal, which was losing the weight I put on with Brenden- 15 lbs. As of this morning I have lost exactly 15 lbs since I started on Jan 3. I guess I should have made my first goal 10 lbs and then the next goal 15 lbs on top of that, but hey, gotta celebrate the little success right? I'm so proud of me!

I have a confession to make. I am addicted to the scale. I never thought I'd hear myself say that in a million years, but I get on the scale every day. I know I know, don't do that, you are all saying, but it's as if it gives me insight as to how the previous day went. Big loss, do it again like yesterday. No loss or gain, you better change some stuff. For instance I lost 12.2 lbs. Then I gained one pound a day for 4 days. I was concerned. I knew I needed to get with it and get serious again. We had gone out to eat in that 4 day period of time. Which by the way, eating out is HARD when you are trying to eat healthy and low calorie. I am going to try to do better though and at least do every other day. I've been told to only get on the scale once a week at the same time every week but I don't think I can go that long. :)

I learned a couple of new tricks that I didn't know that I want to share with you. One recipe I made called for string cheese in a shredded form. Huh? How do you do that? Well the recipe told me. :) So I took two 50 calorie light sargento string cheese, broke them into thirds to make them smaller and then put them in the food processor till they were chopped up. Tadah! Shredded string cheese. :) Fabulous. Also, laughing cow swiss cheese can be used for more than just a snack with crackers. I put it in green peas and mushrooms the other day, and it melted while in the oven, i stirred it all up together after taking it out, and it made the most fabulous creamy goodness. Also I used it with pigs in a blanket instead of using regular cheese. Most definitely yummy, and much less calories. 18 calories in cheese instead of 70. Incredibly, huh? I just spread 1/2 a wedge on the cresent roll before rolling it up with the hot dog. Most hot dogs are about 70 calories too but we used the turkey ones for 40 calories a piece. Yummy!

Oh! I must tell you about the meatloaf I made too! It had the most random ingredients- but in my husband's words "this is the best meatloaf I've ever had!" (shh, don't tell his mom)
It was a lb. of lean ground beef, quick cooking oats, sugar free jelly (the recipe called for grape, but we didn't have any so I used raspberry), an egg, garlic, salt, pepper, and ketchup. I think those were all the ingredients. Anyway, cook it in a loaf pan for 50 min. Delicious! I could have eaten the whole thing! Good thing it made just enough for the family to each get some. :)

Hope you are having a happy healthy week!

Here's to better living. . .

Some random thoughts

Since I last posted I've lost 12.2 lbs total. The losing has slowed significantly which I can only assume is mostly water weight. However 12lbs in such a short timeis still a good loss. I made a deal with my husband that I could build a charm bracelet based on my losses. Every ten lbs down earns me a charm or whatever to add to my bracelet. Today I went to Brighton and got my bracelet. What a great visual motivator to stay on course. I'm excited to add my first charm. :)

I've had a couple of thoughts since I started that I thought I'd share. I love cheese. All kinds of cheese. I add it to everything. Recipes seem to be more dressed up with cheese when thrown in there. However I bought low fat shredded cheese the other day. It was Kraft I think, but it was awful. No taste, a rubber like consistency, and it wouldn't melt. I'd rather not have any cheese than eat that stuff. I won't be buying that again.

The other thing I've rediscovered is Hungry Girl. I already had one of her cookbooks "200 under 200" and it's a good one. Then i got "300 under 300" for Christmas. It has the new points plus stuff in there if you are doing Weight Watchers. Also I subscribe to her website (it's free) and I get daily emails with calorie friendly recipes. Go to www.hungrygirl.com and check it out.

Also a shameless plug for my business- Pampered Chef's "Make It Fresh Make It Healthy" cookbook is a must have. If interested in that one you can visit my website : www.pamperedchef.biz/lesleybarker

Until next time happy healthy living. . .

A few pictures

You know, mirrors, are evil. There is no hiding anything with mirrors. I have one full length mirror in our house and it hides very well behind the bathroom door. I have to make an effort to look in it. I'm pretty sure I did that for some subconcious reason. :) As if mirrors aren't bad enough people that love you want to take pictures of you. Full length, non flattering, pictures of you. Well I decided that after seeing these pictures that is motivation enough to stay on course. Here are a few from recent months:

This is me meeting Brenden for the first time. He was still in the nursery ward of the NICU.

This was taken just a few weeks ago at Christmas at my Mom's house.

Another picture from Christmas just a few weeks ago.

I want to post pictures showing results, however since I have been "bigger" I don't do full length pictures, so it'll be hard to do a before and after shot. I will post one of my 11 lb. loss soon. :)

This is a picture of my after my 11 lb loss, taken today. It's a little inflated I think since my husband was seated while I was standing, makes me look bigger, but still you get the idea. I'll keep posting as I keep losing. :)

First goal achieved!!

The only way I know to do this successfully is to do it in small chunks. I have 115 pounds to lose. That won't even bring me to the weight the "chart" says I should be. You know that nasty bin chart that says you are normal or obese? Well losing 115 lbs doesn't even get me in the normal range bit it's where I want to be for now. Maybe I'll reevaluate later on. My first goal was to simply drop 10 lbs. I did it. As of yesterday morning I've lost 11.6 lbs. I'm so proud of myself. It's only been 10 days too. I can do this I know I can!

To put it in perspective- Brenden's 2 month appointment was this past week. He weighed exactly 11 lbs. So thus far I've lost Brenden. :) My next goal is to lose Brenden's baby weight. I put on 15 lbs with him. I'm almost there. I can do it!

The next goal is Andrews baby weight. :) That ones a little harder. It's 40 lbs. Yeah- I totally ate for two when I was pregnant with him. I was a little smarter with Brenden.

Hopefully the next time I post I can share my news of meeting another goal.

Until then. . .

Happy healthy living.

A Week In

Yesterday was exactly one week on my new lifestyle. I have to make it that. If I don't I'll view this as another diet and fall off the wagon. So far so good. There have been ups and downs, days where I'm not hungry at all and days where I'm famished. There have been a couple of times where I have been out driving to go get the kids from school or wherever and it takes this extraordinary amount of willpower to not swing through the drive through and order whatever I want without thinking about it. I'm not even hungry when I have these urges. I just want to do it compulsively. Nuts huh?

Overall in this week I've lost 8.8 lbs. My husband even noticed and said something. Yeah! Thanks honey. :) The important thing though is I am starting to feel better, have more energy, and be proud of myself. I'm sure that most of the weight is water weight but hey I'll take whatever. It's pretty motivating!

I wanted to share a couple of things that I have found helpful. First of all I must get the not calorie friendly food out of the house. No more, well the kids can eat that. We just need to get rid of it. I also have found that the more water I drink the better I do. For snacky/munchy purposes I have fallen in love with veggie straws and apple straws. Yum! The crunch of that potato chip without the grease, fat, and calories. Remember Bugles? We stuck them on the ends of our fingers like claws and waved them around at each other as kids? Well that's what veggie straws taste like. Good stuff! You can get them both at SAMs.

One thing I am struggling with though is how to exercise appropriately. I know I need to. I know walking/running is good for me but beyond that I don't have a clue. I have the fitness center at my disposal for free but don't know what to do while I'm there. Every time I've begun to exercise in the past I've ended up gaining weight. If any of you have any suggestions they'd be appreciated. Oh, and the thought of getting a personal trainer scares me to death so don't go there!

Well I hope to check in with you a couple of times a week to let you know my progress and how things are going. Until then. . .

Happy healthy lifestyle!

Yum!

So I'm not sure the best approach to losing weight food wise but what I'm doing seems to be working since when I got on the scale this morning I was down another TWO pounds! I created my own version of what to eat. I suppose it's a modified version of what weight watchers is (or used to be anyway). I'm basically counting calories. For instance for lunch today I had a serving (slightly less than a cup) of broccoli cheese casserole for (227 cal) and a salad with basil balsamic dressing (84 cal). I've been drinking ridiculous quantities of water which I understand is the key to weight loss.

I have to share with you the recipe for the casserole. It was amazing. Ecspecially for being a low calorie VERY filling food. Yesterday for dinner I made a turkey tenderloin that was pre- marinated with a Cajun butter sauce. Yum! It was only 33 calories an ounce. It was one of those you get from SAMs so it was HUGE. I had tons of leftovers so I just chopped up 5 oz of it to use in the casserole. I added 6 oz fresh broccoli florets, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a can of cheddar cheese soup, a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and garlic powder, about 1/4 cup minced onion, and 1/2 cup chicken broth. I then added 1 cup of uncooked brown minute rice. I mixed it all together and cooked it on 325 for 30 min. It was so good and filling, a stick to your ribs on a cold day good food. Even my husband loved it. :)

As of today's post my total loss is 6.8 lbs. I'm sure that's mostly water weight but it's very motivating!

A New Year

It's the beginning of a new year and like many people I have often made resolutions that I had good intentions of but never kept. However I find myself still making them year after year. Maybe it's because if I believe in the idea of starting over the resolution will actually come to fruition this time. Here's the a new year and starting over.

As many of you know a lot has happened to my poor body over a short amount of time. When we got married in 09 I was on Weight Watchers with Brian and we were doing ok on it. I was still overweight, but losing. Then we went on our Honeymoon to our all inclusive Mexico resort and that was the end of the losing weight experience. 6 short months later I found out I was pregnant with Andrew and gained 40 lbs during that pregnancy. I was determined to diet and get my weight under control once I finished breast feeding. Well when he turned 4 months I quit breast feeding. I found it way to hard to do and work full time, I just was'nt producing enough. Then two months later I was feeling weird again and yep, that's when we found out Brenden was on his way. I gained 15 lbs with Brenden and was heavier than I've ever been.

I determined that on Jan. 1st. I was going to make a change. Not only do I feel miserable but there are days that Im embarrassed to go out. I don't want to embarrass my husband and children to be seen with me based on the way I look. I'm not being a good role model either. I have an almost teenage son who watches me eat however I want and then not exercise or do anything about it. I owe it to him and myself to show him healthy is important. I've made a deal with him that when I get some of this weight off I want to start running and he wants to run with me to train for football. I also have a six year old daughter who wants me to help her with her dance and jump on the trampoline. I can't do those things with her right now. Then there are my two sweet babies. Should Andrew ever decide he's going to walk (ha ha) and in a few short months Brenden will be toddling around too, I want to run and chase them around. I can't do that right now either. Not effectively anyway. I need to be fit and healthy for me, but more importantly for my family.

I have determined that I am doing this. No matter what it takes. I'm not weighing in for my husband, my parents, or anyone else. I'm doing this for me!

I am hoping that if I chronicle my journey via this blog maybe I'll have more motivation to stay strong and on course. Perhaps also if I put it out there I've have more encouragement. Here's to 2012 and a new me!

** at today's posting I'm down 4.8 lbs. that's only 4 days of dieting too. :)