Saturday, February 23, 2013

Happy National Banana Bread Day today

Hey there everyone, how is your Saturday going so far?   Today is National Banana Bread Day and This is how I celebrated.   I made these Nutella Monkey Muffins for the kids!  They just came out of the oven now and the house smells scrumptious...!

They taste even yummier. Only thing I did differently was I put 1 cup of regular flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour (for the added nutritional value), I also didn't put the choc chips in and added about 1/2 more Nutella, they're really yummy!!  AND I baked them in regular muffin tins instead of the mini size mostly for the boys to have another healthy breakfast option in the morning.   The recipe made about 32 muffins and  best part is they are 4 WWPP each in case I want to treat myself!
 
 
 
Check out the recipe...
 

Friday, February 22, 2013

Stop comparing yourself to others

Everyone travels down different roads in their daily life so why would losing weight be any different?
 
Same destination but different path for EVERYONE!!


So many different factors play a role in how we travel that road.  Age, sex, height, hormones, activity level, the foods we eat, etc. etc. etc.!!
 
There is NEVER a reason to say, "We started together so why haven't I lost as much as her/him?"  They are biologically different then you so don't sweat it...or should I say....
DON'T STOP SWEATING IT!!
Trust me, it will come off!!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Before and After...

This was taken January 7th.....


This was taken Feb 16th.....


Weekly weigh-in time!

I had my weigh-in this morning and am down another 4.6 lbs which brings my total lost to 23.2!

How did you do?  Post it here and hold yourself accountable.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Pizza, Pizza!!

Spinach, chicken and sliced tomato pizza!!
 
Just one word
 
SCRUMDIDDILYUMPTIOUS!!!!
 
 

Saturday, February 16, 2013

How do you stay active?

Do you stay active?  If you are trying to lose weight you should.  I'm not exactly sure what your personal fitness level should be for weight loss but ANY activity is better then none!

Do you walk, go to the gym, do an exercise DVD, play the Wii fit or Xbox??

Did you know that staying active isn't just for weight loss?  It's been known to have other health benefits.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/exercise-weight-control

http://www.doctoroz.com/

It really is true that a body in motion stays in motion!  My FIL is a very healthy 86 years old and goes to the gym 3 days per week to help keep himself active.  He's been going to a gym for over 25 years and he has no plans on slowing down his activity levels!!   He is such an inspiration to me!!

Try getting at least 30 minutes of activity per day to keep yourself happy and healthy!!  "I wish I'd never worked out because I feel terrible" said no one after a workout!!

Monday, February 11, 2013

Weigh-in Monday

Got woken up by two 8 year old sleep intruders at 3:30 this morning and once I dealt with them, I couldn't go back to sleep until I weighed myself. I lost .4 which brings my total lost to 18.6 and I'm A VERY HAPPY CAMPER. I refuse to say, "I ONLY lost ...." I take whatever the scale gives me. It's just feedback and accountability!!! Did you weigh in today? If so share your success or struggles here!

You are what you eat!

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Busy week ahead!

I have tons of energy today so I made good use of it.  I'm spending my day cleaning our bedrooms!  First I did the boys bedroom then I did mine.  I did laundry and collected trash in between.  Still not completely done but I'm getting there!  It feels so good to FINALLY have a clean and fresh house.  For years I lived with a hoarder and I would get so frustrated because he never saw how important a clean house was to me and the boys.  Sadly I had to wait until after he passed away for me to have the house the way I wanted!  I took good care of him and before he left this world, I started cleaning it out slowly but surely.  Today, 2 years later, I am finally rid of ALL THE JUNK!!  I kept only necessary pieces and the rest was filed under T for TRASH!!

I really love getting my life back and feeling really good about me, my kids, my home, my entire life!!  I haven't felt really good in a long time and frankly it's well deserved!!  I always go out of my way to make others feel good, it's MY TURN NOW!!

This week I have a busy schedule!!  Monday I have to go get my picture for my ID and do some food shopping.  Tuesday I have a school trip, I'm going with the boys classrooms and I'm very excited!!!  Wednesday I have cupcakes to make for valentines day AND a dr apt for me.  Thursday I have to deliver the cupcakes AND valentine taffy's to the kids at school and go to the boys report card conferences!  Friday is my only day to myself this week.  I think tomorrow I will call and try to schedule my physical for Friday.

What do you have planned this week??  Facing any challenges??  Do you prep foods?  Here is a nice chart that can help if you don't.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

15 months.....

Woke up this morning and realized that today marks 15 months since you went home! I simply can't believe it's been that long. I miss you more and more every single day. Life certainly has changed since GOD sent his angels to take you home. Some for the worst but certainly most for the better! Still having a difficult time with accepting my life without you in it but each day gives me a new opportunity to learn just how good life can be and it gives me hope that there is a rainbow waiting for me somewhere! I'd give anything to have you back even if it were for a moment just to tell you how much I love you. Just one more chance to hear another one of your many lectures. I need your reassurance that I'm doing the right things.

Thinking of you and feeling you in my heart Charles J Voegtle today! 831 ♥


Thursday, February 7, 2013

Only 1 Pound!

It always amazed when I would go to Weight Watchers meetings and I'd hear people say "I ONLY LOST 1 POUND??? " as if they expected more weight lost each week!   These are the same people that would say to me, "You lost 1 pound??  AWESOME JOB!!"  I always wondered why they had such high weight loss expectations for themselves but 1 lb lost each week was an AWESOME JOB for me!!  I took whatever the scale told me, good or bad.  It wasn't my sole reason for going to the meetings.  It was simply feedback, JUST A NUMBER!!  It didn't give an inkling about all the other benefits of eating healthy was doing for my body!

When I see any loss on the scale, I am instantly reminded of what my WW Leader, Anthony, used to tell me.  If I lost 1 lb that week, he'd say, "You're 1 pound lighter then when you walked in the door!"  And you know what, he was right.  I walked into every single meeting armed with only the knowledge of what I weighed the previous week...not what the scale told me I really was that night!  I always felt good after a weigh in.  Now if I went up 1 lb he'd say, "You ONLY gained a pound.  Could have been worse, right?"  Again, he was right!!

Try to visualize what 1 lb of fat looks like and

So when you say I ONLY lost 1 lb...remember this picture


This is what your body lost.
 
Now visualize what your body will look like after losing 20 of these!
 
AWESOME HUH?!?!

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Inspiration for today

I really LOVE this mans story!!!  He is so inspiring.  If you think you want to give up...watch this video and you will feel differently....

If he can do it....we can too!

Don't give up....

<3 to you all!

Monday, February 4, 2013

Monday weigh-in!

I got up at 6:15 to take the trash out and I figured while I was awake, I'd weigh myself since today is Monday. I am down another 4 lbs which brings my total lost to 18.2 pounds lost.

I am excited!!!

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Non-scale benefits of Living Clean!

Hey everyone, I'm having some water while relaxing after a good workout lugging ALL the heavy trash out of my basement upstairs to get ready for collection tomorrow morning!  As I'm sitting here I'm thinking about all the non-scale benefits I have been experiencing of my weight loss journey so far.

#1  I sleep better.  I was waking up quite frequently in the middle of the night for several reasons from being extremely thirsty, suffering with the MOST HORRIBLE heartburn, or simply out of breath and everything in between.  Sometimes ALL in the same night too!!  I woke up with minor heartburn 1 night since Jan 7th and that was because we had a late dinner and I had a slice of pizza. 

#2  My energy level is almost tripled.  I used to drag my butt everywhere I had to go even if it was from the living room to the kitchen to grab more junk!  I find myself wanting to take walks after cleaning up from dinner.  Even my sons sometimes join me!!  They are AWESOME!!

#3  I DO NOT drink anymore soda!!!  My beverage of choice was always Diet Pepsi because it was always the healthier option right??  WRONG!!!!  Soda is BAD, ALL SODA even the diet crap!!!!!!

#4  I hydrate with water now.  I got FAR away from drinking it and now I am back to drinking 4 to 6 33 ounce bottles per day!  I LOVE MY aqua!!

#5  I am eating more veggies.  Sadly another thing I got far away from.  I am now rediscovering all the yummy tasting veggies I loved to eat but forgotten how good they were because I wasn't cooking them!

#6  I always have fresh fruit within reach!  I was a terrible snacker.  I would snack on all the wrong stuff never worrying about healthy or not!  Candy, chips, cake...everything!  My go to snack now is fresh fruit!  I eat a banana with my breakfast every morning.  I eat about 2 to 3 apples and oranges per day.  I'm so looking forward to summer....it means CHERRIES!!!!

#7  I really pay attention to portion sizes now.  If anyone suffered terribly with portion distortion, it would be me!!  I always thought that whatever the restaurants put on the plate was the right portion so you just ate it!!  You went to the restaurant to EAT right???  So why take any home??  I mean you were paying for the meal to be served to you, just eat it!!  Again WRONG!!!  Most if not all of the restaurants today serve far more on your plate then they should.  Fast food restaurants ask if you want everything super sized.  When they should be asking if you would like the small??  Turn on the TV and we are bombarded with HUGE portions of everything.  We live in a world that shoves big portions down our throats AS WELL AS makes us believe that those big portions are good for us.  Learning proper portions of everything can be quite interesting.  Read the labels and suddenly we find out just how much damage we're actually doing to ourselves.  I'm sticking within proper portions and I really bump up the veggies now to make up for the difference.  Let's face it there isn't a one of us that got fat on too many celery sticks so go BIG with your veggies and go small with everything else!

#8  My activity level has tremendously increased!  I was almost sedentary all the time.  I hate the word exercise PERIOD THE END.  I slip and use it every now and again but I honestly don't like using the word.  For me it's in the same category with the word diet.  Activity sounds so much more of a healthy term for me!!  I know, I know, technicalities but there are HONESTLY people that hate the word and I happen to be one of them.  I much prefer being active!  So I find ways to get more activity in.  I am extremely active now even if it's the slightest task....I push it to the max.  I can put on the music and dance while I clean.  I do walk at home DVDs and I love them.  When I have to run errands, I walk.  I LOVE walking!!  I am constantly on the move now and my body is all the better for it!!!!

These are just some of the non-scale benefits I have experienced.  I'm so looking forward to more as I get healthier!

MY journey, MY terms!

Happy Sunday

Hey everyone and happy Sunday!! I hope you had a wonderful week and are looking forward to an even better week ahead! I have been staying OP and drinking plenty of water. Getting exercise in though can sometimes be a bit challenging for me. I'm a single widowed Mother of ADHD/Autistic 8 year old twin 2nd grade sons living on a fixed income and I simply can't afford a gym membership. Gym's jus...t aren't for me anyway so I won't commit to something I am not going to do anyway.

I always have SO MUCH to do during the day, I volunteer at the boys school which I LOVE to do, or I have tons of errands to run! So because getting exercise can be difficult for me when I have to do a lot of cleaning I try to move fast and deliberately draw my tasks out so I feel like I am getting a REAL WORKOUT! When I'm at school, I am ALWAYS moving around the building helping out the teachers. When I have to run errands, I walk and I try to walk as fast as I can so again, I feel like I'm getting a good workout in!! Some days I find that I do all 3 and I pray it pays off come weigh-in day!! LOL

Today I have the laundry to do and a ton of trash that has to be removed from my basement. I'm bringing it up little by little as the day goes on! I have to get up around 6ish tomorrow morning to put it out curbside to be collected. I spent a good hour and got the lunch stuff portioned out for the boys. They ONLY at ham roll ups for lunch so that had to be broken down in appropriate portion sizes for them. Then I bought a huge box of Pepp Farms goldfish and a container of Pringles chips and I portioned all that out for them.

I heard on Pinerest that you can make homemade McDonalds apple slices by soaking your apple slices overnight in Sprite so I sliced 4 green apples and they are soaking away! I hope it works because I'm gonna feel like I wasted 4 perfectly good apples and I HATE WASTING FOOD!!! It's so hard to get healthy foods into my kids and my son Michael LOVES McDonalds apple slices but I refuse to pay the price the supermarkets want for them. My son CJ eats bunny carrots with his lunch each day!

This week my project is cleaning out the boys playroom. If you don't hear from me by Wednesday, PLEASE alert the authorities in Philadelphia to send the search and rescue team!! HAHAHAHA

Hope everyone has a SUPER DUPER Super Bowl Sunday!!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Walking together

I am so proud of my kids!!! I decided to take a walk after dinner tonight and they came with me. We walked 1.41 miles total and we had a great walk TOGETHER!!!

My son Michael said to me, "Mommy we should do this every night, I will help you get healthy!!"

My baby boy is the GREATEST!!

Egg Cupcake Omelets

Tonight I made 1WWPP egg white, ham, cheese, and spinach cupcakes.

1WWPP Breakfast Egg Cupcake Omelets

Preheat oven to 350. Use cooking spray to spray 19 or 20 cupcake spaces in your pan.
24 egg whites
8 oz diced ham
1 cup Mexican mix cheese blend
1 1/2 cups steamed spinach

mix eggs, ham and cheese to blend well. Add 1/4 cup of mix to 19 sprayed cupcake spaces. Divide your spinach among each. Bake 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree preheated oven.

Each is 1WWPP and would make a great filling for a toasted whole grain English muffin or 3WWPPs for 2 by themselves as a light lunch.