Week 5 weigh in

I had my official 5 week weigh in last night. I lost 2 pounds for the week brining me to 21 pounds down. I love going to see my nutritionist because she keeps me accountable and motivated. The tip for this week is to take a moment before every meal to pray for someone or give someone a compliment. This week is about others not always ourselves.
I have to admit I was so nervous to weigh in yesterday. I did a bunch o housework (like I had planned) and drank a TON of water. I had coffee at 4 pm on my way to weigh in. I figured with all that fluid I was bound to weigh 18 pounds more. I stressed about it the whole drive. I was so relieved when I had lost.
Shawn went to jury duty today. He seems to get them in the mail every 6 months. He sometimes get excused but today he had to go in. He is hoping to be excused because work has been a little crazy lately. The phones at their location went out for 2 days. All of the calls got forwarded to Shawn's cell phone. I think he was stressed but he handles it so well.
So last night we decided to go on a walk before dinner. We typically do 30 min. Well we decided to take a new path. We got totally lost and ended up walking for 55 min. I was so tired. It was getting dark and I pushed myself because I don't feel comfy walking in the dark. We made it home and the nice part was it made us push ourselves a little extra.
Until tomorrow,
Ali

Before I forget this is the kids lunch for today

-green monster mac (I should have uncovered it for the pic, sorry. I just added food dye to mac and cheese)

- mummified hotdogs (hotdog wrapped in pis crust and baked)

-vampire juice (ketchup)

- a chocolate candy

- a pumpkin cookie

-100% juice fruit snacks

-and cheese and crackers

I was out of fruit so this is what I had on hand. 

Today is my 5 week weigh in. I am excited to see how I weigh in but I always get nervous because of the weight of clothes and all the food I eat from the day. I weigh in at 4:30 which is the heaviest time of the day. Oh well, what's a girl to do? I just make sure not to drink a bunch of water before I go. 

Today I think I better start planning and cleaning for our big Halloween party that is coming up on Saturday. It is fairly easy because it is potluck style so not much cooking. I am going to try to plan a few games and things for all the kids. The good thing about working from home is that the downstairs is pretty much always clean and organized. The upstairs of my house is another story. My kids seem to love to live in chaos. When you go up our stairs the first room you come to is the master bedroom. The nice part about this is that I rarely walk passed my kids rooms or bathroom. The bad thing is when I finally do I am never pleased with them. I am going to try to take the babies upstairs and get some cleaning done today. We will see what fun cabinets and toys they find. Why is it that kids and hubbies never seem to see the same things that need to be cleaned that we do? 

Well better get to work. Have a great day!

Ali 

Happy rainy Monday everyone!

Good Morning readers,
How are we all doing this morning? I am great. I had a wonderful weekend with family and friends all while eating healthy and without temptation.
Saturday we had Porter's soccer game and after went to my sister's house for a visit. My whole side of the family was there. I am married to a man who is one of 6 kids. When HIS side gets together it is a minimum of about 25 people, a MINIMUM!!! His family is like the one from my big fat Greek wedding. They are loud, love to eat, and their are a ton of them. I love my in laws to death and look forward to every moment we get to spend together. I am just wanting you to understand how different our families are. When we get together with MY side of the family there are 14 if everyone shows. My older sister Pam is having a baby boy and is due in 6 days. I hadn't seen her since August so we had a no reason get together before baby Caleb arrives. It was fun and it is always fun with my family. We are all a little goofy and we love to laugh. We ordered pizza (which I ate the cheese off of one slice) ate a ton of salad and dessert I made a whole made caramel apple pie. It is no where near diet friendly but I did have a very small sliver to taste all my work that went into it. Mmm, it was yummy.
Sunday our good friend Matt came over for dinner. We hadn't seen Matt in a long time so it was nice to hang out, talk, watch Green Bay beat Minnesota, and eat taco's. I modify my taco's only one way. I eat it on a bed of lettuce instead of in a shell. I look forward to taco's every time we make them. I load in avocado, ground turkey, and all the fixins. It was relaxing and fun. I did of course finish off the evening with another sliver of apple pie:)
I was really good both of the days because I planned ahead. I ate really light through the day but still made sure I ate. Even if it is a hand full of nuts, a string cheese, or an apple you have to eat every few hours to keep you metabolism up and running. So many people stop eating when they diet and it slows their metabolism down ( I can hear the brake squeals now) so make sure that you are eating something every so often.
I forgot to take a pic of the kids lunches today but they had Jello in a black bat dish, chicken nuggets with blood dipping sauce (ketchup) grapes on skeleton toothpicks, a vampire candy, and a cereal bar that I decorates like a jack o lantern with the food markers. The kids took their first lunches to school on Friday and loved them.  Garrett's friends all thought it was awesome. Cody had a few people tease him but he didn't even care. Also a new bento blog that I love if you want to check it out. http://bentobloggy.blogspot.com
Alright off to take care of the babysitting kids.
Have a great Monday and enjoy the weather, I hear it will be hot again soon,
Oh ya I forgot to update my weigh for the day. I lost another pound over the weekend. I am at a total lost of 21 pounds now. I am starting to feel it in my clothes finally. I feel like even my t-shirts aren't as snug but hang nicely. Funny how when you lose weight your shirts look longer. ok I am off.
Ali

Still going strong and a fun lunch for the kids

     I have officially made it over a month and I am still going strong. I hit 20 pounds lost this morning. I get a rush every morning when I wake up and get to go stand on the scale.
     So this morning I took Porter into the dentist for round 2 of dental work. After the last time they decided to give him a much stronger medication to help him relax and get their job done. Let's just say that the dentist was shocked once again that the meds did almost nothing to Pj. He was still wide awake and screaming. We are now home and resting. The meds gave him a buzz but not much else. We still have to finish the work but the dentist wants us to put Porter under to make it easier for everyone. I am nervous about putting him under but I know it is the best option now.
     A friend of mine shared a fun link for kids school lunches http://www.anotherlunch.com/ it is fun way of packing lunches. I decided to try it last night for the boys. They all got a cool Halloween lunch to take to school today. It was a PB and J sandwich that I cut with a cookie cutter, a witches broom out of a pretzel and fruit roll, grape witches made out of grapes with a tooth pick hat and food marker for a face, a chocolate eyeball candy, and a severed finger made out of string cheese and food marker. The green thing is a silicone reusable cupcake thing with a cereal bar and graham cracker cookies.The boys were so excited to take them to school (even Garrett) I can't wait until they get home to hear how it went. I am going to try to do a fun lunch a few times a week. Here is a pic of the final products. I included a Halloween napkin to finish it all off. Sorry the pic isn't that good, I took it with my cell phone.

Have a great weekend and I will see you all on Monday,
Ali

My one month weigh in

So today was my official one month date and weigh in. I lost 3.8 for the week which brings me to
19 pounds this month!!!!
I am thrilled with losing 19 pounds in a month. The nutritionist was shocked and so excited to tell me that I have the highest amount lost as well as the most body fat lost in one month of any client ever, including men. Ya baby!
So I feel great, I am losing weight, I have energy, love bike riding, and am so proud that I have made it through one month. I think back to even one month ago and I feel so much better already. I can't wait to keep losing and exercising.
Until tomorrow,
Ali

Weekends are always the hardest

Good Monday Morning everyone,
Well I am not very happy with my Monday morning weigh in but I can proudly say it is all my fault. II stayed on plan all day but Fri. and Sat. night we went out to dinner. I am up .8 from Friday morning. It isn't bad at all but it is still a gain. Fri. Shawn and I had a date night. We went to sushi of course and I did a no-no and had some beer. The bad thing with beer is that when I drink it I don't always make the same decisions I normally would. I ate pretty well but had about 300 empty alcohol calories. Oh well it was totally worth it. I woke up Sat morning and had lost a little weight. I think losing made me a little cocky.
Sat. morning the family went for a 7.5 mile bike ride in the cool morning air. It was awesome and so much easier than last time we went. When we got home we headed to Porter's soccer game. When we got home from soccer I did my market trip for the week. In all of my shopping I got enough meals for the week but I forgot about a meal for that night. Cody went to a friends football game and Pj really wanted sushi (he loves it) We broke down (ok, it didn't take much convincing) and we took Garrett and Pj to the same sushi place we went the night before. I started with mistake one and got yet another beer. Needless to say I ate way to much and finished off the meal with green tea ice cream. I really shouldn't drink, I make stupid choices. Anyways it was fun and the boys enjoyed a night out with us. I did stay on plan all day yesterday
I woke up this morning and I have gained a pound. I know it is my fault and I honestly don't mind to much. I know it will come right off. If I didn't have fun every once in awhile I would go nuts. Plus the nutritionist said sushi is a great going out choice. I don't think fried shrimp sushi is what she was talking about and not two nights in a row but oh well. Back on plan today and hopefully I lose a little before my weigh in tomorrow. I would hate to have a gain after a whole good week because of 2 cheat meals.

Pj's class is on a field trip today to the pumpkin patch. I so wish I had been able to chaperon but work comes first. So today I hang out with my babysitting kids and can't wait to hear how it went. Garrett also has a huge project due today that we worked really hard on so I can't wait to hear how that goes too.
Alright off to make snacks for my niece and nephew. (Have I mentioned that I babysit two kids for a current living?)
Have a great Monday.
Ali

it worked

  So I was telling you yesterday that the scale hasn't moved in 3 days. I drank a ton of water yesterday, I ate all 6 times that I was supposed to, and guess what.... the scale went down .4 It is a small victory. It is funny how when we are on a diet we think that eating less is always better. Not true! I need to eat more so that my metabolism doesn't slow down. Even if it just means grabbing a string cheese, apple, or something small. I need to eat every few hours not only to keep my metabolism moving but also to keep myself from over eating at a meal. So today my goal is to do the same thing as yesterday, 6 mini meals and a ton of water.
I have a new recipe for you that my family loves.
Shrimp scampi in 10 min. 
-1 pound of raw shrimp tails removed(this feeds our family of 5) we like the large ones, they taste better than the small ones.
-2 Tablespoons butter
-2 teaspoons parsley flakes if you have them
-1 Tablespoon jarred garlic.
-a splash, about 3 teaspoons of cooking sherry
-1 Tablespoon Parmesan cheese if you have it
melt the butter in a pan, add garlic and cook on medium for about 30 seconds. Add the shrimp. sprinkle the parsley flakes on top and add the sherry. cook for about 6 min just until the shrimp turn pink (don't continue to cook once they are pink or they get tough) and then top with the Parmesan. That's it. It is super easy, done in about 10 min, and really yummy. We do it once a week with broccoli with cheese topping. 

Enjoy,
Ali

What a great day!

   Do you ever have those days where you wake up and just feel great. Life is good, everyone is healthy, the house is clean, and you have an amazing family? I love those kind of mornings. The only oops was that I forgot to turn the sprinklers off last night so they ran for 10 hours. Oh well at least the grass will be greener in a few days.
   So what do you do when the scale doesn't move? I weigh in each day on my home scale (I know you aren't supposed to but it's a motivator) the scale has been the same for 3 days. Don't get me wrong,  I am not complaining at all with a 16 pounds loss in 3 weeks. I was just wondering what people do when the scale doesn't move. I was really good the first 2 weeks about eating my 6 mini meals each day. I have been busy and not as hungry so I have been doing my 3 main meals and nothing really in between. I am thinking that maybe this is the problem. Today I am going to eat more times and less at each meal. I also was doing so good about drinking 12 glasses of water a day. I have slowly gone to maybe 6 a day lately. Today I am also going to make sure I drink more water.
    So with my new plan in action we will see how the scale does over the next few days. I also have to admit that I have a problem. I keep buying those stupid dried mango's from Henry's that I love. There is no added sugar or anything so they aren't bad for me. I keep them on the counter in the kitchen where I walk about 30 times a day. I must grab like 10 a day. Can you imagine eating 10 whole mango's a day? Ya now you see my problem. So I am going to put the things in the cabinet where I don't impulsively grab them and eat without thinking.
Have a good day and we will chat again tomorrow,
Ali

Pj and the dentist

We took Pj to his very first dentist appt. back in July and he needed a little work done. Yesterday we went back to have one filling done. The dentist tried laughing gas and it did nothing, Pj was totally alert and there was no way they were getting in his mouth. They gave him some medication to make him sleepy. Well that med didn't help much either. It took 2 hours to get one filling done and he screamed and fought the whole time. My job was to hold his arms and legs. It was exhausting. The medication they gave him kicked in at 5pm when they were done. He was out of it and slept from 5pm last night until 7 am this morning. Good thing is his tooth is fixed but man was that an experience. The other boys both knocked out with the laughing gas. So Pj is staying home with me today and relaxing from the ordeal.
Have a good Tues.
Ali

Week 3 Doctor weigh in

I usually weigh in and go tot he Doc/nutritionist on Tues. but Pj has a dentist appt. so I got the chance to go this morning. I was worried a little to weigh in on a Monday. We went to a huge Filipino bday party over the weekend for one of Shawn's friends from softball. I admit I had a few bites of some no-no food but I was really good with only having a few bites. I also was a little worried because I messed up my toenail on my big toe and it really hurts. I haven't been walking or biking in a few days. I did a lot of sitting over the weekend. I still did so well. I lost 3.2 for the week. The office is thrilled with my loss and said I am doing way better than average. I will take it! I to date have also lost 4% of my body fat to date. I am no longer considered morbidly obese which is a nice feeling.
Well keeping it short and sweet today. Have a good Monday,
Ali

No reason Sunday post

Had to post a little something this morning because I added up my weight loss and I was kind of surprised.
I have lost a total of 16.2 pounds so far.
A big yay to me.
That is almost 2 bags of sugar or
this gross but eye opening.
 

Have a happy Sunday. Go move and eat something healthy.
Ali

TGIF but uh oh, that means it's the weekend eating challange

I weighed in this morning at 209.4 which is 15 pounds in less than 3 weeks. Yay me!
I feel so in control this time of my eating. I haven't had very many cravings or bad days. I breath through bad food thoughts and get on with it. I am really enjoying cooking new foods and meals for my family and I know they are enjoying the no fast food as well. I think in the entire time I have been dieting we did In and Out once and that is it. Wow I hadn't realized that. Oh wait and a Wendy's salad 2 times. forgot about those.

(looked like this but in Fontana not in Vegas)
This weekend there is a huge Nascar race a few miles from our house. Last night they had a parade of all of the huge trucks that haul the race cars drive down the main streets by our house.We jumped on our bikes and headed out to the parade. I wish I had taken my camera because it was really cool. There were about 40 of the huge trucks all honking and lighting their lights for the fans. There was a bike path that lead us right to the festivities. The only bummer was for Pj who thought that Lightning McQueen would be there. I love little ones thoughts. So we got in our almost 3 mile bike ride and a fun family adventure in one.
We got home and tried a new recipe. Shawn thought it was ok, I thought it was good, and Cody ate a bunch and raved about it. It is a tilapia recipe with a Parmesan mix on it that you cook in the broiler. It was super easy and done in 9 min. Best part I had everything for it in my cabinets and  refrigerator. So here is the recipe let me know what you think if you make it.

Broiled Parmesan Tilapia

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/8 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder ( or to taste)
• 1/8 teaspoon dried or fresh basil 
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/16 teaspoon onion powder if you have it
• 1/16 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/2 to taste salt 
• 2 tilapia fillets

Directions

1. Set oven to broiler heat.
2. Grease a broiler pan
3. In a small bowl mix together Parmesan cheese, butter, mayo, lemon juice and garlic.
4. Add in all the remaining seasonings and salt if using; mix well and set aside.
5. Arrange the fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan 
6. Broil a few inches from the heat for 3 minutes.
7. Turn the fish over and broil 3 minutes more.
8. Remove from oven and cover them with the Parmesan mixture on the top side only.
9. Return to oven and broil for 3 minutes more or until the topping is browned and the fish flakes easily (do not overcook the fish!).
   Super easy and yummy for a fast dinner. We served with broccoli with cheese sauce, and mac and cheese for the kids. 
   Have a great weekend everyone, Ali 

new recipe

With the cool weather yesterday I really wanted a stew or soup for dinner. I happened to be watching a few min. of Paula Dean in the morning and she made a super tasty looking beef stew that looked warm, and filling. I got all the ingredients and took the 2 1/2 hours to make it yesterday. The kids and I decorated for Halloween yesterday while the soup was cooking. It was the perfect fall day.
Shawn came home and we ate the stew with the fireplace going, so nice. The stew on the other hand wasn't the best stew ever. It was decent. We all ate it but not one of us was thrilled with it (except the dogs, they loved it). Needless to say I won't be passing the recipe on for that one. I did however make an interesting dish a few nights ago with bacon, apples, chicken, and a cream sauce. It was a little overcooked (my fault) so the chicken was kind of dry but it was good so I will pass that one along. The link is here.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/maindishes/r/applebaconchick.htm
Wish I had a pic because it looked really creamy and yummy.
Today might be a little rough. Pj was up with nightmares off and on from about 9pm-1:30 am. I am drained today, but of course Pj is going strong. The great part with having kids is life doesn't stop when you are tired. I am the type of girl who need my 7-8 hours of sleep or my head hurts and I don't function well. I don't think it will throw me off to much I just might need an extra afternoon coffee. For now I am wearing sweats and having a kick back work day at home.In the past I would use things like this to run to food for comfort. Today I am going to get through it by breathing, and eating my 6 mini meals so that I won't be hungry  and binge. I may also go to the market and get some sugar free fudge pops in case.

Have a great Thur.
Ali

Week two down

I went to the nutritionist yesterday and my weigh in was down two pounds. I was wearing jeans and shoes so I would have been lower if I had frozen and worn shorts. The nutritionist was very happy with my food log, progress, and overall attitude with weight loss. So yay me!
As soon as I got home Shawn the kids, and I jumped on our bikes and off we went. I rode until my legs were jello and than we headed back and had to do the same distance back. We ended up riding 6 miles. I was in shock when we figured out it was 6 miles. It did take an hour but the weather was perfect and the kids as well as Shawn and I are getting exercise as a family. I need to teach my kids how to be healthy adults and I feel like better late than never.
Have a great rainy Wed.
Ali

If I.....

f I were a month I’d be December.(everyone loves Christmas)

If I were a day I’d be Tuesday.(I was born on a Tues)

If I were a time of day I’d be 5:30 p.m.(when the hubby comes home)

If I were a font I’d be curlz (fun and goofy)

If I were a sea animal I’d be a sea turtle.

If I were a direction I’d be North.

If I were a piece of furniture I’d be a big ole down couch complete with blanket.

If I were a liquid I’d be a margarita.

If I were a gemstone I’d be Opal.(reminds me of my favorite Grandma)

If I were a tree I’d be a birch.

If I were a tool I’d be a phillips head screwdriver.

If I were a flower I’d be a daffodil.

If I were an element of weather I’d be a sun beam.

If I were a musical instrument I’d be a voice.

If I were a color I’d be yellow. 

If I were an emotion I’d be happy.

If I were a fruit I’d be a cherry.

If I were a sound I’d be laughter.

If I were an element I’d be iron because I am always anemic.

If I were a car I’d be a yellow VW bus

If I were a food I’d be a bowl of ice cream

If I were a place I’d be Monrovia

If I were a material I’d be corduroy.

If I were a taste I’d be sweet

If I were a scent I’d be the smell after a light rain

If I were a body part I’d be an ear

If I were a song I’d be sung by Jack Johnson.

If I were a bird I’d be a black Phoebee

If I were a gift I’d be handmade

If I were a city I’d be Monrovia again

If I were a door I’d be a barn door

If I were a pair of shoes I’d be flip flops

Monday, Monday, so good to me.

Ya I grew up on the Mamma's and Pappa's. Love them
So my weekend got so much better after my Friday melt down. Sat morning Pj had his second soccer game of the season and after we went to some good friends housewarming. I ate small in the morning because I wasn't sure how the housewarming food would be. I figured that I could fill up on water if worse came to worse. I was so happily surprised when they had delicious chicken and beef kabobs. They were wonderful and made me feel like I wasn't missing out on anything. So good.
As a treat for being so good for the last 2 weeks the Hubby and I went on a date to our favorite local sushi place on Sat. night. I was really good, no beer, diet soda and a ton of water. I ate sashimi which my nutritionist said is actually a really great choice for going out. I did take a few bites of the roll which was a no-no but I figure a little rice isn't going to kill me once every 2 weeks. After dinner I had a wonderful pot of fresh steeped green tea to complete a great Sat. with the family.
Sunday was another party with my in laws for our October bday celebrations. This is the same group of women who are doing the weight loss challenge. We had a fantastic lunch of chicken cooked in mushroom soup, a huge salad, and the yummiest fruit salad that was all in season and super sweet. It was super easy to make it through the day because all the girls are doing some form of dieting so no "cheat" foods were even there. My mother in law made a dessert that was a mock pumpkin pie with no crust. It was good but lacking sugar and maybe some extra spices. I was so happy she at least tried to make us all a dessert even though it wasn't quite what we thought it would be. We got home and still hadn't eaten dinner so I had some leftover fruit salad and made it through the day flawlessly.
I weighed in this morning down another .4 even with the sushi and my eating a ton on Friday to make it through my first rough patch. I was proud that I did it. This is usually the point where I start being over dieting but I am feeling great and confident that I can make it through another week.
Have a great Monday,
Ali

my first really hard day

Well it happened, my first day of terrible cravings and constant hunger. I was so tempted to eat anything I could get my hands on but I was good and stuck to plan. I drank a ton of diet soda, ate my own weight in dried no sugar mangoes, and even went back for a small plate of seconds at dinner. I was proud that I did well but it wasn't easy at all. So the scale went up for the first time today by .6 but I know I ate over my calories a little and I will take it since I made it through the day without a frappachino or burger.
My plan is to get my water in again today. I am thinking that not getting all my water in lead to my hunger. I also may have to finish the mango's off that I have and avoid buying them again, they are far to easy to grab one and eat them all day without thinking of how many I actually ate.
Well had to post about yesterday before Monday came so that I would remember. Have a great weekend.
Ali