And the Winner is.....

Me!!!!!!!! Yesterday was the final day of our Biggest Loser contest at work (otherwise known as the Pray 'n Weigh) and I was the Biggest Loser! I lost 3.34% - 8 pounds - in the month of May. I'm taking the contest winnings - a whopping $24.00 - and heading to the local thrift store to see how many outfits I can get for $24.00. I'll have to post my results later - nothing gets me more excited than a good deal. I really wasn't sure I was going to win - I had resigned myself to losing, actually. I was really sure that another woman would win, and I was trying to figure out a way to be kind and gracious about it, so it was a real shock to find out that I had pulled it off after all. The last Biggest Loser contest I didn't even come close to winning, so I was doubly pleased.

After the big weigh-in I was due at a luncheon. *Sigh* The battle continues.... The lunch was at O'Charley's, which is notorious for being tough on a dieter, but I did some research, formulated a plan, and stuck with it. I had the 6 oz grilled salmon, and when I asked them to replace the rice pilaf with broccoli, they were more than happy to oblige. Very nice! The salmon and the broccoli were DELICIOUS, albeit quite salty. I've been drinking a ton of water to try to flush the salt out, but my rings are still fitting a bit tighter than normal. Not a big fan of salt.... The meal came with a salad, and I asked that instead of dressing they bring it out with some lemon wedges. I squeezed the lemon over the salad, shook pepper all over it, and loved it - YUMMY!!!! It's even better with lime, but I didn't really think to ask for lime for some reason. If you replace dressing with lemon or lime, think of the calories and fat you'll cut out! Not to mention you get to enjoy the light, fresh flavor. Plus, you'll never get scurvy!

So how did I lose the 8 pounds, you ask? Just careful eating, plus a sincere attempt to be more active. Here's an example of my daily eating:

• First thing every morning I eat a very small handful of almonds. I eat them before I even have coffee. They start your metabolism going, plus give your body some good fat, which helps you keep full AND combats belly fat. There's usually 10-12 almonds in my handful.
• Black coffee - no cream, no sugar. This took a while for me to get used to. I used to load it up with several heaping spoons of sugar AND a bunch of half 'n half. I tried it that way a few days ago and almost gagged - now that I've gotten used to it black the sugar and half 'n half was just way too sweet.
• I eat breakfast at work, usually around 8:30, three and a half hours after I get up. I alternate between plain yogurt and Kashi vanilla oatmeal. I mix some frozen berries into the oatmeal - yum! Into the yogurt I mix berries, GrapeNuts, and a couple of teaspoons of all natural peanut butter - again with the good fats theory. The trick with the peanut butter is to stick with the all natural. Teddy was always my favorite, but Skippy makes one that is SUPER creamy and delicious and you don't have the oil separation issues.
• Lunch: salad with a bunch of veggies - usually whatever I can pull out of my garden - topped with a bit of hard cheese and a cut up veggie patty. Morning Star makes a veggie patty that they call the "chicken patty," and it's really, really tasty. If I'm out of salad, I eat a veggie patty or two dipped in mustard. As for the dressing, I keep bottles of olive oil and a few different vinegars at work. I drizzle on the oil and vinegar of choice (my favorite is malt vinegar) and throw on a bunch of pepper.
• Snack: I try to snack every afternoon, and usually have either a piece of fruit, or some carrot sticks, or a bag of microwave popcorn. No butter, no toppings, just plain old popcorn.
• Dinner: this is my hardest time of day. Oh, the food! And I'm starving!! But the C-man is trying to eat healthy, too, so we've been eating a lot more fish, and usually whatever the family eats, I just skip the starch and load up on more veggies.
• Nothing after dinner. Nothing. If I even eat one crumb, it's like my mouth becomes a gaping black hole, sucking in every piece of food within a 30 foot radius. I think I ate dust bunnies with mayonnaise one night...
• No drinks but water. I had been drinking Vitamin Water - love it!!!! - almost every day, but the cost is too high - both in money AND in unneeded calories.

So that's it. Pretty simple in words, pretty hard in practice. But I'm doing it, and I'm loving the results - I can fit into some clothes I hadn't been able to wear before, and I have energy!! Yes, ENERGY!!! I wake up feeling ALIVE and ready to take on the world! I can stay up later and get some housework done!! Not that you can tell that today, of course. By Saturday morning my house looks like a bomb went off. A bomb filled with dog prints and laundry. Dirty, dirty laundry. But now that I'm eating healthy foods and LESS food, I feel ready to tackle the housework. I may even go to WalMart with both children later. Wait a minute, didn't I write a post about that?????

Amazing Soup

Soup is not my number one choice for food. It's one of those foods that I never choose and never crave, but when I do eat it I enjoy it. I stumbled across a couple of recipes last year, one for immune system boosting and another for weight loss. I combined the two recipes into something all my own, and I love it. It's delicious, it's good for you, it boosts your immune system AND helps with weight loss. I don't eat it morning noon and night claiming you can lose 10 pounds in three days - you might be able to do that, but I'm pretty sure the weight loss would be all water. And - ahem - poo poo. Then you would gain it all back the first time you smelled a potato chip. No, I eat this soup for lunch - a nice big bowl of it. I also might have a cup or two before dinner or with dinner - it's filling! It helps to have the soup instead of pasta, potatoes, or some other evil processed starch.


I'm including the recipe below - one thing I love is the actual process of cooking. There's something soothing for me to be in the kitchen, chopping vegetables, stirring the pot, adding the spices and smelling the aroma. I get it from my father, who used to be a chef, and still today cooks an amazing dinner for my mom and him every night. After a long day at work he relaxes by cooking. I could be the same way if I didn't have the deadlines facing me - gotta get that meal on the table so the kids can get to bed at a decent hour. But on the weekends, on holidays, I have the time to really do it right, and I love it. So here's the soup recipe - if you make it, hope you enjoy it. If you're looking for another, quicker, recipe, click here to visit my friend's blog, Low Carb, Low Cost. She's got a great tuna wrap recipe. Okay, here's the soup:

• Put about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large stock pot and heat on medium.
• Add a few cloves of garlic (I have a garlic press and it's the best thing I've ever bought. Fresh garlic far surpasses anything you can ever buy in a jar. Or - *shudder* - powdered.)
• Once the garlic is just a tiny bit browned - not too much or it will be bitter - squeeze in the juice of one fresh lemon.
• Pour in some cumin and curry - about 1 teaspoon for moderate spiciness, more if you like it spicier. I LOVE it spicy, plus the spicier, the better it is for your immune system.
• Stir it for a few seconds, then slowly pour in some stock and some water. I prefer chicken stock, but you can use beef or vegetable if you prefer. Be mindful of the sodium content - it's high! Make sure you add about three times as much water as stock to keep down the sodium per serving.
• Here's where your own tastes and imagination dictate what you add. Any veggies you have can go in! Because of what we have available in our garden and pantry, here's what I added to this soup this time around: carrots, celery, two onions, a couple bell peppers, two yellow squash, one can of diced tomatoes, and a cabbage. I chop all the veggies into pretty large chunks - I like to feel like I'm actually chewing something, even when it's soup. If you prefer smaller chunks, go for it. It's your soup.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for at least an hour. I add the cabbage closer to the end of the cooking time so it's not mushy.
• Feel free to add whatever your heart desires - in past batches I've added pasta, brown rice, red beans, tofu - the sky's the limit. Dang, now I'm wishing I had bought some tofu...

Happy cooking!!!

I Just Wanted to Grill a Steak

What a day. I had a good day at work - all the kiddies were behaving so nicely, all the stuff I ordered for Vacation Bible School came in, the weather was beautiful... and best of all was getting off work at 2:30. I've been working some pretty long days, so when 2:30 rolled around I was sprinting for the door. Picked up the kids and took them to the batting cages as a surprise treat. Too bad WMV got tanked in the arm with a ball. *ouch* But other than that, we all had some good fun. I was in such a good mood I decided to splurge a bit and get a steak for dinner. I'd be home in time to light the grill, cook some potatoes on the grill, pick some squash from the garden ... ahhhhh... All was going well until I got the grill going.

My son came flying inside to tell me that it was starting to rain. I go outside and sure enough, it's raining a bit, and with every drop, steam and hissing are coming from the grill. But wait - a brilliant idea! I have that huge cloth umbrella from our patio furniture! It's sitting right there under the steps! THAT will keep the grill dry! Man, I am SOOOOO smart. I grab the umbrella and head over to the grill. I hold it in one hand while I turn the crank with the other. It slowly creaks open ..... and I look up just in time to see the wasps nest I had knocked loose when I opened the umbrella. And it was falling straight for my face, bringing with it an entourage of wasps. Angry wasps. Oh, Lordy, I dropped that umbrella and screamed. Then I screamed, and screamed, followed by some more screaming. All the while running and flailing my arms around and twisting and contorting every way possible.

The up side to this is that by some strange miracle I didn't get stung. I think maybe they were too busy laughing at me to sting. I distinctly heard some tiny little wasp laughing, and I'm pretty sure I saw one of them holding his sides with all six legs. Keep in mind, I was determined to have this steak, so after the drama, I still went back to the umbrella, picked it up, and propped it up over the grill. More good news: the steak was awesome. It had been marinating, so it was moist and flavorful, and I took it off the grill while it was still quite rare - just the way I like it. The squash also was excellent, and I did go crazy and enjoy half of a sweet potato, complete with butter. Hey, I was celebrating - I survived my brush with angry wasp death!

The Ballgame

Did you hear screaming last night? Were you wondering what that noise was? Yes, one of my children had a ball game last night, and that screaming you heard was me. I have tried to tone it down a bit, but the excitement of the game gets to me every time. And these boys just love to play ball. I was the scorekeeper last night, so I had to record all the strikes, fouls, runs, etc. So I was really into the game! No trips to the concession stand (whew!) no chatting with other parents at the ball park - I was 100% game. I don't know if WMV is embarrassed by all my screaming, but I love to be there encouraging the boys. "C'mon, you can do it!" I shout. "Run, baby, run!" I shriek. "Oh, good try, boys, good try!" Is it my fault I have to scream in order to be heard way into the outfield? If they made the field smaller I wouldn't have to be so loud! But it was a really good game - our team played some good ball and won the game - not something we always do.

The funniest part of the game was watching the other team's catcher. He's a boy from church, and one that I had in my preschool from 14 months old until he went on to kindergarten. He saw me and said, "Hi, Mrs. Kim!!" with an excited smile - teeth missing in the front, of course. So cute. I waved and told him to watch the game. But he kept turning around and waving, talking to me, telling me stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love to be loved, but I was afraid this poor kid was going to get hit in the head with a bat! The umpire kept laughing as I kept insisting the child turn around and get his head in the game. Who wouldn't love to watch a game like that??

WMV did pretty well, despite crying after being hit with a ball and crying again after he struck out. He's finally getting some really good hits, but now that he is, he's ten times harder on himself when he strikes out. That's hard for a mom. I'm trying to encourage him to feel okay about striking out, and I'm also trying to get him to suck it up and quit crying - he needs to toughen up some. But the mom in me wants to hug him and hold him and cry right along with him. *Sigh* And as the score keeper it was tough writing that "K" in his box every time he struck out. *Bigger sigh*

But the good news is that there's another game Friday - time for more screaming and cheering, whooping and hollering and hoping these boys all feel great by the end of the game. "Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd...."

Stress!!!

Okay, so we all know that stress is not good for keeping your body healthy. Not only does it affect your blood pressure, it gives people headaches, tight shoulders, and the overwhelming urge to punch someone. And let's face it, a lot of us turn to food in times of stress. "Just a cookie to calm me down." or "I'm having a bad day. I deserve a cheeseburger and fries!" We seem to forget that bad food won't take away our stress, it will just make us tired and bloated and stressed. We also forget that the best stress buster is exercise. And yet, when I'm super stressed, the last thing I want to do is go for a walk or hit the gym. I want to throw something fatty down my throat then slip into a mini food coma.

Now they're talking about cortisol - it's something your body produces in times of stress to pack on belly fat! Yes, that's right - God made our bodies to react to stress by giving us jiggly bellies! Ugh! The horror! I understand the biology and history behind it - we used to be cave dwellers, dying of hunger. Stress-induced belly fat was life saving. But it's 2009, and there's a McDonald's on every block and a pot luck something-or-other every other week. Surely our bodies could hurry up and evolve into lean, mean, fat burning machines. I say we push our bodies into this millennium and go for some stress induced calorie burning! How about every time our bodies feel stress our belly shrinks a little? That would be awesome!! I'd eat a mountain of cheeseburgers then go bungee jumping - I'd be fitting into my old clothes in no time!

Ah, but I'm dreaming... I guess this is my way of relieving some of the stress of the day. I need to take a deep breath and somehow make it through my stressful day without grabbing a piece of that delicious looking coffee cake JW brought in for us. Maybe I'll go tickle some children - holding kids always puts a smile on my face and makes me feel like everything's going to be okay. There's my new mantra - kids, not cookies... breathe in ... children, not chips... breathe out ...

My Moby Dick

The weekend is over and I emerge victorious! I have conquered my Moby Dick, my Grendel, my Mount Everest. The weekend is always the worst, worst, worst time for me when it comes to sticking to my guns and not overeating. I always go crazy, snacking, eating out, grabbing my kids' leftovers - it's really ridiculous - I bust my butt all week then wreck everything over the weekend, then bust my butt again just to break even at the big weigh in. SO this weekend I had new resolve - I knew it was going to be a busy weekend, which is really helpful to me. I eat when I'm home, and when I'm bored. If I have a busy weekend, I'm home less and bored less - no time to eat = less eating crap! Saturday morning - well, the trip to WalMart certainly kept me busy (see former post) - then Saturday afternoon was the backyard social. The kids and I had a great time and we knew we were going out to eat, so nobody ate a thing. Yes, that's right, I attended a church function and didn't take a single bite of anything - can you believe it??? The we went home to grab Craig and go out for Chinese. Yes, that's right, Chinese. *Gulp* It is very, very hard to go to an all-you-can-eat buffet and not go insane, but I am proud to say I DID IT!!! I ate boiled shrimp, broccoli and bok choy, one spring roll (less fat and calories than an egg roll), and a cup of egg drop soup. Granted, it was a lot of shrimp and a lot of broccoli and bok choy, but I had nothing breaded, the only thing fried was the spring roll, and I passed on the soy sauce, the duck sauce, and the sweet tea. So I went home feeling amazing. Unlike C-man, who went home and passed out - another bad side effect of eating too much Chinese food! Sunday was preschool graduation (yes, I cried. Again.) followed by a dance recital with a couple of the little girls from my school, followed by a birthday party. And no - I didn't eat any cake!! But it looked delicious - the party was hosted by Little Mrs. Domestic, so you know it was good!! Then back to the house for dinner: grilled salmon, squash and onions - fresh from the garden - and a salad with olive oil and vinegar for the dressing. I woke up this morning at 4:30, too excited to sleep - I made it through a whole weekend. I'm curious to see if it shows on the scale this week. Pray with me that it does!! And even more, pray with me that it shows on my body - and in my clothes!

Morning Madness

Why do I go grocery shopping on a Saturday morning with two children? Why? Why? WHY??? Because like a million other busy moms and dads out there, that's the only time I can go. There are a few times during the week when I can go while the kids are in school, and that is a much better idea. But some weeks my schedule is so super packed that I just can't get there until Saturday morning. So it was this week. We sleep in a bit, then get ready for the big trip. First is the list. Gotta make a list, and HRV wants to help. Followed by 437 cries of, "Mom, how do you spell...." Followed by 241 screw ups, erasings, and bouts of tears and woe - feelings of worthlessness and failure because at 5 years old, she can't remember how to spell "French roast coffee." And we haven't even left the house yet. Here's how the rest of the WalMart morning went:

Get shoes on. No, wait, we can't find socks. Rummage through the clean laundry pile, find socks. NOW get shoes on. No, not those shoes - they are roller skates. Regular shoes, please.

Go potty. I know you just went, please go again - I'm not stopping to go pee in the middle of our shopping. Go potty. Go potty. FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, STOP ARGUING AND GO POTTY!!

Where's my purse? Has anyone seen my purse? Okay, got it. Get in the car. Wait. Where's my cell phone? Has anyone seen my phone? Hold on, let me call it... Okay, got it. Get in the car. Get in the car. Please get in the car. FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP FIGHTING AND GET IN THE CAR!!!!!

Okay, we're all in the car, buckled up, and off we go. I left the list on the coffee table. *anger building*

Remembering that one should never shop while hungry, I dutifully swing through McDonald's on the way. Breakfast for the kids, I am wise and choose only an Egg McMuffin and black coffee. I throw the hash brown that came with it in the trash before it can tempt me. *Victory!!* Then... Let go of your brother's milk! Let go! Do NOT hit her for touching your milk! No! FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, IF YOU TOUCH HIS MILK AGAIN YOU'RE GROUNDED FOR THE REST OF THE DAY!! Man, I sure do love that Pete...

Finally at WalMart, the trip is punctuated with side trips, turn arounds, going back to get what I forgot - if only there were a blog that could help me get organized... hmmmm .... click here.... See now, if I had brought my list this wouldn't be happening. *anger increasing*

I have gifts to buy - one birthday, three teacher appreciation, and seven graduation - stuff for lunches, stuff for dinners, the all important breakfast, and don't forget wiper blades for my car, brake light bulbs for C-man's car, shampoo, and of course, all the wrapping paper and cards.

Phew. I'm finally done, and I even managed to stick to healthy foods for everyone. Perhaps my mind was kept off of food by the fact that I was shrieking non-stop. "Put that down! No! Get over here! No! We don't need that! No! Get off of that! No! It's not a jungle gym! Don't touch her! Don't touch him! No! FOR THE LOVE OF PETE IF I HAVE TO TALK TO YOU ONE MORE TIME ABOUT ONE MORE THING YOU'RE BOTH GROUNDED FOR THE WHOLE WEEKEND!"

We're finally at the check out lane and by now I'm steaming mad with a killer headache and swearing that I will NEVER go to WalMart with my children again. I pay the bill - cringing while I swipe my card and wondering if my chest pains are the result of the children or the final total - and then we're back in the car. Now it's almost noon and I've made it home pretty much in one piece. I'm excited that I didn't give in to the desire to eat at Waffle House, even more excited to make some hummus for my afternoon snack, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of making it through a whole weekend without completely blowing my new found life of health and happiness. Now if I can just avoid the store for a couple of days, maybe my sanity will return. I know it's out there somewhere....

Like a Girl on a Bike

"I'm doing it! I'm doing it!"

That's what I've been wanting to say - or shout - lately. I actually have been eating healthy foods, eating less, and yes, losing weight. And I'm not talking about 10 pounds in 3 days or anything - this isn't one of those crazy fad diets. I was down one pound last week, and another pound this week. And I feel awesome, and I feel successful. I feel like a little girl just learning how to ride a bike - wobbling, weaving, but slowly the wheels are turning and I'm getting the hang of it, and suddenly I realize ... I'm doing it! My knee injury threw me off a bit as far as being active goes, but last night I had another evening of two ball games on different fields at the same time, so I did a little running back and forth. My knee was throbbing by the time I got home, but I got to see HRV pick off two kids as short stop and two kids as first baseman AND I still caught WMV drilling the ball into the outfield, then sliding into home. It was the happiest I've ever been to scrub dirt out of a pair of pants. Today my knee feels even better, so I'm going to try to get some exercise in soon. Tonight we have church, so I should do a little running around with the kiddies. The hard part will be finding something to eat for dinner that won't blow it for me tomorrow when I have the Pray 'n Weigh official weigh-in. I'm not sure what we're having, but Mama L. is cooking, so it's going to be good and probably not so healthy. Last week I cooked a bunch of broccoli before I went to the fellowship hall and it stank up the whole education wing. Everyone was complaining about the smell, so this week I'm bringing it raw. Raw broccoli and a veggie patty. That should do me just fine, right? Hm. We'll see... But I always hated falling off the bike, so hopefully I'll eat my veggie patty and be happy. And then I'll close my eyes and feel the wind in my hair and hear the faint sound of a bicycle bell... ring ring .... ring ring.... wheeeeeeeee....

Fruit kills

They say fruit is good for you, but I was almost killed by an errant strawberry yesterday. I was in the lunchroom getting all the lunches fixed, when a strawberry came out of nowhere! It was left from morning snack, but I'm pretty sure it hid behind a table leg and waited for me. I stepped on the strawberry, slipped and fell. But it wasn't one of those uneventful little plops onto the floor - oh no. It was a grandiose spectacle. A debacle of comic proportions! My feet flew out from under me and I hit the floor, knee first. On the way down, my left elbow went right into a pudding cup - chocolate pudding went everywhere. My right hand hit a bowl of macaroni and cheese - the Chef Boy'R Dee kind with all the liquid, not the good homemade kind that stays in one big, cheesy clump - and macaroni went flying. I lay there for just a minute, contemplating how much damage I had done to myself. My first thought was that I was going to have to go to the doctor. My knee was in excruciating pain. My second - almost immediate - thought was that I hadn't shaved my legs since Saturday, so how embarrassing was that going to be? The good news is that I got up and was able to walk and bend my leg and all that good stuff. I cleaned up the mess, served lunch to 30 kids, and made it through the day with ice packs and ibuprofen. It's one day later and I feel better, even though my knee looks disgusting - people actually wince when they see it. But as Dr. C told me, it's all soft tissue damage, so it will be sore for several days, then heal up nicely.

So nice try, strawberry, but I won this battle. And next time someone tries to tell you to eat more fruit, remember ... fruit is evil.

Phone Rage

So this post has nothing to do with eating healthy, but I feel compelled to get this off my chest, so here goes. This morning I was talking with Little Mrs. Domestic about how
insane I get when I can't hear someone on the phone. Just a few hours later I had a very frustrating conversation with someone an their cell phone and I got so mad I just about threw my phone out the window. Seriously, I get so incensed it's worse than road rage. It happens most frequently with my hubby, C-man. We have direct connect phones, so we bleepy each other when we need to talk, and the signal is not always great. So sometimes his voice comes out sounding something like R2D2 and I can't understand a word of it. Intellectually I know this is not his fault. I know he's not even aware his voice is so garbled, and I can't even break in to tell him, because on the direct connect, when one party is talking, the other cannot. So instead of laughing it off and waiting patiently for him to finish, I get FURIOUS, OUTRAGED, and act like a total idiot. Usually in front of my kids. Nice, eh? Also maddening for me is when I try to call him and I have a signal but he doesn't. Again, not his fault. But still, I think if I were dumb enough to carry a gun I might end up shooting my phone. This would get expensive, plus I most likely would end up blowing my foot off, so the gun option is out of the question. What I usually end up doing is freaking out for a minute, then I realize how stupid I sound, and calm down. If only I were a drinker I'd probably down a shot of something before hitting the redial button.

So why, if I know I do it and I know it's idiotic, why do I allow myself to get so irritated? I just don't know. And I continue to use my cell phone, too. Mark my words, if (God forbid) I ever have a heart attack, I will be found with my cell phone clutched in my hand. The bad reception will put me over the edge. Of course if I can just continue on with the healthy foods, I may not be a prime candidate for a heart attack, so perhaps that can be my motivation. I am having grilled chicken for my Mother's Day dinner tonight. It's been marinating all afternoon. I'm also marinating some awesome vegetable kabobs and I can't wait to sit down and enjoy it all. Maybe I'll shut off my cell phone...

Weekend Eating Extravaganza

Weekends are hard for those of us trying to eat better. At least they are for me. When I'm at work I'm moving around more, more people around to see when and what I eat, plus there's just not a lot of food around at work. But at home ... food, food, and more food!! I'm trying not to go to WalMart until Sunday evening, so there's not so much food in the house all weekend. But weekends involve a lot of food-oriented activities, have you noticed that? This weekend I have a graduation party to attend - KS's, not mine - and you know there will be food there. Tomorrow morning we have the bake sale after church (as an aside, there WILL be cake pops there. Now, I am not a big sweets person, but there cake pops are amazing. They are without a doubt one of my favorite sweets EVER. Click here to read Little Mrs. Domestic's blog about being a cake pop making fool. You'll be glad you did.). And of course, tomorrow is Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!! And our tradition is that we go out to lunch or dinner - so I don't have to cook or clean, of course. I think this year I am going make the request that we grill out here at the house. I'm thinking a whole chicken, cut up, seasoned, and cooked on the grill. I'm also thinking grilled veggies that have been marinated in some yummy homemade dressing. And maybe some sweet potatoes.... Mmmmmmm, sweet potatoes..... Great. Now I'm hungry. And as is my problem, I want this meal NOW. I really have a hard time waiting when I get a certain food in my mind - I'm all about the instant gratification. But I'm going to wait, if nothing else than to avoid the all-you-can-eat Chinese food buffet tomorrow. So, if I can stick to my guns and have the cook out tomorrow, it should be good. Very good and healthy, too!! And if I can just make it through a weekend without losing my mind and eating everything in my cupboard, I might just beat out TT in the Pray 'n Weigh. Now THAT would be a good week!

I'm thinkin' Arby's...

So today was not a great day for me, foodwise. At lunch I said, "I'm thinkin' Arby's!" and now after dinner, I'm thinkin' ... I'm a great big lard butt. Okay, so it's not really that bad. I did weigh in for the Pray 'n Weigh contest this morning, and I've lost a half a pound. Not great, but when it's that time of month, I'll take anything!! Of course, TT, whose willpower is AWESOME and INSPIRING lost a pound and a half, so now I'm really wanting to do better. You can tell how motivated I am by the choice of sandwich and curly fries instead of getting their delicious Nantucket salad. Oh, my, is that ever good! It has cranberries and nuts and stuff in it - yummy! Well, maybe next time...

Shifting Fat

My body fat is on the move. I'm not really sure why it's moving, or even how, but it's definitely shifting. I've been trying on some clothes - apparently I'm a glutton for punishment - and have noticed that while my pants are fitting surprisingly well, my tops are now all too small. My jeans are falling off my behind - yay!! - and my tops are bulging at the buttons - ugh. Why would fat want to go to my back? It hardly ever gets rubbed, so why does it want to be there? And just the thought of back fat ... yuck! I'm going to be one of those women with the back cleavage, otherwise known as the back ass. I'm thinking push ups will help - they tone up your shoulders and abs and back quite nicely. Of course, thinking about push ups and actually doing them are two different things - one of which works quite well, and the other ... not so much.

On a lighter note, I did go running last night! Not really on purpose - those of you who caught my post about exercising will know that. No, both of my kids had ball games last night. Same time, two different fields. Plus, I ran into a kid from church who was playing, too, so I was running from one side to the other all night. The theory was to stand in between the two fields and watch both games at the same time. But of course, HRV couldn't find her cap, so I ran to that dugout. Then C-man wasn't paying attention, so I ran to the other dugout to tell him to come watch his daughter bat. Then she was safe at home plate so I ran to the other dugout to give WMV a pep talk. I ran to pay for the team drinks, I ran to hear HRV's coach give out the team ball, ran back to WMV's field, ran to watch the church boy hit an in-the-park home run, and I ran and I ran and I ran. If I could do this every day I'd have it made!! I was pooped by the time we got home, but I felt good, and hopefully some of this running around will show up on the scale. Or in the back fat.

The truth about tofu dogs

Who do the makers of tofu dogs think they're fooling? Just because it's shaped like a hot dog doesn't mean it's going to taste like a hot dog. Now, I like tofu, I really do. I put it in stuff I'm eating all the time - always have. I also love hot dogs. I mean, I love hot dogs. I've even dated a hot dog vendor - cute guy, sold hot dogs on the street corner up in Maine. There's something we don't have in the south - street dogs. I miss being able to walk a block or two and get a dog with the works. Don't miss the guy I dated, though. Good hot dogs, bad boyfriend. Boothbay Harbor has some excellent street dogs, though. So does New York, so long as you know which ones are good. Some of those guys ... I'm not even sure what kind of meat they're selling. My favorite hot dogs come in a steamed frankfurter bun. Not a hot dog roll - there's a difference. Again, it's a north/south thing. The frankfurter bun is slit into the top, not on the side. Much better for holding the mustard, onions, sauerkraut and the like. Plus, the bread is softer - kind of like Bunny bread. Another thing Maine has is the bright red hot dogs. Come to think of it, I also dated a guy who sold the red ones. He sold them at his father's ice cream store... He used to give them to me for free and we'd hang out selling ice cream and eating red hot dogs. There's just something about the red ones ... they snap and pop when you bite into them. Mmmmm. They'll stain everything you touch, though. You didn't know I was such a hot dog connoisseur, did you? It runs in my family - my grandfather had a hot dog cookbook - an entire book devoted to meals you could make with hot dogs. When he died, it naturally came to me. And yes, I do know what they put in them - blood clots and hair and lips and ears and a**es and the like. I don't care, I really don't. Perhaps this is part of my problem - I don't care what's in a food so long as I like the taste of it. But I'm trying - here's where the tofu dogs come in.

I saw on a tv show - I think it was "The Biggest Loser" - a tip about getting soy via tofu dogs and burgers. So, I dutifully went out and bought tofu dogs. Even slathered with mustard and onions and relish, they don't taste anything like a hot dog! I'm thinking about suing for libel on behalf of the hot dog industry. Not that they don't taste good - I don't mind the taste at all. But it ain't hot dogs. I was thinking I might be able to slide one past my picky eater, but he's picky, he's not an idiot. I will keep eating the tofu dogs - they're SOOOOOO much healthier than a hot dog. But please, tofu guys, please don't insult my intelligence by calling them "dogs."

Some good friends, a good lunch

Some good friends who now live far away showed up unexpectedly today and we all went out for lunch after church. Mmmmmm, Mexican food! I didn't even attempt to eat healthy, but I did find that I was able to stop eating when the plate still had about half the food on it. AND, I saw one of the girls in our little "Pray 'n Weigh" contest at the same restaurant, so I'm curious to see what she had for lunch! The other woman at my table, Christy, also has a blog about eating and you have to read it - she is HILARIOUS. To visit her blog, click here: http://cceats.blogspot.com/. She ordered a taco salad, but of course it was like 85% meat and cheese, and 15% lettuce. So much for a nice, healthy salad!

Interestingly, I felt like nothing new had happened since they moved away several months ago. I felt kind of boring, actually. Although it was much harder to relax and enjoy a nice conversation because I had my two kids with me, and they were fighting and being goofy, as always. *Sigh* I do love my children, but it really can be hard when they're at each other's throats all day long.

But now I'm off track... I was talking about the Mexican food ... I did save quite a bit, most of which I just sat down and ate. Covered in hot sauce, of course! Now I'm ready for a nap, but I really should be cleaning up around the house. I really think if I could just focus on some housework instead of wishing for a nap I would feel so much better - you know, start the week off right. But no, instead I'm considering taking some Motrin for cramps and lying down for a nap. Gotta love it when hormones come into play! :) Maybe tomorrow I'll spring into action with more energy and better resolve!

the Weigh-In

The scale is my best friend and worst enemy. It is a tangible was to see success or failure. Sometimes, when I know I've gained a few pounds, I can go for weeks without stepping on the scale. But when I'm dieting, look out, baby - I am on that thing morning, noon, and night!! I weigh first thing in the morning - before coffee (I'm sure that cup will show on the scale!!), after peeing (because pee pee is so heavy, you know), before the shower (wet hair is heavier than dry hair as we all know!). When I've had a good day I lie awake in bed and I'm excited - I'm a kid at Christmas, unable to sleep because I'm SURE I've dropped at least a pound while sleeping!! Sometimes I have, but often I'm disappointed. And often I weigh several times per day. In the morning, in the afternoon. Before lunch, after lunch - how much did that food weigh? With clothes, without clothes... And so on. It's a sickness, I'm sure. But anyway ... I just weighed in this morning for a contest I'm doing - more in a minute - and I lost 5 pounds in one week!! Woooo hooo!! Very exciting for me. Now I know that the first week is always water weight, it's always a big week followed by a not so good week. And I'm okay with that!! And now comes the weekend .... pray that I can stay strong while not running around at work!

Now, the contest: I am doing one at work called "Pray 'n Weigh." Every week we all weigh in - there's only 5 or 6 of us - and everyone puts in $1 except for the person who lost the highest per centage of weight (and yes, "per cent's" preferred spelling is two words, people). Meanwhile, we're all praying for each other. It's good motivation for me, so I'm happy. And at the end of it all, the person who lost the most total weight gets to take home the envelope of one dollar bills. If five of us put in $1 per week and we do it for a month, there should be $20 at stake. I didn't win the lat time we did it - didn't even come close. So I'm going into this knowing I probably won't win... but ... what if I do????