Mexican Chicken... Yummy

And Healthy...
But don't tell the children!

I was combing through the cupboards in an attempt to find something that the kids would eat that was easy, quick and somewhat nutritious...

because I do want TheBusyFamily to live long, healthy and productive lives and hope that some of what they are learning here in TheBusyFamilyHome will follow them when they finally leave...

They will all leave, eventually, right?

Chicken Mexican 

1 lb frozen grilled chicken strips  or raw chicken cut into bite size pieces
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomatoes and green chiles or a can of tomatoes, okra and corn...
1 can black beans - rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
2 tablespoons chia seeds
olive oil
shredded cheddar cheese
plain greek yogurt
cherry tomatoes
tortilla chips of your choice

heat olive oil in a pot then add chicken and taco seasoning. Once chicken has browned add all the canned goods and the chia seeds...
bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer until sauce thickens- about 10 minutes or so




While the chicken is simmering place a handful of chips in the bottom of 4 bowls...

Once the sauce has thickened up spoon the chicken mixture over the chips...

add shredded cheddar , yogurt and cherry tomatoes and ENJOY!      

 I substitute fresh cherry tomatoes- whole into the pot they go- for the canned diced tomatoes when I have enough on hand...
I also use frozen corn and low sodium salsa in place of canned tomatoes and corn when I can to make it a little healthier...

The beauty of this recipe is that I can add or substitute all kinds of things depending on what is actually in the fridge or pantry when I start making dinner...

Because we all know that what I thought was in there when I started out never really is!

A New Year... AND Another Birthday!

Yeppers!

My birthday is in 3 days...

And this is shaping up to be THE WORST ONE EVER....

Okay...

I can let it be the horrible year or...

I can turn my health woes around and...

make this THE BEST YEAR EVER!

I choose to make it THE BEST.

As some of you may know...
Eleven months ago I tore my rotator cuff at work.
MISERABLE is what the last 11 months have been.
And, unfortunately, the shoulder is not yet healed enough to return to normal activities.

BUT WAIT.... There's More....

I threw my back out just after Christmas and it turns out that I have...
wait for it...
multiple herniated and evulsed discs in my lumber spine...
and am waiting for the insurance to allow me to get the MRI of the neck and upper spine ...
probably so I can find out my spinal column is ridiculously out of whack...

And then...
I was diagnosed with MRSA.
This is a Staph infection that is resistant to antibiotics in the Penicillin family...
probably a post-op infection , but...
The nurse liaison at worker's comp said I could have gotten it in line at the grocery store...
"it's every where these days"...
Sure. That's exactly where I got it.... (can you hear the sarcasm dripping from my words?)

So, as you can imagine, these health issues hitting me at once just as we are about to embark on the adventure that is 2015...
well, I admit to being a little depressed and my self-esteem took a serious hit.

Luckily for me, the antibiotic seems to be working...
MRSA on the way out!

The spine doc had a cancellation so I got seen yesterday...
a whole week early...
and I have to lose weight (well, duh!)...
and get moving to get my core strength back...
and I am allowed to start exercising again...
YAY!!!!

I also started a new medicine for the back pain that is supposed to not be as caustic to my very sensitive stomach... so far it seems to be okay and the pain is bearable...
Another YAY!

Today I walked 3 miles.
How did I do this with 3 inches of snow and ice on the ground?

I used the Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds video.

This is easily tailored to any fitness level and really easy to do.
You just walk!
Okay, some arm movements and some side steps and leg lifts are thrown in there too...
But, seriously, just about anyone can do this.
And she makes you feel like you can, even when you're out of breath and sweating like crazy...

And I wore my new walking shoes...
Sketchers EZ-Flex Intensify in PINK...
Yes, I actually bought PINK shoes on purpose...
I figure they will help perk me up even when I am feeling blue...




And then I got out my Bullet...
it's one of the original ones from about 20 years ago so it's called The Bullet instead of the NutriBullet...
and the mugs and jars are smaller than the new one...
which makes no sense since serving sizes are important when watching your calories and eating healthy so why have 18oz cups when the 12 oz ones are perfect for a single serving breakfast smoothie?
Hey, if they want to send me a NutriBullet for free so I can give a real review...
I'm all in...
until then, my Original Bullet will be just fine.

Today's weight is... 218...
almost what I weighed the day I gave birth to SIX...
UGH!

Join me on my NEW YEAR NEW ME JOURNEY into 2015...
Getting healthy, inside and out...
with the approval of my doc...
which you should make sure you get before starting any exercise or diet program please...

To start you out right here is my breakfast smoothie recipe:

1/2 cup kale/spinach mix  (or one or the other is fine too)
3 whole strawberries with greens on
a handful of blackberries
2-3 tbs greek yogurt - plain or vanilla works
2 tbs Chia seeds
1/2 cup of almond or soy or low-fat milk
 OR
a splash of fruit juice- I like V8 fruit punch or Pomegranate Blueberry

Blend until thick and smoothe and YUM!

I buy fresh strawberries and freeze them whole with the stems on to make the smoothie thicker and colder, but you can use whatever is handy for you.

Blueberries or raspberries can be swapped out for the blackberries...

Basically, get whatever looks good in you grocer's produce section.

Add 1/2 a banana and a scoop of protein powder for an after work-out booster shake...

There you go...
a healthy and tasty way to start your day...

You Are Welcome!

Coffee...It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore

Watching Kelly and Mike on TV this morning I heard them mention coffee consumption.

So, of course, I perked right up because...

I drink coffee....A Lot Of Coffee!

According to some statistics they had, the coffee consumption in the U.S. per person has gone down by more than half what it was right after World War II.

But!
The amount of caffeine consumed per person annually has risen by nearly double that of World War II.

What?

So...in my caffeine induced sense of clarity I thought to myself...

Wow! How did they get more caffeine in the coffee?

And then I realized that it's not just from coffee because...
SODAs have tons of caffeine...
And ENERGY DRINKS have tons of caffeine...
And WEIGHT LOSS SUPPLEMENTS have tons of caffeine...
And HEADACHE  MEDS have tons of caffeine...

Dr. OZ says that cutting out coffee and drinking Green Tea instead....thereby cutting out or greatly reducing caffeine consumption...will help to shrink fat cells.

But maybe it's not really the coffee that is the problem?
Cutting out all those other things makes sense too...
Right?

So if I cut out soda and energy drinks and weight loss supplements and headache meds...
I can keep drinking my coffee, right?

Great!

Too bad I don't use any of those other things, isn't it.
So...I am reducing my coffee  intake to 1/2 a pot...
and those who know me know that I drink a whole pot before HeMan Hubby even gets out of bed!

To help meet this goal I have found a few tricks that seem to work...
and I'll share because they may  help you too.
( and I'm nice like that)

1)   Only make 1/2 a pot or use single-cup servings to reduce the temptation to keep topping off your cup

2)   Use a smaller cup...wean yourself down if needed...I had to and here's how I did it:
my normal 52 oz jug was replaced with the 32 oz super-sized mug...
which was then replaced by a giant 20 oz mug...
which was then replaced by a big 14 oz mug...
which has now been replaced with a regular sized 10 oz mug

3)   Stick to your guns! If you are only having 1/2 a pot figure out how many refills in your size mug that is and
ONLY HAVE THAT MANY CUPS OF COFFEE!
- down-sizing your mug  helps...
 because I can have 3 cups of coffee in the smaller mug instead of 1 or 1 1/2 cups in the bigger mugs...
 and it's still just 1/2 a pot--it just tricks me into thinking it's more!

4)   REPLACE COFFEE WITH WATER!!!
For every cup of coffee you drink- drink 2 cups of water.
Coffee is a diuretic.
It makes you get rid of water...
but not just the excess making you weight 3 pounds more than you did yesterday...
but all water, even the water your body needs to function properly...
And this can lead to severe dehydration..
.which makes you retain water and the vicious cycle continues!

5)   Don't drink coffee past early afternoon. 
Caffeine does affect your ability to sleep Restfully!
Not enough sleep or poor quality sleep makes it harder to lose weight...
and that adds to your stress and that leads to stress eating and that leads to...
Well you know what that leads to.

Now that I have cut back my caffeine intake...
per Dr. OZ's 2 Week  Rapid Weight Loss Plan...

I just have to work on cutting out wheat, white sugar, alcohol, dairy, and eating between 8pm and 8am...

Yeah...I'll let you know how that works out...

Let's Get Started... or at least start to get started

When ONE wishes to lose weight ...
ONE must actually DO something to make the weight go away...

Okay...
sounds simple, right?

Well, you would be WRONG!

In order to lose weight ONE must first have the proper accoutrements in which to aid ONE's path to a thinner ONE...
In this case feel free to substitute ME or YOU or GLUTTON FOR PUNISHMENT for the word ONE at any time...

To get started on the road to losing weight ONE must first decide upon the road on which they plan to travel...

IE: find a gym and procure a membership... or...
purchase home gym equipment like a treadmill or stair climber...
(although you can walk up and down your own stairs for free anytime you want... unless you live in a rancher or ground floor apartment... okay I see why someone may need a stair stepper thingy)...

find a workout buddy...
shouldn't be too hard, I mean everyone is trying to get fit these days...
it just has to be someone who lives in the same area as you, has the same work schedule as you, can get the same free-time away from the family as you AND wants to work out when and how you do...
like I said- Piece of cake... or pie, if you prefer...

find some workout clothes that fit in a way that allows for free movement and air flow to important parts...
like your lungs...
while not making you look like you have either:
1) borrowed clothes from the homeless Sasquatch in yonder woods;
or 2) have painted on your clothes so that every dimple of cellulite is visible in all it's jiggly glory and your muffin tops have actually become full-on muffins-- the giant ones you get at the bakery...

find a diet that you can stick to...
because it tastes good and is easy to fit into your hectic life would be ideal...
but probably because you actually do lose some weight...
which is probably because it tastes like sawdust or dried grass and is easy to grab and go...

And last but by no means least...
ONE must decide why it is that ONE wishes to lose weight in the first place.

This sounds like a no-brainer, I know, but really, it's not.
ONE must figure out why they want to lose weight ....
and be truthful to oneself in the process or NOTHING WILL WORK!

Losing weight because someone else wants you to...
because you want to fit into a special outfit for a special event...
because everyone else in the family is skinnier than you...
These are all real nice...
but they do not have staying power as motivation when the carrot cake is calling your name!

And believe me...
that carrot cake and his friends red velvet and chocolate brownie will be ready and willing to pick up the slack when your will power ebs...

So, let's start to get started losing weight by...
Identifying the reasons why you want to, need to, hope to, wish to...
Lose 10 or 20 or 30 pounds or more...
and be honest...
because you'll only be fooling yourself...

And really, do you want to make yourself look like a fool...
and a Fat Fool at that?

Yeah, me neither...

You Are What You Eat...

I guess that makes me a Spring Mix salad with low-fat small curd cottage cheese and Poppy Seed dressing...

Or a soft pretzel...
Or a handful of dried fruit...
Or a bowl of low-fat chicken soup...
Or fresh strawberries and fat free yogurt...

Yeah, I am not getting much of a variety in my diet these days.

But, it is true that you are what you eat.

I mean, what else would you be?
All your vitamins and minerals and nutrients come from your food...
right?

Wrong!
You get a lot of that stuff from your water too...

So the saying should really be...
You Are What You Eat AND Drink!

But then there are the little things that you breathe in like...
residue from acid rain and toxic fumes from car exhausts and factories...

So the saying should be...
You Are What You Eat and Drink AND Breathe !

And then there are the things that you absorb through your skin...
chemicals and toxins that leach into your system from contact without even knowing...
ingredients in soap and lotions and cheap crayons like formaldehyde and lye and lead...

So the saying should be...
You Are What You Eat and Drink and Breathe and PUT ON YOUR SKIN!

I am a Spring Mix Salad with low fat small curd cottage cheese and poppy seed dressing.
I am Mango-Peach Green Tea.
I am fresh strawberries and fat free yogurt.

I am going to have to REALLY read the labels on everything that I put IN or anywhere NEAR my body from now on...

I'm thinking that perhaps having a limited diet isn't such a bad thing after all?

The Search for the Perfect Diet Food... or Not

Was watching a weird show while doing little things around the house this morning and stumbled across an interesting TV show on OWN...

My Strange Addiction is about some seriously unusual people.
The guy having a relationship with his car? Oh he is positively normal when compared to the guy with a life-size doll for a wife or the guy who eats glass.

Hold Up... I wonder what the Saturated fat and calorie count for glass is?

Does green glass taste different from blue or pink or yellow glass?
Does smokey glass actually have a smokey flavor?

Maybe this guy has stumbled upon a way to fill up without filling out?
I mean if you have a stomach full of glass I am pretty sure your digestive system is going to be too busy for you to feel hungry for food.

I wonder what kind of damage that does to your teeth... your dentist would love you for sure.

And so would the GI doc.
Can you imagine what glass shards in your esophagus and stomach would do to your insides?
Oh, but wait! There's more.
Mr. Glass-eater dude eats bullets too?
Never mind- I don't care how low the calories and fat content of glass are...
perforated intestines, infection and almost certain death are not worth it.

I mean, if I'm going to do something life threatening on purpose it's definitely going to have to be something that is a whole lot more fun... or tasty...
Like eating the world's largest Boston Cream donut.

I guess my quest for the perfect diet food does not stop at glass...
but will continue... with me reading the labels on everything before I eat it...
and searching The Food Network and The Cooking Channel for yummy low-fat recipes as I struggle to get to my weight loss goal...

or at least the next mini-goal... to weigh less than 200 pounds...
Which at 203 is within my grasp any day now!

That Has How Many Grams of Saturated Fat???

Would you believe that a cinnamon muffin has 9 grams of saturated fat?
And that isn't even all the fat ...
Yes, it has unsaturated fat too!

And that bowl of mac and cheese?
Would you believe it has 6 grams of saturated fat...
and I don't even think the cheese is real...
I mean what kind of cow do you get powdered cheese from anyway?

As you may have guessed by now I have been reading the food labels.
I will admit to not knowing what a lot of that crap is...
but I am reading them and have chosen a few things to really start paying attention to...

Things like the saturated fat content.
The carbohydrate content.
and the sugar content.

Saturated fat is the biggie since that is the one that I can say directly affects whether or not I will be able to leave the house at anytime, ever...

The carbs and the sugar...
well I have been watching them because they too are fat.
They just go by another name, like an alias.

"Would not carbs and sugar by any other name still leave you with love handles and cellulite"
That is the real question...
And the answer is, " Why, yes, yes they would!"

Because they are what is called ... 
...dun dun dun.. 
HIDDEN FAT


All those foods like licorice and chocolate syrup and fat-free cookies....
They are NOT fat free because they have exorbitant amounts of carbs or sugar or, in all the tasty treats at least, both.
And what happens to those carbs and sugar if you eat them and then proceed to NOT run on the treadmill for an hour or roller blade around the block 20 times...hmmmm?

All those carbs and sugars have to go somewhere and since they are supposed to be converted into simple forms for use as energy but the energy doesn't get used or there is too much to possibly have a need for...

It, like any excess energy, gets stored, like the extra energy being produced by the acreage of solar panels on the house around the corner...
 there is more square footage of solar panels on that roof than there is in the whole dang house... and only like 3 people live there and I mean really, how much energy could they possibly use to warrant all that solar panel space... you know they have got to be supplementing their income with the extra energy they are selling back to the power grid...
But I digress... but only because I have solar panel envy....and I really wish I could get rid of that GINORMOUS electric bill every month... and having the power company pay me sounds like a dream come true...
As I was saying, the excess energy-making-carbs and sugar are converted into a simple form for storage and that form is...
No, not solar energy, but wouldn't that be nice?
It is FAT...
That's right.
Carbs and Sugar are indeed just another name for FAT.

The fat is disguised as carbs and sugar and unfortunately when they lose their disguise they come out as cellulite and love handles and a jiggly butt... and not the good kind of Baby Got Back ...
If ya know what I mean...

So, the lesson learned this week is to:
1) read the labels on the food;
and 2) watch out for those undercover sabotage agents...
Formerly known as Carbohydrates and Sugar...

Because, yes, they ARE out to get you...
or at least the rear-end part of you.

Taaaa Daaaa !

Yesterday was Super Monday...

I know, like it's a real day or something, right?

Anyway, I should say that according to the sales people in the commercials on TV...

Yesterday was Super Monday...

As in the Monday after The Super Bowl...

Not because it was just a really, really great Monday.

But...

Actually...

It was! 

As you may, or may not have known, or cared to know, or even care not to know if you care or not...

I have been struggling to lose weight for some time, a few years, a little while now.

I also have had a few, some, a couple of health issues that have made it a bit more challenging to lose the extra tonnage I seem to have accumulated.

My most recent problem was the Gall Bladder thing.

It has been 6 weeks and I can now eat normal food...

and by normal I mean low-fat, low-sugar, low-flavor, low-chocolate, low-dairy, low-meat types of food...

some of it can even be in non-soup form...

without making me sick to my stomach or have to run to the bathroom in a giant hurry without warning.

Do not even ask about the Country Buffet fiasco!

So, this weekend being the Super Bowl weekend and having plans to attend a Super Bowl Party...

I was prepared to have to sit back and watch everyone else eating all the yummy food while I nibbled on a piece of Melba toast (or some other equally tasty tidbit).

Imagine my surprise, and delight, when HeMan Hubby asked me to go to dinner with him and a co-worker at another co-worker's home to celebrate the start of new jobs for him and the co-worker whose home is was not... because they both got let go from the Government contract they worked on with the person whose home it was and now they won't see each other all the time anymore... but it's a good thing, not the they won't see each other any more all the time part, but that they got new, and much better, jobs which is why they were celebrating...

And then HeMan Hubby informed me HE was doing the cooking.

His (in)Famous Chicken Cacciatore ... one of the 4 dishes that he can cook.

So, I gathered the ingredients needed and put them in a bag, told him to grab a bottle of wine and off we went.

He made the meal. 

We drank the wine ( I mean the person whose house it was and I... the guys had some... I think)

There were hors d'oeuvres - bacon wrapped scallops... and spicy nuts ( of the cashew and almond varieties)

and more wine... a lovely Seghesio Zinfadel... and something from 1996 and one from 2008 ...

Anyway...

I was starving so I ate a scallop... and the bacon it was wrapped in... and another, and another and... 

I had about 8 ...

And then dinner was ready.

Chicken Cacciatore, heavy on the garlic and onions... 

on a bed of arborio rice...

served with fresh steamed asparagus...

and more wine...

I had a little bit of chicken and rice and asparagus...

I had a lot, little bit of wine...

And then there was dessert! 

A delicious apple cobbler made by the hostess...

served with a dollop of vanilla ice cream...

I had a little apple cobbler and ice cream...

a lot, little bit of wine...

And then it was time to go home.

And I made it...

all the way home without getting sick... 

all the way to my bedroom and into my PJ's and onto the couch to watch a little TV before bed... 

before my tummy felt icky.

It was a record breaking evening!

I ate real food... 

And I did not get sick... well, at least not immediately... 

It was wonderful! 

It was terrific!

It made me want to go out and eat other things to see if I really could eat REAL food again...

And then it was Super Bowl Sunday.

And I went to a party.

Filled with good food, yummy food, deliciously wonderful food.

I ate a small bowl of chocolate chili... yes it really does have chocolate in it... and it is yummy.

So yummy in fact that I ate another small bowl of it.

And ham and swiss on a yeast roll with spicy brown mustard.

And 2 German Chocolate cookies.

And a piece of applesauce cake... or 2.

And I drank about 2 liters of diet soda and water.

And I made it all the way home and into my PJ's where I was relaxing in my very own room before my tummy rebelled... but then, I knew that it would... 

And then this morning... just as I was feeling icky and sluggish and bloated and just really not too good at all...

I stepped on the scale and...

TAAAA DAAAA!!!

I weighed in at 203.5 lbs...

Despite eating all the stuff that I really should not have eaten and feeling like I was retaining enough water to fill an ocean and really not feeling very good in general...

I did not gain any weight... not even an ounce! 

I also did not lose anything... 

But then again... maybe I did and all the bloating and feeling really yucky was hiding the loss...

But still... I did not gain anything and I ate real food!

Don't get me wrong... I was back to soup and crystal light today... 
and my seriously stomach thanks me...

but I feel like maybe, just maybe, there is a light at the end of the soup and other 'light' foods diet plan... 

that perhaps there is a chance that someday I will be able to eat a hot dog or a plate of lasgna or an ice cream cone or slice of cheesecake... 

But for now... 

that sliver of hope...

that tiny glimpse of a dream come true...

that TAAA DAAAA! moment I had this morning...

Is enough to get me through... 

a few more weeks at the very least.

I think.

I hope.

I can do this...

Yeah.

 I.

Can. 

Do. 

This.

Losing weight is... say what?

Losing weight is...

Easy...
Fun...
Exciting...

Or not.


But it could be, right?

Okay, maybe it's not really easy, but maybe it should be.
Maybe it isn't the losing weight that is hard, but the idea of losing weight that is hard to wrap your head around.
The thought of having to make time to exercise...
to have to cut out all the good foods that you love...
to have to pay attention to not just what you eat but how much and when...
But what if you could just eat what you wanted, when you wanted and not have to worry about it?

Would losing weight be easier?
Probably not.

But not because it wouldn't work...
but because if losing weight was that easy then where would the sense of accomplishment when you reach your goal weight come from?

And what about fun?
Unless you enjoy exercising, getting sweaty, feeling like your arms and legs are made of rubber...
it's probably not exactly going to be fun.
Actually, it's a whole lot like work...
but in a good way, a way that when you get to the end you have something that you can be proud of...

A thinner, healthier, sexier YOU!

And exciting... most dcefinitely not!

But isn't is exciting to see the changes you are making every time you look in the mirror?
Isn't it exciting to see the new you that is slowly emerging, like a butterfly from a cocoon in Spring?
Isn't being able to finally, finally! walk into any store and know that you can try on anything on the rack because... well, they have everything in your size!

And mostly, isn't it exciting to know that you have done something for yourself that you can be proud of, that your family can be proud of and that will

Hello... Is any body out there?

Major Tom to ground control...

Yeah, that's the same silence I have been getting for months now too.

Unfortunately I have been trying to talk to those nagging guys sitting on my shoulders...

Meet Good Idea, sitting on the right and...

you got it, Bad Idea sitting at the left.

Yes, I have been trying to carry on a sane conversation with these 2 parts of my self without any response for months...

should I exercise more Good Idea... <silence>

should I go see that bariatric specialist about that medical diet plan Bad Idea... <crickets chirping>

What the heck have I been waiting for???

That's the question I ask myself today as I review all of the options I have for weight loss and creating a healthy lifestyle that will lead to a healthy ME...

So, now that my horribly yucky gallbladder has been removed...

Oh thank you modern medicine ....

And I am able to start getting active and add a little bit more to my sadly limited diet...

(although Good Idea did speak up to remind that limiting my portion size and saturated fat content can only be a good thing)...

I have decided to chose the path not taken, or not taken in many years that is, and really hold myself accountable...

for the weight that I do or do not lose...

how healthy my attitude toward life and living is, or is not...

the way in which I approach the problems in my life...

And in so doing I hope to find a lighter, happier and more carefree me...

except for the carefree part... 

being the CEO of TheBusyFamily kinda negates that part...

But the rest, that is totally Do-able*....

definition: Do-able -something that can be accomplished that is actually worth the effort it will take

I Am Failing... Miserably!

Yes, that is the truth.
I have fallen off the healthy living band wagon...

I have not been active.
I have not been eating the right foods.
I have not cared enough to care that I don't care.

I have fallen into the trap of the depression that accompanies the change of seasons.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Summer!
I Love, love, love Fall.

I know, I am a season snob.

Summer gets more of my attention.
Summer is the season that I just cannot resist.

And yet, Fall truly is the season that I think of as my favorite.

Weird, huh?

Summer is when I am most active. Spending all of my time out of doors, in the pool, walking and running and swimming and eating farm fresh locally grown produce....
and then...
it just stops.

All of it.

The cold makes me hurt everywhere in a way that I cannot even begin to describe.
My hands become stiff.
My joints ache.
My knees and hips pop with every step.

I feel my age plus 50!

And so my weight has crept up and up and up until...

I am where I was at the start of the summer.
I have to start all over again.
This is a ride that I desperately want to get off of...
that I want to stop altogether...

So today I will go out and run errands.
Have lunch with a friend.
Spend time enjoying the sights and sounds of Fall in all her glory...

And take that first step to getting back on that proverbial wagon...
and try not to fall off again!

I think the World is Against me... or maybe it's just the scales

Yes, you read me correctly.
I think that the scales of the world are out to get me.
Or rather, out to not let me lose weight.

Semantics.

I walk.
I jog (okay I tried it one day and made it about 1 mile... sort of).
I do water aerobics...

In my backyard pool...

Where no one can see me if  I look like a beached whale...

Or a harbor seal fighting for it's life...

I eat right.
I exercise.
I drink tons of water and then I drink some more!

And yet, and still...

The scale will not move below 209.

It hates me.
And believe me...
The Feeling is quite mutual!

What Price Skinny?

Bulimia.                      (ewwwww)
Anorexia..                   (btdt)
Diet pills.                (too jumpy)
The liquid diet.            (ick)
The fat flushing diet. (too bad it comes right back)
The Cabbage diet.       (skinny but friendless?)
The Fish diet.    (skinny and a brainiac... not likely)
Thermogenics              (getting warmer)
Slim-fast.                     (getting hungrier)
HCG...  Say what?                                                                      

Seriously? 
Human Chorionic Growth Hormone...


HCG is now a weight loss product.




I mean it's a real one
.
Even Dr. Oz talked about it on his show.
He said it worked. 
He had no idea how or why, just that it had.


What is HCG? 
A hormone that is produced by pregnancy so the baby will grow. 


Who knew that un-pregnant people would lose weight if they took it? 
Who thought to try it?
On second thought, how do you get this hormone if you are not pregnant, or like, a boy?


Sometimes the leaps that scientific minds make to come up with solutions to the world's ills baffle and confuse me. 


And sometimes, I think that I'm better off just ignoring the world around me and moving to the beat of my very own drum, by myself, without any pregnant hormones to help me lose the weight...


What price is too much to pay for skinny-ness?


Anything that requires needles or patches or horse-pills, dehydrated foods or all liquid diets, prepackaged food that tastes like cardboard and costs as much as 2 weeks of family groceries...


Running, swimming, eating fresh fruits and vegetables, drinking a gallon of water a day... 


They may not be fancy.
They are not expensive.
They certainly aren't glamorous.
But they sure do work.... 


when I actually get around to doing them that is! 

I think, therefore, I AM...

not thinking about losing weight apparently.

Yes, I am back...
From out of town, that is.

Our family, the whole darn thing, went on a lovely joint vacation to Colonial Williamsburg.
There was great fun to be had by all... just not all together and at the same time.

We did a walking tour of the Colonial town... complete with a battle demonstration by re-enactors that was loud, smoky and quite entertaining as well as educational.
We walked around Busch Gardens for just over 12 hours...then went back and did it again for 8 more hours a few days later!
We went to Water Country USA... Yes, this is an amusement park filled with water slides and wave and wading pools. This translates into a day spent walking up and down hills to get to these fun and exciting slides followed by the climbing of quite literally THOUSANDS of steps to reach the launch just so that we could hurdle to our death at record breaking speeds from dizzying heights...
and then climb a thousand stairs to do it all again...
for over 7 hours!

Yes, I did all this walking.
I did all this stair climbing.
I drank a gallon of water a day.
I ate fresh fruit and vegetables.
I ate 3 meals a day and had virtually no snacks the entire week we were away.
I made healthy food choices on the few occasions we dined out.
I brought groceries from home and cooked healthy meals for the entire family nearly every night.

And yet...
I still am 210 pounds.
I seem unable to lose any more weight.

I am walking 3-4 days a week from 2 to 5 miles.
I am working out 2-3 days a week for 45 minutes or more to tone muscles and increase my endurance, my cardiac health and keep my Rheumatoid Arthritic joints and all-over fibromyalgia body pain to a dull ache.

And yet... still... shockingly and quite depressingly... I am still 210 pounds.

But...
I. Will. Not. Give. Up!
I. Will. Persevere.
I WILL SUCCEED!

or at least that is my intention...
and I am hoping that you will stick with me and encourage me and keep me honest and accountable for what I do, what I say, and what I eat...
Every single day...
Until my birthday in January or I lose 50 pounds...
Whichever comes first!

A New Outlook on Life... or Not

As I struggle to lose weight...
An on-going, often up-hill battle...
or so it too often seems...

I look at myself in the full-length mirror I had HeMan Hubby install behind our bedroom door way back in January when I decided to start the Sensa weightloss program and to get serious about this extra tonage I am lugging along with me everyday.

Sometimes I am not sure I know who that person in the mirror is.
Sometimes I see a stranger looking out at me from that other-parallel world beyond the glass.
Sometimes I catch a glimpse of the girl I used to be...
funny, self-assured, in-control of her life...

And sometimes I remember that that is not the girl I used to be, but rather the woman that I have become...
Am becoming.

When I get on scale I try to celebrate my losses...
To not be discouraged by my gains...
Because in weight-loss
As in life...

Without the failures we will not learn
And if we fail to learn
We fail to grow
And when we fail to grow
We stagnate...
in our minds, in our souls, in every aspect of our lives.

So I will take the highs and the lows of this weight loss roller coaster
I will make every endeavor to ride it out
To reach my final destination
A thinner, trimmer, more ME me...
On the outside...
But more importantly...
On the Inside.

Putting on Pants... UGH!

I know.
Putting on pants is an everyday occurrence. Or at least it should be.
For some of us this is easier said than done many days.

Today I put on a pair of shorts that I thought would fit well.
Apparently I was wrong.

Oh, they did fit...
once I laid on the bed and held my breath that is.

I have been making such strides in my journey to a thinner me...
or so I had thought.

It seems that I have gained back the 5 pounds lost last week.
Maybe if I just drink a gallon of water every day and stop eating all together I will lose it for good?

But then, that is not a realistic weight loss plan now is it?

So, instead I will drink my 100 ounces of water every day.
I will eat fresh fruits everyday. I have strawberries and blueberries this week- Woo Hoo!
I will keep my portions small.
I will not snack late at night.
I will not eat junk food... much... okay at all.

I have decided that I will not renew my Sensa plan once I finish with June's supply. In the 5 months I have been using it I have lost about 8 forever pounds and another 3-5 that flucuate weekly so...

For me I do not beleive the Sensa is working anymore. It was great at first, but after the 3rd month there has not been much in the permanent results department.

I admit, I do not sprinkle everything I eat, but I only miss a meal or 2 a week so that really should not make a difference in the grand scheme of things.
I am more active and am making the very conscious effort to remember that :
1- I do not live to eat and
2- I eat to live and
3- my goal is to lose 10 pounds... and then 10 pounds... and then 10 pounds... until I have achieved my ultimate goal...

These are the things that I will do to stay on track. I have 10 pounds to lose. When I lose those 10 pounds I will be under 200. That is the only goal I have at the moment. To weigh less than 200 pounds.

I was there 5 years ago. I was there for 3 years. I can be there again...

Until I get there I will continue to Color Me Thin with a giant ORANGE crayon and imagine that THAT is what I look like to everyone else...

Not just to myself in my dreams.

3 Steps Forward... 2 Steps Back?

Today is March 4th. I have officially been using the Sensa Weight Loss program, we'll just call them Sprinkles, for 2 months.

In that 2 months I have lost 7 pounds.

Here is the break down for those inquiring minds who think they need to know...

Jan 3rd I opened the box, read the instructions and started sprinkling everything I ate...

Week 1- 212.5 pounds... a 4 pound weight loss in about 8 days.

Week 2- down to 209.5... a 3 pound weight loss for a total of 7 pounds down...

It was looking good, REALLY good and then...

Week 3- weigh in didn't happen because of the 102 degree fever, chills and horrible pain in every part of my body...

Week 4- weight was the furthest thing from my mind... just taking a shower had me in bed for a 2 hour nap from exhaustion... the FLU from Hell was in full swing and all I could manage to do was drink about 100 oz of water a day and try not to cough up a lung...

Week 5- Finally, FINALLY! I woke up feeling like I had actually had some sleep... and I could take deep breaths without triggering a coughing jag that would last an hour. Back on track at work, getting caught up on my writing assignment deadlines and... ran the vacuum for the first time in nearly a month...

LIFE IS GOOD! 

Week 6- Life is NOT good. I tire too easily and it is all I can do to get thru the day to take a nap to go to work... weight is up to 213 and hanging there... but I could be worse, MUCH worse...

Walked 3 miles on Monday and nearly 6 miles on Wednesday this week... the weather was in the 70's so I took advantage! 

Week 7- Weight is 210-ish. It's been up and down for the few days ( yes I weigh myself almost every day - it makes me pay attention to what I am doing!)

Week 8- That's TODAY! Weight is at 209. Not bad, but certainly not astronomically astounding either.

I have figured out that I have not sprinkled enough.
Actually it's not that I am not sprinkling enough, its that I am not eating enough so I am not sprinkling what I am not eating.

At the end of each month I have been told that month's Shaker ( the thing the Sprinkles are in) should be empty, or nearly so. You get 2 a month and by mid month one should be empty and at the end of the month the other one should be too.

Well, I have almost a full Shaker left at the end of this month. Not Good, Not Good At All!

So, I am going to have to make myself eat more, I mean like eat 3 meals and 2 snacks a day instead of 1 meal and maybe 2 snacks...

A typical food day is lunch - a sandwich or a salad or a some yogurt with granola and fresh fruit.

Then there's a snack... some Sun Chips or some Wheat Thins and hummus or an apple or a pear.

Dinner... yeah, not usually on the menu, but a small helping of whatever I made the family... Jambalaya, Beef Stew, Baked Chicken, Meatball subs...

At night at work I eat a piece of fruit, granola and sometimes cookies.

Ya gotta have a cookie now and again or ya get cranky!

So I resolve to eat more frequently and try to eat more fruits and veggies for snacks.
But more importantly, I VOW to SPRINKLE EVERYTHING I eat... and since I'll be eating more then I'll be using more SPRINKLES and then...

Look Out! Hot Momma coming down!!!

Better Late Than Never?

Officially, I have been on the SENSA plan for 4 weeks.

In reality?

No, I have not.

I have been sick for the past 2 weeks with the worst FLU in the history of the world.

Okay, the worst FLU in my history of the world.

So, I did use my Sprinkles on everything I ate while sick, on the sofa, feeling like I was hacking up a lung or dying, or both... For 2 WEEKS...

But I wasn't really hungry so I didn't eat much.

I did drink 6 quarts of water a day.
I did suck on Ricola and Hall's cough drops like candy.
I did take cold and flu medicine.

The problem was that I was dehydrated anyway... what with the cold medicine sucking the moisture out of me AND the fever that lasted for 6 days...

Still I have not gained anything so...

Officially I am beginning week 4.
Un-officially I am beginning week 2...
I'm just gonna pretend that the last 2 weeks didn't happen... ( I think it's better for my sanity this way)

Yes, they were that awful.
No, I'm not kidding....

Don't forget to drink your water...
And take some VITAMIN C while you're at it...

It could be the difference between living your life and laying on the sofa with the FLU...

Guess I shoulda taken some VITAMIN C tabs, ya think?

Sensa Day 10.... Feeling Thinnish?

Me!!!

No, that's not exactly true.
I am not counting the days on Sensa, but more like counting the days of increased water and decreased junk food consumption.

Which is pretty much what this is boiling down to.

I have been using my sprinkles on everything- even the butter cookies- that I have eaten over the last week and a half.

Yes, I said butter cookies.
And a piece of carrot cake on my birthday.
And a piece yesterday instead of dinner.

But I didn't skip dinner so much as I ate it at lunch instead so that I would not eat a heavy meal then head right to bed for an evening nap before work.

I have found that :
1)   I am much thirstier than I usually am in the middle of winter.
2)   I am craving fruit and veggies instead of breads and dairy products...very different for me I have to say.
3)   Some days I feel bloated but most days I feel 'thinnish'... and if it isn't a real word, it is now!

So, I will continue my Sprinkling ways and drinking Crystal Light and water...

And I'll let you know on Monday how I manage to resist the temptations of the weekend ...
Cake, cake and more cake are in my immediate future... but I will not give in !!!

Until next time...

A week in and...

It's still going well.
I'm using my sprinkles on all my food and drinking about 96 ounces of water every day.
I am keeping track of my daily calorie intake, as well as sodium and carbs. So far I have been doing really well and keeping within the recommended ranges.

I weighed in at 212.5. That's a 3.5 pound weight loss in a week.

The daily menu tool on the TrySensa.com site is easy to use, and the recipes are not only simple, but look like they will be full of flavor too.

Tonight I will be making pork chops with apple sauerkraut. I'll let you know if it tastes as good as the recipe looks!

After one week I highly recommend this program. So far it has been as easy to stick to as the infomercials claimed, and with the use of the menu tools and support groups it has been easy to get answers to my questions and find tricks to help keep to the program even when eating out.

Until next time.... eat healthy and drink plenty of water!