Ups and downs - this is why I'm not an everyday weigher

Pure Tranquility...

Well I'm back at one one my favorite places.  From the picture above, can you blame me?

We left Friday afternoon.  While packing the two kiddos and myself, I checked out the number on the scale for my Friday weigh-in.  I was up 1.4 pounds, which I wasn't too upset about considering all the trouble I was having with and 2YO's birthday. 

I brought the scale up to the cabin with me and decided to hop on again.  I was so surprised by the number I thought it had to be wrong because I may have been leaning on the toilet as I squeezed into the tiny space the scale was in.  I pulled back the rug, moved the scale out, and tried again.  Same!!!  Instead of the one pound gain, I was looking at a one pound loss!

Even better, I had just come back from a second visit with C25K Week 5 Day 2.  It's been almost 2 weeks since I ran and the next day is attempting 2 miles without stopping, so I decided to give Day 2, with 8 min run, 5 min walk, 8 min run, another go.  It went great!  I was definitely super slow at the end, but I did it!  Wish me luck with two full miles tomorrow!  Scary! 

So, I had a great morning!  I also resisted the all-afternoon urge to snack while I searched through my Weight Watchers cookbooks for some meals.  Andrefrained from having all the delicious alcoholic beverages I would have normally had on our boat ride across the 9 mile lake to the bar at the other end.  I was craving one of their long islands, but I knew that would make it impossible to not overdo it on the Hobo Dinner we were returning to.

Please excuse the non-politically correct name, but a Hobo Dinner is a wonderful thing!  Anyone ever had one?  Mmmm!  

We traveled to find the Cherry Cans to cook them in many years ago - probably 15 or more if I want to feel old.  In all fairness, I think I was pretty young.  Anyway, there is a specific order to placing the ingredients, cooking over a fire, and a delicious meal at the end!

Our campfire was taking a bit too long and it was getting late, so we had a change of plans

checking the yumminess to see it it's ready

Mmm...

Pouring out the rest of the goodness. The bottom is lined with corn husks and those get removed.

How delicious does all that look!?! I had a really hard time holding back. Yum!

After all that fantastic food I still wanted chocolate, but I'm proud to say I brushed my teeth instead of doing some late-night snacking! Only a couple more days until my DietBet weigh-ins. Feeling good about it!

Happy Birthday 2-year-old and hello sugar coma.

Today was awful! There was hardly a single piece of healthy food that entered my mouth. Breakfast was some special chocolate chip and M&MS pancakes. With all the prep, I missed out on the nice big salad I had planned and snacked on the popcorn, nuts, and M&M mix I was serving up in paper cones. I had two of the sandwich wraps and a lot of junk at the party. Did you check out that cake? There goes my whole day right there!

The worst part.  I remembered at 10pm that I still have the giant veggie tray sitting in my fridge.  That would have been a much better option than all that other crap...

Regardless of how terrible my eating was, I did have a non-scale victory.  My mother-in-law said that I was looking good.  That, along with the compliment from my dad the other day, is making me feel pretty good.

Of course, I have a lot of making up to do after today...  Overall, I'm pretty happy about the way things are going.  

I may need to step up the exercise and put a lock on all that leftover junk food, but I feel pretty confident I can finish out the week pretty strong.  Also, I have so much help at the cabin with my parents, that I'm pretty excited to get another meal plan going and keep up with my exercise routine.  It makes such a difference to have all that help instead of doing it all on my own until my husband gets home between 6 and 9.

The number on the scale is making me feel pretty good, but the fact that others are noticing is even better!  What were your non-scale victories?

Looking pretty trim, Dude

That's a direct quote from my dad.

Pretty great way to start the day.

I wish I had taken the time to take some measurements. I feel like my 20 pound loss is really evident in my post-babies belly, but have no measure. My mom has also noticed at my face is getting thinner.

Thank goodness!

That is one thing that I can't stand. I have larger cheeks anyway, but they have really gotten big and I can't stand to see them in pictures.

So, you'd think all this positive feedback would give me some extra motivation to stay on track.

Not so much.

After prepping for 2YO's birthday all morning and afternoon, I finally got my lunch in sometime after 2 and I was starving. After my nice healthy wrap, I attacked the jalapeño Cheetos and M&Ms. We're talking, right from the bag, no measure of how much I consumed. Ugh...

I had a bad moment, but dinner was great and I'm determined not to do even worse tonight. I plan on having a glass of light vanilla soy milk and if I absolutely have to have something after that, I will limit it to a small amount of animal crackers or oyster crackers.

Stir fry!

...and some chicken.  Yum!

Tomorrow is 2YO's birthday party. Yikes! I will be surrounded with cookies, cake, and candy. My plan is to eat well all day and indulge in a piece of amazing chocolate cake, and maybe a cookie. The rest of the week better be amazing, because the DietBets end soon and I want to go out with a bang!

How on earth has it been two years!?!

Weekly Goal - that's right, goal - keeping it simple

I have been rocking it these last three weeks.  This weekend... I stunk it up big time.

I've gone over my cals each day and have snacked like I haven't done in weeks.  I'm like a madwoman when I get one bite of something naughty - I can't stop!  We have 2YO's birthday coming up on Wednesday and I stocked up on all sorts of goodies I shouldn't have.

I'm nearing the end of my DietBets, so I shouldn't start slacking now.  I don't think there is a chance I could fail, since I would have to gain 6 pounds, but I don't want this great streak to end.

I know what I need to do.

I need to meal plan like I did a couple weeks ago.  Although, I have no clue where I'll find the time between now and Wednesday...

Well, anyway.  Let's check out those weekly goals

Goals for this week:

1. It is going to be HOT this week and we have no a/c until we replace our 20-year-old unit.  So, my main goal will be to get my booty active regardless of the heat.  Easier said than done because my plan was to get a run in today and that never happened...  I didn't do the greatest, but I did make sure to get the kiddos out for hour walks each day.
2. Plan some meals for home like I did for the cabin.  I've been having trouble coming up with meals now that we're home.  Largely due to the fact that I don't have help with the kids, desperately need to go shopping, and can never plan on what time Hubby will be home.  It needs to be done, though, or I'm really going to have a hard time.  Failed this one...  Still needs to be my goal.

Goal for this week:

My one and only goal is to meal plan.  If I can do this, I can get on track and the rest will fall into place.

Low and high

Weigh-in day: down 1.8 but up in calories consumed...

Let's talk about the good stuff. I am down 14 pounds from my official DietBet weigh-in. Although I have to add a pound or two to account for the ipad I was holding to take the pictures the first time around, so it's not quite 14. But still! How great is that in a month?

Today was the first day I went over my calories. I'm not quite sure how it happened... I only got in a half a banana before sending the kiddos off to Grandma and Grandpa's and I had nearly a pound of cooked cauliflower for lunch (Mmm... I could eat that all day).

I though I was all set for date night and could order pretty confidently if we ate out. I even packed my snack for the movie: 2 servings of oyster crackers and 1 serving of chocolate animal crackers.

After the movie we did a huge trip to Sam's to stock up for 2YO's party.  He will officially turn 2 on Wednesday.  I picked up all sorts of things I can't eat, but I'm just going to have to put the leftover things away until the fourth when I can cheat a week and get back into a couple more bets.

After unloading all the groceries, Hubby and I decided not to go out to eat because the weather sirens were going off and we were under a severe thunderstorm warning - not exactly the time to head out someplace.  I heated up some leftover ribs and broccoli and must have had entirely too many ribs, because my cals jumped up pretty fast.

While I worked on party decorations, Hubby sat next to me snacking.  I couldn't resist a few mixed nuts while he had them out and then I decided it would be a good idea to try the nut, popcorn, M&MS mix I plan on throwing together.  It was so hard to stop!!!  I did track it all, at least, but I felt like I let myself down a little.

One week left until the final DietBet weigh-in.  I'm about 6 pounds past my goal (less because of the ipad weight), so I'm pretty positive I'll be fine.  Even my weakness tonight wasn't nearly what it would have been a month or two ago.  That's progress!

Eating healthy takes some planning and practice...

I never really understood people when they said they "forgot" to eat. I never forgot to eat. Fitting eating in was easy when I didn't care what I ate. Now I get it.

Without a plan, I'm having the hardest time eating enough. I'll fix food for the kids and keep wondering what to make myself until I eventually move on and forget that I never ate that meal I spent an hour thinking about.

Breakfast has been easy. Yesterday I had oatmeal with the kids and this morning I made us some eggs on a turkey sausage patty and sandwich thin.

Dinner has been ok, but lunch has been hard. I haven't had much for lunch because I have no plan of where to allocate my calories for the day and how to keep it well-rounded.

I need to plan a few more meals and start getting a repertoire of recipes so I don't sit and look at the fridge so long. It will get easier. Right now I keep struggling with lunch because I have no plan for dinner. I need to fix that.

We still don't have a/c. The kids and I have been doing fine and managing to keep the house from getting up past 78* by keeping windows open and fans blowing in the morning and closing things up around 10am.

Needless to say, my activity has been suffering a little. I can't even think about getting all sweaty with a run and not being able to cool off. So, we've been walking a lot. At least I'm getting out there. I've done an hour each day around the neighborhood and Sunday was spent walking around this place for hours.

We spent Father's Day walking around the MOA for about 3 to 4 hours. I'd say that makes up for missing a run!

I almost forgot - I have some Non-Scale Victories to share

1. I've been very conscious of what I eat. Even though I need some more practice with healthy eating, I've been paying attention to it and staying under my daily calories and getting a decent variety of foods.

2. While we were at the MOA, we ate at the Rainforest Cafe and I actually stayed on track. I looked up the different meals on MyFitnessPal and picked the Fish Tacos (not fried) and took one home. I'm happy I made the best decision I could instead of throwing the day away.

I can't believe I almost forgot the best one - COMPLIMENTS!

3. I usually get compliments from my husband out of habit like, "there's my beautiful wife." I don't even pay attention to them because he says it all the time, regardless of how I look. When I got back from the cabin, I got some genuine compliments. It's funny because he's not as free with those so he kept kind of sneaking them in and saying how good I looked. He also asked how much I lost and had to tell me how much he's lost. :) He's probably lost the same amount as me, mainly by cutting out regular sodas and limiting nighttime snacking.

Weekly Goals - late again but still in!

Last week's goals:

To be honest, I just had to look them up now to see if I even set goals last week.  You can guess how well I stuck to them then!  :)  Actually, I didn't do too bad...

1. I'm not positive what my water intake has been because I switch water bottles all day, 2YO drinks out of them, and I just forget to drink. My goal is to aim for at least 2 full bottles of water a day and to make a conscious effor to keep track. I didn't do this one.  I'm still having a really hard time keeping track of my water.  Overall, I drink quite a bit and I don't drink much other than water, so I'm going to stop stressing about this one for a whole.
2. Skip 1 day of nighttime snacking this week. Skip 2 the next, and so on.   Done!  I actually skipped a couple nights of nighttime snacking with the help of a glass of Light Vanilla Soy Milk!
3. Complete Week 4 of C25K - finally!  Done!  I wrote about it here, but I managed to get over that hump, now I'm wondering why the heck each day of Week 5 is different instead of the same routine three days in a row?  Also, I may have run 8 min straight, but I doubt I made it 3/4 of a mile each time.  Guess I'm still a bit closer to "couch."

Goals for this week:

1. It is going to be HOT this week and we have no a/c until we replace our 20-year-old unit.  So, my main goal will be to get my booty active regardless of the heat.  Easier said than done because my plan was to get a run in today and that never happened...
2. Plan some meals for home like I did for the cabin.  I've been having trouble coming up with meals now that we're home.  Largely due to the fact that I don't have help with the kids, desperately need to go shopping, and can never plan on what time Hubby will be home.  It needs to be done, though, or I'm really going to have a hard time.

Prime example of what happens when I have no plans or groceries. I was dying for a sandwich or salad because of the heat, but didn't have any lettuce so I got this skimpy thing. Although, I did get a decent amount of veggie chips for the serving size, so that made me happy. Too bad I don't think I can get these at Sam's Club anymore...

Another prime example of what no groceries or creativity gets you. We had leftover veggies (yum) with a Hormel Meatloaf (not too bad). I need to get shopping and get planning - we were eating way better than this last week!

Did I mention I'm staying strong in ONEderland!?! Yep.

Bad Eating Day - but not what you think...

Today was a horrible eating day, but not because I ate too much. I ate way too little and besides some spinach in my breakfast, I didn't get any fruits and veggies in.

We left the cabin today. I ended up making a late breakfast of Eggs Florentine while packing and we left around lunchtime. The rest of the fam snacked in the car, but I didn't and really didn't feel hungry.

There was a lot going on when we got home because the kiddos hadn't seen their dad in a week. I immediately got to work clipping coupons so I could stock up after a week gone. I would have waited but we were out of formula, and guess who brought her Target receipt from over $100 to $60 and managed to come home with 8 things of formula (2 tubs, 4 pre-mixed, and 2 6 packs), diapers (2), deodorant (3), and feminine products (6)? Oh yeah!

It was so nice out when I got home that I decided to get the fam out for a walk before bed. We did a quick loop around the neighborhood. When we got back I realized I hadn't eaten a thing since breakfast. I was then busy with getting the little ones ready for bed so I popped a leftover half turkey burger into the toaster oven and shoved it down before jumping in the shower.

While I was at the cabin, I realized that drinking some soy milk before bed really cut down on my nighttime snacking. I had some coupons for Almond Milk, so I picked some up for $1! I couldn't wait to try it out so I had a glass and later I had some chocolate animal crackers.

Here's the evidence of my nutritionally lacking day. I'll try better tomorrow.

Today aside, I'm so happy with my eating and activity lately. I was even able to take part in our fish fry last night! Mmmm... I can't resist some fresh-caught fried walleye. I didn't know how to track it, but came up with battered, fried walleye and found I could have way more than I thought! We bread of fish lightly not batter, so I'm sure I was we'll within my calories.

Ok, I got way too into that fish fry... Let's talk about running. Here I was all excited about C25K Week 5 because it went so well the first day and the second day was different! What the heck happened to three days of consistency? Well, at least I can report that I made it through 8min running, 5 minutes walking, and 8 more minutes of running!

Last thing to mention - guess who has entered ONEderland!?! This lady!

Non-Scale Victories (and a little cheat)

Love me some Non-Scale Victories on Thursdays. Excuse me for being a little late. I've been doing some of this...

Along with some of this...

I actually have quite a few NSV this week!  Finally!

1.  No usual cabin snacking!!!!!  Until yesterday (when I allowed 4malted milk balls) I had zero chocolate, besides my allowed animal crackers.  Even those I haven't been having each day.  I've found that a glass of light vanilla soy milk keeps me from late-night snacking.

2.  I have been sticking to my planned meals and making the majority of the meals up here.  This has helped SOOO much!  We haven't been following the exact days of my meal plan, but have fixed most of them and stayed super healthy.

3.  I have been tracking with MyFitnessPal everyday!  This is probably one of the biggest helps because I sometimes track before I eat the food and it keeps me conscious of how much I need for the day.  I have also stayed under my goal each day! (Add me! 2Momma2)

4.    I finally got over the hump of C25K week 4.  That thing was kicking my booty!  So, when I finally completed it, I was so nervous for what Week 5 would bring.  I am so excited to say - I did it! I ran all three of the 5 minute stretches and it felt good!  I don't know if it was running in the morning or the new routine, but it all felt great. Which brings me to...

5.  I kept thinking about my morning run all day.  I run the same circle each time and one loop around is roughly a mile.  I usually complete two circles with my 30 minute run/walk.  When I did the 5min run, 3min walk, 5min run I basically completed the circle.  I began to think I could run the whole thing.  I went back out int he evening and RAN THE WHOLE CIRCLE!  I'm not going going to say I ran a whole mile, but I'm pretty sure I ran 8 or 9 tenths of a mile in 14 minutes.  Not fast, but steady running!  I think I have only run one entire mile without walking in my life.  Woohoo!

Amazing week!  I could leave it at that, but I have to cheat a little.  My official weigh-in day is Friday, but guess who saw a glimpse of ONEderland tonight?  That's right!  Very excited.

Weighing in and taking names!

Weigh-in was today and I'm down 1.4 pounds! {wow, can you tell I was on vacation? I have no idea why I thought Tuesday was Friday (my actual weigh-in day). So strange....}

Two more weeks to go in the DietBets and I'm 98% there.  What a motivator!

I have been doing such a great job and haven't been slacking at all in the diet department.  I've tracked everyday with MyFitnessPal and stayed under my calories.  I've made some great foods and been really happy with my nutrition - I'm not just limiting, I'm eating all sorts of healthy stuff and a great variety.

I could be doing better with my activity, but we're "on vacation" and there is fishing and boating that get in the way.  I would like to say that I finally finished C25K Week 4!!!!  Whew! That was a hard one!  I don't think I could have done it without my friends Journey.  As "Don't Stop Believing" came on I gave a silent prayer of thanks - actually, I'm pretty sure I made a not-so-silent gasp of, "Oh, thank you!"

I am determined to finish and be able to complete a 5K in a decent time by September.  We've been setting up a team for the Lupus Walk and I will be registering for the 5K.  Although my suggestion of, "Whupus Some Lupus" didn't make the team name, I am still rooting for it to make it to the t-shirts as our slogan. :)

Anyway.

Let me show off some lovely food we've been eating.  I wish with the commotion of the kids I would have snapped a shot of our Sausage, Peppers, and Onions Pizza, because it was tasty.

I did grab a shot of our dinner last night.  Turkey Burgers with Onion Rings.  Yes, onion rings.  Weight Watchers had a recipe for them that called for 2 large onions, 2 tbs flour, 1/4 c egg substitute, and 1/3 c breadcrumbs.  Are you kidding me!?!  We only cut up one onion and there was no way I could get the breading to stretch that far!  I picked out a couple lightly coated ones from the first batch for myself and loaded up the ones for the rest of the family.  They were delicious, though.

We've got a busy day tomorrow, so I hope I'll get a chance to try out Week 5 of C25K. I can't see how I'll push through when Week 4 is still a struggle, but positive thoughts and you never know!!! If anyone else in on MFP, I'd love some more motivation and support at 2Momma2!!!

Veggie Pancakes

Since we've been at the cabin my 2-year-old has been on a kick of asking Grandma and Grandpa for pancakes in the morning.

I think we are going on our 5th straight day of pancakes.

I decided enough was enough.  I knew there was a healthy pancake recipe.  Before I had my second child, I worked with kids and had a kiddo who's mom sent a veggie pancake with him everyday because he wasn't much of a vegetable eater.  I tried to get her recipe several times, but never managed to get it on paper.

Let me say, I am noooo baker.  So, when I was researching other recipes I was a little frustrated that I wasn't coming up with something like I wanted.  I decided to give it a try with what we had on hand. 

So, with more than a little nervousness, I started developing my own recipe.  At least we were dealing with pancakes and I could alter the batter as I went.  It doesn't have to be a perfect attempt.

It took a couple tweaks along the way, but I think they came out pretty good!

Ingredients we had:
1/2 zucchini
1 Gerber 1st foods Sweet Potato (the little one is moving past these, so this was a perfect way to skip a step)
1 egg (nevermind the 2 eggs in the picture, I'll explain the small batch later)
1/4 c Applesauce
3/4 c Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c Light Vanilla Soy Milk

This made about a dozen silver dollar pancakes. I did such a small batch because I wanted to make sure I had plenty of veggies leftover to try again if I failed. I have to say, I don't think I failed at all - they were tasty!

The first cakes were a little on the wet side, so I kept adding flour until I got it to the ratio above. Then they seemed great. I've also have very little experience with cooking pancakes and it always could have been a chef failure with the heat and duration of cooking, which is why there are no cooking instructions! :) I'm guessing most of you can cook a better pancake than me, but try this recipe because it is delicious and you can feel pretty good about your morning meal.

I like the fact that I don't have to feel like my kiddo isn't getting the nutrition he needs during this pancake obsession. We managed to sneak both fruits and veggies in there and he still ate them like mad! Success.

Any of you experienced cooks out there want to add any suggestions or recipes of your own, feel free! I was winging it and pretty excited about the end result, but I'd love any ideas!

Breaking Old Habits

Old habits and environmental influences have no impact on this lady when there is money at stake!

Largely due to the fact that I planned ahead and am on a mission to eat healthy, I haven't had any desire to reach for the jar full of candy, cabinet full of chips, or freezer full of ice cream.  This. Is. Huge.

I will admit to one moment of weakness.  When we first arrived at the cabin and began to open things up, I had a strong urge to reach into that candy jar for no other reason than because it was there and that is what I'd always done.

Since that moment, I have been focused on meal planning and preparation.  It has helped so much and I haven't even felt deprived one bit.

The only struggle I'm having in getting a little more activity in.  Besides rainy days like today, my problem has been that I am completely stuck in Week 4 of C25K.  I have tried the 3min jog / 1.5 min walk / 5 min jog / 5 min walk (or something like that) routine for nearly a month.  I've gone back to Week 3, tried to do as much as I can, and tried to really push it.  I'm guessing it's really a mind-over-matter thing, but I tried really hard yesterday and still ended up limping along through the last 5 minute jogging stretch - I kept running but I probably ended up with a full minute of walking in there too.  So, technically, I have not completed Day 2 yet.  I know I can do it if I completed Day 1, but I have been struggling ever since...

On a positive note, the food situation has been great!  I've allowed a nighttime snack of 16 chocolate animal crackers and that has been enough to fulfill my chocolate craving (even with a certain visitor).  Last night, I had a Black Bean Burger and green beans.  This morning we had a delicious breakfast of Hashbrown Stackers that the entire family enjoyed and I will definitely be making again.  I loved my Steak Salad from yesterday so much that I had another one tonight for dinner.  We each had different quick meals for lunch so I grabbed a Pizza Snacker out of the freezer.  I made these a while back as a quick meal for 2YO or a larger snack food, but it was the perfect quick lunch for me because it calculated to about 166 calories - not too shabby for a really yummy pizza!

Most meals have been a complete success.  I've really had great experiences with almost every Weight Watchers recipe I've tried.  I bought some yummy soy milk on the way up and that was also a delicious snack.  However, we used some of that soy milk in a smoothie with a bag of frozen fruit and it did not turn out as delicious as I was hoping.  It was a good way to get some fruit in since my lunch was lacking a bit, but it did not do much to satisfy.  Anyone have some good smoothie recipes?  Maybe I just wasn't in the mood tonight.

Again, a bit of a wordy post, but I feel like I actually have a lot to share, unlike the days where I wasn't getting much of anything right.  We might be staying up here the rest of the week, so I need to be looking for some new recipes, and I'm going to have my scale brought up.  I know, I think there is a reason we don't have one up here, but I'm doing well and I'd like to peek!  :)


While I'm at it I should probably just link up with Jess for the Weekly Goals

1. I'm not positive what my water intake has been because I switch water bottles all day, 2YO drinks out of them, and I just forget to drink. My goal is to aim for at least 2 full bottles of water a day and to make a conscious effor to keep track.
2. Skip 1 day of nighttime snacking this week. Skip 2 the next, and so on.
3. Complete Week 4 of C25K - finally!

Friday weigh-in and off to the cabin

Weigh-in results: 6 pounds down!!! Must have been because I didn't eat those animal crackers I was planning on. :)

This puts me back at where I was after my last visit to the cabin and garage sale weekend...

But still... I'm happy.

 I knew I would see a big loss again if I buckled down instead of scraping by enough to see a weekly 1 pound loss. I'm so excited to see what this month (and hopefully longer) will bring.

I've focused on diet this past week, because I didn't do much exercise to speak of. Actually, the only thing I can think to speak of is the little bit of running around I did with 2YO at gymnastics. The weather was a little iffy and I never knew if it was going to ran or not.

Now that we're up north, I'm already ready to don my new clothes and go for a run!

I've been spending all afternoon with my meal plan, changing things around to accommodate our groceries. Tonight we're trying the Orange Beef with Noodles. I'll need to be on the ball because we're doubling the recipe and I need to measure my serving size. I came prepared with my food scale! :) I'm also proud to say that I wasn't tempted by the fried chicken the rest of the family had on the way up. I had enough going on with helping 2YO eat and tracking my own grilled chicken salad.

--- It's so hard to post things up here! I never got to this so I'll just add on. ---

The Orange Beef with Rice Noodles was good. I don't know if I'll make it again but it was fun to try something new. The rest of the fam liked it, but 2YO had a hard time with the textures of rice noodles and steak.

We've had some amazing meals since then, though!

Breakfast was a delicious Eggs Florentine that I will definitely make again. I used a Sandwich Thin in place of the WW English muffin and a half slice of a cheese single because I didn't have WW low fat thins.

We used some leftover steak for Steak Salad. I cut the portion down quite a bit and used 4oz of lettuce and 4oz of steak (instead of 6 of each). We also didn't have the feta, but didn't miss it at all.

I think I'm about to head out for another attempt at C25K Week 4 Day 2. I tried yesterday but only made it one time around the mile circle, because my phone was dying and the Mosquitos were terrible! A little bug spray and a charged phone and hopefully I'll be able to push myself a bit more. I can't believe I'm struggling so much with jogging 5 minutes. I keep reading about people that run miles and I can't even imagine.

Whew! That was long. Just to keep thing interesting, I'll share this little gem we drive past each time in the way to the cabin.

Classy.

I didn't eat enough today - what!?!

Today was kind of a busy day and I know I didn't eat like I should. I mean, I ate very well but I didn't eat at the right times.

I skipped breakfast. I know, big no-no, but it didn't turn into a binge session later so that was good. 2YO and I went to baby gymnastics and I got a little exercise in instead.

We then went to visit with Grandma and Grandpa to pick up the little one and, since we stayed so long, I had a quick snack of a Spinach Asiago Chicken Sausage on a Sandwich Thin.  We stayed a bit longer to check out the new addition to the playhouse - a little table.  2YO loves that place and who can blame him!

I can't believe, looking back, that I did no snacking between lunch and dinner. The little lady kept me pretty busy because she's not happy these days without someone to hold onto while she stands up. I'm wondering if she'll follow in her Momma's footsteps and walk at 8 months.

We're leaving for the cabin in the morning, Hubby will be out at a friend's shop working on his work vehicle all weekend, and his daughter is with her mom this weekend. All that added up to a Clean Out The Fridge Night.

We had leftover sloppy joe mix (which I've been steering clear from mostly because of the bun), Arby's chicken strips and fries leftover from a grandparent outing (not going to work for me), and Cheddarwurst burgers (definitely not going to work for me!).

I added some ingredients to make something I felt good having and here's what I came up with.

I dusted off my food scale of weight watchers days and found I had a 4oz potato topped with 1/2 cup of sloppy joe mix and 1 cup broc/caul mix. And, let me tell you, it filled me up! It ended up being such a big meal and, yeah, it didn't really need the sloppy joe, but I've been eyeing that stuff for a while and it was good!

I have to admit I also had to add to my calorie counting 1/2 an Arby's chicken strip that 2YO didn't eat - I'm only human! Now, although it's late, I'm going to grab 16 chocolate animal crackers, get a back rub from Hubby, and hit the sack.

I'm still 400 under my calorie goal, so I know I didn't eat enough. But what I did eat was pretty good. Weigh-in is tomorrow and I'm actually excited! So far, this DietBet has been my best motivation yet, and I really needed something to kick start me into these healthy habits.

Non-Scale Victories - I'm working on it!

I don't exactly have any non-scale victories this week.

I'm working on it

Since finally joining two DietBets (it's not too late to join the DietBet, it just started yesterday! http://bit.ly/11h3A74) I have been committed to staying on track. I will not lose that money! I have tracked my food (MyFitnessPal 2Momma2), not eaten any chips or chocolate, and started meal planning so I won't have trouble at the cabin.

I got creative with leftovers tonight. I used half of 2YOs bun for sloppy joes (which I would have loved to have since that particular recipe was delicious) and sliced it into two super thin pieces. I spread a really thin layer of Hidden Valley Farmhouse Originals Southwest Chipotle dressing (yum!) and added lettuce and my fish. It was sooo good!

Half a bun, cut in half :) it actually looks pretty thick! It wasn't...

I'll definitely have some NSVs next week - I'm counting on it!

So, here is my official Non-Scale Victory: I finally got some cute clothes for working out! I may have already posted a picture earlier today, but I'm that excited about them. I'm also happy that I' committed to keeping up with running, even though it is totally hard for me, enough to justify buying the clothes and that I feel like I'll be comfortable wearing them in public.

Finally going to look like I'm serious instead of some old slob in baggy clothes
attempting to move faster than the speed of snail!

A Whole New Committment

Day 2 (ish, because my diet bets were a day or two apart) and I feel really committed! It's been rainy so I'd have liked to get a little more exercise in, but I have actually been tracking my food. I haven't done that in a long time! Of course, it's much easier when you're eating well.

I had one last unhealthy, indulgent meal on Monday. We grilled some Jimmy Dean Cheddarwurst Burgers! Holy cow, yum! I had one and a half - oops! However, I skipped the fries and had a nice helping of broccoli instead.

Yesterday, after oatmeal for breakfast, I was SO ready for lunch!  Luckily I had this yummy dish in the fridge - spicy turkey sausage with Bowie pasta, peas and mushrooms.  I kept to a good portion size and shared with the little one.

Last night, I was debating about making a salad and serving the fam leftovers or cooking up some fish.  I looked up the nutrition information and it was a no-brainer.  Fish is so good for you and all I did was brush them with a small amount of olive oil and sprinkle them with some Cajun seasoning.  Yum!  We each had a little side salad and I had a little Lite Honey Mustard dressing on that and some homemade croutons.

My salad yesterday was so good I decided to have another today (after a Egg Beater breakfast in the morning). I could have used some chicken, but time was of the essence and I couldn't search the freezer. I added a tablespoon of toasted flax seeds which adds some great flavor with my Newman's Own Sesame Ginger dressing. I added a little more than half of the Clementine I shared with the little one. It made me think of a yummy Asian salad I would order out.

While I was out today I finally picked up some serious (and seriously cute) workout clothes! This wasn't just fun, it was a necessity! The other day as I ran to pick the kids up I spent more time pulling up my pants and pulling my shirt down than running. Not good!

How cute!?! I should also add that I got all this for only $23! Pat on the back bargain and coupon shopper! :)

How's that for motivation? I can't wait to try them out!

It's not too late to join the DietBet, it just started yesterday! http://bit.ly/11h3A74