Weekly Goals and another round of Dietbets

Whew! That last week was pretty gross. I thought I could eat like I used to for a few days, but yuck!

I tried to track all the junk, and it really made me aware of how terrible I used to eat. I also got some runs in at the beginning of the week and one awful one tonight. It really made me realize how badly I was fueling my body.

I start another dietbet tomorrow, and I'm really happy to get back to healthy eating and good workouts.  I love the players in the new game - completely supportive and fun right off the bat!  The game is open to anyone, so feel free to join us.  This has been the best motivation for me and helped me loose 15lbs each month - now I just need to work on not gaining 5 back in between!

I thought I wasn't quite at the point yet to make a full lifestyle change. I was really looking forward to letting myself indulge in everything I hadn't let myself have for a month. What I found out was that I am closer to the goal of healthy living all the time, not just yo-yo dieting. The way I felt wasn't worth the indulgence. At. All.

My goals for this week are pretty simple

1. Back to my healthy eating and meal planning of last month
2. Workout every day. I'm going to try to keep up with shooting for a full 5K. If I don't have time for that, I need to at least get a quick little at-home workout in.
3. Keep up with the blog and get some of the half-finished posts out. I've got some great thoughts floating around out there, and maybe if I can spend my time on them it will help keep my mind in the right place and keep me on track.




A little view from our window tonight. Did I mention that one of these guys ran right in front of me during my run the other day? There have also been some black bears sighted not too far down the road from my route - I wouldn't want to run not one of those!

Do you see them?  We may have witnessed quite the show if my Little Lady hadn't started banging on the window!

Don't forget to link up your posts with any tips and tricks you may have - old or new - or any posts looking for help or advice!  We had 20 fabulous links last week - be sure to check them out!

Linking up here too!

Friday weigh-in - what a roller coaster ride of weigh-ins!

Ho-ly Cow! These past 4 weeks have been crazy!

I lost 8lbs in the first week, gained one in the second week, back down a pound and a half, and now... Down 6.6 pounds!!! I'd say I've ben pretty consistent with eating and exercise, too.

That's nuts! I'm going to take some time to review MyFitnessPal and see what was going on. If I can recognize any patterns, I might be able to figure out the patterns. Although, I think I'll probably just find that this weight loss thing is strange... I'm not quite knowledgable enough about nutrition and fitness to figure out what is happening.

I'm in Jess' Skinny Jean Fit Camp, where I get exercise advice and a lot of support. I may have to reach our to the trainer and nutritionist to check out my food and activity and give me some advice. That makes me nervous, because I know I wasn't picture-perfect. I had days where I was way under my calories, days where I filled those extra cals with junk, and days where I just struggled. It scares me a bit to ask them to give it to me straight.

"Oh well. Get over it, that's why you joined." Right?

Bah! Enough with that - I lost SIX AND A HALF POUNDS this week! Happy Dance!

The good news is this puts me way ahead for my DietBets. I thought I'be cutting it close this time, but I was at my goal before this six pounds! At least I have a little wiggle room, and I almost lost as much as my last round of bets - 15 pounds. Happy!

Have a good weekend all!

How I kicked butt on my weight loss plan last month

**For those of you who are sick of hearing me rave about DietBets, tune out now. I should be getting over my DietBet high before long. For now, I have to share because we all need a little excitement in this difficult process.**

I have been pretty serious about my weight loss journey for about the past four month.  After having two babies I. Under two years, I had a lot of weight to lose and didn't get serious about it until my littlest was almost 6 months old.

Needless to say, I still have a lot to lose.

Last month I made some huge gains.  With meal planning, Couch to 5K, and some strong self-control I managed to knock 15 pounds off my overall weight loss goal.

Oh yeah, and my secret weapon.

I started joining DietBets.  I entered two, figuring that I was going to lose the weight, so I might as well win more.

I spent $20 on one and $35 on another.  For this frugal lady, that was a lot of motivation,  I was not going to lose that much money just because I couldn't control myself.

DietBet works like this.  You accept the challenge and upload two private photos to weigh-in.  You then have 4 weeks to lose 4% of your body weight.  When the month is over, if you are a winner, you verify with two more private photos and split the pot.

It took me a long time to decide to try this out.  I was looking into every way possible that this could be a scam.  It seems legit.  It is possible to win the game and not get your money back because DietBet keeps 15%, but I don't think this happens often.

The way I see it, I need to lose weight.  If I get the motivation I need from trying not to lose money, that is a bonus.  If I make money in the process, that is a major bonus.

This is a win-win for me.

Last month, I lost 15 pounds and I netted around $28.  This time, I am rolling my $83 credit into as many bets as possible and am determined to lose again (and win).

I have started my own game with a smaller $15 bet for anyone who wants to give this a try.  "The Final Days of Summer" game is to help us all lose weight and look great during the final days of summer.  http://diet.bt/16Yi4wP. Give it a try!  Hopefully it will be the perfect motivation for you like it was for me!

** I was in no way compensated for this post - I'm just so happy to find something that kept me motivated. I did all the work myself, so DietBet won't magically make you lose weight, but it may help your motivation last at least a month and help you succeed like I did.**

Weekly Goals after a freebie holiday weekend

Whew! I have really let myself go a little too far off track this week!  I'm blaming the holiday weekend, but since it started on Wednesday, it has been more like an off week.

Why am I not more ashamed of this???

I was celebrating a 15 POUND MONTHLY LOSS!!!

I'm so excited that I stuck with it for a full month and ended up with such a great loss.  I finally found a great way to motivate my super cheap-o self!

I entered 2 DietBets and ended up netting nearly $30 for losing those 15 pounds!  Bonus!

One of my goals for this week is to roll my winnings into another couple of DietBets.  I even created my own game if anyone wants to join me!  Here's the game http://diet.bt/16Yi4wP and the bet is only $15!  You won't be sorry and I can be your personal cheerleader.  :)

My other goals are to meal plan and stay on track, get in some more walks/runs, and get back to tracking everything on MyFitnessPal (during my month of DietBets I tracked every day!).


What are your goals for the week?

If you join me in my DietBet, let me know!  I will absolutely cheer you on!

And, just in case I haven't raved enough about my time away at the cabin here's 2YO enjoying "playing in the dirt."

Non-Scale Victories that helped make this a good-scale month

Happy Fourth Everyone!

It is also Thursday - time to celebrate all those small changes that help steer us to our goals. Maybe the scale is not so kind, but each time we pass up something deliciously sinful, push our booty a little harder during a workout, or track every little bit even though our self-control took a hike we are making gains that should be recognized.

If you've been keeping up, I've had some major Scale Victories this month.

More importantly, I recognized that I can do it.

I can keep up a record of what I eat each day. I can get used to trying new, healthy recipes. I can get my tush out there and run further, even when I am searching for the tiniest excuse to stop. I can pass up chips, candy, and ice cream, even when someone is eating it right next to me. I can reunite with my food scale and make accurately portioned meals, instead of "guessing" and overestimating my portion sizes. I can hang on for 4 weeks, even when it get's hard.

I will also admit that yesterday was my first post-dietbet day. I went way over my calories. I had pizza, chocolate, and ice cream. And, although that seems to go against all that I wrote above, I also tracked it all, pushed myself to go for a run immediately after my final weigh-in, and was more conscious of how I was eating. Even my splurge day was better than my average day before getting serious about my health.

I'm actually looking forward to using my DietBet winnings to roll into new bets. What a great motivator for me! Does anyone have any experience with how long it takes to find out how much you won?

Before I go, I have to share some pictures. We have a ton a eagles up here and see them all the time, but this was, by far, the closest I have ever gotten to one! This guy was perched in the tree on our bank, eating a fish and we were able to get within a few yards of him. It's hard to see in the first picture, because I only had my phone and couldn't zoom, but it gives you a good idea of how close we were. He's right in the lowest branch on that tree. He kept looking at us and didn't fly off until he had finish his meal. Amazing!

One down, one to go

I'm the verified winner of my first DietBet and my second one is over tomorrow! I'm not going to lie, I'm a little more than excited to take a day or two off. We are still planning all of our meals (with the exception of one awesome fish fry) around my new eating habits and I plan to sneak in some runs when I can.

So, how much have I lost in a month?

FIFTEEN POUNDS BABY!!!!

If I stick with this pace, I will reach my goal in 4 months. That would be fantastic! I feel pretty confident if I keep going with the DietBets I will continue to lose, because I will not lose money! And... I'm so excited about how that motivation has worked for me!

I've taken two days off from running to enjoy the beautiful weather from the boat. I plan to run early in the morning tomorrow. I think I will try one full mile and work my way up to the full 2 that C25K expects from me.

We have been having some amazing meals!

I've been making a lot of the easy breakfasts I made last time we were up here. They are so yummy, keep me full, and even my parents love them. It is unbelievable that they fit into my low-cal diet, especially the Hashbrown Stackers.

This was last night's dinner.  If you like a little bit of a kick, these Salsa Burgers were amazing!  The recipe called for beef, but I can't wait to try them with ground turkey, because the green chilies would help keep them moist and they would be even healthier.

Tonight's dinner is a recipe I used to use a lot when I was in grad school and on Weight Watchers.  I thought they were called "Chicken Baseballs" but when I went to look it up I came up with recipes with cream cheese and crescent rolls.  So, what I've been calling them all along may be wrong.  

I'm now calling them Laughing Cow Stuffed Chicken.  They are soooo good!  We stuffed them with Garlic and Herb Laughing Cow and Spinach - yum!!

If there's an I interest, I'll definitely share these tasty recipes.  You won't be disappointed!  

I hope everyone else is doing well with their goals and has the strength to stay on track through the holiday.  Not sure if I'll be able to report that, but I will be getting right back into another DietBet after the holiday!

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!

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

Healthy Meal Planning for the Cabin

The cabin is usually my sabotage for healthy eating. Something about that place makes me want to pretend calories don't exist and turn my head to the obscene amounts of unhealthy choices I make.

This happens for multiple reasons.

First, I have a long history of unhealthy eating in that environment. I have always thrown the healthy eating out the window there because I was "on vacation" which doesn't work so well when I spend half the summer there.

Also, I hate feeling like a burden when a lot of my meals are prepared for me. I hate having to try to modify for myself and watch others eat the stuff I wish I had. I tend to just get crabby and give in and then go overboard.

Last, it's just hard. I often can't come up with a substitute for myself, I freeze and literally have no idea what to have. I have a hard time finding things and then it goes back to being a burden. It is also so hard to have all the unhealthy options around and the snacks on the boat or dessert after dinner.

This time I am going to be prepared!

I entered two diet bets and can't afford almost a week of setbacks. Want to join in? http://bit.ly/11h3A74.  It's over on the 3rd so we can overindulge on the forth (and start all over again!).  It's going to be hard, but I'm committed! I started looking through some of my old Weight Watchers cookbooks Best Eats and Sensibly Tasty Deliciously Easy and outlined a meal plan and shopping list.

This goes against all my thrifty, couponing training but, regardless of price (within reason), I'm going to shop for this trip.my health goals are much more important at this point. I've also found many recipes with ingredients in common so they'll do double duty.

Without further ado, on to the plan! Keep in mind that this is an outline - I plan to utilize each recipe but times and days may change.

Thursday

Lunch - this one is up in the air because we'll be driving up after Baby Gymnastics -I'm thinking sandwich or salad

Dinner - Turkey Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries

Friday

Breakfast - Egg Florentine

Lunch - Ham Sandwich with Edemame Spread and Black and White Bean Salad

Dinner - Grilled Flank Steak with Potato and Pepper Packets

Saturday

Breakfast - Breakfast Pizza with Turkey Sausage

Lunch - Steak Salad

Dinner - Orange Beef with Noodles

Sunday

Breakfast - Bacon, Egg, Hashbrown Stackers

Lunch - Curry Chicken Salad

Dinner - Grilled Pizza with Chicken Sausage, Sweet Peppers, and Onions

Monday

Breakfast - Oatmeal

Lunch - Frozen Pizza Snacker with fruit

Dinner - Stir Fry

And an alternate - because it looks/sounds so good.

This is just a general idea. I'm not going to feel so stuck that I can't deviate from this plan. I know things will change as we have boat days, raining day, etc. We can always grill chicken breasts or grab some yummy Trader Joe's Tomato Soup if there is a rainy day. At least I feel like I have a plan and some ideas. Next, I need to figure out some healthy snacks, but there's always fruit or veggies.