Good-bye 2012!

Well, I cannot believe that it is the last day of 2012.  Whew!!  I feel like I only blinked and now it's gone.  I'm happy to report that on the last day of the year I dropped one of those ugly four pounds I gained over Christmas.  =)  That means I'm leaving 2012... 25lbs lighter!!!  YAY!!!

In my last post I mentioned that I was going to try one of my new Bob Harper workout DVD's...and I did, but OH.MY.WORD!!  It was a 50 min workout, and I was a little scared when I started; thinking it was going to be really intense, but I got into it and it wasn't really too bad.  I needed to take a couple little rests, but not so intense I wanted to die (like I do in my Insanity workouts).  When I finished it, I was proud and thought "Hey, that wasn't so bad!  I'll def be doing that one again!"  Well, I woke up yesterday, and boy oh boy, was I SORE (mostly just my inner thighs)!  By last night I dreaded the thought of sitting.  I moaned and groaned anytime I needed to.  My sweet dh got a good laugh out of me, and my teenager asked me if my feet hurt, because I was walking funny (like I had peed my pants kind of walk).  All I could do was laugh when he asked!!  Today I am still sore, but sitting is a bit easier and I'm walking normally again!  The DVD is Bob Harper Inside Out Method Kettlebell Sculpted Body.  I do recommend it despite my pain!!  No pain, no gain, right?!?!

As sore as I was yesterday, I still made myself workout.  I just didn't do the lower body though.  I worked on core.  I did Suzanne Bowen's 10 Minute Solution Blast Off Belly Fat.  It has five 10 minute workouts on it.  1. Flat Belly Fast 2. Pilates Perfect Abs 3. Belly Fat Blaster 4. Ab Ripper 5. Six Pack Abs.  I did #'s 1,2, & 3.  Another good one I recommend!  The Pilates one was killer!!  Can't wait to try the other two on there.  Being that I am still a bit sore, I have decided to not workout today.  But I will be back at it for the New Year tomorrow!





I thought I would share a yummy recipe with you.  Maybe you'll want to make it tonight as an appetizer at your New Year's get together!  I can't take full credit for this recipe as I originally saw it on Pinterest.  It called for brown sugar and I loved it!  But after starting THM I have tweaked it to fit my new lifestyle.  It is a higher fat recipe so don't go crazy, but it makes a yummy-licious appetizer that's safe on the blood sugar!!

Bacon wrapped 'lil smokies
"Lil Smokies
Bacon
Butter
Erythritol and Xylitol (or Truvia)
Nunaturals Stevia Pure White Extract Powder

Wrap as many little smokies as you need in bacon (I typically cut my bacon slices into 4 pieces).  Place in a 9x13 dish or a cookie sheet with sides if making a lot.  If you fill your 9x13 dish with them, you'll want about a 1/2 cup butter (1 stick).  Place the butter in a bowl or saucepan and add about 1/4 cup erythritol and 2 Tbsp of Xylitol (or sub Truvia) and a couple sprinkles of Nunaturals, and melt together. I like mine really sweet.  So I may do more than that, and I mainly just eyeball it.  Do it to your liking. 

Then pour the butter mixture over the bacon wrapped smokies.  Bake in the oven @ 450 for about 30 min.  May be more or less depending on your likings.  I like my bacon crispier and not mushy so sometimes I even leave it longer than 30 min. 

Pull out and cool a bit.  Eat and enjoy!!


See y'all next year!!!

Getting back on the horse!

Goodness!  It's been 10 days since I've had a moment to sit and post!  The days have just flown by. 

I decided before the holidays that I would cheat the couple days around Christmas.  So I did starting on Christmas Eve.  It was actually really hard at first to eat that stuff, I felt sooo guilty eating it, even though I had given myself permission.  I didn't feel as guilty by Christmas day or the day after that.  I had planned to be back on track by the Thursday after, and started off well, but by the end of the day the leftovers got to me.  So yesterday I sent as much of it away as I could and then I started chucking things. 

Those four days of cheating and I gained back 4lbs.   :/  Crazy how quickly it goes on and how hard it is to get it off.  Oh well!!  I enjoyed eating and being with my family.  I'm back on the horse now and ready to take those 4lbs back off... as well as the rest of this weight.

I will be working out today.  I'm gonna try one of my new DVD's.  I'm thinking one of my Bob Harper kettlebell workouts.  (I got a new (heavier) kettlebell for Christmas)  It's 30 min.  But since I haven't had a moment to workout since my last post, I want to do a longer one. 

Breakfast
Scrambled eggs with feta and cheddar cheese and turkey bacon.  S meal
Lunch
Leftover brisket with some veggies or a salad.  S meal
Dinner
Fooled ya pizza (I got a new food processor for Christmas and I can't wait to try it!!)  I'm going to make the kids a regular pizza with whole wheat crust. 
Snacks
Big boy smoothie after I workout.  And probably a cake in a mug for dessert tonight. 

More soon!

Just do it!!

I need to be honest here.  I haven't exercised in like a week.  I know I've planned on it, but I just haven't gotten around to actually doing it.  I've  been rushing around so much lately trying to get all my stuff done before family comes in for Christmas on Friday.  I still have so much to do, too!  Regardless though, I'm going to try and carve out at least 10 min today and do SOMETHING!!  I'll check in tomorrow and let you know if I stayed true to my word or not!!  =)

Do any of you have a favorite workout video you do?  I have quite a collection already, but always like new suggestions.  Last week I bought some new ones from www.mytrainerbob.com.  He has just about all of his DVD's for $3.99 right now and I think I bought just about every one of them.  I also got a couple other kettle bell ones from Amazon that were under $5, too.  I think they're in and I just have to go pick them up at the PO.  I would also like to add some Jilllian Michaels ones to my collection, too.  And I have the Insanity program.  WHEW!!  That one really kicks the rear end.  It's a little scary.  But, I spent all summer doing it, even though I never lost a pound. 


Yesterday's meals:
Brunch: Muffin in a mug with raspberry cream cheese frosting
Snack: Cheese crisps with salsa
Dinner: Taco salad
Dessert: Strawberry ice cream from here with the chocolate sauce (this stuff is so amazingly yummy).  I love it just the way it is, however I am playing around with it a bit to try and lower the calorie and fat count.  I'll let you know what I come up with soon.

Today's meals:
Breakfast: Greek yogurt sweetened with Nuaturals Stevia and some strawberries and blueberries thrown in.  Fuel Pull
Lunch: Scrambled eggs with cheese and turkey bacon.  S meal
Snack: Big Boy Smoothie. Fuel Pull
Dinner: Spaghetti with dream fields pasta & salad.  S meal

Busy Weekend!

Good afternoon!!!  Those 2 lbs are still gone, so that puts my weight loss at 24lbs. now.  =)  I CANNOT believe I have lost almost 25 lbs!!!!  I'm still in shock over it!! 

I so wanted to get on a post something yesterday, but we were gone from morning until late last night, and then I had a sick baby. 

I wanted to update about the party that we went to on Friday night.  We were served tray of Chick-Fil-A nuggets, fruit, cookies, & cupcakes.  :/  I was super duper hungry by the time we got there and there was no way I could go without eating.  So...I ate the chicken.  Just the chicken, and lots of the chicken!!  I have eaten Chick-fil-A nuggets a couple of times since starting THM, and I know they're fried and breaded, but thankfully it hasn't really affected me on the times I've had it.  But, I also keep it to just the chicken. I won't go near the fries or sodas.  So...not the best, but not the worst either (at least to me).  I also wanted to add that for just a moment, upon seeing the cookies & cupcakes, I felt a bit sad that I couldn't have any.  And even (very quickly) thought about having just one!  I quickly pushed the thoughts from my head and I left the table.  Once I was no longer hungry I didn't give those things a second thought. 

Yesterday, we were gone ALL day, like I said earlier, so we ate out twice.  I had scrambled eggs with cheese and two pieces of turkey bacon for breakfast before we left.  We went out to lunch...to Chick-Fil-A...and again I just ate the nuggets.  After that we went to a Christmas event for my dh's work.  They served all sorts of goodies there...pretzels, popcorn, cookies, fruit snacks, etc.  I didn't touch a thing.  It was actually pretty easy for me to avoid those things this time.  Then for dinner we met up with another family at Mr. Gatti's.  If you aren't familiar with that place it is a pizza buffet with a huge game room.  I love pizza!  But, the first thing I did was get a nice plate of salad and eat it.  Then I got 4 slices of pepperoni and cheese pizza.  I scraped everything off the tops of them and only ate that part.  It was yummy enough for me and I was full and satisfied without eating all the breading.  So, despite being gone all day yesterday, I feel like I did a pretty decent job of staying on track with THM!  You might think differently, but that's ok!!  =)

Now on to today!
Breakfast- Muffin in a mug with strawberry cream cheese frosting. S meal
Lunch- Loaded Fotato Soup.  Fuel Pull style.  I love, Love, LOVE this stuff!
Snack- Fat Strippen Frappa- Fuel Pull
Dinner- Chicken Alfredo over Dreamfields Pasta.  I want to try  the Konjac noodles, but I haven't bought any yet.  Hopefully soon, though.  S meal
Dessert- I'm making a key lime pie from here.  I'm wondering if I can make it without the crust to save on calories though.  Hmmm...
Her site is amazing too.  Search around for a while if you have time.  I got her site from THM's book. 

Workout- I think I will do 3 of my 10 min videos today.  I have a bunch of Gold's Gym videos that use a kettle bell, that I bought last year on clearance for $3 a piece.  And each DVD has 3 different workouts on it.  I never even touched them until after I read THM! 

Have a blessed day!  I'll check in again soon!

More Confessions

I saw a drop of almost 2lbs on the scale this morning.  =)  I always like to see that.  However, I have become a bit obsessive and I weigh myself every morning.  But, I have noticed a cycle with my weight loss.  I will drop about 2-3 lbs one day then the next it will go back up by about half, then it will stay that exact weight a couple of days, then it will slowly start to drop back down a few onces a day, and then it starts all over again.  But, I LOVE seeing it go down!! 

Today I felt like I needed to write a little bit more about my past weight and food history.  A little bit more of a "coming clean" on the person I've been and tried to keep hidden from the world. 

I haven't always been the fat girl.  I was fairly thin when I got pregnant with my first son.  I didn't gain a whole lot of weight  (I think 24lbs, if I remember right) while preggo with him either, and then lost most of the weight after he was born without even trying. 

Three years later, I had put on a few pounds, but I was by no means overweight, I think I had gone up a couple of sizes.  Can't remember for sure.  Then I got preggo with baby boy #2.  Again, I didn't gain a lot of weight.  In fact, it was less than my first pregnancy.  It was around 17lbs.  A week after I had him I was back in my pre-pregnancy clothes without trying. 

Two years later, I got pregnant with baby boy #3.  I gained 15lbs this time, and went back into my regular clothes right after giving birth.  

It was after I had my 3rd baby that things really started to spiral down.  Like I said, I've always had a sweet tooth.  But after I had him, it got really bad.  I would consume so much junk somtimes, that I would literally make myself sick from it.  Don't read that wrong, I never purposefully binged and purged.  But, more than once my body naturally had to purge itself from all the crap I had consumed.  I then learned to eat just enough junk to satisfy my uncontrollable cravings, but stay under the amount of junk that would send me to the bathroom.  By this time, I was quickly outgrowing my clothes, too. 

I hated myself for eating so much crap, but I had no idea how to control it.  

A couple of years later, I met a sweet friend, and we started Weight Watchers together, and started working out together (5-6 days a week).  I was doing really good.  I had lost a bunch of inches and some weight.  I was feeling really good!  Then...we moved out of state. I didn't have my buddy anymore.

Once we moved and got settled, I was back to eating badly again.  I lived minutes from my  mom now, and we often went out to lunch or to get a treat.  She spoiled me!  

After a few months, I joined Weight Watchers again.  I was also walking about 3 miles 4-5 days a week.  It didn't last long, and I was right back into old habits.  And my weight and size were bigger than they had ever before.  Then we moved out of state again.

Fast forward four and a half years.  Nothing changed during those years other than my clothes size and weight, and my book shelf.  I had all sorts of weight loss books on it.  I was still binging on junk food all the time.  I drank sodas ALL.THE.TIME.  I never drank water...EVER.  My dh and I were notorious for getting our 44oz fountain drinks at the convience store, and refilling them at least 1-2 times a day after that.  One day we gave up sodas, but we replaced it with sweet tea.  And we'd do the same thing with tea. 

All that junk and sugar had caused me to go through so many ups and downs.  I had several boughts of depression.  But, I didn't want anyone to know.  I wouldn't talk about it.  It was more of my dirty, little secret that I wanted to keep hidden from everyone.  On multiple occasions, I even thought how much better off my family would be without me.  But, that was Satan talking, and deep down I knew God wanted me to be where I was. 

I was so out of control. I hated my thoughts.  I hated to look at myself in the mirror.  I hated to buy clothes.  I hated to walk into a dressing room. I was embarrassed go home and visit my family, for fear of what they would think when they saw me. I hated food, yet loved it.  Most of all...I HATED ME!

And now... there's today!  I'm changing.  I'm thankful.  I'm learning to like myself and know that I'm better than all of that.   God is good, and he loves me no matter what, and I wasn't loving him  back like I should.  I was a slave to food, and I wasn't taking care of the body that he blessed me with.  I was being self-destructive.  And with his grace and mercy, I'm moving on.  I hope to never be "that girl" again! 

WOW!!  That was hard!  Hopefully, I will hit publish when I'm finished.  I get butterflies at the thought of putting all this out there.  Moving forward, right??

I'll finish with today's menu.
Breakfast- THM blueberry pancakes- E meal
Lunch- Left over lentil soup- E
Snack- Fat Strippen Frappa Smoothie
Dinner- We have a party this evening, so I will do the best I can with what I'm given!

Workout- I'm thinking I will do two of my 10 min Gold's Gym videos with the kettlebell. 

More soon!  Hope you have a blessed day!

A New Me!

I saw on Trim Healthy Mama's FB page yesterday that some ladies were blogging their journeys through becoming a trim healthy mama, and I thought what a great idea, why don't I do that as well!!

First off, I want to say how grateful I am to Serene and Pearl for all the years of research and writing this book.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for following your calling in writing this book. You are an answer to many prayers.   You are beautiful, trim, healthy, God-filled women who have done so much to help other struggling women. 

I started my journey to a Trimmer Healthier Momma (A new ME) on October 19, 2012.  I'm not ready to tell you my starting weight yet (still waaay to embarrassing), but I will tell you that I have lost 22.4 lbs so far, and 10 inches overall so far.  And I have a long way to go still.  But, that's all I'm saying about that right now!!  =)

Trim Healthy Mama isn't just a diet to me.  This is my new way of eating.  This is for life!  This book has changed my life, the way I think, and the way I eat!  Best of all...it's yummy food!!  It's not just salads and bland food that you have to do everything in your power to get down.  I've had delicious soups, chili, sandwiches, pizza, cheesecake, and ice cream with chocolate sauce. 

Ok, I'm totally about to admit something very bad and embarrassing.  I have a major sweet tooth.  I've always loved junk food.  Cookies, candies, cakes, ice cream, you name it!  Never have I had ANY sense of self control when it came to eating those things.  And the amounts of junk food I could consume was totally disgusting.  (Ok, here comes the embarrassing part)  I would buy the large family size bags of peanut butter M&M's and eat the WHOLE bag by MYSELF in 24 hours.  Or I would get the boxes of Little Debbie cakes and eat them ALL in a couple days.  I hid all this stuff from my kids and my husband.  Then I would feel guilty and ashamed, and then I would do it all over again, because I was already fat, ya know?  And that's what fat girls do, right??  I often felt tired, ashamed of myself, I wouldn't let anyone take a picture of me, I was grumpy and grouchy with my family, I had no energy, and I was always embarrassed to set foot outside of the house. 

Today, I am on a new road!  Thank you, God!  My dark and dirty little secret is now out there in the open.  I am overcoming these battles.  God is GOOD!!  I now eat without feeling guilty, or hiding food, or binging on food.  I have more energy than I have had in a long time.  I weigh less than I have in a very long time.  I'm still embarrassed with how I look, but I know I'm changing and getting better, and wearing clothes that I've had in my closet for years that I have never worn.  =) 

Tis the season to eat, right?!?!  This time of year is usually a pig-fest for me.  Even more so, than normally.  But, I think it's that way for many people.  Well,  I started my holiday baking a few days ago.  I have to admit, I'm doing really good.  So far I've made multiple loaves of pumpkin bread, 36 cups of candy popcorn, bags of dipped pretzels, pounds of peanut butter fudge, and pounds of Oreo fudge.  I did eat a little (ok, so it wasn't so little) piece of the peanut butter fudge the night I made it.  But, I'm ok with that.  It's a far cry from how much I would have eaten just  a few months ago.  I will keep on moving forward!  =) 

Ok, I'm gonna wrap it up in a minute, but thought I'd leave with what I plan to eat today.  I always like to see what other THMs are eating and maybe someone will like seeing what I eat. 

Breakfast- 0% plain Greek yogurt, sweetened with NuStevia, and I added in fresh black berries and half a banana.  That is an E meal.

Workout for 20 minutes and have a Big Boy smoothie afterwards for a snack. That's a fuel pull snack.

Lunch- Muffin in a mug.  S meal.  Who would of thought you could eat yummy chocolate muffins for lunch (or breakfast) and lose weight?!?!  But these are so healthy (and yummy) made with flax meal and coconut oil.

After lunch I have to take our foster babies to their visitation with bio dad.  It's an hour and a half drive into town, so I will pack a snack and bring it with me.  I usually pack a few chunks of cheese and some cashews or pistachios.  S snack

Dinner- since we will still be far from home we will be eating out.  I don't know where we will eat at yet.  But, I always eat S style when I go out, as that is the easiest for me to eat. 

Well, that's all for today.  I'll check in again soon!