Weigh-in Day - a day early

I decided to weigh-in a day early because I am leaving town for the weekend and do not plan on traveling with my scale. The results this week... 229.8, that is a 3.2 loss for the week and a total loss of 34.2 pounds. :-)

I had a fun day with my family yesterday celebrating my birthday... we went to lunch at my favorite place. If you ever find yourself in Marinette Wisconsin (I am not sure why you would, but if you do) stop at Blue Bike Burrito it is very yummy and not only that but the guys who own it will let you do anything you want with the menu, so being on a special diet isn't a problem. You want grilled veggies on a taco shell with salsa and beans? No problem! Even though no one in their right mind would eat a taco that way, but then again, I have never claimed to be in my right mind. In the photos you can see two of my gifts, a hat that I can wear running when the weather turns cold and a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my sisters garden.

It was a lovely day. I hope you are having a lovely day too.

Birthday Thanks

Happy Birthday to me
my cake is fat-free.
My clothes are all baggy
get me a shopping spree.

Today is my birthday and since I accomplished my birthday goal weeks ago I am feeling pretty darn good about myself. So I started poking around some of your blogs and I just have to say it... I love you guys! Not in a I-am-watching-you-through-the-window kind of way but in a hand-me-a-drink-I-want-to-make-a-toast kind of way. You guys are awesome and awe inspiring! I don't know how many times I have been reading a blog and said "I want to try that" or "I want to do that" or "I want to be just like that." From "South Beach Steve" and his Tabata to "AM I Really That Fat" and her Zumba class . From "A Forty-somethings Weight Loss Journey" shopping for size 10 pants to "Fat-Free Me" running a 10K. BTW, I am going to try a Zumba class next week and I just downloaded some Tabata songs.

I feel so motivated by all your stories and success. Of course I also love your posts when they are about how frustrating it is to have the same number appear on the scale every week and how difficult it is to get through the parties and cravings. I can relate and it makes me feel less odd to know I am not the only one.

Thanks to everyone... maybe I could do it without you but I don't really want to find out because I am having too much fun reading all your posts.

plaid pants

I love these pants... ok ok I know you hate them. Most people do. The guys at work pick on me mercilessly when I wear them. Today one guy said, "It's nice that you get to wear you pajamas to work." He snickered at me and I just said, "These pants are cool! What do you know about cool anyway?"

When I first dropped from a size 22 to a 20 I got these pants at Goodwill, and now they are getting a little bit big on me. I just have to say I am going to miss these pants when they are too big for me. I probably wouldn't even think about it but I don't really have a lot of clothes that I really like. Typically when I shop for clothes it goes like this...

Do they have it in my size?
Does the marked size actually correspond to my size?
Does it cover all the curves and bulges?
Is it at least not hideous?

If I answer yes to all these questions I buy it.

One of the things I think about while I am working out is how great it be to go shopping when I can go to any store and buy clothes off any rack. I do love these pants but even better will be loving all my clothes when I can actually wear what I want.

Week 9

Today was another weigh-in day... 233 pounds, a 3.2 pound loss from last week and a 31 pound loss total. I made the 30 pounds lost mark! Yippee!

A happy start to the day although it was a slow start to the day.

This morning I was less than ambitious when I opened my eyes and saw 6:30 in red illuminated numbers on my alarm clock. I was supposed to get up and run by 7:00 o'clock but that didn't really seem all that appealing as I laid curled up and cozy under my comforter. I did some quick reasoning with myself trying to think as many reasons as possible why it was acceptable, even preferable to stay in bed and have a lazy Sunday morning. Well let me just say it wasn't a hard sell and I drifted off to sleep promising myself that whatever time it was that I finally got out of bed I would run. The next time I opened my eyes the clock was telling me it was 9:00... ok that's late. I got out of bed and feed the cats and did my weigh in and checked my email and on and on. By the time I put on my running shoes it was almost 10:00. As is typically the case there was a price to pay for my procrastination. The sun was high in the sky and with was getting warm outside, I hate running when it's hot. There was quite a bit of traffic especially at the park I run through (when I run early I typically have the place to myself), I hate waiting for traffic at the corners. There were people everywhere, walking dogs, kids on bikes, and couples out for a stroll, I really prefer the solitude of morning runs. I will have to remember how much nicer it is to run early the next time I don't want to get out of bed.

The pants story

An interesting thing happened this morning while I was running... I had run for about half mile when I had to yank up my pants. I didn't think much of it but then after another few minutes I had to pull them up again and then again, it was starting to get a little frustrating having to pull up my pants every other minute. When they started to slip for about the fifteenth time I rolled my eyes and pulled them pack up and I grumbles "stupid pants" under my breath. As soon as I said it a light bulb went on... Wait. If my pants are falling down it must be because they are getting too big. And if my pants are getting too big that must mean that I am getting smaller.Yippie ! Suddenly I wanted to shout to passersby "Hey my pants are falling down." I wanted to shout it at cars and the that guy who passed me on the bike. "Hey! Guess What. My pants are falling down." I wanted to tell that lady walking her dog and those kids walking to school...ok maybe that's not a good idea ... I didn't want my weight loss joy to turn into a lewd conduct charge. Suddenly this thing that had made me so frustrated for the first half of run had me smiling and cheerful for the second half. I was so exited about it that later, to treat myself, I went to the store and bought a new pair of running pants.

Pizza review

Pizza is one of my favorite foods on the planet. I don't know who invented it but I sure hope that guy got a Nobel Prize or something. I have been craving pizza lately but (insert sigh here) my favorite local pizza joint is definitely on the "avoid these foods while dieting" list. So I decided to take another route. I went to the grocery store and found several varieties of frozen pizza that were vegetarian and in a box labeled, light, healthy, lean, or whatever. Over the past three days I have tried all the brands my local grocer carries in an attempt to find my favorite healthy substitute for those days when I just really want pizza. I decide I would do a little review of all the pizzas I tried.

They first Day I tried the "Smart Ones four cheese pizza"

(370 calories 7 g fat)Definitely not my favorite, on a scale of 1 to 10 I would give this one a 1. The pizza had very little sauce on it so it was kind of dry. There was a lot of cheese but it didn't taste like cheese it tasted like nothing. I think the person who taste tested this pizza must have been skinny and figured that fat people will eat anything. Not going to be my pizza replacement.

The second day I tried the "Healthy Choice French bread pizza"

(350 calories and 5 g fat)

Meh... it's ok. I would eat it someone offered me a free one but I don't think I would buy it again. I would give it a 5 on the diet pizza scale. The crust didn't cook evenly so the ends were very hard by the time the middle cooked enough to melt the cheese. I like the texture in general and the sauce was really yummy.

The third day I tried the "Lean Cuisine Four Cheese Pizza"

(360 calories and 6g fat)

I like this one a lot... I would give it a 9 on the diet pizza scale. Cheese was abundant and yummy and the sauce was yummy. What more can I say? I think Lean Cuisine pizzas are going to be my healthy alternative during those pizza cravings.

But with three consecutive days of pizza for dinner it may be a while before those cravings hit again.

Happy morning

What an absolutely cheerful morning.

When I got home from my morning run I checked my refrigerator to plan the meals for the day and found the contents to be less than appealing. Either frozen Smart Ones Lasagna Florentine or canned soup. Hmmm neither of those sounded great and I didn't have any fruit at all (an absolute necessity). So I decided a trip to the grocery store was in my morning plans... but then I remembered it's Farmers Market Day! Is there anything better than a farmers market?

While I wandered around the booths of tomatoes, potatoes, jams and flowers I decided vegetable soup sounded wonderful. It got me thinking about the chicken dumpling soup my mom used to make when I was a kid. It had these great dumplings and I thought they were the best part of the soup. When I would go back for a second helping I would always skip the soup and just steal a couple more dumplings. I had to be sneaky about it because my Dad would always say that's cheating (like only picking the M&Ms out of the trail mix). I picked up the rest of the ingredients I needed and a gorgeous bunch of organic flowers to make my kitchen pretty while I cook. Since I have been avoiding white flour I couldn't make dumplings... or could I?

I wondered how dumplings would turn out using wheat flour. I did a quick search online for recipes and found a few... one that even called for raisins in the dumpling. What? Raisins? First they take over cookies and now dumplings. None of the recipes online sounded all that great. So I decided to make my mom's recipe (or what I think it was anyway) with a few substitutions to make them more diet friendly. Wheat flour for white flour, egg beaters for eggs, skim milk for 2% milk and so one.

It turned out great! The dumplings didn't hold together as well as Mom's did but they were really good with the right texture and everything. Now my kitchen smells like soup and is so cheerful with a bright bunch of flowers on the counter.

Wishing you all a cheerful day!