Friday Five

1. I attempted making a Fresh Strawberry Pie by Weight Watchers last week. While the flavor was great, it didn't thicken up like it was supposed to. I went back and read a bunch of reviews and got a few ideas. I bought more strawberries this last weekend and tried it again. This time it turned out great!

2. We started back to the gym last week after an unintentional month long break. It's frustrating to feel like you are almost starting over again, but alas, it is what it is. All we can do is get back at it.

3. I sat outside while eating lunch one day last week and it was gorgeous! The sun was warm and the breeze was cool. The perfect day. The next day it got hot.

4. I went to a friend's house for crabs and shrimp Memorial Day weekend. We were afraid it was going to be really hot. While the day itself was very hot and humid, the evening ended up being beautiful. The food was good and the company was a lot of fun.

5. I hung up a new bird feeder on Monday, but have yet to see a single birdie eat from it. I guess it will be a while before they learn that they have a new restaurant in town. Epic fail?

Friday Five

1. At Weight Watchers a few weeks ago a woman talked about eating apples with sugar-free caramel pudding. I was intrigued. I tried it this week and really enjoyed it! I ate it as my afternoon snack this week. It took me a while to finish and felt like I had eaten a lot. Great snack for only 2 points!

2. I was sad to hear the Whitney Houston passed away this week. It's very sad that she got caught up in addiction, causing her life and talent to be wasted. Sad.

3. I did pick up Gus a new jumbo litter box last Saturday. We haven't put litter in the box yet, and Gus has had fun playing in it. Yesterday he actually took a nap in there. LOL!

4. Are you excited that American Idol is back on? I'm not a fan of the first few weeks, but I enjoy it once they make it to Hollywood. I have a few favorites already.

5. Rusty had to work some nights this week. Night work is brutal on him, but it's work. And work is good.

______________________________
Feel free to join me and post your own Friday Five,
just add a link in the comments to your post.

5 Confessions of a Food-aholic

1. The first one is a biggie and a difficult one to put out there. I’ve gained 5 pounds in the last 3-4 weeks. Ouch. I’m thoroughly unhappy with myself, but I guess vacations and my birthday were bound to leave their mark. Now I have to find my way back to having positive motivation.

2. I have been pretty much snacking indiscriminately. It’s bad. What’s portion control again? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that.

3. I didn't go to weigh-in on Saturday. I don’t want it to become a habit, but I just really didn’t want to see how much I gained since the last time I was there…a month ago. I’m already down enough about having to pull out some bigger capris.

4. I have not been meal planning. Big mistake. Meal planning is much harder to do when on vacation, but I should at least be doing that at home. I’ve had great intentions, but I’ve failed miserably. Time to put on my thinking cap!

5. I have been over indulging in sweet things. Oh my. And now that I’m used to eating all these sugar-laden goodies, it’s hard to retrain my taste buds to be satisfied with less or even *gasp* without.

In conclusion, I’ve been a bad bad girl. Please tell me I’m not alone in my vacation-induced weight gain. Please?

Friday Five

1.  The weather was glorious yesterday and will be again today. Oh weather, you are such a tease though! Tomorrow it shall be cool and windy (read: feel even colder). By next Tuesday we could have more snow showers. But today, today will be 70 degrees. Come on Spring! Come soon, please!

2.  I've been eating pretty much uncontrolably this past week. It has to stop. Sigh. I'm working on it - and praying about it. I just started a book called Made to Crave, and am praying that God uses it to speak to me about my food issues. I need help, cause I cannot do this on my own! I have only read part of chapter 1, and it is already hitting me where it hurts. I will probably blog about this journey.

3.  I'm trying to grow my hair out a bit. The top part is at a length that I CANNOT STAND. I pull it back every day beacuse it drives me crazy. I need to start googling hair styles to find what I like. I'm leaning towards a longer bob - maybe shoulder length - with bangs. I have to decide if I want any layers, where I want my part (probably middle), and how I want my bangs. I just want something different! Stay tuned for this very important decision.

4.  My coworker/parner in crime is on vacation for two week. In Hawaii. I may or may not be a wee bit jealous. I'll never say.

5.  I need to go to the gym tonight. I'm not saying that I will go, but I need to. Oh please God, help me go. That's the first step, right? Admitting that I need help, specifically, God's help? Help! I need the want-to. I wish I had the want-to. It just isn't there right now. I have been letting excuses keep me from doing what I should be doing. Sigh.

Friday Five

1.  I was supposed to go to Wegman’s today - the mecca of grocery stores - with my BFF. We both had vehicle issues though, so we had to postpone. BUMMER!

2.  I am picking up a sweet treat for Rusty and me for Valentine’s Day – a small edible arrangement. Yum! I have always wanted to have one, and since no one has ever sent ME an arrangement, I decided to get me us Rusty one. I cannot wait.

3.  There is a verse in Proverbs that I found this week that I love. It is along the lines of the verse saying, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”

“Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound.”

~ Proverbs 25:20

Have you ever had someone do that to you? You are filled with sorrow and grief when someone comes along all chipper and full of annoying cheerfulness…and all you want to secretly do is throw something at their head. Whatever happened to simply listening to someone as they talk? Is that really a lost art?

Off my soapbox now.

4.  Wednesday I woke up with a headache and it continued to stalk me all day long. That night I went to bed at a good time (9:00pm), knowing that I needed some good sleep. I lay in bed, wide awake, for a good two hours. Are you kidding me?! Ugh. I also woke up several times for no apparent reason. *yawn*

5.  I may skip my WW weigh-in this week. Baaaaad, Rachel! Tomorrow looks like a crazy day after a few weeks of crazy. I think Saturday I may crash. Oh, and clean my bathroom. Sigh.

Friday Five

1.  I've been neglecting my blog this week. I didn't even, gasp, post for Taiwanese Tuesday! I'm so sorry, my sweet bloggie friends. I caught a little cold and it has me feeling just a little off.

2.  My hair is all shaggy and I will need to get it cut soon. I am working on growing my hair out a bit more but I am not sure what style I want. What I do know is that I'm over the short hair I had during the summer. Maybe I'll go for a simple shoulder length bob. Hmmm, decisions decisions.

3.  I started eating an orange this week that tasted so awful. I spit out the one bite I took. Seriously. It almost made me gag it was so bad. I tried another orange later in the week that was so incredibly sour. I love oranges, but I have really bad luck picking them out. Argh!

4.  I just looked miniature vanilla cupcakes in the face and told them, "NO!" You're impressed. I can tell.

5.  I have to meet with my supervisor today to have my annual review. I hate these things! I've been in a couple reviews where I was bombarded with negativity out of the blue, and now I am always paranoid. When I say out of the blue, I mean that I had absolutely no clue the negative stuff was coming. How does that even happen? How can a boss save up every scrap of complaint for an annual review? How can he/she not go to an employee with concerns as they happen? Ridiculous. Come to me with concerns!!!! *deep breath* Yes, I do have flash backs. I just want it to be over with!

7 ways to eat healthier

1. Eat your fruits and vegetables. When I first joined Weight Watchers (WW), I struggled with how to get five servings of fruits and vegetables in a day. I have learned to eat one serving at breakfast or as my morning snack, two at lunch, one as an afternoon snack, and one or two at dinner. Buy what is in season, and you will get the best tasting fresh produce.

2. Watch your portion sizes. I know this seems like a no-brainer, but most of us eat way more than we need. Be honest with your portion sizes. Don't try and cheat. You are only hurting yourself.

3. Focus on making one good choice at a time. If you mess up and eat an entire bag of cookies in a fit of hormonal PMS, forgive yourself and move on. Make your next choice a super healthy one.

4. Find healthy snacks that you enjoy. I get the munchies often. Having a bunch of go to healthy snacks on hand keeps me from grabbing my husband's bag of chips.

5. Dairy - WW is all about fat-free dairy, which I mostly detest. I opt for reduced-fat or low-fat dairy. It is higher in WW point values, but it's worth it for me. Chose which ever you prefer, but eat/drink dairy every day. I adore Laughing Cow cheese and Sargento light string cheese.

6. Everything in moderation, that is my motto. I have never bought into fad diets that single out one thing. You need to be aware of it all, without focusing on just one thing. Calories, carbs, protein, fiber, fat... However, don't let these things overwhelm you. Here is where I think WW has a great program. It helps me see the overall picture of how healthy a food is without spending lots of time analyzing.

7. Allow yourself small treats of things you really love. I don't believe complete deprivation works - at least for me. Not at all.

Friday Five

I did not Friday Five last week. I know you were shocked and dismayed. I am sorry. I was vacationing and these things happen sometimes when one is vacationing. I shall try to make this week’s post extra awesome to make up for last week’s neglect.

1.  We went on a little vacation. Joy! Background: My BFF, L’s, family lives in IN and we go there at least once a year for Rusty to go to a Notre Dame football game with L’s uncle. Well, we out this last weekend so they guys could go to the Indianapolis Colts vs. Tennessee Titans game. They had a great time - with Rusty wearing the only Titans jersey, much to his enjoyment and every else’s dismay.

2.  What did the girls do while the boys were at the game? I am so glad you asked. We went shopping. And then we shopped some more. And then did just a little more shopping. Some of my favorite purchases were an awesome sweater, wide black belt to go with the sweater, and small silver wristlet purse. This is my new favorite date night outfit when paired with my dark wash skinny jeans and awesome gray boots. Hotness!

3.  My BFF’s aunt got in the wrong van this weekend. It was hilarious! We were in two vehicles while shopping. Aunt M was riding in her niece A’s van. Those of us in the brand spankin’ new Saturn Vibe watched as M opened the side door to a van that did not belong to A. We started yelling though the windows, but she did not hear us. Then it looked like she was going to get in the van and sit down. We were laughing so hard we could do nothing other than watch in horror. She had actually realized that it was the wrong van and was looking for the close button like her van has. There was no button. So she walked away…with the van door wide open. Oh gracious, we were howling with laughter as we screamed, “Close the dooooooooor!” A second later we looked over to see the door closed. How did that happen when there was no one in the van?! We still do not know. ROTFL!

4.  My long awaited camera is on its merry way to me. I should have it in my impatient little hands on Monday. I am certain that there will be a lot of posts with pictures to come. You’re welcome.

5.  I suffered some serious vacation brain at work on Wednesday. Seriously. It was awful. I managed not to bite anyone’s head off, but I was sorely tempted. And then I had computer/email issues. So not cool. And THEN there was terrible traffic on the way to the gym. I did not want to work out, but I did. Work outs often improve my mood. It did not do that for me on Wednesday. Sigh.

******BONUS******

Because you waited so patiently…

6.  I weigh-in tomorrow. I have not been to weigh-in for three weeks. Yikes! I am sure that my weight will be up from three weeks ago, but down from last week. So, all in all I will call that a win. I made pretty good food choices this week and went to the gym twice. Win!

And now to be a good girl

After weeks of barely keeping myself reigned in where eating is concerned, I am back to being a good girl.

I have gained about 5 pounds since mid-November. I do not feel too badly about this gain, and I am confident that I can lose those pounds plus about 10 more by eating right and working out.

I was off work today and sat down with my cookbooks and WW points calculator to come up with a shopping list. I came up with my plan of attack for the week...breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Lots of fruits and veggies.

I am feeling back in this, mentally speaking. That is where my biggest battle takes place - in my mind. Of course, I may say differently the second emotional eating kicks in.

I can do this!

Friday Five

1.  Merry Christmas Eve! We are going to my in-laws tonight for dinner and presents. There is always way too much food and lots of laughter. Good times.

2.  Rusty took me camera shopping this morning. ♥ I have wanted a new digital camera for a few years but was trying to keep my camera for as long as possible. Rusty agreed that it was time for a new one this year. Joy! Merry Christmas to me. Of course, the camera I wanted was out of stock. *rolleyes* Had to order it online.

3.  At work this week my team had a very nice soup and salad lunch. I brought my Lentil Soup with Fennel Sausage and a coworker brought a yummy potato soup. It turned out so nice, maybe we will do this again next year.

4.  We will be on a snow watch this weekend. When will it start? How much will we get?

5.  This is the time of year to struggle with food in epic ways. Epic. *sigh* I guess I will be back on the bandwagon after Christmas. Or maybe New Year's.

Friday Five

1.  This has been a very busy week. My coworker and I had to pack up our office for paint and new furniture. We had a couple different holiday events to coordinate. We also have a couple holiday events next week plus a retirement function. Yikes! I am exhausted.

2.  I am not a mind-reader. Did you know that? It is true. I think some of my coworkers believe that I can in fact read their minds. Sigh.

3.  My first week of the new WW PointsPlus program has been ok. I am still trying to get back into the habit of writing everything down. That might take me another week. I have been much better at planning and prepartion though.

4.  I have a hair appointment on Saturday. It is about time! My bangs have been driving me crazy for weeks.

5.  We are going out to dinner Saturday and then to find our tree. I am so excited to have a date night, including tree shopping. ♥

Friday Five

1.  I was able to spend a few minutes visiting with a dear friend on Sunday. She and her hubby were driving past where my parents lived on their way home and they stopped to visit with me! Loved seeing you, Nae!

2.  I gave my dad a puzzle of DC for Christmas. He pulled it out and started sorting pieces with mom. I joined in while they were putting the edges together. Even Rusty helped for a while. We made great progress on it before Rusty and I left.

3.  We are getting our new dryer delivered today. It cannot come soon enough for us! I am so over wet clothes laying everywhere, but mostly I am over rough towels. Blech!

4.  There was a major change with WW on Sunday. I go to my meeting to find out all the information tomorrow. I did gain a few pounds over Thanksgiving but I know it could have been so much worse. I am anxious to learn the new program and I am sure this will end up being a good thing for me. It will take some getting used though.

5.  I got a wrong number text message last night at 10:40. It woke me up. Evidently Rico's party is tomorrow. If anyone wants to go, they are meeting at 8:00 pm in Alexandria, VA!

Friday Five

1.  I tried to give up desserts. I only made it a week before I caved. I have sucessfully done dessert fasts before. How did I so easily forget what has been working for me? Small indulgences work.

2.  There was a storm Wednesday night and our power went out...right after I turned on the stove to make dinner. I waited a few minutes and then put all the food away. We had PB&J and chips for dinner. That is the dinner of champions, right? The power was out for almost 1.5 hours. I am actually surprised that the it does not go out more often, given the woods in our area.

3.  I think we are going to our sister church's Barn Bash tonight. It is probably geared mainly towards kids, but we have a bunch of friends that will be there and we have not seen them in months. It might be nice to go eat BBQ, eat dessert, and chat with friends. It will be a cool and breezy night (40s), so I will find a cozy sweater to wear. I'm hoping for a bonfire and apple cider.

4.  I may or may not be obsessed with downloading the game Angry Birds onto my cell phone. Evidently my particular model has some screen resolution issues with the game and so it is not available. I may or may not check the market place multiple times every day to see if the issues have been resolved and it has become available.

5.  I was supposed to go to a Taiwanese cooking class last night but it was cancelled. I am so totally bummed out! I have been to a bunch of these classes and they are awesome. As in, they rock! The last two I signed up for have been cancelled due to lack of participation. I think I need to drum up some attendees for the next one so it does not get cancelled too. BUMMER!

I interrupt the regularly scheduled blogging with breaking news...

BREAKING NEWS ALERT! BREAKING NEWS ALERT! BREAKING NEWS ALERT!


Rusty and I went to the gym. Gasp! Wheeze!

I shall now give you a moment to recover from the shock, which I am sure caused you to faint.


*ahem*


Yes, we went to the gym! Feel free to break into spontaneous applause. Thank you. Thank you very much.

We had not passed over the threshold of the afore mentioned establishment in low these many months. But today, today we went. We took is slow, since this is the first time in a long time that we have worked out. Here's to going for a second time this week! We need to go again, especially considering the *cough* two bags of candy corn pumpkins *cough* incident.

Come back next week when the regularly scheduled blogging, Taiwanese Tuesday, returns. I'll try to make it especially scrumptious and drool inducing.

80/20

I read in my weekly WW handout about the 80/20 rule - 80% healthy choices and 20% indulgences. It was a reminder that I needed. When I first started out on WW in May I succeeded by making super healthy choices Monday through Friday, and allowing for some indulgences on Saturday and Sunday. It worked really well for me. I felt like I was suceeding without being deprived.

The last month or so I have been struggling and my weight loss (or lack thereof) has shown it. I feel like reading again about the 80/20 rule helped me remember what worked for me earlier on. I feel like I'm back on track. Woot!

Back in the saddle

I've been remiss for the last two weeks - I haven't been writing down what I've been eating. BIG WW no-no. Today I will begin again. Luckily, I've been keeping mental tallies on most days and I've still managed to lose weight. Phew! But it is time for me to kick my butt in gear once more. I will do my prep work, planning, and thinking ahead. That is a huge part of success for me. I will track honestly and still allow myself treats. Tonight my ILs are taking us to dinner for my birthday. I asked to go to a chain restaurant that has some WW and lower cal dinners. That should make dinner relatively easy.

Breakfast
1 - coffee
1 - orange
1 - wedge of cheese

Lunch
4.5 - 4 small zucchini patties
1 - 1 cup watermelon

Dinner
7 - grilled shrimp with rice
1 - seasonal veggies

That leaves me with 4.5 points for the day. I might eat a birthday cupcake (3 pt) and a couple fries off of my hubby's plate tonight (1.5 pt). And there you have it, 21 points for the day!

I have bean burrito stuff already at work, and will take the leftover zucchini patties and some watermelon to work this week. Breakfasts are already thought out as well. Should be a good week! Here's to more weight loss!

Tomato Basil Snacker

Tomato Basil Snacker

These little guys are a delight with garden fresh tomatoes! A yummy, light, and summery treat. Even better, only 2 WW points for 2 halves.

2 English muffins, split and toasted
2 tablespoons mayo
1 Tomato
1 fresh basil leaf, thinly sliced
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat broiler. Place English muffin halves on an ungreased baking sheet; spread with mayo. Top with tomato, basil, pepper, and mozzarella. Broil 3-4 minutes or until cheese browns. Bon appetit!

Love letter

Dear French Fries,

I love you dearly - you are one of my favorite foods - but you really aren't good for my curvy figure. You cause me to be less curvy and more flabby. This is not good. I have not met with you since I joined WW on May 1st. I have said no to your deliciousness and I am proud of my new found resolve, but I knew this day would come. I was bound to crave you a little too much one day, and today was that day. I stopped by McDs to just get a diet Coke when I felt you call to me. A small order, perfectly hot and salty, satisfied me as I savored each golden fry. Yum. Oh yum. Oh yum.

Love and curvy hips,
Rach

Killed it

My WW diet that is. Today started with an on-again off-again headache followed by a rough afternoon at work. On the way home Rusty told me that I had left last night's dinner, aka tonight's leftovers dinner, on the stove. Overnight. And all day today. Ugh. So I had to pick something up on my way home and I had left my WW eating-out books at work. I ended up going to Popeye's - fried chicken is so not in the diet plan. The chicken place got our order almost completely wrong. After repeatedly saying that I wanted a spicy chicken sandwich with fruit punch - we got a chicken sandwich but not the right one and sweet tea instead of fruit punch. Double ugh.

THEN, if that wasn't enough, I had to call our cable/internet provider with three different issues. While on the phone with the 3rd person (who was the best helper by far), we had two more issues crop up spontaneously. It's like the Bermuda Triangle showed up in our house! Sheeeeeesh! After finally getting off the phone with the fourth person (who BTW told me that a certain channel would be put back on and it hasn't shown up so far), I decided that I should totally blow the whole thing today with a deliciously decadent chocolate chip cookie. Yum. O. I'll start WW again tomorrow.