Summer Slim Down Goals

The begining of the Summer Slimdown is set for June 6th but I am starting early as I will be on vacation some during June and will not be around to post, etc.

Here are my goals for the Slimdown:

Food: Changed! Follow WW Points Plus Program where I get 29 PP daily, with plenty of protein, fruits and vegetables, and keeping the carb count on the lower end due to my insulin issues. I plan on logging on My Fitness Pal, when I can, to track my calories to make sure my points are ranging between 1200 to 1400 daily. With my job it is easier for me to count points.

My end goal is to track daily and eat healthy limiting processed food when I can and not beating myself up if I can't for a meal. Weight loss would be a grand thing too (smile.)

Water: Water intake is a work in-progress for me. I tend to retain water and do not lose when I am drinking lots of it. I do not understand this, maybe I just don't drink it enough days to flush it out. SO...my goal is to drink 64 oz. of water daily, pure water, not tea, etc. and see what happens.

Exercise: I want to exercise 4 out of 7 days a week, a minimum of 30 minutes, by walking on elliptical, walking outside, resistance bands, etc.

My end goal with exercise is : Just MOVE MORE!!

Why Diet?

The world is ending tomorrow, why diet? No seriously, we all need to be more concerned about the Zombie Apocalypse, it's much more pressing than that stuff the man was sprouting about the End of the World on May 21, 2011. I for one don't want to end up with my face eaten off so we just better pay attention to what needs to be paid attention to:  ZOMBIES!

Ah well, just in case the world doesn't end or zombies don't crawl out of graves and eat us, I better get back on plan and quit the wishy-washing around before it all comes back on me. I have't been posting what I am eating and will try to either write it (gotta track anyway for the big summer slim down!) and when I can throw a pic on here if I can figure out how to down-load on my new system at work.

Remember I was the one that warned you!!!

 

Summer Challenge

I have read many places about different people doing a challenge together to help each other during weight loss; always thought I would like to try that and after Princess posted about this challenge: http://debbidoesdieting.blogspot.com/ I trolled on over to Debbie Does Dieting and signed up. It's starts on June 6, 2011 so take a look and see if you are interested. I am hoping it will help kick-start me back into better eating and exercising habits after falling apart the last week and half. Still dealing with all my fears over my son's surgery (found out yesterday evening it may have to be moved up to April 2012) and trying my best not to deal with everything by sticking food in my mouth. To everyone that gave me some kind words last post, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Everyone have a great weekend...

Where I Have Been, Where I Am Going

In responce to the title it is "CRAZY!!" Took my son last week for a second opinion on the surgery his orthopedic surgeon is wanting him to have next year and the second opinion was "why are you waiting until next year, he needs it now." Well...let's see...he just had the baclofen pump inplanted last May and went into a coma so I am waiting to let him grow stronger before I make him tackle this:

1. break both femurs into, reallign all muscles in thighs
2. move knee caps down, reallign all muscles in this area
3. shave bones at both heels

He will be bedridden for 3 weeks and then the next 5 weeks will physical therapy off and on each day to help him learn to walk again. I will have to "live" there with him at the hospital as I can't bring him home in rural TN and expect him to get the same kind of care he will get in St. Louis. His father and I are divorced and he rarely sees our son let alone help with anything and my parents are older and do the best they can to help me. God Bless both of them for without them, especially my mom who makes EVERY TRIP with me, I don't know what I would do. I have discussed it with OPS in St. Louis and he says there isn't really a time frame but it will have to be done as Jake continues to "crouch" with knees turning in, making it hard for him to stand straight and walk up-right without assistance. This surgery is supposed to correct all of that.

I have been doing pretty good at pushing it all from my mind, focusing on trying to lose weight and get healthy and not eat my emotions. But since last week I have to admit I am eating more than I should on some days and to make up for it, not enough on others so I recognize I am yo-yo dieting again, binge some on one day, starve the next. I DO NOT want this to start again. I have been struggling enough trying to battle the plateau I had hit in March, having the "I might as well eat" attitude I normally get, but adding the stress of my concerns for my son, well, the past week has not been a good one. I am up to 207.2 lbs this morning. I had been bouncing from 205 to 206 lbs, now 207.2. It creeps when you aren't careful. SO...I am dealing and attempting to regain my control. I am asking everybody have us in your thoughts and prayers. It is extremely important I get healthy so I can take care of my son so I do not want to lose the battle.

Addition:
His surgery will be summer 2012.

Work Mascot

Have I ever posted our mascot where I work? Fitting on Friday the 13th isn't it? (We are State Prosecution not serial killers by the way...)

 

Everybody have a great weekend!

Summer Coming Soon!

My Mothers Day

As I whined previously on last post about ping-ponging weight I forgot to show you what I am most thankful for in all this world and beyond:

My son came into this world January 30, 2001 (he wasn't due until May 6) weighing 1 lb 1 oz and dropped to 15 oz when his father cut the cord.  He has battled countless surgeries in order to not be blind and to walk. As I have stated before he has cp but has overcame so many obstacles that doctors placed in his path..."he will never walk, he will possibly be retarded or autistic, he probably won't be able to speak, he won't be able to attend regular school" and my favorite when I had him evaluated developmentally at 2-years-old "he is going to be extremely low-functioning, I would imagine you should expect an IQ of around 50" (60 is labled retarded.) As I mother I pondered all these things, cried bitter tears for awhile, then something inside me clicked and I knew I would take him as far as I could and maybe prove them wrong. After continued tears and a mother pushing her son to do his absolute best no matter what his "best" was:

He walks unassisted and sees pretty good with his glasses;
He has always had a very deep, low, gravelly voice due to the scar tissue from tubes down his throat at birth (my dad says he sounds like he drinks a fifth of scotch and smokes a pack of Camels a day) but he talks our heads off;
He attends regular school in a regular classroom and no special classes, happens to be in gifted reading, having some problems with math but so does his mom;
His IQ is off the ricter scale for his age (I sent a copy of this this past year to the psychologist that told me his IQ would be 50 with a note that said "fuck you...")
He is muscially gifted and plays guitar, drums and now begging to play piano and is a rock music wizard;
And not a day goes by that I am so thankful and proud to be his mother...I love you son,

Sigh...

I really wish I could figure out what is going on with me. I am still going up and down the same 3 lbs and I am so sick of it. This has been going on for weeks and weeks. Bitch, snarl, gripe, whine...

Had a good Mother's Day weekend.  I fixed some hamburgers for the fam and served them with wheat buns and they weren't too happy and also fixed macaroni salad with whole wheat pasta and with that they never knew the difference. Still taking care of the pup (a bigger job than I wanted!) and he is eating me out of house and home.

Not much time to post today, hope to be back soon, until then you guys take care.

P.S. Over the weekend I got into a chocalate frenzey, I mean I was in a fog "gotta have it, gotta have it!" and I remember I had bought the new Skinny Cow peanut butter candy bar for 3 points. Awesomely good, I ate it and the craving stopped. Y'all might give than a try if you feel like you are going to eat a King size Snickers.

Blogger Award

Wow. Just got awarded my first blogger award, I am deeply honored...

(wiping tear away) I have never considered myself "stylish" until this award from Need to Get Me Back ( she's kicking butt in the weight loss department.)
The rules:
1. Post a link back to the person who gave it to me.  Need to Get Me Back at
http://needtogetmeback.blogspot.com/

2. Give it to other blogs that I L.O.V.E. and stop by their blogs to let them know (they are in no particular order BTW, and if you click on them you'll be taken away to their wonderful blogs.) Note from Me:  I look at lots of blogs and all are great and supportive, and I recommend all of the blogs in my blog list for inspiration and motivation.

Struggling at  http://strugglingwithfood.blogspot.com/
Weighing for 50's at http://weightingfor50.wordpress.com/
Happy Texans at http://happytexans.blogspot.com/
Healthy Dreaming at http://healthyxdreaming.blogspot.com/
Your Lighter Side at http://blog.yourlighterside.com/
Maria's Musings at http://mariasmusing.blogspot.com/

3. Tell 7 things about yourself.

1. I have a disabled child who has cerebral palsy. I feel I am very lucky to own this child. I know I am very lucky that his disability is not too severe and does not effect him mentally. Coming into the world weighing 1 lb. and 1 oz. things could have been catastrophic, but ended up much better than I ever thought (he's gifted in reading and plays the guitar, keyboards and drums!)

2. I secretly read bodice rippers.

3. I am divorced (see post #2, probably why I read bodice rippers.)

4. I have pale blue pigmentation in my eyes which causes people to do a back-take alot when I take off my glasses. If I had a nickle for everytime I have heard "your eyes look like they belong on one of them big snow dogs!"

5. I am a college grad and almost completed my Master's Degree but dropped out to get married and start a family.

6. I am what is known as a "haunter" every year I do a haunted house or trail and give all proceeds earned to charity. I LIVE for Halloween each year.

7. I help kick ass in a court room.

SO...there you go...

Second Post

Earlier I sent out a "seriously funny" cartoon I found on someone's site somewhere, I look at so many I forgot to look at the where...but anyway, I have also been reading about the "Onederland Curse." Has anybody heard of this? It all makes sense now, I can't get under 200 lbs because I am cursed.

Naw, I don't really think that, but evidently I am not the only one to get so far and bounce back and forth. I am seeing 203 which is much better than last year's 233, but stilll, I want it so bad and for 2 months I just keep bouncing back and forth between 3 lbs. Guess I better just quit my whining and keep the keeping on.

Today's eats--
Breakfast: 2 slices Sara Lee Delightful Honey Wheat Bread, toasted and 1 fried egg
Lunch: 6 oz grilled hamburger steak with green beans
Dinner: (planning on) Grilled deer steak with slice of pepper jack cheese and small salad
Snack: handful of almonds

Question for everyone, I am drinking plain water and at least once a day some Crystal Light, the Crystal Light is ok to drink everyday right? It helps me get the water down from time to time. Peace.

Exercise!

My oh My...

Seriously, who could just drop this off in the terrible shape it was in? People can be monsters..

Got to share a funny, riding in this morning Jake and I are listening to Johnny Cash who is singing about 10 virgins ligtining candles and Jake says, "mom he sure is country, he doesn't know how to pronounce Virginians..." God love that boy!

On to a little what I like to call "low carby" information; I have been doing some research into what is best to eat or not eat when trying to eat IR and part of my search is a decent bread I could have every now and then that is low is net carbs. When thinking reasonably I know I will have to eat bread from time to time so on Your Lighter Side site she mentions Sara Lee Delightful Honey Wheat Bread which is 9 net carbs for 2 slices-- I'm IN!!!!

Everyone have a great day and stay out of trouble! I am fixing to grab a bite of baked chicken wings and then head to the dentist office (yuck!)

A New Time Consumer

I am such a SUCKER! for all things small and pitiful.  Some horrible and mean person dropped off a litter of pups, one of them made it to my house and the rest ended up down the road at a neighbors home. We don't have a dog, with Jacob having cp and balance issues he has always been scared of them, but on Saturday he decides when he looks at this tick and flea infested, hot spots all over its little body, starved- to- death puppy, "Momma, I think we need to keep him." He is a mongrel and looks chow/shepard mix. Lord. Help. Me. So I started the process of getting rid of the ticks and fleas and teaching him how to eat, he evidently wasn't even weaned yet, and I must say he has taken to food. Jacob named him "Little Bear" but I imagine he isn't going to be little for very long and will just end up "Bear."

On the food front I continue to eat low carb as I can (I need to get lower!) and doing my best to stay away from sweets. Breakfast was a scrambled egg with bacon and little shredded cheese and had me a big salad with baked chicken for lunch:

 It is an adjustment to eat this way when I crave carbs so much, but I am learning and trying to do right. When I say crave carbs, I mean the processed ones, and that is what I am trying to stay away from as much as possible. (It is so hard!!)

Wake Up!

Tornadoes devastate South, killing at least 251

Who Cares?

Tuna Burgers

	Fat: 7.7 g Carbohydrates: 12.9g Calories: 309.4 Protein: 45.1g

A unique way to enjoy canned tuna.

2 cans chunk light tuna
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp horseradish
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil (for frying)



Mix all ingredients (except oil) together.
Form into patties and fry in hot oil until crust forms on each side.
Cover and finish in 350 degree oven for 5-7 minutes.

Number of Servings: 4

 Not a big tuna person but found this recipe on Spark People, going to give it a try in place of beef one of these days (I think...)

We survived another night of hell with the weather. I can't remember when I have ever seen it lightning for hours and hours straight. We have had about 9 inches of rain in 2 days. Nuts. Anyhoo...I hope everyone is safe and having a good week. I am trying to keep the food demon at bay, he has been clawing to get out since I ate more than I should this past weekend. Funny how just a little bit of straying causes me to want to EAT everything and anything.

Here is the menu for today--
Breakfast: 1 EggMcMuffin and coffee   8  points
Lunch: tuna salad sandwich on whole wheat, lettuce, carrot sticks, 9 pork rinds, small apple, unsweet tea 10 points
Dinner: ?:

I am doing 30 minutes most days on the elliptical. I vary my levels and feel like I am getting a good work out. Going to start upping the time by 5 minutes and my goal for May is to be on it for an hour each work-out. I can't report a loss for April, I have lost 2 pounds in the last 2 months. There is a part of me that wants to scream and cry, but there is the other part of me that sees I am eating healthy foods, no soda with sugar, lots of water and LOTS of exercise and I am proud of that. I continue the fight!

Stormy Tuesday

Bad weather here, had 2 confirmed tornados in my county yesterday and everywhere you look there is alot of wind damage. Scary stuff and more on the way today. I nervously ate yesterday and got into my weekly points, something I usually do not do but I thought "no biggie that's what the extra points are for." This morning I plugged into MyFitnessPal and added up all my calories from yesterday just to see how many I had. Shit...I didn't realize since I have been eating lower carb AND following the WW points how many calories that meant even using the weekly points. Hmmm...I am going up and down again on 3 lbs, today I am up. So so tired of this but just can't figure out what my body is doing. Just staying with it though, I refuse to give up.

Breakfast this morn-- 1 whole wheat english muffin and 2 tbsp peanut butter with 1% milk. No pic, I figured that was such a boring breakfast it wasn't worth it, that and I gobbled it down.

Snack: my new fav find--Laughing Cow French Onion slice+ 1point

Lunch was turkey and pepper jack cheese slice sandwich on whole wheat bread with 1 tsp. mayo, carrot sticks and a yogurt parfait from McDonalds for 11 points. Once again I chowed down and I figure you know what a turkey sandwich looks like. Going to plug it all into My Fitness Pal again and see how many calories that would be. Hope everybody is having a good week.

Mad Monday

Back at it today, have to admit I was a BAD girl on several occasions this weekend in the eating department. I got back on the wagon this morning and plan on doing much better once again. I did make a couple of recipes that were WW/IR friendly and I did exercise daily and on Sat. I walked 2 miles at lunch and then worked out on elliptical that evening. Here are a couple of things I made:

Protein Pancake with Peanut Butter Agave Drizzle (picture of pancake with peanut butter icing is my son's half, he got more!)

And I also made Dancia's Chicken Potlicker Soup (I had the potlickers and wanted to make it before it got to be so hot here) and it was very good. I added some chicken breast pieces to the broth but other than that I kept it the same:

Here is a picture of my son, he had a large time dying Easter eggs. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Happy Easter to Everybody

WTH?!?!

Stepped on scale this morning and up 3 lbs from yesterday. No it isn't that time. Not sure what kind of cruel joke my body is trying to play on me. Had 47 net carbs yesterday, a little lower than previous days and have worked out daily 30 minutes on elliptical.

I am going to be reading everyone's blog daily if I can but I won't be posting for a little while but this time it isn't due to regrouping. We have a kidnapped 20-yr-old girl and two dead bodies in our District so needless to say, I'm going to be a little busy...Hang tight with me and check back, I will return when time allows.

P.S. Thanks to Kelly at Happy Texans and The Princess for their words of encouragement and support lately.

Hard Weekend

Morning all, how's everybody doing? I had a hard weekend, I battled sugar and carb cravings until I thought I would cry. I ate a little extra fruit to try and get me through it. I figured that was better than the Reece's peanut butter eggs I have out for my son and family. I know many others get it completely out of the house but I don't think it's fair to those who can indulge occasionally that I can't control myself. Hoping this will pass soon but wonder if it just won't be an off and on battle.

For those who read my last entry and are concerned, just check into IR a little more. How I found out to check was a friend of mine had a 15-year-old daughter to be dx and after reading her info I KNEW I had to see a doctor. I should have 30 years ago but my mother didn't have a clue to even have me checked for such a thing. Even after knowing I resisted the diet, I DO NOT want to cut carbs so low, but I finally came to the realization when I wasn't losing on WW and exercising daily I had to quit fighting the obvious. I am in a learning process now on how to hopefully get my body to process food correctly and not store it as fat. I bought the 2011 Calorie King: Calorie, Fat and Carbohydrate Counter and as I read through it I realized I am eating carbs in many places I never knew they were, so I am figuring out how many a day I can eat and lose weight. An example, on past low carb diets that I only lasted several days on, I would eat peanuts and nuts like crazy. 1 oz of cocktail peanuts has 6 carbs. I never knew they had any so I binged on them. Gotta rethink and relearn my way of eating and it is going to be hard.

Weekend eating:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs with cheese, onions and peppers
Lunch: hamburger steak, large salad
Supper: celery and peanut butter, apple and orange throughout day for snacks