Weigh-In Friday

Yes, it is actually Saturday morning when I'm posting this but the weight and picture are from yesterday morning. I did not have the chance to post yesterday.


I am feeling very "stuck" at the moment. My mom told me last week I probably had hit a plateau. I guess I'll be hanging out there for a while from the looks of it! This just means I need to work that much harder.

The reading is going well. With my new Bible I am able to follow along with Wendy Pope's blog and her video commentaries as well as the blog readers' comments. This helps with explaining what I'm reading and pointing out meaning and applications as well.

That's it for now - I'll just continue to chug along.

Weekend Goals

On Friday I quickly posted some goals for the weekend:

• catch up on my Bible reading
• attend Sunday School in the morning & the new member meeting that evening
• not eat any of Gabrielle's Valentine candy (she is not getting very much so this shouldn't be too difficult)
• kick it into high gear as far as my workouts go

I didn't do too badly. I caught up with my Bible reading and I am determined to not fall that far behind again. I'm sure there will be hectic days in the future whenI miss but hopefully not more than one day at a time.

We didn't make it to church yesterday morning. Gabrielle's fever was gone when she woke up but because she had been running a temp on Saturday I didn't feel she should be in church with everyone else. Plus she still has a cough. But I did make it to the new member meeting - at least I tried. I got to church about 10 minutes early but no one knew where the meeting was supposed to take place and no one could find the pastor! I have to call the church office this week but I'm assuming the meeting was rescheduled and because I missed the morning service I didn't realize this. The trip was definitely not a complete waste of time though because I met and talked with several very nice and helpful people from the church.

Hmm, the Valentine candy. I'm not sure if I passed this one or not. For 99 cent I bought a bag of small heart shaped lollipops. Twelve were in the bag. I couldn't find just a single lollipop that wasn't gigantic so I opted to get the bag of small ones. I also didn't think I needed to give Gabrielle 12 lollipops! I put two in her Valentine gift and I ended up eating two myself. Does this count as eating her candy? I'm not sure but I do know there was a time I would have eaten the other 10 left in the bag in a weekend's time!

Working out - well again I tried. I didn't work out on Saturday. A sick little girl, baby and cleaning got in the way of that. (Whenever one of the girls is sick I seem to get in a cleaning frenzy!) I tried again yesterday morning to exercise during Samantha's morning nap. Gabrielle was (supposed to be) occupied with play doh. She decided she was done playing before my 30 minute work out was complete. It seems like any other time I would have to drag her away from the play doh. After she attempted to clean up by herself I paused briefly to at least get her out of the kitchen away from creating a bigger mess. Samantha then woke up from her typical cat nap. Before I knew it I was no longer alone in the living room and there were just too many people around for me to safely exercise without knocking someone over or stepping on someone. Samantha is already awake this morning but I'm hoping to get my work out in during her morning nap.

I have a tendency to reward and celebrate with food. This is a habit I'm trying to break away from. Once in a while a nice dinner out is great and of course I will continue to give in to special desserts and treats from time to time but I don't want everything to be about food. I had read somewhere - now I can't remember if it was a blog, a magazine or exactly where I read it - that as incentive when losing weight, or accomplishing any other goal, to set up a type of rewards system. For example, for every blank pounds lost treat yourself to something. I liked this idea so I had mentally thought of a few simple and relatively inexpensive things I could "treat" myself to with each goal. For my half way point, 10 lbs, I decided I would treat myself to some new make up. I have had my make up done professionally one time and that was for my bridal portraits. It was fun but definitely not an everyday look. I have always wanted to have my make up done by someone and have them tell me the best products to use and the right shades. This week is Clinique bonus time at our Belk. I have 2.5 lbs to lose this week in order to reach my halfway point. It is going to take a lot of work to reach it. And since losing weight isn't my only goal I'm also adding the stipulation that I have to be current with my Bible reading.

Can I do it? I hope so!! I guess we'll find out on Friday.

Weigh-In Friday

A little anticlimactic but here it is...


My goals for the weekend and next week are:

• catch up on my Bible reading
• attend Sunday School in the morning & the new member meeting that evening
• not eat any of Gabrielle's Valentine candy (she is not getting very much so this shouldn't be too difficult)
• kick it into high gear as far as my workouts go
  

Baked Salmon Dijon

I tried another new recipe tonight for dinner. It was delicious!

Today is Ed's birthday and I always try to cook something special for him. With Valentine's Day being so close there are always good grocery store specials to pick from. He wanted a steak but since I'm trying to cut back on my red meat I opted for salmon. I've cooked salmon before but I wanted a new way to try it other than the good ole standby of marinating it in Italian dressing and grilling it.


Try to ignore the very poor presentation. The plate looks very sloppy but the food tasted oh so delicious. We had roasted asparagus with balsamic vinegar, old bay seasoned roasted sweet potatoes and I had baked salmon. The recipe for the sauce is below:

• 1 cup fat-free sour cream
• 2 tsp dried dill
• 3 Tbsp scallions, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

This was the amount for 1-1/2 lb of salmon fillets. I bought a 9 oz fillet so I cut the recipe in half and still had plenty of sauce left over which Ed ate with crackers. He said it made a very tasty dip. But back to the salmon, first you season the salmon fillet with garlic powder and black pepper and top with the sauce. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or just until the salmon is opaque. Easy, fast and yummy! And healthy!!

Exercise, Food & Reading

I weigh myself nearly every day so usually I have an idea what my Friday weight is going to be. Well this week I can say it is not looking too good for any kind of change, which I guess isn't all together a bad thing. Maintaining is not a bad thing. But I'm feeling a little stuck even though I knew the closer I got to my goal the harder it was going to be.

I decided this week I needed to really rev up my workouts. Working out in general has been challenging. If I don't do it in the mornings it probably isn't going to happen. Thanks to early risers lately, getting it done in the am has not been easy. I already wake up between 5:00 and 5:30 and for anyone who really knows me, you know this is a big deal for me - I AM NOT a morning person. When I get up I make a pot of coffee and sit down at the computer to do my devotions. I think it is more important to get myself mentally and emotionally prepared for the day first. Some days I just get caught up in my devotions - and catching up reading blogs and emails - that it is well after 6:00 before I get ready to exercise.

But back to boosting my workouts - in addition to the walking routines the past couple of days I have also done a 24 minute quick workout by Jillian Michaels. She's kicking my butt! I am not even using hand weights during the workouts yet (because right now I'm not exactly sure where they are - probably in a box somewhere in the shop along with a ton of yard sale stuff) and I'm still sore everywhere! I keep telling myself sore muscles are good even if right now I can barely move.

I'm trying to come up with some new dishes - and by "come up with" I mean find some new recipes online - to try for dinner. I bought some gnocchi a few weeks ago as a suggestion from a fellow blogger as a good table food to start with my 9 month old. Gnocchi is something none of us have ever had before so I did a search online for some suggested "sauces." I found this recipe and tried it out tonight. It was yummy!!! Definitely a dish I'll be making again - even the girls loved it.


I think with a little more tomato it would have been perfect!

Reading - I am really enjoying my new Bible. I still have a lot of reading to do to get caught up and will feel much better once I am. I like this translation, the New Living Translation, and the way this Bible is organized and laid out is making it so much easier to read.

Thanks, Sis!

I am very excited. On Saturday my sister gave me this -


After she read on my blog that I had considered buying this new Bible she ordered it for me. Aren't sisters the greatest? Tonight I will start my daily readings from this book and what I've decided to do is try to read 2-3 days worth from the month of January in order to get caught up. It should pretty much be what I've already read anyway but the One Year Chronological Bible is a different translation and also has additional notes and dates on each reading. I'm very excited.

(I received some really great gifts this year for my birthday and thanks to everyone for them! I wanted to mention this particular gift on my blog since it is directly related to my resolutions.)

Weigh-In Friday

This makes me happy. :)


Considering I haven't had the chance to really exercise since Monday I think my loss this week is pretty good. Today I will make a point to eat light all day - yogurt, fruit, salad and lots of water - because tonight we are going to our favorite (family) restaurant to celebrate my birthday. I guess it actually is to celebrate my birthday, Ed's birthday and Valentine's Day. With all three being within a week of each other we typically go out just once for the whole shebang. I guess we tend to go out on my actual birthday though so I don't have to cook.

We are going to Milton's which is a super family-friendly Italian restaurant. We love it. The food is so good, the service is excellent and it is affordable. My favorite dish at Milton's is the lasagna. Very yummy but not very diet friendly. I could get a healthier option, there are plenty to choose from on the menu, but I can't imagine going my whole life without lasagna for the sake of a few pounds! I figure if I eat light all day and have a salad with my dinner then eating a half portion of the lasagna (the servings are quite generous) won't be too bad.

For my birthday cake I really wanted my favorite which is devil's food cake with 7 minute white fluffy frosting but I don't think there is a "healthy" version of that to be found anywhere. Ed doesn't eat chocolate and I definitely don't need an entire cake to eat myself! I'll concede to a healthier alternative - cherry angel food cake. I found this recipe but yesterday when putting groceries away found an angel food cake mix in my pantry. I haven't decided whether to take the easy way out and just add the cherries to the cake mix or if I'll make the cake from scratch. I have a feeling the cake mix will be used though. There are other ways I'd rather spend my day than baking and cleaning up all those dishes afterward.

This past weekend, during the snow, I was able to get caught up with my daily Bible reading. Unfortunately this week I have fallen a couple of days behind again. I know I'll get caught up over the weekend once again though and hopefully I won't wait until I'm absolutely dog tired next week to start reading each night. Right now I am reading in Exodus, the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. I couldn't help but think of the "watered down" version of this story and many other stories I learned way back as a child in Sunday school. It's funny to think I never until now really knew all the details of these stories. Unfortunately our high school Sunday school class time was spent chatting about the weekend more than really having any kind of lesson and I haven't been to Sunday school or part of a real Bible study as an adult. Even though I seem to be struggling to keep up with the daily assignments I really am enjoying reading. I find all those little details so fascinating and amazing and the stories that much more incredible.

Bittersweet Celebration

I know I said I would post a weigh-in yesterday but when I saw what the scale said yesterday morning I wasn't exactly thrilled and in a hurry to do so.


We all have setbacks from time to time but I'm really disappointed in myself. When I think about the weekend it wasn't just the cupcakes that did me in. I may not have snacked on chips all weekend but I definitely did not stick to balanced, healthy meals or drink as much water as I should have. After getting so close to hitting 150 I now have another "extra" 2-1/2 pounds to lose - again!

But despite my weakness over the weekend I sill met and exceeded my goal of losing 5 lbs by February 1st.

January 1st -

For my next goal - another 5 lbs by March 1st. The next 5 lbs will definitely require more of an effort. February is not only a slightly shorter month but full of celebrations for us - my birthday, my husband's birthday, Valentine's Day, my niece's birthday. That's a lot of cake! I have found a cherry angel food cake recipe I am going to try out for my birthday. I'll just have to work on my self-control when it comes to the others.

The snow was fun over the weekend but now I'm ready for it to be GONE! I'm very skittish about driving on ice and our neighborhood roads are still a big sheet of ice. Ed is coming home from work this morning to take us to the doctor for Samantha's 9 month appointment. I had hoped to get to the grocery store afterward but I realize Ed will need to get back to work as soon as possible. Tomorrow is supposed to be much warmer and nicer. Gabrielle has ballet in the morning and we'll go to the grocery store after that - and maybe even Walmart or Target just to walk around and be out the house. Today I'm determined to get this house straightened up. It is a mini-disaster around here with toys everywhere, coats, shoes, mittens and hats laying everywhere and the hamper is overflowing. The kitchen floors are a mess from the dogs coming in and out. I definitely have enough to keep me busy for the day.