Monday, January 30, 2012

Success!

After some deliberation today, I decided to come to my WW meeting. I'm so glad I did! I lost nearly 3 more pounds this week, bringing my grand total of weight loss to 16.4 pounds! I'm so glad I still lost this week after having two days of fun!



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A new week!

We had a really great weekend - maybe a little too great! Saturday evening, we had a few friends over and had lots of great food! I tried to be good - even making WW buffalo chicken dip and salsa roll ups...but then proceeded to eat too many! Yesterday was only a little worse...Danny and I were feeling the crave and headed to White Castle for lunch. Those little cheeseburgers are 5 pts each...not too WW friendly. I didn't track anything I ate yesterday and only tracked half my day on Saturday. I should go to my WW meeting tonight, but don't want to feel too frustrated with myself. Oh well, I guess we all need to indulge once in a while! Even if I did backslide a little this weekend, I'm pretty sure it was all worth it to have a great night with some really great friends. I'm back on the wagon today...even remembering to track the little bit of sugar I added to my coffee this morning since I'm out of the not so healthy, but point free artificial sweetener! 

Danny weighed himself on Saturday and had lost 5 pounds! I'm so proud of him and hope we can both keep this momentum going!

This marks a big week for us...Sophie will be 11 months old on Thursday! Time is flying by! We are planning her first birthday party. It seems like we just brought her home from the hospital yesterday. 

We went to the Boat and RV Show this weekend....here she is, taking it all in!

 And showing off her new trick - climbing on the coffee table!



















Monday, January 23, 2012

Another successful week! I went to my WW meeting tonight and have lost 2 more pounds. That brings my exact total to 13.6 pounds since December 27. I'm happy with that - nearly 2 pounds a week on average, which is what WW says you can lose on their program. I'm on my way to my 20 pound goal by Sophie's birthday!

I tried a new recipe for chicken chili yesterday. It was so, so good! Danny and I both liked it better than the last recipe (though that was a good one, too!). This one has lime juice and cilantro - which make it extra special. You can find the recipe here. I am loving this website - www.laaloosh.com. There are tons of recipes here and I've found lots of inspiration for making meals at home. 

Danny has officially joined WW. We'll see how his first week goes! 

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Good morning world!


A better week...

I went to my WW meeting last night. I've been going on Tuesday nights, but Danny's work schedule is changing and it looks like it will be easier for me to go on Mondays now. I liked the leader a lot better at the Monday night meeting (although she scared me just a little - she's very empowering, but almost militant!). I am happy to say that I'm down 5.6 lbs this week! That makes my total loss at 12 lbs! It's not as hard as I thought it would, especially when I'm surrounding myself with good choices. The best thing about WW is that I do have lots of choices. Danny and I had a date night this weekend and went out for a late lunch/dinner. I had a philly cheese steak wrap and some popcorn and cherry coke at the movies. I also went out to lunch one day last week with my boss and the CEO where I work (how could I turn down that invitiation!?) and had a fajita quesadilla, chips and salsa and some cheese dip. I like that I can make those choices, and balance out my day with a lighter dinner and still lose weight! My daily points value dropped again, but I think I'll manage that just fine! Hopefully this will be another successful week! Danny says that he's joining on Friday...we'll see how that goes for him! :)

Friday, January 13, 2012

This week...

A few updates from this week..

I went to my WW meeting on Tuesday. I didn't lose any weight. I didn't gain any either, but I didn't lose any. I was frustrated, but after talking with the woman sitting in front of me, I was encouraged again. She said that she had the same experience. So I'll continue on this journey. I've done pretty well this week. My new favorite meal is an omelette! For dinner, no less! It's so quick and easy. I can make one while Sophie plays. I've made it twice for dinner this week and it's about a 3 point meal, which is nothing. I use 1/2 c. egg beaters (1 pt), 1/4 c. reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese (2 pts) and whatever veggies I have (0 points!). I haven't had much to choose from this week. The first time, I added onion and green pepper...mmm! Last night, I only had green pepper, but it was good. I put salsa on top (0 points). Last night, I also had two pieces of toast because I had plenty of points to use.

Another recipe I made this week was Lemon Cake. I've looked forward to having a piece just about every night. It's just a box of lemon cake mix with a 20 oz bottle of Diet 7-up! I think I bought the wrong cake mix, as my cake ended up being about 5 points per slice (plus a serving of light Cool Whip - 1 point), but the original recipe said it was only 1.5 points per serving. I'll try to find the non-deluxe cake mix next time! It's been a nice treat and I've been quite selfish with it. I think Sophie would love it, but I've only had it after she's gone to bed!

Danny and I are planning a date night for this weekend. Nothing too crazy...probably just dinner and a movie and a quiet night at home. My sister is keeping Sophie for us, so I'll once again get to experience the glorious-ness that is sleeping in! I can't wait! I'm also thankful for the long weekend since Sophie will be gone one night! I'll have plenty of time with her on Monday!

Sophie has learned a new trick this week. She now knows how to shake her head "no." It's so cute. I'll say, "Sophie, can I have a kiss?" She'll shake her head no, but always ends up giving kisses. The sleeping thing remains inconsistent. Last Saturday, she fell asleep around 8 and we didn't hear from her again until 7 the next morning. Other nights are not so great. The last few nights, I've actually just let her cry for a little bit. I have to be able to get the dishes done and house picked up so she just has to learn how to sleep in her bed. The first night, she fell asleep standing up, resting her head on the side of the crib. It was pitiful. Last night, she about did the same thing, but after about 20 minutes, I went in a laid her down and she fell right to sleep. She was up a couple of times, but it's getting better. It's hard to set those firm limits with her. I want her to know that when she needs something, Mommy and Daddy will always be there. But when she is just standing in her crib doing her fake cry, she will have to learn to go to sleep!

I'm ready for the weekend! Hope you have a great one, too!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

A few videos

Sophie laughing at me pretending her socks are stinky


Walking!


I vaguely remember a time when these were her coolest tricks:



Trip to the zoo

Macy and I took Sophie to the zoo on Saturday afternoon. We had a really great time and Sophie really seemed to enjoy the animals. I'd like to get us a family membership so we can go more this spring/summer. Here are some of the highlights from our day. 


Enjoying the ride!

Petting the goats




Here's Sophie talking to the goats!





10 months!

Sophie is now 10 months (and almost a week) old! This has been quite a month! She now has three teeth and is WALKING!! She's a little wobbly, but she is absolutely on the move! She has recently entered into a very sweet phase - giving hugs and kisses all the time! She is talking all the time, too. Her favorite word? Cat. Everything is "cat." We took her to the zoo yesterday and she called all of the animals "cats." She also has mastered "hi," "bye," "uh oh," "da-da," "ma-ma," "sock" and "hot" - which is what she says when she wants a bite of something.

Here's Sophie at one month:


And here she is now!





Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Success!

I went to a WW Meeting last night after really working hard and following all of the rules over the past week. I have "removed" 6.4 pounds in one week! I do realize that not every week will see such high numbers, but for goodness sake, I was beyond excited! I have done my best to make healthier choices all week, even though we did have Taco Bell and Skyline during the week. I just made sure to eat within my points, and it really did pay off. This week, I'm 6.4 pounds lighter (with many more to go) and can have 1 less points plus per week. My goal is to lose 20 pounds by Sophie's first birthday in March. We'll see how it goes. I'm committed to tracking what I'm eating and to making healthier choices. One of my biggest motivators in this whole journey is to set a better example for Sophie. I remember my mom going on diets when I was younger and she'd always lose weight...but she would eat maybe one meal a day consisting of a baked potato and a piece of fish or chicken. I want to Sophie to see her parents making better, healthier choices so she can be healthy, too.

Speaking of the little stinker, she's now 10 months old...only two short months away from being a year old. I haven't taken her 10 month pictures yet...things have been a little crazy at our house. We're doing some, um, remodeling of sorts in the bathroom. Meaning that this morning, there was a big hole in the bathroom and no water in the house. That was fun. I'm hopeful that all will be normal (minus the leak) by the time I get home from work today. Sophie (and I) could both use a bath tonight! Plus, washing bottles with a jug of water was not too fun this morning!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Enchilada Chicken

Today, I made enchilada chicken in the slow cooker. It was really easy and turned out pretty well. Since I made the recipe up, I thought I should make a note of it so I don't forget what I did!

-1.5 lbs chicken breasts
-2 cans green enchilada sauce
-minced onion
-chili powder
-cumin
-paprika
-crushed red pepper flakes

I put all of this in the slow cooker (not sure how much of the spices I used...) and cooked it on high for about 3 hours. Once it was ready, I cooked bell peppers (one red and green) and a half an onion with some cooking spray, salt and pepper. For a late lunch/early dinner, we ate this like a burrito - with reduced fat cheese, sour cream and salsa. If I did my math correctly, the chicken mixture came out to about 5 points for a 1 cup serving. Not too bad! Plus, the peppers and onions are free, so I really loaded up on those!

I wouldn't mind for the chicken to have a bit more spice, but Sophie seemed to really enjoy it the way it was. If it were spicier, she probably wouldn't have been able to enjoy it.