Another holiday has come to sabotage my hard work. As of late, I've been diligent with no pop, and keeping sweets and junk food to a minimum (working out, not so much.) Happy Birthday America, sorry your celebrations go straight to my thighs! We are heading to a party tonight so I ate at home first. This will either do one of two things...
1. Keep me from eating a ridiculous amount of goodies
2. Count as my 1st dinner and then I will eat again (and again and again)
I'm hoping for the 1st option!

**This post was updated because after reading through my blog, my dear friend said something along the lines of..."I loved your blog except for the part where you cut me out of the picture!  This is for you Al!

No News is Baaaaad News

So apparently when I know I haven't been doing very well with my eating and exercising, I don't feel like sharing my failure. Hence the no posting for over a month.

Mom, the babe, and I went to KY to visit some family. Let me just say that Southern Living does not bode well for Annie's body. 5 lbs in 6 days. Heres how...sweet sourdough bread. It was to die for. So I'd have 2 slices for breakfast, and slice for brunch, a slice on the side of my lunch, 2 slices as a side for my dinner, and a slice for a bedtime snack. All smothered in butter, all deliriously mouth watering. Add on top of that 3 fast food stops on the way down and 3 on the way home. I could almost hear myself gaining weight. On the plus side, we've been outside a ton so I have a nice tan. I know its not health or weight related, but in my opinion tan fat has always looked better than pale fat.

Confession:
As I write this I am 1/4 of the way through a pint of Ben & Jerry's Half Baked. I earned it today though. Believe me!
...
So since I confessed do I get to say like 10 Hail Mary's (or Hail Jerry's) and then it magically won't appear on my hips this week? Oh wouldn't that be nice. God bless the Catholics.

Hello May!

Winter lasted forever but it feels like spring got green in a hurry! I'm loving it!! I'm Slimfasting. I haven't really been working out and I am a super lazy cook so I thought at least for breakfast (since I'm not really a breakfast girl anyways) I'd do Slimfast. I think its going ok. I'm really not hungry till around lunchtime, but I have gotten a little jittery. So I've been trying to grab bananas, apples, or other fruits to tide me over until a real meal.

My mom told me that when she was in high school she would have an apple and if she was really good then she would walk down and get a shake in the evening. Mom and I are built the same, tall, bulky, Swedes. We both had miniature versions of friends. Its funny how as you get older and your priorities change you aren't as caught up with how you compare to other people, but just how you feel about yourself. You don't care what brand name your clothes are all you care is that they fit and they were on sale at Wal-Mart for $4. Its not about $100 shoes, its about how your feet and/or back feel after being in them all day. I love getting older, life is much less petty.

Milk Does the Belly Good

This is from about a month ago, but I'm maintaining which is frustrating and gratifying all at once.


Have you ever noticed how filling milk is? I think thats why SlimFast works for some people. Its a big glass of milk. Babies keep themselves full with milk for at least the first 6 months of their lives. Where am I going with this, you might wonder? I'm going to add a couple glasses of milk to my fluid intake. I love milk, what I really love is Vitamin D Milk, which Ryan thinks is disgusting. Lets face it though, I'm not going to loose weight by drinking Vitamin D. No, I'm talking about Skim, which is still filling. So this morning, we were low on cereal. So I grab a Nature Valley granola bar and a nice glass of milk. Granted we didn't get up till 10am, but I wasn't even thinking about food till almost 12:30pm. I thought that was pretty good. Then Danny and I had grilled cheese with turkey. I must say I am pretty proud of myself. I only had one...whereas when I was pregnant I'd have 3 (maybe 4).
I'm done with my part time temporary Census job, which means the vending machines are no longer calling my name from down the hall. Hopefully by being home all day again I won't tailspin into snacking and junk food. Fingers crossed...Also, its 10 more days till my friend's wedding that I want to look adorable at. Conceited, I know, but I'm allowed to be excited about weight loss!

Today I'm making meals for a few friends of our that are having a tough time and for dessert I'm making those peanut butter rice crispy chocolate covered treats. With the casserole I tripled the batch so that we could have some here, but I only doubled the dessert so it wouldn't be in the house once we delivered! Smart lady huh? I love baking, but I have to have someone to give it away to because otherwise I will eat it all myself. I have even been known to make cookies, candies, ect. if there are no sweets in the house. Also the plus side of cooking for people that are not your family is that you are not allowed to lick things clean, its just gross. So I'm wondering if Ryan will be mad if I continue cooking for other people so that I don't keep things here? Or maybe I should start taking orders in hopes that if my hands stay busy my mouth doesn't eat as much. Food for thought...

So this is what the other side of the leaf looks like...

Yes, I'm already having to re-up my New Years Resolution. Seeing as its Spring, I'm turning over a new leaf instead. The New Leaf is creepy. All the Easter candy is gone and I'm left with my trusted dried fruit. I pull back the corner to look at my Old Leaf and see that it is littered with foil wrappers that once wrapped around chocolaty bunnies filled with peanut butter and rice crisps. Empty gold coins are a reminder of the empty calories that now jiggle as I run up the stairs. Oh Easter, why did you make me buy those sweets for my 18 month old that will never eat the entire bag of chocolate kisses on his own?

New Leaf also has a new exercise plan. I am so sick of the treadmill. Its nice outside, so why am I not doing my stuff out there? Here are a list of excuses...

Laundry and other housework
Baby is Napping
Creepy People are out there
Too Cold
Too Hot
Too Buggy
Flower beds to weed

So new plan is this...
Sunday - Sabbath Day of Rest no exercise (Yes God is my excuse for this day)
Monday - Exercise Video during Nap & Evening walk
Tuesday - Evening Walk
Wednesday - Treadmill at Mom & Dads
Thursday - Treadmill at Mom & Dads
Friday - Exercise Video
Saturday - Walk

I think it is definitely doable and hopefully I can stick with it. I think I tend to shy away from running outside because nobody wants to see that. Mom boobs, jiggly butt, and belly, um no thank you. I don't want to see that, so why should I scar some poor old lady who looks out her window as her only form of entertainment. I would be personally to blame if she went blind.

I will admit that since all the Easter candy is gone from the house (because I ate it) I have been eating better. I just don't have the willpower to deny something if its right in front of me. So I don't buy it then I won't eat it. We have a nice break in between candy, carb, and fat loaded holidays that I need to take full advantage of. So here it goes, my New Leaf, oh what fun.

Also, does anyone else get motivated when they watch movies with skinny stars? I know it sounds very Jr. High, but we watched Volver with Penelope Cruz last night. Is it just me or does watching people with cute little bodies make you want a cute little body? Just wondering.

Cheap and Easy...wait that sounds all wrong.

Still vigilant in my search for cheap, easy, healthy, recipes. Here are a few that I've either stumbled across or made up.

Chicken over Corn Salsa (serves 2-4)
2 Grilled Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 Can of Corn
1 Can of Rotel Tomatos with Green Chiles

Drain corn. Add to skillet on medium heat. Add Rotel and simmer till most of the moisture evaporates. Spoon onto plate. Smack your chicken breast on top. Voila!

Spicey Tuna Spread
1 can Tuna in water
1 tsp Ground Horseraddish
2 TBS Ketchup
1 TBS Hot Sauce
12-15 Triscut Reduced Fat crackers

Drain Tuna. Mix with horseraddish, ketchup, and hot sauce. Spread on crackers and enjoy!

Soy Soaked Seared Salmon
This one is super easy. I think people tend to be leary of fish, but its foolproof. Beware though that if you don't like a "fishy" taste, try Halibut or Tilapia.

4 Salmon Fillets
1/2 cup Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
1/2 TBS Minced Garlic
1 TBS Ground Pepper

Mix together soy sauce, pepper, and garlic in a flat pan (8x8 baking dish is what I use.) Lay fillets down in a single layer for 1-2 minutes, then flip for 1-2 minutes. In a 12 in skillet over Med-High heat lay fillets skin side down and DO NOT TOUCH THEM! 4-5 Minutes depending on thickness, then flip for 1-2 minutes. Salmon should flake away easily from the rest of the fillet. I like this with brown rice and steamed vegetables.
**You may be temped to marinate the fillets in the sauce mixture for longer. Be my guest, but be warned that they can come away very salty if left in the marinade for too long.**