I'm STILL here!!!

I know, I know!! I've TOTALLY slacked on the postin' lately, but I'm still here! I'm motivated as ever and can't wait to weigh in for HFH this Friday. I'm really hoping to put up good numbers. I can't believe I missed the last weigh in. What's even more horrible? I haven't posted here forever!! I need to get into the habit of writing here daily!! Even if it's ramblings full of scatter brained thoughts, at least I'm posting! Maybe I should start a food journal. Ya ,that'd be good. Can you all tell I'm tired!?!

Anyways, I'm super excited and motivated as I think I'm gonna hit my mini goal by my birthday! I'm focused and determined and GONNA DO IT!

BUT, my main reason for busting this post out is to say this: I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T BEEN BY SOME OF YOUR BLOGS!! I HONESTLY love LOVE all your sweet comments and you truly help to motivate me. I know I LOVE getting comments and I need to return the love! I'm gonna try really hard to get around to all the people's blog's who have commented as well as my blog roll! IF FOR SOME REASON I'VE MISSED YOU, DO NOT be afraid to point this fact out to me. Don't be afraid to say: "Um, hello rude head, why don't you come share some love on my blog and give me some motivation?"  I'm ALL ears and I PROMISE to do better at updating on this blog and responding to all your WONDERFUL comments!

Anyways, enough with that. Right now, I'm down for this week and I'm feeling great. I really hope to have a super fantastic weight number on my drivers license when I get it renewed. Ya ya, I know you can lie and most people do, but I want to be truthful and I want to be HAPPY with the true weight I put down!

Alright, I'm done rambling for now! Be back soon to post some more!

Fat Ticker Friday

Well, I have TONS to write and not enough time, so I'll just post my progress (if we can call it that, LOL!) 

Lost only another .5 lb, but at least it was a loss eh? I'm totally motivated to lose at least 5 lbs by my birthday which is at months end. A big goal, I know, but I totally think I can do it! 

I'm gonna be focused, try to get around to more of the HFH participants and be blown away with all your motivation and accomplish my goal! I wanna be pre-HFH for my birthday! Then, I'll add another goal for what I wanna lose in time for HFH finale! YIPPEE!

This past week was my hubby's birthday and while we ate a lot and had tons of fun, we still kept ourselves in check. His favorite cake is the Better than Sex cake! I was so happy when he asked me to make this cake the "low fat/low sugar way!" Yay, he's on the bandwagon now and looks fantastic! He's lost almost 30 lbs in a little over a month! He's doing incredible and such a motivation for me!

Alright, I said this post was gonna be short and I'm rambling. I can't believe I haven't posted since last Friday. It's been a crazy week! I'm helping my sister move this weekend, but then hope to be around to be by all of your great blogs and add some posts to mine!

Oh and here's the recipe for the yummy cake (she calls it Holy Cow Cake) if any of your are interested. I got it from Lorie over at Honey I Shrank Myself! Delicious!!

Holy Cow Cake
~
1 box Devil's Food Cake mix
10-oz Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi
1 egg white
6-oz fat-free caramel ice cream topping
7-oz fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1 cup Skor Bar or Heath Bar bits
1 (8-oz) container fat-free cool whip
~
Mix cake mix, egg white and diet soda. Bake at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out smooth in a greased 9x13 pan. During the last few minutes of baking, put caramel and condensed milk in a sauce pan and stir on medium low heat until smooth. Take cake out of oven, and poke holes all over the top. Pour caramel mixture over warm cake, filling in the holes. Sprinkle Heath bits over the top, reserving some for the top. Cool completely. Cover with container of fat-free cool whip and sprinkle with remaining heath bits. Put in fridge until ready to serve.
Yields: 24 servings(they are small servings)
Nutritional Info: (per serving) 193 Calories, 5.25 g. fat, 1 g. fiber (4 pts per serving) (If you want to make the cake 3.5 pts per serving, only use 1/2 of the Skor bits)

Fat Ticker Friday!

It's already Friday again? What the heck?!? I seriously have no idea where this week went. SERIOUSLY NO IDEA! Anyways, I'm half asleep writing this and had every intention of writing a super fantastic post filled with grandeur, but it's not to be. I have say, I was really looking forward to doing the photo question thinga ma jig for HFH, but my tiny brain and the few brain cells I have left can barely force out this post. 

ANYWAYS, I'm rambling. What I mean to say is I wanted a good post, but have run into obstacles that have made it nearly impossible to get on my lovely computer this week. Now, the weekend has come and it's my hubby's birthday and I need to get something posted now or it's just not gonna happen. We have tons of errands we need to do, not to mention parties here and there! It's gonna be fun! YAY! Hopefully, I am gonna be strong and eat healthy and have NO REGRETS! 

As for my weigh in, I guess it's officially Friday here! Not the best loss, but it's a loss. I bet if I weighed tomorrow, it might be a lil bit better. I  just tend to weigh less in the morning. Oh well, we'll go with what I got as I've got to get to bed. Are you all still reading? WOW, I'm boring and tired and BLAH! LOL! The loss this week is .5 lb! Man, next week WILL be better. Now that I've got my Wii fit, I'm gonna go crazy mad with the whole exercise thing. I LOVE the fit! LOVE IT! 

Alright, I'm gonna stop rambling away. The time it took to write this post, I could've done the picture question thingy huh? I'm pathetically tired! Hope everyone did good this week. I'll be by your blogs early next week for sure. I'm not thinking I'm gonna get much computer time this weekend, which in this case (my hubby's birthday, etc) is a good thing!

Happy weight loss everyone and sorry for the incoherent ramblings!

P.S. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE STOPPED BY AND COMMENTED ON MY BLOG! I'm USUALLY really GOOD at coming back and VISITING and commenting on your blogs! It's been one of those weeks! I PROMISE to be by soon! I feel I've missed out on so much and that there's MOTIVATION to be got out there! THANKS AGAIN! You're comments keep me focused, motivated and determined!!

I got a Wii Fit!

Can I tell you all how excited I was to get the Wii Fit? I've wanted it for sometime now. The funny thing is I've never seen one in action or even used one, but just the concept of it totally intrigued me! A new and fun way to exercise? I'm all in!

Anyways, my sweet husband found me one this weekend and I was finally able to play it tonight! OH my gosh, I LOVE IT! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I exercised for 2 hours without even realizing that much time had gone by. I really love the step aerobics and the strength training is awesome too! The balance games are not yet my friend as I'm a total klutz, but I really LOVE this Wii Fit! Have I mentioned I love it? 

I'm so excited to get this new exercise motivation! It's at such an opportune time where I feel like I've hit a plateau and keep staying at the same weight plus or minus a pound or two here or there. Therefore, I'm ecstatic to have something to bring back my motivation to push myself that much more! Plus, The Biggest Loser is on again on Tuesday, YAY! I'm gonna totally do the Wii Fit the whole time I'm watching the show! Yes, you can totally do that!!! How cool is that? OH AND I SUPER LOVED Christie's post about adding weights and alternating the weights with aerobics. I'm totally gonna do this too! I'm planning on purchasing some weights this week! YAY! 

Alright, you all know now that I LOVE the Wii fit! I'm super pumped to see great numbers on the scale this coming Friday!! YAY! 

Say out loud to myself again:

I WILL BE HOT FOR THE HOLIDAYS!! 

FAT Ticker Friday!

Key word here being FAT! Man, I feel so gross right now!! I feel FAT, I feel gross and I need to be held accountable. I didn't lose or gain, but nonetheless, I feel BLAH! I feel like I could've tried SO MUCH harder and done SO MUCH BETTER!

I'm so glad that we have this Hot for the Holidays though. It's seriously helping me to re-evaluate and re-gain my focus and motivation! 

I WILL lose this week and it's gonna be an AWESOME loss! I'll be a major contributor to this 500 lb weight loss goal. I'll not feel blah, but feel motivated and inspired! 

I'm excited for the week to come and SUPER excited to get around to all your blogs and read about your weeks, whether you lost or gained or stayed the same. It's hearing your story of weight loss and the struggles/triumphs and everything in between that keeps me going!

Here's to a great week everyone!!

A CONTEST! YAY!

Alright, as if you all didn't already know how much I love Weight Watchers from my blinky and the fact I talk about it ALL THE TIME, I now need to tell you my love for it has grown! 

I love their products and LOVE LOVE that they keep coming out with new things pretty regularly. WW products have saved me in so many situations and I'm just glad they have them!

This being said, I would REALLY love to win some WW coupons. I spend WAY TOO MUCH on their products and could use some discounts here and there.

Lucky for me (and you all), Lorie over at Honey I Shrank our Spending is holding a contest. It says on the post that it ended on September 10th, but she just emailed me and told me to go ahead and enter! YIPEE! I bet if you all hurry, you can enter as well!

A Meme by Bikini Bound! YAY!

So, I've been asked to do this by Brittany meme and am excited to fill it out. I found Bikini Bound's blog via Hot for the Holidays and her blog is fantastic. Feel free, any of you, to fill out this meme as well! It's fun to get some background on all our weight loss buddies! 

Here it goes!

1. What's your name? Or at least something we can call you that's less of a mouthful than the name of your blog. :)

My name is Jen. You can call me Jen, Jennifer, that girl with the weight loss blog, whatever. I'm good with pretty much anything :)

2. Give us a paragraph (as much or as little as you'd like) about your weight loss story, including at least your goal. (You don't have to give actual numbers if that's not your style. :) We'll try to read back through your blog as much as possible, but just get us started. 

Well, let me think. I have always felt like the "bigger" girl my entire life. Granted, I'm not overly obese or anything like that, I've just always seemed to make friends/associations with girls that are rail thin. I've always had a horrible self esteem and what people say "skewed" body image of myself. However, after getting married, I did start to actually pack on the pounds. 

One day, I saw a picture of myself at my heaviest weight and wanted to cry. I had no idea I looked like that. It was totally and utterly disgusting to me. A few weeks later I started Weight Watchers with my MIL. I found this program to work for me and not only be a "diet" but literally a way of life. It's easy to follow and allows me to eat what I want, within reason. Nothing is off limits, just got to prioritize and plan my day.

I lost over 40 pounds with Weight Watchers and felt incredible! Seriously, I was on top of the world. Soon after this loss, I got pregnant with my first child. Obviously, I gained weight with this and it took some time for it to come back off. I eventually got back down to my goal weight and once again, felt wonderful. (However, most moms will tell you, your body is just not the same after giving birth no matter how much you lose!)

Not to long after I got down to goal again, we decided to try for another baby. It took us years with my first, but my second pregnancy was basically on the first try. Once again, I gained the weight. The dreaded weight. 

Now, it's been a year since I gave birth to my second child and I'm technically down to my goal at Weight Watchers. However, I DO NOT feel fabulous. I don't feel like I did when I was originally at goal the first time. Mind you, my body went through some major change and destruction with the birth of my two babies. Anyways, although at goal, I long to lose more. When I originally set my goal at WW, I set the bar towards the top of my acceptable weight range. I wanted to be sure it was something I could obtain, but also give myself room for improvement. When I originally lost all the weight, I got down to 10 lbs below my WW goal. That is where I'm trying to get now. It's proving to be rather difficult though, but I'm gonna try. I would LOVE to get down 15 more pounds. (ps, don't worry, it's still within my acceptable weight range for my height :)

That's the story in a nut shell. . . or not. I tend to babble. Sorry!

3. What kind of exercise do you do? What works best for you? What doesn't work for you?

Well, I wish I could say running or something cool like that here, but alas I can not. My main form of exercise is biking and I love it. Although I need to get out more often and do it! The winter months are coming and that will make it really hard to get out and bike in the snow. I do have a treadmill in the home when the weather is bad, but it's not as fun. I like a change of scenery.

I do like doing the treadmill once the Biggest Loser starts up again (season premier tonight. . . YAY). Last year, I made a goal to run/walk on an incline the entire 2 hours of each episode of this show. For some reason, I'm able to do that as this show motivates me a ton. I plan on doing something similar, starting tonight.

Obviously,  I lack in the exercise department and need to find something that gets me moving more. Maybe then, I'll get down to the "dream" goal weight I have! ;0

4. What are your biggest struggles? 

My BIGGEST struggle is eating under stress and I've been under a lot of that lately. We're living with my Mother in Law and there is only 1 kitchen and 1 bathroom. Nuff said!

I need to do better at controlling my eating when I stress out. I need not stress out as much. It's a work in progress!

5. What are three of your hobbies that aren't weight loss-related? We probably have far more in common than just a desire to be "hot for the holidays." :)

Shoot, hobbies I have now or wish I still had time to do?

1. Well, I LOVE riding bikes. It's something that is relaxing to me, even if I am working up a sweat.

2. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to play the piano. I took piano lessons for about 11-12 years and this is my primary source of stress relief and relaxation. I play by ear and it's something I really truly enjoy to do. However, I don't own a piano, so I haven't been able to officially practice/play in years. Perhaps, this has something to do with all the inability to manage my stress mentioned in question #4 eh?

3. I love watching funny shows, whenever I get the chance. I'm super excited for The Office to come back on! I usually am watching it at 2 am once I have the kids to bed and have done my cleaning for the night. That show seriously CRACKS me up! I guess though, tv isn't really a hobby though as I can't remember the last time I turned it on. I guess I should say here, I like to laugh. I like doing things that make me laugh and make me happy, be it watching a funny show like The Office or hanging out with good friends/family!

7. Tell us one cool, unique thing about you. 

Well, I'm SO NOT cool so this is a tuffy! I guess I'll just say hmmmm. Does that answer your question? I'm so not unique or cool or original! You all still wanna be my friends? I'm such a lame case! Oh oh oh, I've traveled to New Zealand and it's my most favorite place in the entire world. My MIL is a New Zealand native. 

Hopefully, I can think of something better than that later . . . 

The 1st Fat Ticker Friday

Alright, I'm having to write this up real quick as I have 2 sick babies who are crying their eyes out right now. However, I wanted to be sure I posted this right now as I don't think I'll get to it tomorrow. It's my hubby's day off! YAY!

I just want you all to know that I'm MORE than excited to do HOT for the Holidays and love all the motivation this is gonna bring me! 

Since starting HFH

I've lost 1 lb! Yay!!!

To answer this weeks question, "What do you want your legacy to be?"

Wow! Well, that's a really good question that makes me question a lot about my life right now and my life in the future. To keep it simple and sweet, I basically want my legacy to be one that my kids will admire. I want to have goals and accomplish them. I long to be one of those people who "just knows" when someone needs a hand and is always willing to put others first. I wish to be a mom that my kids can confide in, laugh with and love forever and ever. Simply put, I want to be the mom my mom was to me! 

I say was because my mother passed away unexpectedly when I was 18 years old. This was traumatic and horrible, but I feel blessed to have her legacy to look up to and to have had her for the 18 most impressionable years of my life! My mom was one of those people that I don't believe a soul in the world could say one bad thing about. She was honest, generous, kind, loving, compassionate, charitable. . . the list goes on and on. I could (and have and my other blog) go on for paragraph after paragraph about the great woman, mother and friend my mom was, but figure it is best put forth by just saying the following: If my legacy could be half what my mother's has been to me, I will have done well and feel I have done at least a little bit of good in the world.

That being said, I use this question today to look forward and to dream big. I want to attain my goals. I want to live life to the fullest and show my children how to do the same. I want to greet each morning with a smile. If I can do this, I will at least know one person will be smiling down upon me and when I greet her once again in the life after this, what a sweet reunion it will be!!

Alright, that's all for now. If you've read this far, thanks for staying with me. I can't wait to come around and meet other people who are on this weight loss journey as well as read all your answers to this poignant question! 

Jen :)

Watching What We Eat Wednesday

This week, there isn't a theme, so I'm just gonna post the first recipe that pops into my head! Hmmmm, it's after midnight, so it's not coming as easily as I thought it would. . . Ah ha! Here's one!

Enjoy!

Pierogies with Creamy Mushroom and Sherry Sauce

Points for WW = 5 

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

1 onion, sliced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

2 tablespoons dry sherry (I just used the some more chicken broth here)

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2/3 cup low fat (1%) milk

1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

1 (1 pound) package of frozen low fat potato pierogies, THAWED

to thaw frozen pierogies quickly, cook them uncovered in boiling water 3 to 5 minutes, then drain before proceeding with recipe!!!!

 2 tablespoons light sour cream

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the mushrooms, onion, salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and lightly browned, about 4 minutes

 

Stir in the sherry and cook until it evaporates.  Sprinkle the flour over the mushroom mixture, stirring to combine.  Stir in the milk, broth, and pierogies; bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream

 

THAT'S IT!  Really easy.  You can add some chicken breast pieces or turkey or whatever to make the meal more filling or just leave as is. 

 

per serving (about 1 1/2 cups) 249 calories, 5 grams of fat   

 

Hope you like it!

HOT for the Holidays!

So, I was over reading at Bye Bye Fat Mom and found this AWESOME idea! I'm totally gonna do this! Not that I will necessarily be "hot", but I'll be on my way if I do this! It's seriously a great idea! See that Hot for the Holiday's thing over on my sidebar? Ya, click there and it'll tell you all about it! Or ya can just click HERE!

It started yesterday, but you can start anytime and it's totally easy. You just have "weigh in" on her blog every Friday and you're eligible for a prize! Prize or no prize, I'm SO IN! I love finding new things that give me more motivation to get my rear into gear! 

YAY!

Real Quick!

Is anyone as EXCITED as I am that the Biggest Loser is starting up again? YIPEE! I love the motivation this show gives me! 

That's all for now. It's 2:38 am and I'm freaking tired. Just had to get that out! Off to bed. They say a good night's rest helps with the weight loss process. Maybe that's why I seem to be stuck at my current weight! 

G'night all!

Watching What We Eat Wednesday

CROCKPOT EDITION!!

Well, I have made the recipe below TONS of times and it's easy and delicious! I did, however, get this exact recipe off of DWLZ.com. I'm too lazy to run upstairs and grab mine when I can just copy and paste this one. Did I mention it's yummy and easy? I can't wait to get some more crockpot recipes. It's a method I love to cook with, but don't know too many crockpot recipes that are low in points! Bring em' on! :)

Chicken Stroganoff - Crockpot Method

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1 pound frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can fat free cream of mushroom soup
16 oz. carton fat free sour cream
1 envelope dry onion soup mix

Put frozen chicken in bottom of crockpot. Mix soup, sour cream, 
onion soup mix and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 7 hours. 
Makes 6 servings. (serve it over rice or noodles, but be sure to add those points)

POINTS:  4

I'm Back and full of Motivation!

Well, we had a wonderful vacation in Yellowstone. Now that we are home, I'm even more eager to lose more weight!! I feel really good right now, but know that my weight can get lower on the scale. I'm about 2 pounds from my WW goal, which makes me ecstatic! So, that is my focus right now. Once there, I have a goal to get 10 pounds below that. I originally set my WW goal at the higher end of the spectrum. I know I feel good at goal, but know I feel even better 10 pounds below that. It's funny because I don't feel as "skinny" as I did when I have been at goal before. I know it has a lot to do with having 2 kids. There are just some things that don't go back to where they were. I just have to come to terms with that. It's just hard to still see a roll when I sit or whatever. I want it GONE! I think another 10 pounds will help ease that frustration a bit. 

It has been nice to start doing some shopping. I have bought 2 new pairs of jeans. It's been a long time since I've done that. Not because I haven't had the money or have been told I can't, I just didn't want to. I felt gross and fat and had NO desire to shop. I love that the desire to shop and look good is slowly coming back. The best thing is to grab jeans off the shelf and think they're gonna be too small and tight and to realize that you can put them on and pull them off again without unzipping or unbuttoning! That is an AWESOME feeling. I can say I had a HUGE smile on my face when I had to go not only 1 size smaller, but 2 sizers smaller than I thought I was when I walked into the store! YAY!

Another great bonus of my weight loss journey is that my husband has decided to start his own weight loss journey. This makes me SO HAPPY! I love my hubby dearly and love him no matter what he looks like, but also want him to be healthy and around for a long LONG time. It makes me so happy that he's deciding to try to lose weight and is starting with little goals and going from there. He's already lost 8 pounds in a week! I'm thrilled that he's having this new outlook on life and health! 

Well, that's about all I have to report right now. I'm sorry I haven't been around for awhile, but plan to be back full force and checking out all of your blogs. I hope to find even more weight loss buddies and get even more motivation!

Have a great week!

I'll BE BACK!!!!!

I'm headed off to vacation! Life has been crazy and hectic, but it doesn't mean I'm not eating well and losing weight. I'm excited to come back from some time away and get back to posting again on this blog! I've missed all the motivation and inspiration I get from my weight loss blogging buddies! Sorry, I haven't been around, but I WILL BE BACK!!! 

Here's to a fantastic weight week for us all!!!!

Watching What We Eat Wednesday #5

So, this week's recipe is one of my favorites! Generally speaking, I'm NOT a bran muffin fan, but these muffins are DELICIOUS and only 2 pts each! My friend Kathleen came up with this recipe. She's an AMAZING cook and has lost 100lbs with WW! Anyways, I LOVE THESE MUFFINS! LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM! I need to make me a batch now! Hope everyone's week is going fabulous! :)

Kathleen’s Bran Muffins  (2 points) 

½ cup Hot Water     

½ cup “All Bran” Cereal 

¾ cup Unsweetened Applesauce  

1 cup Splenda

½ cup Egg Substitute    

1 cup Buttermilk

1 cup Bran Flakes     

1 ¼ cup Flour     

1 ½ cup Oats

1 tsp. Salt     

2 tsp. Baking Soda

2 tsp. Baking Powder   

 4 tsp. Cinnamon 

2 Tbl. Molasses   

 1 tsp. Vanilla 

Preheat the oven to 400° 

Mix the hot water and All Bran cereal and set aside.  Mix in a bowl for 4 minutes the applesauce, Splenda, egg substitute, buttermilk, and bran flakes. Mix the molasses and vanilla into the applesauce mixture.  In another bowl mix the flour, oats, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.  Add the dry ingredients to this mixture just until combined.  Spoon the mixture immediately into a 12-count muffin tin.  The tins will be full.  Bake for 13-15 minutes. 

recipe by: Kathleen Wilson

Watching What We Eat Wednesday #4

I have family in town, so this is short and sweet. Hopefully you all like this recipe. It seems to be a perfect treat to sit and munch on outside while on a picnic. It's really simple and so refreshing. The best part is it's guilt free! 

Banana Pops (2 WW pts)

2 medium bananas, peeled and halved crosswise

1/4 cup crisp rice cereal

1 tablespoon toasted chopped coconut

1 tablespoon finely chopped peanuts

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, or apple pie spice

2 teaspoons maple-flavored syrup

-Insert a wooden stick *into the cut end of each banana half. Place on a baking sheet. Freeze 1 hour or till bananas are firm.

-Meanwhile, in a shallow dish mix cereal, coconut, peanuts, and nutmeg. Brush frozen bananas with syrup, then roll in cereal mixture to coat.

-Wrap each pop individually in plastic wrap; return to freezer. Freeze 2 hours more or till completely frozen.  

-Serves 4.

*NOTE- If desired, substitute plastic forks or knives for the wooden sticks :)

Nutrition Information- 93 calories, 1 g protein, 19 g carbs, 2 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 23 mg sodium, 266 mg potassium.

ENJOY!

YAY, an AWARD!

Well, I woke up this morning to find that I was the recipient of a fine award! Boy, did this ever MAKE.MY.DAY!! I've been lacking when it comes to writing posts on this blog, probably because I have been lacking when it comes to doing well with my weight loss goals. It's not like I'm gaining left and right, but I'm not losing like I want to either. I'm been stuck around this same weight for some time now and need to get my rear into gear! I hate that I'm not seeing the scale go down as quickly as I like. However, I need to remind myself that when you get closer to your goal, getting the weight to come off becomes even more difficult. Those last few pounds prove to be really stubborn!!!

Nuff said about that. I'm happy to get this great award from Lorie!!! Her blog is inspirational to so many of us and I can't go a day without reading it. It's my "pick me up" when I need the extra push to keep going!! 

I really need that push right now because I want to make my goal I set for myself. I wanted to get to my original WW goal before my MIL got home and she gets home on the 24th of July!! AHHHH! I don't have much left to lose to get there, but what I do have to lose is proving to be rather difficult to get off! I'm TRULY gonna focus and write EVERYTHING down that I eat and try really hard to get to that goal. Although I know it is obtainable, I'm also not gonna beat myself up if I don't quit make it. I'm not saying I'm already giving up, I'm just being realistic and gonna be happy with the LOSS I see by the time she gets home. I WILL weigh less in a few weeks than I do now and that will be great motivation for me to KEEP ON GOING! I have additional weight loss goals beyond this goal on the 24th of July, so I have reason to keep my spirits high and remember to FOCUS ON WHAT I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED, NOT what I have not yet accomplished. It's best not to wallow in our downfalls. We must pick ourselves up and try try again! We'll be SO MUCH HAPPIER with ourselves if we focus on the positive and look to the future rather than justifying our downfalls and getting trapped in the vicious cycle of over-eating and sedentary lifestyles! 

Alright, there's my soapbox for now. I'm too lazy to re-read it and ensure it makes any sense. Hopefully it does. I'm so happy to have met the bloggers I have that continue to motivate me and pick me up when I am down. That is truly the reason for my success!! To all of you bloggers that have not yet received the award I have made and are here reading, be sure to snag up my custom made award for all my MOTIVATORS! It's over there on my sidebar!

It's all of you who truly keep me on the path towards weight loss!!

Watchin' What We Eat Wednesday #3

click badge above for more WWWEW recipes!

The recipe I'm posting this week is SUPER easy and really really good. I didn't think my hubby would like it as he's not a onion fan, but he really really thinks these are delicious! YAY for me as I LOVE onions. Anyways, these are so good! You'll feel like you are cheating!! Enjoy! I'm excited to come around and see everyone else's recipes for this week :)

Twice-Baked Potatoes (2 WW points)

4 small baking potatoes (5 to 6 ounces each)

2 ounces reduced-calorie cream cheese, cubed and softened

2 tablespoons snipped chives (I just use finely chopped green onions here as I have that on hand more often than chives)

1/4 teaspoon dried basil, crushed

1/8 teaspoon salt

dash of pepper

3 to 4 tablespoons skim milk

Paprika

*Prick potatoes with a fork. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes or til tender. Cool slightly. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Gently scoop out each potato half, leaving a thin shell. Set shells aside.

*Put pulp into a small mixer bowl. Add cream cheese, chives (or green onions), basil, salt, and pepper; beat until smooth. Add milk, a tablespoon at a time, beating until potato mixture is fluffy and smooth.

*Pipe or spoon potato mixture into shells.  Sprinkle with paprika. Place on a baking sheet. Cover loosely with foil.

*Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes. Uncover potatoes and bake 10 minutes more or til heated through. 

Nutrional Information per serving: 98 calories, 3 grams protein, 18 grams carbs, 2 grams fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 70 mg sodium, 318 mg potassium.  Not exactly sure what the fiber count is for you doing WW, but an average sized potato has 3 grams of fiber, but that DOES include eating the skin of course. That's where most the fiber is located :) ANYWAYS, I just count this recipe as 2 WW points as I usually don't eat the skin anyways and even if I did, the the point value is right on the border b/w 1 and 2 points, so I always round up :)

There is also Microwaveable directions. I've never tried them this way, but here are the directions in case anyone is interesting :)

Microwave Directions: Micro-cook pricked potatoes at 100% power (high) for 10-12 minutes or til tender. Halve potatoes and prepare filling as above. Place filled potato shells on a 12 inch microwave-safe platter. Cover with venter clear plastic wrap. Cook on high for 1 to 2 minutes or til heated through.

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Dieter's Cook Book

ENJOY!

Check out more WWWEW recipes HERE!

Watchin' What We Eat Wednesday #2

I decided to do a slightly different take on what I think people may come up with when they think of fruit for this week's theme.  This recipe may/may not sound like the most appetizing dish, but let me tell you, it's delicious! I love it! 

Mandarin Orange Slow Cooker Chicken (4 servings at 5 pts each)

4 boneless skinless chicken halves

1 medium onion, sliced

1/4 cup orange juice concentrate

1 tsp. poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp. salt

11 ounce can of mandarin oranges, be sure to save 3 T of the juice as well.

2 T flour

Put chicken strips in slow cooker that has been sprayed with Pam cooking spray.

Combine onion, orange juice concentrate, poultry season and salt.

Pour mixture over chicken in the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours.

Remove chicken and keep warm.

Reserve chicken juices.

In a saucepan, combine the 3 T of reserved mandarin juice and the 2 T of flour. 

Stir until smooth. 

Stir in the chicken juices. 

Bring to a boil.

Cook for 2 minutes.

Stir in mandarin oranges.

Pour over chicken.

DELICIOUS!

With the ingredients I used, this recipe had 240 calories, 3.5 grams of fat and 1 gram of fiber. That is 5 WW points. Please be sure and tally your points according to what you use :)

This is really delicious served over some brown rice. Be sure to add points accordingly :)

Click HERE for more WWWEW participants! :)

Fitness on Fridays!!

Well, this week has proved to end better than I thought. I swore I was gonna gain a TON of weight having tons of family in town, but to my amazement, I'm now only 5 lbs away from my original WW goal! YIPEE!! I intend to go lower than that, but for now, that is my goal. I want to meet this goal by July 24th (when my MIL gets home) and really believe I can do it. I even think if I put my mind to it, I can lose even more than that by then! I have my next goal already in mind! I originally got down to 8 lbs below my WW goal and I loved how I felt at that weight, so that will be my next goal. BUT, for now, it's to just get down to the original goal. Don't worry folks, I set my WW goal at the top of the charts, so I can bear to lose more even when I technically hit goal.

As for eating, I've done pretty well in staying in my points! I didn't do so well in the exercise field. We didn't get out and ride bikes because we've had family in town and my hubby has worked late. BUT, that doesn't mean I've been sitting around. We've been on the go everyday. We even took the kids swimming and I lugged my sweet toddler up about 10 flights of stairs at least 30 times to take her down the water slide! She was in heaven and I was losing my breath. I guess I got some exercise in there at least right? Other than that, it's just been long walks, chasing kids through the park and stores, museums, etc etc. We've been down right active! I think that's why I didn't gain and that's FINE BY ME! :)

I don't have much more to write as I have TONS to do. Sorry to keep it short and boring. I hope everyone is doing well on their weight loss journey! I'm off to read all the other Fitness on Friday participant's blogs! Have a fantastic week!

Watchin' What We Eat Wednesday!

JUST CLICK THE BUTTON/PICTURE ABOVE TO GO DIRECTLY TO THE FOUNDER OF THIS GREAT NEW MEME!

(If you want the button above, just go to my sidebar and copy the code under the Watchin' What We Eat Wednesday picture and paste that code onto your sidebar or in a post! Let's all help promote this great new MEME of Lories!!)

I've posted this recipe before, but never for Watchin' What We Eat Wednesday. I have family in town, so I'm limited on my time to post, so hopefully you all will enjoy! :) It's delicious!!

I made this again last night and it was a HIT with not only my family, but the extended family we have visiting! Plus, there were leftovers and these re-heat really well!

Chicken Enchiladas (sorry, forgot to take a picture)

10 Mission Carb Balance Soft Taco Size flour Tortillas.  (these are only 110 calories each with 11 grams of FIBER!) According to the WW slider, these are 1 pt. If you do the points calculator  found online, the points come to zero. The reason for this is WW puts a cap on fiber at 4 grams. So, do as you wish. I calculated them as 1 "small ;)" point  each. I LOVE that they have SO MUCH FIBER and they taste awesome. SO MUCH LIKE THE REAL thing, it's scary! ha ha. Oh and Mission has Carb Balance tortillas in all sorts of sizes. Some of them are brown instead of white, but they taste just as good! I went with the white ones since they "look" more  like the real thing, thus fooling my family even more ;)

 1 20 oz. can of Enchilada sauce. - I used Rosarita Mild Enchilada Red Sauce. (it's our favorite) and it's 20 calories per serving and has 1 gram of fiber in that. 

1 lb of chicken

2 cups of shredded cheese- I used the 2% milk Kraft Mexican Style shredded cheese. Now in this step, you obviously could use more cheese than I have here by using a fat free version or the WW cheese. I didn't have either of those on hand, so I used what I had. Just calculate your points accordingly.

OPTIONAL- 

-chop and sauté  a cup of onions and add them to the enchilada sauce before putting the dish together.

-add some white rice or spanish rice into each of the tortillas as you make them. (BE SURE TO ADD THE POINTS ACCORDINGLY!)

-you can add black olives

-it's yummy to add salsa on the top of these when done and that doesn't add any points!

-you can also add salsa in with the chicken to give it some extra flavor and will help out if you reduce the amount of cheese you may need or if you use a lower fat/calorie cheese.

-you can add a dollop of sour cream on top of your enchiladas when done cooking. Fat free wouldn't even add any points if you kept it to 1-2 tablespoons of the fat free sour cream. Or add 1 pt if you use light sour cream. :)

Directions-

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees

-Cook the chicken until cooked through and chop/shred. I boil mine and then put in a food processor to chop it up. (so much quicker that way and you don't have to wait for it to cool down so you don't burn your fingers trying to shred it).

-Get out a 9X13 dish and spread a small amount of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the dish, just to cover the bottom. 

-Poor some enchilada sauce on a plate for dipping the tortillas.

-Dip the tortilla in enchilada sauce and set in the dish. put about 1/4 cup chopped chicken (just evenly distribute it among the 10 or however many tortillas you have) in the tortilla. Add about 1/8 cup of the cheese (again just evenly distribute it allowing some leftover for the top of the enchiladas when done)

-Roll up the tortilla and continue this process with the remaining tortillas. Poor remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the dish (helps give flavor and keep them from getting too dried out while cooking). 

-Sprinkle any remaining chicken on the top and then top with remaining shredded cheese. 

-Cook in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until hot and bubble and heated through. 

ENJOY! :)

Using these ingredients, I calculated each enchilada to be 4 ptsand these are big! YUM! Obviously BE SURE to add any points for any of the optional things you choose to add, unless it's salsa or onions or small amount of fat free sour cream :)

Do KNOW that you NEED to calculate your own points if you use different brands of ingredients, etc.

Fitness on Fridays!!

Well, I don't have anything really motivational to write this week. I haven't done exceptionally bad, but I haven't done anything fantastic either! It's all good. There's no gain, no loss, just stayed the same! Can't really complain about that I guess.

We have family in town and not sure how long they are staying. It's making it difficult to stay focused as we are going going going, but I'm trying my best! I'm hoping that I have a loss next week despite all the chaos around me ;) 

I also haven't been around to all the great blogs that motivate me as much as usual. That is key to my motivation. It really is. I just really haven't had the time, but I don't wanna make excuses. I just need to make the time. It's all about priorities and weight loss is definitely one of them!! We also need to make the time to ride our bikes again even with family in town. We were really disappointed a few days back to come out to the garage and see that my hubby's tires on his brand new bike were both flat. SERIOUSLY, what is up with that? It's not like we were cheap on what we spent on these lovely exercise apparatuses. Oh well. My hubby bought a pump and some new tubes for his tires and hopefully he gets out and fixes them really quick and we can get back to our fun bike riding exercise excursions! 

Well, I'm rambling on and on! Just not sure what to say, but wanting to be sure to post because when I don't, I don't have as much accountability with my goals with losing weight :) 

I hope everyone did fantastic this past week!! Let's keep our focus and be sure to motivate each other along the way! :)

An Award to those who Motivate me!!

Today, I decided I wanted to make an award to thank all of you whose blogs I read that continue to motivate me to stay on track towards my weight loss goals! I truly appreciate all your motivating posts and really REALLY LOVE all your great comments I receive here on my blog. With that being said, I present you all with my first weight loss award give-away!

I'd like to give this award to ALL the blogs who are on my blogroll! I would also like to give it to anyone that has stopped by and commented on my blog! You're all the reason I keep on going!! YOU TRULY all are THE KEY to my continued weight loss success story!! Heck, if you are reading this, consider yourself the lucky recipient of this fine award! ;) GO AHEAD and snag it, but first be sure to leave me a comment. . . if you don't mind, so I can come visit your blog :) 

Display it proudly and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pass it along to ALL those people who motivate you as a way to thank them!! Pass it to those that motivate you with your goals whether it be to continue to lose weight, stay at goal, eat healthy, exercise, pick you up when you are down, or any other reason you deem worthy of this award!

Enjoy everyone and THANK YOU AGAIN for ALL of your SUPPORT!!!!

Fitness on Fridays!!

This week has been fantastic! I've lost weight and I feel great. Man, I sound like a "slim fast" commercial. Anyways, I didn't start out the week the best. My hubby and I were able to go out on a date night as my sweet dad watched the children for us. We ended up going to a Japanese Steakhouse and boy, was it ever yummy!!! I know I went over my points, but it was better than eating something like Chicken Alfredo from Olive Garden? Have any of you seen the points for that? It'll scar your for life! LOL! Only kidding! Then, the next night, we went to dinner with my hubby's brother and their family. The PLAN was to go to Applebee's, so I was totally stoked as we all know they have a WW menu there. Well, we ended up going to a Brazilian Grill and I overate! I tried to be good, but there weren't too many options there. There is a ton of meat and lots of carbs! (noodles, gravies, potatoes, rice. . . and so much more) I did as well as I could (ate lots of fruit from the salad bar, etc), but still felt totally gross and bulging for the next 2 or 3 days!

But, I didn't let this get me down! I was determined to lose this week. I had gained a small amount last week and I wanted to lose that as well as additional weight and I DID IT!! I now only have 7 lbs to go to get to my goal before my MIL gets home from her mission. I'm pretty sure it helped that I've been running around like a mad woman and cleaning every corner in the house because we have company coming, but I am so happy with the results! Clean house and weight loss! YAY! 

We also took our bikes out and made a goal to ride up the canyon to the first park there. What an AMAZING ride! It's beautiful! I can't wait to do it again! The plan is to go again tomorrow! We love it and the kids love it! They get to ride in the trailer and then play in the park once we get there. The ride has LOTS of hills and some pretty tough ones I might add, especially for us novices in bike riding. However, we're excited to continue to ride this trail and continue further up the canyon next time. This trail goes for miles and miles and miles and has BEAUTIFUL scenery of gorgeous mountains, forests, rivers and waterfalls! I'll have to post some pictures here if I remember. 

Well, it's been a good week and I'm full of motivation for the coming week ahead. It seems harder to stay on track when you have so many places you have to be and especially with family coming into town. They love to eat out and so do we. However, it's nice because my SIL is now doing WW so that should help keep my focus. Hopefully, she'll want to be good and stay in her points while out here. I'm just gonna plan ahead as that is the key!!!

I hope everyone's week went successfully and I'm excited to hear about how you all did! Thanks again for your continued support and comments!! You all are AWESOME!!

TASTY THURSDAY

I decided I wanted to participate in this Meme that my friend Lorie told me about. It's called Tasty Thursday and it's hosted by Trista over at the Pumkin Patch. How fun! This week's theme is WW recipes! YAY!! I'm so glad she told me about it! I love finding new recipes, especially ones that people post about b/c that means at least they like them right? Anyways, I was gonna be creative and post a recipe that I haven't mentioned before (I have TONS), but it's 2:30 am and I'm totally tired! I've been up making Baby Shower Invites for one of my friends. Enough of that. . . The recipe I'm posting I LOVE!! It's a HIT with every member in my family, including my 10 month old. The best part is is that it's low in points and tastes delicious!!!  

Enjoy!

Turkey Meatballs in Wine sauce -I just use chicken broth here as I don't have wine on hand :(

1 egg white

1 cup soft bread crumbs

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 Tablespoons skim milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon thyme, crushed

Dash pepper

1 pound ground raw turkey

Nonstick spray coating

2 cups sliced mushrooms (we're not mushroom fans, so we don't add these)

3 cups water

6 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons instant chicken bouillon granules

1 cup dry white wine. (I just add an extra cup water instead when making the cornstarch mixture to equal 4 cups of water total)

2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley

1 box hot cooked noodles

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together egg white, soft bread crumbs (I use the ones you get for cheap that are crunchy at the store and the work just fine), 1/4 cup of the onion, milk, salt, thyme and pepper. Add turkey; mix well. Shape mixture into 1 inch meatballs.

Spray a 13X9 inch baking pan or baking dish with nonstick spray coating. Place meatballs in the baking pan or dish. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. (I find with the oven I have now, they cook in as little as 27 minutes) or till meatballs are no longer pink. Drain any juices; cool meatballs. Then, cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours. I almost ALWAYS skip this step. I've done them both ways and really don't see the benefit of chilling them especially when I'm in a hurry. 

Before serving, spray a cold large skillet with nonstick spray coating. Add mushrooms and remaining 1/4 cup onion. Cook til mushrooms and onions are tender. Stir together water (including extra 1 cup of water as substitute for wine here), cornstarch, and bouillon granules. Carefully add the cornstarch mixture to the mushroom/onion mixture in the skillet. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Add chilled (or not chilled ;) meatballs and wine (or no wine here if already added extra cup of water above); heat through. Stir in parsley. Serve over hot cooked noodles. YUMMY!

5 servings

5 points a serving 

Add points for noodles :)

P.S. I've found that the NEW Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta's work REALLY well!! They are packed full of fiber and nutrients (thus lowering your points), yet they look and taste like regular noodles. I haven't found any egg noodles by them yet, but have found their Rotini or Penne work just as well for this recipe :)

Yumminess!

Well, last night I decided to make my Chicken Enchilada recipe, but do so with fewer calories/fat, thus having it be less points per serving. I've made TONS of different variations of this recipe trying to get one that tastes as close to the original as possible. Well, with the new Mission Carb Balance WHITE tortillas, I think I came pretty close. My hubby said they were delicious. (he's not too fond of the variation I make with fat free cream cheese/green onions instead of shredded cheese, but I LOVE IT). The best part is these seem to be even better re-heated! Yay for leftovers!! Now let me just say there is SO MUCH you can do to "doll" this recipe up, it's insane, but I'll just post the simple/basic one for you here. Do KNOW that you NEED to calculate your own points if you use different brands of ingredients, etc. 

Chicken Enchiladas (sorry, forgot to take a picture)

10 Mission Carb Balance Soft Taco Size flour Tortillas.  (these are only 110 calories each with 11 grams of FIBER!) According to the WW slider, these are 1 pt. If you do the points calculator  found online, the points come to zero. The reason for this is WW puts a cap on fiber at 4 grams. So, do as you wish. I calculated them as 1 "small ;)" point  each. I LOVE that they have SO MUCH FIBER and they taste awesome. SO MUCH LIKE THE REAL thing, it's scary! ha ha. Oh and Mission has Carb Balance tortillas in all sorts of sizes. Some of them are brown instead of white, but they taste just as good! I went with the white ones since they "look" more  like the real thing, thus fooling my family even more ;)

 1 20 oz. can of Enchilada sauce. - I used Rosarita Mild Enchilada Red Sauce. (it's our favorite) and it's 20 calories per serving and has 1 gram of fiber in that. 

1 lb of chicken

2 cups of shredded cheese- I used the 2% milk Kraft Mexican Style shredded cheese. Now in this step, you obviously could use more cheese than I have here by using a fat free version or the WW cheese. I didn't have either of those on hand, so I used what I had. Just calculate your points accordingly.

OPTIONAL- 

-chop and sauté  a cup of onions and add them to the enchilada sauce before putting the dish together.

-add some white rice or spanish rice into each of the tortillas as you make them. (BE SURE TO ADD THE POINTS ACCORDINGLY!)

-you can add black olives

-it's yummy to add salsa on the top of these when done and that doesn't add any points!

-you can also add salsa in with the chicken to give it some extra flavor and will help out if you reduce the amount of cheese you may need or if you use a lower fat/calorie cheese.

-you can add a dollop of sour cream on top of your enchiladas when done cooking. Fat free wouldn't even add any points if you kept it to 1-2 tablespoons of the fat free sour cream. Or add 1 pt if you use light sour cream. :)

Directions-

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees

-Cook the chicken until cooked through and chop/shred. I boil mine and then put in a food processor to chop it up. (so much quicker that way and you don't have to wait for it to cool down so you don't burn your fingers trying to shred it).

-Get out a 9X13 dish and spread a small amount of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the dish, just to cover the bottom. 

-Poor some enchilada sauce on a plate for dipping the tortillas.

-Dip the tortilla in enchilada sauce and set in the dish. put about 1/4 cup chopped chicken (just evenly distribute it among the 10 or however many tortillas you have) in the tortilla. Add about 1/8 cup of the cheese (again just evenly distribute it allowing some leftover for the top of the enchiladas when done)

-Roll up the tortilla and continue this process with the remaining tortillas. Poor remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the dish (helps give flavor and keep them from getting too dried out while cooking). 

-Sprinkle any remaining chicken on the top and then top with remaining shredded cheese. 

-Cook in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until hot and bubble and heated through. 

ENJOY! :)

Using these ingredients, I calculated each enchilada to be 4 pts and these are big! YUM! Obviously BE SURE to add any points for any of the optional things you choose to add, unless it's salsa or onions or small amount of fat free sour cream :)