Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Tuesday Transformation. June 24, 2014

Yikes... Here we go again...

Today is Tuesday, June 24, 2014
230.2
I didn't bother measuring...

Last week...
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Weight 230.6
C 46.5
W 48.5
H 51.5

Last week was a bust. Let's see what I can create this week... My Honey, The Mr Saucy, is away for work this week, and for some reason, I feel like eating/cooking will be easier for me. This logically makes no sense, as he's only home for dinner, and has repeatedly told me he wants nothing more than to support me in my eating plan, so it's interesting to me why I feel like this week will be easier to stick to said eating plan. I think it's because I still feel the need to provide a typical, media enfluenced "healthy square meal" for supper that includes grains. The kids still eat everything, so I have no problem making separate suppers for them while Daddy is gone, then I eat late after the kids are in bed. My alone and wind-down time.

Like I said... It'll be interesting.

Breakfast today has been 2 cups of coffee with 2 stevia and 2 teaspoons nondairy powdered creamer, each. I'm hungry, but it's almost lunch time, so I'll have a salad with leftover pork tenderloin on it for my lunch. 

Awesome lunch! I LOVE cooking or reheating a meat in coconut oil, then using that oil as the salad dressing along with balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs.

T-Ball game in the sweltering heat lead us to the drive through for the kids. And... DING DING DING!!! I DIDN'T ORDER ANYTHING FOR ME!!! Yes, I wanted the ease of someone else making supper for me, just having to throw away a wrapper when it was gone, and the sweet, fatty, unctuous, warm, slightly sweet, salty goodness of the double quarter pounder and the hot, soft, crispy, salty fries possible dipped into the cold ketchup for that perfect juxtaposition of hot, cold, sweet, salty goodness that is the diabolical undoing of many a waistline. BUT! "I faced temptation, and did not bend" (thank you Tremors for one of my all time favorite movie lines.) I didn't even get a Diet Coke! 

What the what?!? Are you for real?

Oh yeah.

So, supper was an unsuccessful version of my pork fried cauliflower "rice". I skipped a bunch of steps, remember, I was tired, hot, and this cold is kicking my derrière. I wanted the pork and the soy sauce, and honestly, a filler to shovel in that would satisfy my rumble tummy quickly and comfortably. The leftover grilled cauliflower went into the food processor to be chopped into "rice" while the pork was heated in the wok in olive oil. I didn't bother with onions or garlic, or the peas, nor the carrots. I dumped in the cauliflower, then added a squeeze of my refrigerated ginger purée and a sprinkle of the freeze dries garlic. But wait, I need more moisture, so in went some of the Chardonnay I was drinking. And then went in the gf soy sauce. Stir stir stir, dump in bowl, add more soy, eat.  Alas, it wasn't as successful as my full recipe, and my throat was screaming at me, so I ended up picking out the pork nuggets only, and dumping the cauli rice.

It was an early night. Tonight was Boo's night to sleep with Mommy, so GG got her songs and snuggles during tuck-in, then Boo got to,play his leap frog tablet in bed, then watch Mommy play some games too. Then, I heard that beautiful sound of the moment the breathing turns into that rhythmic pattern of sleep. The house was quiet, my Nyquill chaser was starting to work it's magic, so I closed my eyes and went to sleep snuggled up next to my son.

Wednesday, June 18
WOW! A lot of support from last weeks post! That's the encouragement I need to do this for another week. I was NOT expecting it, and I'm flattered and really excited! And, to be quite honest, each time last week when I made a food choice, I honestly thought about this blog. I thought about the choices I was making and that I was going to have to admit the horrible things I was eating and drinking and the horrible things I was doing and not doing to my body.

So, today, I've had had my 3-egg omelet with 2 pieces of American single wrapped cheese product, and 2 cups of coffee with 2 stevia and 2 teaspoons of my nondairy creamer.

It's going to be another sweltering day, so my shop work may have to be inside work. Perhaps I'll use the twine to wrap more bottles, or work on the descriptions in the Etsy shop. Oh, and I think I broke a bone in my hand yesterday when I hit it instead of the crowbar while splitting pallets for the new trays. Oh well... No one said owning your own business was easy and/or pain free.

Evening now, and I'm snackish. I desperatly want a piece of horrible sandwich bread with a slathering of butter. Or I want the jar of peanut butter and a spoon. The kids and I are watching movies. I've been playing iPad games and checking on my Facebook connections, but now I'm ready to dive into the Jif jar. This is my crappy time of day. In the morning I *set* the day by being good or bad. Mid day follows what happened at breakfast. Dinner is another follow of early day, but evening is almost like a start over, or a *congratulations* because I made it all day. But this has been my issue for years. I reward myself with food. I read that the battle is fought with each meal, but if 1/4 of the day is crap, then I'm not really winnin. Yes, I can start over each morning, but is that the best way to go about this?

Yup. I caved. PB and a glass of milk.

Thursday, June 19
Ugh! My cold is getting worse. I'm now exhausted and grumpy in addition to not feeling great. Morning pills with the addition of some cold meds today too, cup of coffee and my shake. I don't think I'll go into the shop today. Can't imagine adding sawdust and Virginia humidity to my lungs is smart. There's plenty of things to do inside. The dust bunnies of Homer hair are taking over, so it time to fight them.

Lunch was a salad of mixed lettuces, left over flank steak from last nights supper, raw green beans from the garden, and then dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and topped with fresh oregano and fresh parsley from the garden as well. I came out onto the deck to eat while the kids played in the backyard. Of course both dogs are right on my heels, and are now panting and looking at me with big "we want to go inside now mommy, it's very hot out here" eyes. Ok, they win. Guess I can go push the vacuume around for a bit... Or I can find something else to do to procrastinate ...

I ended up cleaning the house. 

I made pork chops and ate one for my supper.

Friday, June 20
Ok, let's go the the Dr. This cold has GOT to go away. I called at 11:00 to see if they had any openings, yes, they have one at 11:30. Yay! I make sure the kids have on clothes and shoes, I do the same for myself real quick, and we run out the door. And then get bumped by the car and driver behind us at a stop light. Absolutely no damage, so we get back in our cars and go to the Dr. Just as I suspected, it's only a cold. But at this point, I'm so tired, lonely, scared, frustrated, and exhausted, I do get the double QP and fries from McDonalds. And it was delicious! 

Since it was a filling and late lunch, I didn't eat supper. Plus, still feeling terrible.

Saturday, June 21
DADDY'S COMING HOME TODAY! The morning consisted of juggling schedules because they boys last T-Ball game was rescheduled to Monday because of a tin shower, so the kids ended up coming with me. Felt like crap, no breakfast other than coffee. 

After graduation, yup, you guessed it, the kids and I went to McDonalds again, and yep, I had another DQP. 

No supper again, just went to bed.

Sunday, June 22
Breakfast was coffee. We're headed to GranMa's for a family BBQ is afternoon, so I'll save my calories and eat there.

Burgers, dogs, and brats on the grill, cole slaw and potato salad sides. I had a burger on a gf bun, some cole slaw and loaded potato salad. Brought leftovers home for My Honey who was working yet again.

Then I got a glass of wine and went to my room and shut the door. I think I was able to have about 1/2 an hour alone before the dogs wanted in, then GG came to check on me too. But then daddy tucked them in and went back downstairs where he fell asleep on the couch watching TV. The girl woke up with a crying fit, so I then spent the next hour in her room consoling her and getting her back to sleep.

Monday, June 23
Going to have to work backwards here on my weekend. This week has ROYALLY SUCKED! Super sick, My Honey out of town, I'm exhausted, feel terrible, and having zero down time because my cold has kept me up at night caughing. 

Ok, I remembered the key points to the weekend, as recorded above. I got on the scale this morning and wanted to burst into tears. Yes, I know, there have been 2 days of fast food, and not a lick of exercise this week at all, so what did I expect? But, I'm still bummed. 

So I stomped downstairs where my children announced they would like hot dogs for breakfast. Since neither of them eat all of what I put in front of them anymore, I went ahead and made them hot dogs. Conner said he wanted his with slaw, so I added slaw, knowing full well that he wouldn't want it, and I'd get to eat it. That's exactly what happened. So, I had a hot dog with slaw for breakfast and a side of loaded potato salad.

Then I squeezed my fat ass into my bathing suit and took the kids to the pool. Now we're home, I have dinner prepping, and I'm thinking the idea of another slaw-dog sounds dreamy! But, it's 3:00, the Boo's game is at 6:00, so I'll feed him and GG before the game, then My Honey and I will eat later tonight. 

Grilled pork chops that were marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic. They were good.

Monday, June 16, 2014

What's growing? Mid June, 2014


The first eatable strawberries from the deck. Not what I was expecting. Tasted like fruit, but weren't the vibrant sweet strawberries I was expecting.


Zucchini blossoms!


Acorn squash buds.


The green beans are WONDERFUL! I've been snacking on them raw as I check them out in the mornings, then I noticed there was enough to pick for a full serving for supper the other night. There are still tons of flowers, so more crops will be coming soon.


Beets!


Corrots. I hope gees aren't too close together. I had to pull up and toss all the radishes. I planted them too close together and they all just turned into rotten looking carrots that smelled like radishes.


Cherry tomatoes.


Lemon Boy tomatoes.


Mr. Stripy heirloom. Yes, bought for the name.


Wisteria! When you're near! 🎵🎶🎤 (I can't say Wisteria with out signing Def Leppard)


Pretty purple ground cover at the base of the Wisteria. 


Looks like the clematis will be blooming again.


I bought this at the same time as the other clematis and it had the same leaves. Then, it changed a little, looked like it died, and then this plant came back in it's place. 


It's blooming for our neighbors, so I have to hang my arm over the fense to take pictures of it's little white blooms.


She shoots out LONG TALL arms, though.


Good morning, sweet wild honey suckle.


Time to give the compost a quarter turn.


Stella enjoying the shade while still keeping an eye on her man-cubs.


I love this cedar at the edge of the tree house.


What is this little guy? Reminds me of a bamboo, but if don't know. Cute little thing, though. I'll keep him.


The deck and garden in the morning shade.


The patio in the morning shade.


Hosta Corner. Yes... I need a truckload of mulch to treat this side of the yard. It's kinda hopelessly forgotten and ignored.


Kevin returned from an obviously exhausting visit to see neighbor Rick for a belly scratch and morning check-in


The herb garden. From left to right we have oregano, basil, sage, rosemary, and parsley. Cilantro is on the deck railing in a smaller pot and the lavender is down in the garden.


The strawberries. I've laid a layer of newspaper on the soil to separate the berries from touching it. I'm hoping that will keep e berries from rotting. I'm not doing well with my strawberries this year.


The morning glory, moon vine, and a new red flower vine that will grow up to cover (hopefully) the pergola. 


The same seed mixture in a large pot on the deck. I'm helping the vines climb with string.


One of my many jade plants. The shamrock growing with it was a house warming gift from our realtors. The shamrock died, so I used the potting soil from the pot to add to this one when I replanted the jade. Then, the shamrock came back to life, and LOVES living with the jade.


One of my 2 favorite growing things!


SWING!  Weeeeeeeee!


Ok, last one, but I loved the shots of her hair with the sun behind her.


My other favorite growing thing.


And, can't leave out my Homer! He's never far from me.

I hope you enjoyed the morning in pictures. 

Play with your food, grow something beautiful, get dirty.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Tuesday Transformation. June 17, 2014

For the first time, I hope no one reads this post, but I'm keeping it real...

June 17 2014
Weight: 230.6 (-0.8)
Waist: 48.5 (-0.5)
Hips: 51.5  -
Chest: 46.5 (+0.75)
Arms average: 12.5 -
Thighs average: 27.5 -

Let's back up a week...
Monday 6/9/14 
Today is the start of my 21-Day FIX program. Today's workout was Total Body Cardio FIX.
Here are my starting stats:
Weight: 231.4
Waist: 49
Hips: 51.5
Chest: 45.75
Arms average: 12.5
Thighs average: 27.5

Whew! Today's workout was TOUGH! I LOVE the way it's broken down, though. It was 4 segments in a total of 30 minutes. Each segment is broken into one minute bursts of exercises followed by either a 20 second or a 30 second rest period. Amber (the creater and trainer in the DVD) shows each move before we get going, so it's VERY clear what needs to be done. She talks about which muscles are being used so, for me, I could really feel and focus on which muscles I was working. I did some so the moves modified, and others I was able to go full-tilt. I love the 30 minute workouts!

I had 2 eggs for breakfast which is 1 red container, and now I'm going to have my Vegan Chocolate Shakeology which is another red container, and go walk around the backyard to check out the garden. 

The garden is looking great. I picked tomato suckers and tried to thin out the radishes. I think they're all worthless. None of them are producing a round bulb. They're all thin and pointy just like a regular root, and when I pull them up, they look rotten, soft, and split. Humph.

Lunch was roast beef deli meat (a red container) and 2 green containers of leaf lettuce. I didn't have the ingredients to make an official 21-Day FIX salad dressing, but I had a low fat raspberry Vinegerette, so I used my 2-T sized orange container of that.

Evening... I'M STARVING! But I don't have any fruit or nuts for my purple containers and blue containers. And I can't tolerate dairy anymore, so cheese isn't an option either. Ugh! Supper will be steamed talapia on a bed of spinach and sautéed onions. It's a creation of mine that Mr. Saucy and I LOVE! Slice 2 small onions, or 1 large, and slowly sautée in a small amount of oil of your choice. EVOO and butter are our favorites. Once the onions get soft and a little brown, add the spinach. Use either fresh or frozen, and you may need to add a little hot water to increase the steam amount. Once this mixture is hot, place the fix fillets on top of the bed of hot spinach and onions, season the fish as you'd like (I love lemon pepper!!) then cover and steam until the fish is cooked. Serve as-is, and/or add more spice if you'd like.

Supper... Screw the containers! I have the amount of 2 reds and 2 greens left for supper, but I didn't get them. I put the veggies and fish filet on my plate and enjoyed every bite! Then I had half of another filet. Mr. Saucy was home earlier than normal, and since this is such a quick supper to make, we were done with supper by 6:00. And I'm still hungry. Oh, this is gonna such! This is why I'm overweight. Clearly I eat too much, because this whole portioning crap is for the birds. 

After supper... HungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungry. I want to eat. I want something else to eat. Oh My GOD.....I'm going to devour the kitchen! Wait... I have decaf and Irish Cream. I can swap a yellow container for a little booze, and haven't used my 3 yellow containers yet. I also haven't had my blue container which is ok for some dairy, so.... Seems logical to me... One cup of decaf and some Bailey's was WONDEFUL! And the second cup was exactly enough to make me NOT want to grab the PB and spoon.

8:30pm, I (kinda) made it through my late-night cravings, and now my sweet baby girl wants me to read Fancy Nancy and sing her her bedtime songs. So up we go for tuck-ins, and, since the Total Body Cardio Fix DVD was BRUTAL, I'm exhausted too, so by 9:15, I was in bed too. And, with a summertime thunderstorm rumbling in, sleep will be sweet.


Tuesday 6/10/14
Uhum!! WHAT?!?! 4.2 pounds LOST?!? In 1 day?!? Oh, SNAP! Ok. So, let's get those portioning containers rinsed out and ready to go today. Let's plan ahead a little. I'm fairly ok during the day when I'm busy, but when I slow down is when I get munchie. I'm going to save a red container for tonight, so I can have a second shake as my snack/dessert. I love family supper, so 2 reds and 2 greens will be supper. No yellow after 6:00, so my 2 daytime meals will split my remaining 3 yellows, 3 reds, and 3 greens. I love my morning ShakeO, and since I'm going to save one for tonight too, and I love the family supper time, those are the meals I'll keep as standards, and I'll rearrange the others around those.

Time to get this mornings workout done. I'm sore from yesterday, but my CrossFit days taught me that moving will make it hurt less, so time to feel better.

Yup! Loved the Upper FIx segment. HARD, but a good workout. I only have 5lb hand weights right now, so I used them for all the moves. I'll eventually need heavier ones, but I'm glad I did everything with the lighter ones starting out.

Lunch was 2 yellows of rice and 2 reds of chicken. Dinner was just grilled pork chops. I didn't measure. Sorry Amber, I just ate. I had wine before, with, and after dinner too.


Wednesday 6/11/14
Scale didn't do much today, but I'm not surprised. That big loss yesterday wasn't expected either, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm still on track and absolutely making EXCELENT progress. 

However... Portioning makes me sad. And I don't like how my body feels when I eat carbs. Yes, I love them, but for my body chemistry, I can't lose weight and eat carbohydrates. Just doesn't mix in my chemistry. I love love love corn, and will continue to have grilled corn in the bob in the summer time because I'm southern, and I do love it, but it's not an every day thing, and will probably be a once a week thing, if even that often.

So for breakfast I had a little leftover pork chop from last nights dinner and 3 freamed (fried/steamed) eggs. My aunt taught me this, and it makes perfect eggs every time. In a heated nonstick skillet, crack your eggs. Let them cook for a minute or two until the whites are almost totally cooked. Then, pour a few tablespoons of HOT water into the pan, trying to get the water as close to the edge of the pan as possible, so it will go under the eggs, and around the edge of the pan to create steam. Cover the pan, and let the steam cook the tops of the eggs. Leave the lid on for as long as you like, based on how done you like your eggs. The nonstick pan and the water allows the eggs to slip right out of the pan. No broken yolks, no half-of-egg stuck to the pan. Use a slotted spatula to remove the eggs if there is any water still pooled in the pan. You don't want that on your plate.

I believe I've had 2 reds so far today. Tonight The Boo is having a sleep-over, and Mr. Saucy wants to order pizza. The delivery place sells salads too, so that will be my choice. I had a lot of red this morning, a ShakeO will be another red, and most to all of my greens will be tonight. My orange and blue will be tonight with the salad dressing. Looks like lunch should be yellow, but I don't like yellows. Drat. Guess I'll be hungry today. Perhaps I'll do an extra ShakeO and cut my protein down to just one red for tonight. That will give me my allotted 5 for today.

And, today is supposed to be Lower FIX but there's no way that's going to happen. Holy MOLY my legs are tired! When simply going potty and getting up and down from a chair makes you grimace, it's ok to take a rest day. AND STRETCH!

Greek salad with sliced turkey deli meal on top for supper. Forgot about the feta cheese, so had bad tummy cramps all night. Plus, the boys didn't go to sleep until about midnight, and were up before 5:30am. 

Both kids are running temps, but claim to feel fine...

Thursday 6/12/14
Holy Moly, I'm exhausted. Didn't weigh this morning. Honestly, I forgot and wanted to go ahead and get dressed since the kids were up. Normally, I spend an hour or two in my workout clothes or jammies in the mornings, but knowing I needed to take the little man to preschool, I went ahead and put on my grownup clothes.

Dropped him off at school, saw several teachers who are still there from when my kids were there too. They all oohed and ahed over how big and tall mine had gotten (they've been home with me for just about a year now.), then we drove through the drive through for pancakes and sausage for the kids. I got a large sugar free vanilla skim latte. Yup. Seriously. I forgot AGAIN that the milk would upset my stomach. I wonder how long it will take me to remember?

Breakfast was an omelet with sliced turkey deli meat and 2 of my kids string cheeses in it. Cheese. COME ON! Carter ANN! Wake up. Get out of your habits and think about what you're doing. Well, I only ate half of it. Good thing I was done with it, because as I was sitting at the table playing a game on my iPad, Kevin came up and sat on my plate. The whole omelet would have been 2 reds, so I'm counting just one for my first meal. And I'm counting the blue for the cream in my coffee.

Lunch was a red and a green. Ground beef and tomato sauce. Sounds THRILLING, I know. But, a friend posted a picture of stuffed peppers on Facebook, I had no peppers, but suddenly really wanted a stuffed pepper. The closest I could get was to make the stuffed part sans pepper.

I'm REALLY hoping the kids will take a nap. Remember the exhausted part from above? Well, I just now noticed, at 12:30pm, that my sons shorts have been on backwards all day. Mother Of The Year! I can tell that my 2:00pm snack will absolutely be my Shakeology. I'm supposed to be doing Pilats Fix today, but again, I don't know if I can physically do it. She'll tell me to go into child's pose to stretch, and I'll go straight to sleep.

I have things I should be doing in the garage for my Etsy Shop, but again, I'm thinking the couch looks like a MUCH better option right now. At least supper is thawing, so I don't need to worry about that later on. Motivation, where hath thoughest gone?

Mr Saucy texted to say he figured practice would be cancelled due to the rain, and did I want him to bring home a roasted chicken. I jumped at the chance, and then also requested cole slaw and baked beans. And no, I didn't measure. Sorry Amber.

The kids temps are up again, so we'll be seeing the Dr in the morning.

Friday 6/13/14
Three little words. 

P. M. S. 

Give me everything in sight! And, cover it with chocolate! STAT!

Morning Shakeology, then off to the Dr for The Boo, who said he was fine, but I could hardly understand him due to his voice being almost gone, but then slipped up and asked for something that wouldn't hurt his throat. Poor thing... He HATES strep tests. But, alas, we headed out to the dr anyway, and sure enough, he has strep. We tested GG too, and yep... You guessed it... She was positive too. Both kids got Rx's for bubble gum flavored amoxicillin, and I was given a script too, just in case I develope it too. I'm VERY susceptible to strep, and I've had it twice since mid-May.

We met Daddy, aka Mr. Saucy at the restaurant across the street from the dr. I had a grilled chicken breast with sliced tomatoes and a butter sauce, a side of mashed potatoes, and one trip to the salad bar.

But then for dinner, the PMS was too strong for me, and I ordered a gluten free pizza. Knowing it would tear up my tummy, but for about 2 days a month, I can not control my food addiction. I'm hoping that I'll get better with it, and I'm working really hard on it, but my goodness, it's just overwhelming.

Saturday 6/14/14
Chex cereal for breakfast. Well... 1/2 a bowl. I used real milk again, and knowing it would make me feel terrible made me not want to eat it. GG was asking for it, so I gladly gave her what was left.

Now, this is where it gets interesting. Lunch. I'm starving. I haven't had my ShakeO today, I KNOW it will make me feel better, but I almost don't want to feel better. I want a sandwich. A turkey and mayo sandwich with salt and pepper. I open the fridge, and remember the leftover rice and the leftover cole slaw and the left over roasted chicken. Wait a minute! Why don't I have something that WONT make me feel worse. So, I microwaved a bowl of rice and had some cold chicken while I waited for the rice. Drank a bunch of water while waiting for the rice, and viola... I'm now full, feel better about my food choices, and I won't have the issues with the gluten in the sandwich bread.

Need to do the grocery shopping this afternoon, so hopefully the rice won't leave me STARVING by the time it's time to go roam the isles. I do try to stick to the outer rim of the grocery store, but today we need cooking and salad oils, and coffee, so I'll be doing a little inner-store shopping. I'll just have to put my head down until I get to where I know these items are.

Supper tonight will be pork tenderloin. And I need to get the flank steak marinating for Fathers Day.

Sunday 6/15/14
Last nights pork tenderloin was awesome! We had it with fresh green beans from the backyard garden, and cauliflower "steaks". I sliced the entire head of cauliflower into 4 massive slices and we grilled the 2 inner slices. The outer 2 fell apart because there wasn't any core holding them together. I still grilled them on the veggie grill tray, and they were good too.

Today is Fathers Day, and it started out with bacon for breakfast. Just bacon. Bacon in bed. Then we went on a drive out to the country to see a little house up for sale (no, we're not moving, but we both still love looking and dreaming of what's next.) and on the way, we stopped at 5-Guys for decadent goosh-burgers. Yes, we'll feel terrible for days, but with it being Fathers Day, and his last day home for a week, we splurged.

Was hoping to do the family secret flank steak tonight, but I'm no where near hungry, and it needs a while to marinate, so I'll make that later in the week for the kids and I. Ok, for me, really. The kids won't eat much. GG probably won't eat a bite, but Boo will have a good portion. Left overs will be in salads.

Mr Saucy wanted a sandwich from the pizza delivery place' so I got a pizza too. Not proud...

Monday 6/16/14
It's a new week, and time to get this ball rolling again. Hopefully the hormonal swings and holidays won't pop up again this week, pointing out my nonexistent will-power. I have a summer cold, but hopefully I won't turn that into an excuse for comfort eating too.

Had my Shakeology for breakfast, a pork chop for lunch, then leftover pork tenderloin and grilled cauliflower for supper. Didn't workout, so I'm not really expecting the numbers to shift much. This hasn't been a stellar week.