This Week's Update

Well as you may have read I have been in a bit of a slump lately and have seen a plateau. Let me tell you, it is still going strong. Last week I was up the 0.2 which I had been down the week before...hence, plateau. However, I refuse to be discouraged and here is why:

1) I was home this weekend and despite a lack of tracking and a couple pieces of a fantastic coffee cake from the bakery around the corner (no, not in the same day) I feel like I made good decisions. I know I eat healthy but it just feels like making good decisions are ingrained in me now...well most of the time :)

2) I cleaned up my life today! Cleaned out my closet and threw out some old clothes to make room for the new things I bought. Despite spending more than I intended on my weekend shopping trip, it was so nice to get some new clothes I'm exited about wearing (including size FOUR jeans!!) I also cleaned out my kitchen cupboard and found I have a ton of granola bars and ww 1 pt bars. Why is this a good thing? Because it means I am eating them sparingly. I'm happy to have them because I don't want to cut them out entirely - they are just too handy when I'm running out the door for school some days - but knowing that I move through slowly means I'm not relying on them for most of my sustinance, which I think is a pretty good thing.

3) On that note I had an amazing shopping trip today at the grocery store. You know those days where you put all your stuff on the checkout counter and think "damn, look at all this wonderful, healthy food"? And then beam with pride? It was one of those. Or maybe that's just me...

4) Finally, I was at church today and as I only get there every couple months when I'm home visiting, I get so many compliments on how much weight I've lost. Which is always motivating, despite being a little bit concerning (if you think I'm so thin now, how fat was I before??).

Alright, I ramble but the long and the short of it is I'm here and I am determined to not let a few weeks of (minor, really) set back knock me off track.

Hopefully I can try some new recipes this week and post for you - pictures included, I promise :)

Have a great week xo

P.S. Check out Ashley's Blog and the contest she's running!

Life Updates

Alright I didn't post after WI this week so here's the update: Thursday I was down 0.2. Which was fine considering it was the week after the long weekend. Truthfully, I have to confess that I am really struggling with the start of summer. I am consistently doing poorly on Thurs, Fri and Sat - not tracking or even really trying. Then I pull it together the rest of the week and control the damage. It could be worse but I don't think it's a very good way to treat my body and I also know if I tried harder all week I would see better results.

Summer is doubly hard because there is so much social stuff going on and so many opportunities to go out and eat and drink. But for me this difficulty is compacted by the stress of seeing everyone else in summer clothes. You think it would be motivating but mostly it's just the opposite.

I think it's because I don't feel 114 lbs. I still feel like 140. I don't think I look any different or can dress any differently. It's frustrating. I look at the number and think how much lower could I possibly go? But I still feel like I look as though I have another 30 lbs or more left.

I haven't been formally exercising either. I've done a ton of walking and play softball twice a week but I know I should kick it into high gear.

I realize I am not struggling with anything special and it's hard for lots of people - I just wish it was easier! lol

Alright - on a positive note I am far from giving up and have had a good day so far and planned out the rest. Here's today's menu:

1/2c Kashi Go Lean
1c mixed berries
1/2c skim milk

1 whole grain wrap with:
1/2c chick peas
15g skim mozzarealla
chopped peppers, carrots and mushrooms

1 pt of 70% dark chocolate

1egg + 1 white omlette
1 oz goat cheese
sauteed mushrooms, onions and peppers

1 piece whole grain bread with 1 tsp oil and 1 tsp vinegar

hopefully some exercise and lots of water!!

Hope you are all doing better than me and enjoying the beautiful weather coming our way!!

Pampered Chef!

Just wanted to let you know about a contest Amy is running over at Amy's Quest To Skinny! She'd giving away a pampered chef cook book and some yummy looking spices. I have to say I LOVE Pampered Chef so I am pretty excited about her give away, make sure to check it out :)

That's it for today, WI tomorrow, I'll post further about my week then :)

WI!

Weighed in this morning and I was down 1.4 :) Of which only 0.6 of it was "real" since a lot of my weight last week was water...but on the books -1.4 so wheeeeee!

I am suffering a bit in the motivation department. There's a lot going on with school starting and meeting new people and being out and thus I have been slacking a bit on writing things down (although I've still been tracking in my head). And since its the start of a new week I did track today :) I'll do my best to keep it up!

I know your sick of hearing this but I tried a great recipe tonight and didn't take pictures! HAHA when will I learn? I'm too intent on eating my dinner.

Well it wasn't rocket science but I adapted it from a recipe in my tracker and it was simple and yummy!

Vegetarian Soft Tacos

1/2 an onion
1/2 cup of black beans, rinsed well
taco sauce or salsa to taste (1-3 tbsp)
1/4 cup cooked brown rice
2 small tortillas
1/2 cup diced tomato
lime juice
roasted & salted pumpkin seeds, lettuce, cheddar and sour cream to top as desired

Chop tomato and mix with some lime juice, cover and set aside. Chop and fry the onion in a bit of oil. Add the black beans and warm. Add the taco sauce, mash about half the black beans with a fork and continue to warm for 5 min. Mix in brown rice. Spread 1/2 the mix on a tortilla and top with some tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, lettuce, cheddar and sour cream.

The pumpkin seed addition was something I learned at a cooking class and love! Adds really nice texture and flavour.

Since it's made of mostly ingredients I typically keep on hand, I think I will keep this one in my rotation. (And possibly convince the meatatarian boyfriend to try it...;)

Almost the long weekend! Enjoy!

My first gain (sort of)

Okk so I actually thought this week I wasn't going to gain after all. But I did yesterday morning I was +0.6. But today I weighed in for May at the WW center and was down 0.2 so I'd really rather use that one. However, I need to be honest and Thursday is my weigh in day so I finally wrote down the gain in my tracker. I know it's a small gain so there's no use stressing over it. It's only disapointing because it's my only gain since new years when I started. Which I guess is still something to be proud of. I just need to recommit to tracking and working extra hard like I know I can.

Today has been a light eating day. I went shopping with my mom and grabbed a salad in the food court now were making warm goat cheese salads for dinner! Yum, I've eaten them all week but I never get sick of them! Havn't drank my water tho, so I am trying to cram it all in!

Should be a good weekend, visiting my grandmother tomorrow for mothers day and celebrating with my mom on Sunday.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Back from vacation!

Yesterday I got home from my six day vacation to Myrtle Beach! It was a blast but food wise didn't go so well. I must confess, I hardly though about it. Sure, I felt guilty a few times but I hardly made good decisions or worried about them. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. I did get a ton of exercise swimming, shopping and exploring. And as a result when I checked the scale this morning it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I will post my official WI on Thursday. Realistically, it could still be gain and I probably won't make my goal of 115 but I don't think I've done too much damage and I'm back on track and good to go. Jeff's Mom even gave me a Weight Watchers "hungry" monster thing, so it is sitting on my dresser as my reminder to be good this week :)

More than the weight thing, the eating reminded my of why I like eating healthy - because I feel crummy when I don't! Today I have been loading up on fruits and veggies and lots of water and I feel so much better already!

I even remembered pictures tonight at dinner!
With that...
Today's Menu:

(slept late and skipped breakfast!)

Lunch: Huge warm goat cheese salad with mushrooms, tomatos, red peppers, croutons and dried cranberries.

Snack: Dark chocolate

Dinner:

Greek couscous salad - couscous, cucumbers, chickpeas, feta, tomatos, peppers, red wine vinegar and olive oil
Toasted tortilla with 2 tbsps of roased red pepper hummus

Dessert:
Chocolate vita muffin and strawberries

That's all for now. Hope everyone had a good week/weekend!!