Thank you! - 1,000 Page views

I started this blog 18 days ago and I enjoy sharing and getting feedback from you all.
I wanted to say thank you to:

1. Everyone who posts comments.
2. People who I bump into that comment on how they appreciate my writing (misspellings and all :).
3. Countless others who quietly read or follow this blog.  You know who you are! 

I find this blog to be a creative outlet for me when I'm not able to do artwork and it helps me stay focused on my goal for a healthy lifestyle.  I must say it also helps me pass the time during these cold winter months (not that kids keep me bored by any means)!  I look forward to sharing all I can with you in hopes that you to will find some meaning/perspective that applies to your life when it comes to diet, health and well being.  Thank you a million times for being a part of my journey. We can learn allot from each other.  It means more to me than you'll ever know! 

What is your splurge?

Tonight is date night with Chris!  Our original plans were to go to the theater and dinner but with all the snow and ice there is fear that the roof could collapse so the performance was canceled (we were going to see the show called  Aluminum).  We are still planning on going out for dinner so tonight will be a cheat meal for me.

In general when it comes to dinning out I don't for the most part.  I find eating out to be stressful. I don't have control over how the kitchen prepares the food.  There are times when I have requested they prepare it with less fat but even then it's not great.  Either the food is swimming in oil or steamed with no seasoning to speak of and just blah!  When it comes to eating out I have to plan on it being a splurge otherwise it's too stressful.  The extra calories however I won't partake in unless it's something I know I will really love (no fast food for me).  There are times however when it's lunch time, I'm not at home and I'm out of healthy snacks so eating out has to be an option.  In a pinch I can rely on Subway, Panera Bread (a salad only) or an egg white flat bread or wrap sandwich from Dunkin Donuts for a healthy option.

Not sure what I'm going to order for dinner tonight but it will include a cocktail and dessert (I think).  I'm thinking perhaps some buffalo wings and a salad? Tomorrow morning is my Butts and Gutts class and a 4 mile run before that so I'm not going to eat too much heavy food tonight.  I want to be able to move tomorrow and not have a food hangover.  My body hates me when I overdue it on rich high fat foods and sugary foods.  I must say that's one of the curses of eating well (if you want to call it a curse - it's more like a trade off).  I love food and when I eat the things I used to eat a little over a year ago it tastes good but my body feels ill the next day. 

The way my body is today I'll splurge on a smaller jean size and increased energy at the expense of not overeating heavy, fatty, sugary food.

What is your splurge?

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Update to this post: I splurged on a shot of chocolate cake, 1 microbrew, 1/2 of a really good burger, side salad, 1/2 piece of chocolate cake and some ice cream.

Swiss Chard

In the quest for a healthy diet I'm trying to expand my palate along with my families.  At the grocery store yesterday I was looking for something new to try for vegetables so I purchased swiss chard and fennel (fennel I'll be preparing another day). 

For dinner tonight to accompany the swiss chard I cooked flounder in a foil packet (with white wine, lemon juice and parsley).  Baked at 350 for 15 minutes. 
To prepare the swiss chard I sautéed it in olive oil with minced garlic, minced onion, salt pepper and lemon (the recipe was in the America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook).  Here's a link to a few other variations of preparing swiss chard: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/sauteed-swiss-chard-with-parmesan-cheese/MoreRecipesLikeThis.aspx

I found the taste of swiss chard was a little bit like mustard.  My husband and I liked it but my kids didn't seem super interested even though K helped me cook it (it was allot of fun cooking with him and I hope to give him an appreciation for real food through cooking).  I will keep cooking swiss chard from time to time and eventually my kids may eat it up the way they now eat fish.  I think I read somewhere that kids sometimes need to be exposed to a food 10 - 20 times before they will try it. One down nineteen more to go! 

Screaming Chandeliers

I was planning on posting this yesterday but time got away from me - busy day!
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Today was a mixed bag of moments. 

School had a 90 minute delay today due to some snow and ice that came our way yesterday.

I must say it sure was beautiful looking at the ice on the trees as the sun was shining down upon the branches.  It looked like all the tree branches were a cluster of chandeliers.  All the branches looked encased in crystal.

While waiting outside for the school bus with my son K (my son M was inside keeping warm with my husband - it was too cold for him to be outside) we played soccer in the driveway using a chunk of ice covered in snow that was about the size of a hockey puck.  For those few minutes of playing in the driveway I felt like I was a kid again and didn't want the moment to end (it was different riding the bus growing up as it was at the end of our street and I spent allot of time being bullied at the bus stop).  It was nice having some of that one on one time with my son that I miss so much.  For the first three and half years of his life he was the only child and now my time is split in more ways than just two (so it seems).  After K got on the bus I was off to collect M to go somewhere - anywhere!  The last few days of being stuck in the house were grating on my last remaining nerve (not to mention I think there have been 7 or 8 official snow days since Christmas break).

I entered the house to collect a snack and M.  M wanted no part of going anywhere and he would run from me screaming anytime I got close to him with his winter coat.  After about 5 minutes of me trying to cajole him I told him I am leaving in the hopes he would try to follow me out the door.  I was wrong :-(  At this point I was about to lose it.  I told M I was going to be right back and then I loaded the diaper bag into the car as I was going to need both arms to get his coat on and carry him out to the car.  Of course when I came back in the house (after about a 30 second leave of absence) he was screaming (my husband was home so I didn't leave him in the house all by himself).  When I got back in the house my husband was consoling M.  I then packed up M and put him in the car with him still screaming.  I listened to the screaming all the way to the community center, in the lobby and finally in the gym.  Nothing would make him happy so it seemed.  He calmed down eventually and I just walked around the gym holding him -  ahhh the silence and cuddles were heaven!

On the way home all was quiet in the car and I pulled over several times to take a few pictures of the glistening ice on the branches.  The day was busy and beyond frustrating at times but it was nice to take in the breathtaking moments.  I've found stopping and taking in the little moments are worth way more than burying my stress with the cupcake sitting on the counter.  Wishing everyone a few chandeliers and breathtaking moments (not the kind of breathtaking moments with a screaming 22 month old in the background of course :-)

Kale Chips

Hoping to get to the grocery store tomorrow.  I've been without mixed greens the last few days and I'm missing eating salad at dinner.  It's amazing how my body has gotten accustomed to eating really good food like lots of fruits and veggies.  I noticed when my intake of these foods goes down my body actually craves them.  For veggies on hand I had some kale and decided to make some Kale Chips.

If you're interested in trying something different and healthy give this recipe a try:


Kale Chips

1 bunch of curly leaf kale

Cooking spray

1 teaspoon seasoned salt (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 350.

Tear the leafs into chip size pieces (discard the vein that runs down the center of the leaf).

Wash kale and dry really well with a salad spinner and a paper towel or two (make sure the kale is really dry).

Spray pan with cooking spray.
Place dry kale on pan and spray the kale with cooking spray.  Sprinkle with seasoned salt and bake for 10 - 15mins (watch carefully so the kale doesn't burn).

When it comes to kale chips people either love them or hate them.  I love kale chips and I hope you like them as much as I do.  Kale chips are a great way to get more veggies in your diet.  Enjoy!

Iced In!

Woke up to no snow today but ice! - cabin fever is setting in but exercise will be my cure.
It's day two of no school and my boys are now making pretend food with Play-Doh. It's so cute with them inventing these strange concoctions of pizza with pb.

I confess! I didn't follow my advice yesterday and didn't get any exercise (partly because my muscles were sore from Sundays workout and I needed a nap :).

I'm going to bust out a 4 mile run on the treadmill now and I'm going to love every minute of it! - Chris is going to watch the kids so I'll be kid free for about 45mins (give or take)!

Off to run!

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10:41am Update to this post: I ran on an incline of 2, walked 1 min. ran 5 min.  Total of 4 miles in 44 minutes.  My leg muscles are feeling it and I feel great! Anything can happen today and it won't matter because I reached my goal for today. Bring it! - ok maybe I shouldn't have wrote that :-)

Snowed In?

I can't remember the last time my son had a full week of school? - Before Christmas break perhaps? 

Today I made some peanut butter cookies and got the recipe from the Weight Watchers website.  The recipe called for some chunky peanut butter and I didn't have any on hand so I made my own with the food processor.  Another ingredient it called for was whole grain wheat flour?  I used some white whole wheat flour (all the nutrition of 100% whole wheat but less dense like white flour).  I tripled the cookie recipe, baked a dozen and put the rest of the dough in the freezer (I'm hoping my husband doesn't go to crazy with the frozen dough and leaves me some to actually bake for the boys on another day).

For exercise I may try to get a workout in at home during nap time.  I have a Jillian Michael's 30day
Shred just for days like today when I can't get out.  It's a 20 minute highly concentrated workout. 

In closing if you are trapped at home with kids I wish you lots of cookies (only the ones you have self control being around of course), crafts, deep breaths and patience.  - a little exercise I have found will also help blow off some steam :-)

Are you committed?

Are you committed?
That's the first thing I asked myself before I started this journey.  I must say there were many times I had thoughts about what I was and wasn't willing to do. Am I ready to give up the couch potato lifestyle (I would say to myself - as much as a mom could be a couch potato - Laughing Out Loud)?  Did I wake up one day and say I'm going to eat well, avoid fried foods, give up the DD drive through donut and workout religiously?  Heck No!  The thought of doing all of that at once was overwhelming at best.  I took small steps like: no fried foods, eat 5 fruits and veggies a day, start exercise slowly and enjoy what you are doing, try something new and repeat what works.

I decided in a moment that I was going to lose the weight and this time nothing was going to stand in my way.  I am committed.  I am going to do whatever it takes.  Why this time you ask in comparison to all the other times?  The stakes are higher for me now.  I am now in my late 30's and I'm not getting any younger.  I had a couple of readings of high blood pressure, at risk for diabetes, my knees ached, I had ZERO energy and would lose my breath just walking up a flight of stairs.  Oh and lets not forget the fun in tying shoes, fitting in a seat on an airplane or the theater, only being able to buy half way decent looking clothes at the plus size store (and lets face it when you are feeling fat and miserable nothing looks good - I know I felt that way -  I so hated shopping).  And the worst was not having energy for my kids or myself.  How could I spend time doing something enjoyable if I had no energy to do anything?

Now I have energy! - (not to say I don't enjoy putting my feet up at the end of the day - my boys keep me plenty busy :-)

Are You Committed?  What ever the answer is for you be honest with yourself.  If your answer to the question is no I encourage you to find out why.  Eating a cupcake isn't always the real problem for me it's about what's eating me that's the problem.  You are worth it. 

Weigh In Week #54

Picture taken 1/30/11 145lbs

 In case you were wondering based on the title I have been doing this now for 54 weeks :-). 
Monday mornings are my official weigh day and today I was a  - 1.2 lbs :-) That puts me at a current weight of 145.2 (I'll call that a total loss of 70lbs).

Tuesday night is now my WW weigh in. Now if I can just remember what I wore last Tuesday night so I can be as accurate as possible on the scale.  In the big picture of my health it doesn't really matter but I like consistency.

Butts, Guts, Burgers and Ice Cream

Had a great workout this morning.  I ran 3.5miles in 37minutes and then immediately went to my Butts and Guts Class afterwords (an hour of torture on your legs, butt, arms and abs).  Quickly got home and then......

Went on a date with my little man today.  It was nice having some one on one time with him as it doesn't happen very often.  We spent the afternoon going out to lunch, seeing a play and getting some ice cream (in case you're wondering I used all of my 49 extra ww points at lunch - this was my splurge meal).  I was looking forward to lunch at the good burger place (the last time I had a burger there was August) but it wasn't open until 12pm and the play started at 1pm so that wasn't going to work.  We opted to go to another place that was a step above the golden arches when it comes to burgers but it wasn't 'THE' place to go for burgers.  On the good side it was a chain restaurant so when I got home I could look up the nutrition information online (my jaw dropped and my eyes popped when I read the nutrition info).

My son ate 1/2 a burger with some fries and a milk.  I ate a burger with a side of onion rings and a water (I also sampled some of my sons fries). 



My son requested that I take this picture.

After lunch we went to see the play If You Give A Cat A Cupcake.  It was a great play for the kids and my son loved it.  He asked me if we could go to a play again sometime (yay!).  After the play we went to the  the Dairy Bar for some ice cream.  I had some of my favorite Toasted Almond Amaretto with hot fudge and strawberries of course :-) and my son had a vanilla cone with blue and white sprinkles.

For dinner tonight I wasn't really hungry but felt the urge to have some vegetables and fruit so I ate some acorn squash and an apple with a glass of water (my detox meal).

Here is the nutrition info on the burger I ate - Yikes! - if you are eating something right now stop! - you may feel sick after reading this (I know I do).

Calories 1,190
Fat 68g
Saturated Fat 19g
Cholesterol 120mg
Sodium 1,170mg
Dietary Fiber 8g (a mute point)
Sugar 12g
Protein 43g

To steel a quote or two from Super Size Me, I was getting some "McSweats" and the feeling of some "McGrease" on my face a few hours after eating.  If you are interested in watching a movie about fast food and what it does to your body Super Size Me is a great movie to watch.  If you think drinking excessive amounts of alcohol is the only way to kill your liver - well guess again.