following a good week

So you'd think that the momentum from last week's big loss would be enough to slingshot me into another fearless week. Au contrair. Call it a case of too much candy around the house or what, but even though I stayed within my points {and exercised} I still did not manage to loose what I would have liked to. I can attribute it to an excess of points used on chocolates and foregoing the fruits and veggies. In fact, today I realized the error of my ways and transitioned to carrot sticks during the afternoon. Had I not been tracking, I would have polished off the bag of mini Snickers rather quickly. Why is it those minis go down sooooo good?

But after my mere .6# loss, I'm onto another week and ready to hit it head on. I've formulated new goals and I'm ready to succeed. One thing to be thankful for though, is that in the 9 weeks I've been doing the Weight Watchers program, I've never gained... yet. I keep reminding myself that the holiday weeks are still to come, and being realistic, I know that there will be weeks {3 to be exact} that will come and go and I may show a gain. But what I've got to keep reminding myself is, that I need to look at the big picture. I'm headed into these holiday weeks down a total of 17#'s. I'm in a much better place than had I not begun this journey to get healthier.

Here's what I look like this week {dressed in my halloween costume}:

it worked!

This past week I worked on goal setting. Hard. At the start of the week I made a list of healthy goals I wanted to shoot for... for the week. Attainable goals. Not lofty months-from-now goals. Here's what they were:

1) Exercise 3x for at least 30 min each time. Doesn't sound like much, but I'm a gal who's on my feet pretty much all day anyway, so to work in time specified to get my heart rate up and tone muscle was tricky, but I did it. I used my Wii fit and did aerobics, yoga, strength training and of course some fun balance games.

2) Try a new recipe. Done. In fact I tried two new recipes. The first was for a cider pork roast that I found in my Betty Crocker cookbook. {my good 'ol standby fav} The second recipe was one I concocted to avoid the high calorie pizza I was serving my family. I created my own roasted veggie pizza that was only 6 points plus for the ENTIRE PIZZA! And not only was it filling, it was delish! And lucky you, I'm sharing the recipe at the end of this entry.

3) Have 10 flex points left at the end of the week. Didn't happen. But honestly, I didn't think this one through entirely. I had a "girls day" with my mom and one of my sisters on Sunday where we ate out for 2 meals {which turned out to be Arbys & Grazi's}. I used every last one of my flex points for the week, but according to my calculations, I didn't go OVER my points allotted for the week. {and I even had an Arby's Roast Beef and Curly Fries} I planned ahead. Saved points. And ate well. And thanks to my Mom's support of my efforts, she was set with Weight Watchers ice cream and Fiber One muffins. Thanks Mom!!

And finally, 4) Loose 1.8#'s for the week. Well, I did even better than that. I lost 3.2 #'s this week. This program works. I was able to eat well when I needed to, and splurge when I wanted to. And I feel great! I'm now down a total of 16.4 #'s total since I started Weight Watchers on August 30th.

Here's what I looked like the week I started...

and here's what I look like now {8 weeks later}:
{can you see a difference?? The pants I'm wearing are starting to be too big. Being yoga pants they can be worn for a while, but they're getting saggy-baggy in the legs and hips.}




And now for the recipe:

Homemade Pizza {6 pp value for entire pizza)

1-8" Ole' Xtreme Wellness {12g of fiber in just 1 of these babies} {2pp}
-spray a cookie sheet, place tortilla on the pan and spray with cooking spray lightly. sprinkle with crushed pepper flakes and garlic salt. bake in a 425 degree oven until lightly golden brown.

While the tortilla is browning, spray a frying pan with spray and saute' some veggies of your choice. I just did peppers and onions. Saute until lightly browned and tender.

Once the tortilla is brown, pop it out of the oven and spread the sauteed veggies on top evenly.

2 slices of Steve's provolone cheese slices {4pp}
-tear into pieces and cover the top of the veggies. put the pizza back into the oven until the cheese is melty. cut into 4ths and enjoy.

This recipe has so much flavor, and is remarkably filling due to the protein of the cheese and fiber of the tortilla. Let me know if you try it and any variations you make on the recipe!

blah.

So, I thought taking the "traveling tracking journal" would inspire me to be at my best, but Sunday got the best of me with a combination of a birthday party and then Packer party - both with desserts. If I'm looking for a positive, I did eat better than I would have previously. I limited the high fat foods and soda intake drastically, but when I totaled up the estimated points plus values of what I ate that day - yikes. I still went over by quite a bit. My goal was to loose 2.2 this week which would give me another 5# star and a total loss of 15#. I'm not sure what's worse. Feeling like you did great and not loose as much as you'd like, or have a 'fat day' and loose a good chunk. Today I'm feeling the latter. I look in the mirror and wonder where the 13# has come from, because I still feel blah.

Instead of pig out though, I fired up the Wii and put in the Just Dance disc. My 5yr old and I danced for about a half an hour - each taking turns on what song we'd do. Not only was it great exercise, but it was a fun bonding time with her. After we shared a strawberry snack on the deck in the warm fall breeze. *bliss*

I'm still plugging away at this weigh loss thing. And I'm working hard to have the lifelong mindset of getting healthy - rather than thinking "I've just got to loose these last 30#'s and then I can eat!" I know these changes need to be permanent for me to remain healthy after the weight is gone. Gosh. Why do I have to love food so much!

Now onto the results... After this week's weigh in, I lost .4 #'s! I'm that much closer to my goal. Oh, and I have to give a cyber hug to my Dad who guesstimated my weight this weekend while I was talking about my progress. He guessed me at 20#'s LESS than what I really am. Either I carry it well, or he was being all too kind. Either way, thanks Dad!

No picture this week - sorry. My computer has been on the fritz so I'm actually uploading this from my sister's computer. That explains why it's late and why there's no photo. Next week my new laptop should be here. Yipee!

serenity

Ahh. To have a place of sanctuary. A place that's not only functional, but beautiful as well. A place filled with things. Pretty things. Things that you love.

In the 15 years I've been married, I would have to say that I've never had this kind of space. Especially in the master bedroom. The first years were great, but I was still in college and working part-time while Jason was just getting started in the construction field. Later, when we both had good jobs, our money was tied up in doing what smaller remodeling projects we could handle on our growing income. In the years that followed, three blessings arrived one by one. Our desire for me to be a stay at home mom over-rode the income issue and we were back at square one. Now the kids are growing so we have more time. Jason has certainly learned his profession well, and is very skilled, but we are still living on 1 1/2 incomes. We live in our "dream" home in the country - but there is lots to do to make it a dream to live in. Have the years been blessings? Resoundingly yes! But you know the saying the shoemakers kids are shoeless? Yeah, well, you get the point. I love design and decorating, so I do what I can with what I've got while I wait for my space to what I want it to be.

But something has happened while I have been waiting. Clutter. I'm not sure if it's because our master bedroom is on the first floor - right off the living room. Or if it's lack of storage space elsewhere in the house, but our room was awful! I'm talking a hodge-podge of furniture. Dvd's and video games around our little TV. Crafting supplies. A mish-mash of books. Fabric "to-do" scraps. Clothes to donate to the thrift store. Broken jewelry. Board games. Cards. Children's artwork {not displayed}. And dust. Lots of dust.

I'd been looking at our room like this for a long time now. And it just kept getting worse and worse. To top it off, our ceiling is currently open to the floor joists above. So I look at rough drywall, bare wood and insulation as I slip off to sleep. Then yesterday, I caught one of my favorite shows to watch when I get the chance. I love love love The Nate Show. He's got a great sense of style and design, and most of it is budget-friendly. Well, wouldn't you know, but the topic yesterday was a bedroom re-do. A master bedroom re-do to be exact. Of course the finished product was phenomenal. And more than I am able to do at the moment, but it did inspire me to get to work cleaning and organizing. To make the best of what I had to work with. So during nap time, I did just that.

I want to start by saying that I've always been awful at taking a before shot when I get into moods like this. I still kick myself for not taking more photos of the horrendous flower gardens we had when we moved in here and did all the landscaping! Anyway, enough digressing. It took some doing, but not as much as I would have guessed. In fact, it was one of those moments where I said "Why didn't I do this sooner?" I found places for the games and cards. I stored away my crafting supplies {it's amazing where you can find spaces that are not being utilized fully!}. I threw out things that I wondered why I was keeping. I put away jewelry. And I dusted. Whew. Then, I got rid of things that didn't need to be in the spaces they were in. Like this white sauder shelf thingy that served no purpose really. Finally, I brought things into the space that made me smile. Photographs of the kids. A stack of antique books. A basket to hold my lotion and sewing essentials. And then some natural elements. I put away the yearbooks that Jason had looked at weeks ago, and replaced it with my favorite pictures of Jason and I. I primped. I bought nothing new. I didn't paint. But wow the difference. Jason was even amazed at the difference.

Is it what my dream bedroom will look like? Nope. But it works for now, and it makes me happy. It's a more serene space.

And if that weren't enough, my Weight Watchers flyer for the week had an article on how creating a sanctuary space in your bedroom will help you feel better about yourself! I got the message from every direction, and I'm so glad I did a little bit of unexpected fall cleaning and have this great space to enjoy... until the demo begins of course.

What would my dream bedroom look like? A king size bed. End tables for each of us. Luxurious fabrics in a variety of colors and textures. Interesting architectural finds. Mercury glass bottles as lamps.

less to love.

eeek. what a week. in an effort to think smaller, i'm doing this post in all lowercase letters. this is purposeful. or maybe i should surround myself with BIG THINGS. things to make me feel smaller in comparison. nah. it'll never work.

i'd love to report that i pivotal moments this week, but all in all it was pretty blase. no fanfare. no wow moments. pretty run of the mill. ordinary. boring. overall i think i did pretty good. i fell off the bandwagon one day, but after reading my sister's blog, quickly regained composure and finished the week off good. {thanks for that reminder sis.} i managed to loose another 1 # this week.

i also have found inspiration in my friend heather. after 9 months on weight watchers, she dropped 55 lbs. a BIG {it was appropriate to use caps here} shout out to her and her hard work. i envy her. i will be her. just give me a little {or maybe a lot} more time. thank you to you, heather, for inspiring me with your quirky photos of the new you. love it.

hmmm. what else. i've found myself gazing upon older photos of me from the last year. if that ain't inspiration.... whew. by our family christmas in the dells this year, i won't be quite as hesitant to put on my swimwear, that's for sure. with a little over 2 months to go my goal is to be another 12 #'s lighter. that'll put me at the lowest i've been in years. i can do it, right? you betcha.

how did i feel thinner this week. well, i moved up a notch {or two} on my belt. that always feels good. {grin}

and i know i normally share one photo of how i did this past week, but my 5 year old got a hold of the camera and i just had to share her photography skills. props to you zoey-bird.











my little photographer {grins}



and a self-take

tutorials.

So I've been all about tutorials lately. Love love love them. I also love finding a project online and recreating it myself to save time and money. Put those {loves} together and you have my new venture... creating tutorials! Be watching for more on this topic coming soon. I've got one freebie in the works and I'll throw in a few more in the coming months. Coming in 2012, I'll have tutorials to purchase for el-cheapo. I want to make them affordable for all you do-it-yourselfers out there. Those of you who can do, but don't want to mess around with figuring it out on your own. I'll also be sharing links to some tutorials out there in the web-world. To get you started and to peak your interest, you have to check out V and Co.'s blog and her tutorial for this adorable scrappy flower ring. So chic!

I just hate to throw away scraps of fabric no matter how small. This is the perfect way to utelize those odds and ends pieces that you just can't part with. Why not make up a few and tie them to the tops of your Christmas gifts this year? Adults and the kiddos will love them! There now. That'll keep you all busy using up your scraps. Have fun!

{Do you have a fun tutorial that you've found online? Share the link, please!}

sabotage

Last week at my Weight Watchers meeting, the topic was sabotage. Who do we have in our lives that sabotage our efforts to get healthy? Honestly, I had a hard time thinking of anyone. In general, I have loads of support when it comes to family and friends. I felt truly grateful. Knowing that the people I love and care about, love and care about me too. But then I got to thinking. Am I a saboteur? Are there comments I've made, or reactions I've had that sabotaged someone's dreams, goals or ambitions? I'm not perfect. I'm sure I must have at some point unknowingly said something that was not supportive. But who was it? What was it I said? I cannot recall a specific instance, but to those of you I've sabotaged, I'm truly sorry! At any rate, the topic may not have caused me to pinpoint and avoid those who sabotage me, but it did give me the chance to reflect on my own choices towards others. And for that I am happy. Happy, because now going forward, I can choose my words carefully. Encourage rather than discourage. Lift up rather than dismiss. Will I be flawless? Nope. I'm sure I won't. But now that I'm aware of it, I can be mindful of it.

So now I ask you. Are you a saboteur? When there are people around you who have dreams and goals, do you encourage them? Or do you try and sabotage their efforts - like offering a cinnamon roll to the guy who just lost 15 #'s? Sometimes we try to get those around us off the bandwagon because we are feeling guilty about our own choices. If that's you, stop feeling guilty and start dreaming yourself. Start setting goals that pertain to you. Begin encouraging. And surround yourself with people who will encourage you in your journey - whatever it may be.



Ok. I'll get off my proverbial soapbox now and let you know how I did this week. As I blogged last week, we were out of town - camping - this past weekend and boy oh boy were there temptations. Marshmallows. Caramel apples. Dove chocolates {darn you Stephani}.



And bacon. Oh that yummy, crispy, salty goodness that is bacon. I will admit that while I started the week with great tracking, once the weekend hit, it became too much for me and I stopped tracking. I sort of kept a running tab in my head, but I know I missed things and I know I went over what I normally eat. Thankfully, I was forced to walk a distance to use the bathroom & shower, or to visit the others camping in our party. And we did do a 2 mile hike on Sunday before leaving.



Maybe those were my saving graces! The scale at home shows I'm exactly the same. At my meeting tonight I showed I was down .2#'s. Not what I wanted, really, but considering the week I had, I'll take it. In essence I think I sabotaged myself by not forcing myself to track while we were gone. But rather than get in a huff about it, I realize that life goes on. There will be more situations like the one I just experienced, and I will be forced to make choices like I did again. And again. And again. Life won't stop once I hit my goal weight.

Now I'm onto the next week. I'm stocked with loads of fruits and veggies. I've got a new resolve to make healthier choices this upcoming week and my goal is to loose 2#'s by the next weigh in.

If you've been reading my blog and want to get healthier, now is the time. It completely blows me away when I get comments like last week where people share that my blog has inspired them. Encouraged them. Amazing. I feel so blessed that my words are being used to spur someone else on - whether it be in health, as a mom, as a wife, or spiritually. By sharing your heart, you are in turn encouraging and inspiring me. Thank you.

Oh, and before I go. This is what I look like this week. {Heat wave here in the midwest!}