Diet, Growing Up, and Yummy Treats

Well, I've been a slacker with the blogging, once again. Surprise, Surprise, lol. But just to update you, on Monday my weight was the same as last week. No loss, but no gain either, so thats good. I think this week will be the same as well, but I am hoping to do much better this week (I'd better or I will never make my goal....yikes!).

Now I haven't mentioned this before, but man, Grace is really growing up. My little girl, who's really been doing some reading here and there for a bit, has just ballooned into a really good reader out of no where. Makes me proud AND sad that she's getting older (and that I can't spell things in front of her anymore......guess I'll have to learn a new language soon). I'd love to figure out what "level" she's reading on, but she surprises me all the time with the things she's picking up on. At first, I think we just thought she was memorizing the words, but she has picked up books for the first time, never having anyone reading them to her before, and reading 98% of the words. Now we just have to pray she gets better with her handwriting.....lol. That still needs some work =)

Now, here's a yummy recipe for you to try. I just tried this last week and it was soooo good and over all pretty healthy. After the recipe, I'll tell you the modifications I made, which wasn't really all that much. By the way, I saw this recipe made on a show called Jon and Kate Plus 8, which is about a couple who had a set of twins and then a set of sextuplets through infertility treatments. Talk about a full house! Anyway, a chef named Sara Snow visited and made this on the show, so I went to Sara's website and grabbed the recipe. Yum Yum Yum.

2 C Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 C Ground Flax Seed
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Cardamon, or Cloves (ground)

1/2 C Room Temperature Butter
1/2 C Natural Cane Sugar
1/2 C Honey
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Small Apple, Chopped (Granny Smith is the best)
1/2 C Raisins
1/2 C Chopped Apricots
1 1/2 C Unsweetened Coconut
3 C Oats (oatmeal)
1/4 C Applesauce
1 C Chopped Walnuts or Almonds (Optional)

In a bowl, mix dry ingredients together (flour, salt, baking soda, spices, flaxseed)

In another bowl, beat butter and sugar. Then add in honey, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly add in the dry mix and beat together. Stir in oats, applesauce, coconut and fruit. Drop spoonfuls onto baking sheet and bake 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees.

Now I used golden raisins instead of regular, I used dried apricots (which I think is what they meant to use, but they didn't specify). I used sweetened coconut because I couldn't find unsweetened but I didn't use as much. I also used only about 2- 2 1/4 cups of the oats because it seemed that it was going to be too much. I didn't make it with the nuts, but I think if you like nuts, it would be good to add. I also baked it for more than the 14 minutes, and I think it came out closer to 20. I basically baked it until it was starting to brown around the edges. The recipe takes some prep time, but its a very yummy treat. Try it and let me know what you think!!

Playing Tricks

You gotta love it when you and your spouse can play hilarious tricks on one another and the both of you can laugh about it. One of the things I love most about my husband is his sense of humor and ability to make me laugh (and his ability to laugh at my jokes, too). I love you, Ray!

So, I'm getting ready to leave the house today to run errands and I had to jump on my computer for something. As soon as my laptop is powered up I noticed the cute little computer background I had of Grace and Nate had been replaced with this:

In case you don't know who she is, she is the gorgeous Italian chef on the Food Network show Everyday Italian. Well, I pretended nothing happened and never mentioned anything to Ray about the incident; instead, when I returned home after running my errands, I set this as the background on Ray's computer to subtly let him know I saw what he did to my computer and that I was getting him back:

And in case you don't know who that is, that is Brody Jenner, the son of former Olympian Bruce Jenner. So, I then shut his computer back down so he wouldn't suspect me of anything. A little while after Ray returned home, he turned on his computer. A minute later I heard a yell from the bedroom and he mumbled about getting me back. But wait! I was getting HIM back to begin with!

Ah, the perils of playing tricks on the ones we love......

Growing Up

Ok, so you get two posts in one day. What a deal! But really, I actually would have posted this earlier, but I wanted to ensure I got a decent pic before I blogged.

My little girl is indeed growing fast. The other day Grace asked to get her ears pierced. Ray and I decided before Grace was born that when she was old enough to want and ask to get her ears pierced, we would do it. You see, I came from a house where my parents (mostly my mom, I'm sure, lol) pierced my ears when I was still just an infant. Ray, however, grew up in a different house, and so our views happened to clash. But, we decided on this little compromise, and then 5.5 years later, the day came. After waiting a few days, I asked her again if she still wanted to do this, and her answer was an enthusiastic YES. So there it was, our little girl wanted to pierce her ears.

We had to make a trip to the mall, and decided that while we were there, we'd surprise Grace and get her ears done on Sunday. When we got to Claire's there were 2 other girls in line wanting to get their ears done, too. One girl was about 8 or 9 and the other girl just turned 5. I wasn't sure Grace would still want to get her ears done after watching the other girls, but she was adamant about watching them, and not for one moment during the piercing process did she take her eyes off of the girls. While we were waiting, she got a chance to look at the earring choices and pick which one she wanted. I had scoped out the earrings ahead of time and knew she'd pick the white gold pink flower earrings, and she proved me right. I don't even think it took her 10 seconds to decide either. She also decided that she did not want both ears done at the very same time; she decided she wanted one ear done at a time. Whoa. She was really determined about this, too. I must have asked her like 6 times, and each time her answer remained the same. So one at time it was. And let me say, she was very brave, and she didn't even flinch. I wasn't quite sure who she was, because this is supposed to be the same girl who screams bloody murder when I try to brush knots out of her hair. But anyway, Here are some pics of the journey.

We just told her about her ears


Getting the marks for the holes done


This is her getting the second ear done,
look how calm she looks


All done!

Weight Loss

I've been in sort of a rut lately. It all started back in February right around my birthday. I got a nasty chest cold that left me with an awful cough for weeks, making it difficult to speak at times without hacking up a lung, let alone trying to work out with an elevated heart rate. I know, I know...excuses, excuses but it was the truth. I did let it get out of hand, because eventually I felt better, but I still hadn't made it to the gym. And then it seems like every week, and every day, there's yet another reason I can't go. Sigh.

Its been frustrating to say the least. Add to that my actual "diet" has struggled with a war between what I should eat and what I want to eat. Let's just say that what I wanted to eat has usually been the victor each and every time.

A couple of weeks ago after being at my highest weight since AUGUST, something inside my brain turned off some switches and turned some other switches on. I have ALWAYS wanted to stay on track, but it has not been easy. I never wanted to stay the same for nearly 6 months either. While its great I've basically maintained my weight that long, I should have still been making progress; I have a long road still ahead of me and treading water isn't going to get me anywhere. I am sick and tired, as cliche as that sounds, of maintaining. I had a plan that this summer was going to be great, and as the weeks and months have gone by and the weight has went up and down the same 5 lbs, I saw my summer slipping away. But two weeks ago, that trigger in my brain, somewhere, said enough! I was maintaining, fluctuating between 5 lbs, but then once I got up to a point where I hadn't been in 8 months, it was time to get back in control of this weight thing for sure. I got back on track with the Weight Watchers Core plan (I'll explain that in a minute) and last week I lost 4.2 lbs, and this week I am down another 1.2 lbs. I had close to the same success the first two weeks i tried this last time, but I let it slowly get out of control and didn't follow the plan too closely. This time I plan on making it farther than 2 weeks, for sure. My plan, as of 2 weeks ago, was to be down 30 lbs by June 30th. Basically, if I lose an average of 2 lbs a week from here on out, I will make it. I plan on trying my hardest to do that, because that will put me at weight (that I should have been at MONTHS ago) that will allow me to have a pretty good summer after all.

Now what is the Core Plan? The core plan is a plan that consists of a list of foods that you can eat from. Now, with WW Points plan, you can eat whatever, but you must count your points. You get a specified amount per day and then 35 extra for the week to use however and whenever you wish. So, if you really terrible, and you don't have any points left, too bad. You starve. With the core plan, however, you can eat when ever you want and whatever you want from that list of core foods. Now, I know eating from a "list" may sound restricted, but its not really. I think, probably out of the majority of diets I've learned about over the years, this is probably one of the most sound. This to me is how we should be eating with the occasional treats. Here is the list:

• Any vegetables- canned, fresh, frozen, as long as there's no added sugar (i.e. spaghetti sauce)
• Any fruits- canned, fresh, frozen, as long as there's no added sugar
• Non-creamy soups (w/o rice or pasta in it)-canned, frozen, homemade
• Whole wheat pasta, brown rice (limit to once a day), potatoes (limit to once a day), and grains
• High-fiber and other cereals with no sugar added
• Lean meats, fish, poultry, and eggs
  
• Fat free milk products (skim milk, ff cheese, ff yogurt, etc.)
  
• Healthy oils such as canola, olive, safflower, sunflower and flaxseed oils
• Condiments such as capers, cocktail sauce, extracts, flavorings, spices, herbs, horseradish, hot sauce, ketchup, lemon or lime juice, mustard, fat free salsa, soy sauce, steak sauce, sugar substitutes, taco sauce, teriyaki sauce, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce.
• Coffee, tea, and sugar free beverages
  

Now the core plan also gives you 35 points a week to eat non-core foods. Now what I've been doing, which isn't following it to a T, but as close as possible, is I've been making things like eggs for breakfast with two thin, low calorie slices of toast with a little bit of smart balance on top. Or I make oatmeal with skim milk (all core) and add a tad of sugar. Little things that I add back in, but are probably within my 35 pts a week even though I'm not keeping complete track of it. I think its still eating WAY better than I have been eating in the past, even with the WW points plan. This plan also allows you to eat as much as you need to be satisfied. they obviously want you to not stuff yourself like Thanksgiving every day, but you're not limited to have to stop at three bites either. I don't know exactly what it is with this plan exactly, but my body likes it. I love my milk and I get at least a glass a day with the core plan with no worries.

So anyway, that's my weight loss update for now. Sorry I've been lacking, but along with my renewed spirit I will try to blog more often about my journey.

Something's Missing

From this picture.....can you guess what?

Grace lost her THIRD tooth this morning. Well, maybe I shouldn't say lost, but rather "pulled" out =)

Nature's Beauty

There's one thing really awesome about living in the HOT place I live. The sunsets are UNREAL. This past weekend, my wonderful husband surprised me with a short trip to the west coast, or should I clarify with Gulf coast. I've always wanted to watch the sunset on the west coast, as I've seen plenty of beautiful east coast sunrises. Folks, it was beautifully breathtaking. Here are some pics from the trip.

Just before the sun's magnificent decent, it was hiding behind the clouds


Pure beauty

The sun wasn't hiding, I was just taking a picture of the clouds

Almost gone...


Once the sun was out of view, you can hear people
all over the beach applaud




After the sun is gone

This last photo wasn't a sunset, but it was a really cool pic I took
on the way home. Just look at the sun rays beaming through the clouds.