Sunday Dinner with the fam

I'm having a hard time getting pictures to flickr via iPhone today, so I can't do the update I wanted. This will have to do!

Last night, we had Josh's brother and his wife over for dinner. I just love this wonderful family I have married into! We ate some good food (shrimp for an appetizer, salad, butternut squash/chicken/goat cheese pasta dish, roasted veggies and a chocolate souffle for dessert), shared a bottle of wine and talked and laughed around our table for hours. It was so wonderful, I just loved it.

More family time on Wednesday at Josh's moms. I can't wait, I really have the best in-laws in the world!

Josh and his bro:


Me and my seester-in-law (love, love, love her!):


I was feeling skinny yesterday, but she is so tiny that I look like an ogre next to her. My Chaka Khan hair isn't doing me any favors, either!

Happy Monday!

A present! For me?

Just in time for all that spring rain we'll get, Josh ordered me this umbrella and surprised me with it when I got home yesterday.





It's from the Sailor Jerry website, and I love it, because it's different and tattoo-inspired without looking like something from Ed Hardy. Makes me smile, I just love it. Who doesn't love a (good) surprise?

This is what sheer panic looks like.

Jorge has a problem with storms, or any kind of rain. The panic, uncontrollable shaking, and panting starts the moment he hears a raindrop fall from the sky. This didn't start until he was about 2 years old, and it has only gotten worse as he gets older (he will be nine in April). No amount of consoling, distracting, cuddling, reasoning, or doggie Xanax helps. So as you can imagine, last nights tornado warnings were a bit much for him to take. He will hyperventilate to the point where he stops breathing for a couple of seconds, then start tback up again. It's awful for us to deal with, but can you imagine how he feels? Poor guy.

Anyway, we tried to make the best of it last night, camping out in the bathtub when the tornado sirens went off (and one touched down in the next neighborhood over from us... we're very lucky to have been passed by).

Julio obviously doesn't care whats going on as long as he has a blanket and someone to snuggle with.


One of us is sleepy, one of us is confused, and one of us is FREAKING OUT:


Even ultra-zen Poppa couldn't calm him.




Poor Jorge.




I'm very afraid he is going to give himself a heart attack. Short of switching to a medicine that will actually sedate him (if possible, and I don't even know if that would work, since he fights it so hard), I am not sure what do to. And Spring will just bring more storms...

Progress, thy name is Bloon

I was goofing around with The Bipster last night after exercising, flexing my "muscles", when I realized I am actually starting to get some! Holy cow! It's so nice to be able to "see" the progress I'm making.

My new TV obsession.

Is anyone else watching "Extra Virgin" on the cooking channel? It's Debi Mazar and her husband, and it's half reality show, half cooking show. It's really filling my "Tori and Dean" void, plus it has food in it!

I think Debi Mazar is my new girl-crush... She has such great style (love her vintage-y look), an amaaaaazing body, and she is going to be 47 this year. 47! I am also obsessed with the color of their kitchen. It reminds me of the cottages on Tybee.

I've only caught a few episodes so far, but I can't wait to watch more. On one of them, they cobined honey with red-pepper flakes and dipped Tallegio cheese in it. I was drooling, and I think I'm going to try it just as soon as the weather and the Hubbin's study schedule agree with each other enough for a picnic... I am really dreaming of a wine, bread, cheese and honey picnic. Soon.

A day in my life - (food)

Here's what a typical day of eating looks like for me on the WW plan.

Breakfast (high-fiber blueberry muffin oatmeal with half a banana stirred in, another half of banana eaten with 1 Tbsp peanut butter):


Lunch (leftover edamame, cottage cheese, hummus and carrots, apple slices):


About 3:30 I was dragging... I mixed a packet of cocoa mix (complete with marshmallows) with some coffee for a little DIY mocha pick-me-up. I drank about 3 oz of it. Just enough to feel alive again!


Dinner (beef and broccoli stir-fry - WW recipe. This is so good, the fresh ginger in it really gives a ton of flavor):


Dessert (dark chocolate covered banana). I get these at Publix and they are only 3 points on the old WW plan (which is the one I use) and 4 points on the new plan. Not something I eat every day, but they are the perfect dessert sometimes!:


I am so glad I have more leftover edamame and stir-fry for lunch today. Yum!

Weight Watchers Weigh-in, Week 7

Well, I had a loss, but not a big one. Just half a pound. I am still 1.2 lbs over my lowest recorded weight (3 weeks ago) since starting WW.

I was feeling a bit discouraged after weighing myself, but I know I am going about things the right way, even if they are happening more slowly than I hoped. Healthy eating habits and exercise - that's so much more than I was doing before, you know?

I've kept my promise to myself to go at least a mile every day on the Gazelle, and there have been days (not many) that I've done as much as 3.5 miles. That's a big deal for me. I am not going to stop at the end of February, I am going to keep this up, and starting today I am bumping up my "minimum mileage allowed" to 1.5. I'd like to make it 2, but sometimes I have a hard enough time cranking out one. I'd rather do my 1.5, realize I'm 3/4 of the way to 2 and keep on going because I want to. We'll see how it goes. I'm also doing ab exercises at home or the gym every other day, and they are a killer. My abs have been sore for about the past 2 weeks straight! It's a good feeling.

While the scale is not showing me a whole lot of change, my body is. My clothes (especially pants) are getting more loose-fitting by the day, and I can just see my body as a whole toning up. I feel the muscles that I work. My seatbelt has started rubbing uncofortably against my collarbone - I actually forgot I had those!

I feel good and I'm excited to amp up my excercise little by little over time. I'm still loving 99.9% of the WW food we've made. I'm playing around with my breakfasts a little so I am not so ravenous at lunch (I've went from not feeling hungry most of the time to feeling hungry a LOT lately... I think maybe that's due to excercise?) I also crave protein - like beans!! - often. I mean, when you're daydreaming about chickpeas instead of chocolate... it's different!

I recently started using the "TargetWeight" app for iphone, and I am trying to decide if I like it or not.


See that number 11? That's how many pounds I have left to lose... it's a constant reminder when I look at my phone and I am not sure if that is a good thing or not yet. I still use the "LoseIt" app to track more frequently, but I'll be using the "TargetWeight" one to record my Wednesday weigh-ins only.

Last night's dinner was so good! Shrimp with a lime/cockatail sauce and spiced edamame.


Our menu this week is mostly stuff we've already had, or variations on stuff we've already had. It's good to revisit some favorites, but I look forward to attacking some new recipes next week... and hopefully, a happier weigh-in, too. I feel like I am at a plateau, but I also feel like I am going to bust out of it soon. I think my body is changing, adjusting, and then all at once I am going to have a good 3 lb loss in one week or something. Here's to hoping!

A Julio-Heavy Hodgepodge post.

(Say that 5 times fast)

Here are some random pictures. Enjoy!


I was happy with how my makeup looked this morning, but I have some crazy runaway-bride type eyes and pube-like flyaways. Oh well, I still like it!


The Bipster (AKA Hubbin, AKA Josh) actually attempted to style his very short hair yesterday. I give him a big "A" for effort! And he looks hunky in a V-neck, so I had a double dose of handsome to deal with!


WW chili and cornbread I made on Sunday. I absolutely loooove this chili (it's the 2nd time I've made it), but the cornbread was a huge disappointment despite having cheese, jalapenos, and creamed corn in the recipe. So bland.


While attempting to make baked eggs for that handsome husband of mine on Sunday morning, I had... an incident.

Julio is:


Lazy


Nosy


Snuggly


And just plain weird sometimes (he wedged himself in the chair behind Josh's back and got cozy).

Night Market food and dressing room adventures....

Friday night was the once a month night Market at the Farmer's Market. I think we missed the first month they started doing it, but we've been there every month since. It's so fun to try some different food and treat ourselves. I did not get a good picture of Josh's food, but he had barbecue with mac and cheese and garlic cheese grits. He really enjoyed it. I had a seafood pie:



(it was very small, so I didn't feel guilty eating it)

and, a marvelous cupcake!


I didn't feel guilty about this either, as I can't remember the last time I had a cupcake. I had already made my mind up that if there were any strawberry cupcakes present, that I was going to eat one. Well, then I saw that there were strawberry lemonade cupcakes and I knew I had to have one. However, once I got into the car and bit into it, I discovered she had given me a blueberry lemon cupcake, but I found I didn't mind at all. The inside of the cupcake was full of blueberries, and the icing was lemon. So wonderful.

Now for a little food confession. I fell off the WW wagon with a big ol' thud last Thursday. I was just so hungry after lunch, and I was at work, and I dove headfirst into some cookies and cheez-its. Then I felt awful about myself and lack of self control. That night was "movie night" with the Hubbin, and when he suggested ordering pizza, I thought "why not?" Heck, if I was going to go off plan, might as well go WAY off. Here's where the heroine has an "aha'' moment: I grabbed two pieces of pizza and could only eat one... I just didn't want it. I was already feeling yucky after the cookies and cheez-its, and I don't mean "yucky" as in "self-loathing" (although there was a little bit of that)... I just did not enjoy the way it tasted or the way it made me feel. My body isn't used to running on junk anymore. I made peace with myself, and got back on plan. I didn't even worry about what I ate on our Farmer's Market date, because it was small portions and wonderful quality time with my husband. Nothing wrong with fully enjoying the moment sometimes. We had a great time.


(and can I just be vain for a moment and say that I love that my face is slimming down a little and my chin is more defined? Because I do.)

Saturday morning we went to the gym and then I headed out for a brief shopping expedition. Every year we have a work event that we have to get pretty dressy for, and every year I go to Ross to buy a dress because I'm cheap and I know I'm not going to wear it more than once. Every year I find a dress for less than $20.

When I got to Ross I filled up my cart with several dresses to try on. Not just for the work event, but dresses I liked in general. Let's just say most of them looked better on the hanger. Yikes. You can tell by my face(s) I wasn't too thrilled. Here's proof:



Maybe I should just stay away from prints??? Egads.

But I did find a suitable dress ($19.99! And although it doesn't looks super-great in the photo, it's very flattering in person) a couple of tops, some new bras, a pair of dress shoes, some jeans and a cute little printed dress (though you can't tell in the photo how cute or flattering it is) that's way too short for work, but blew Josh's mind when I put it on at home. I told him I had nowhere to wear it, unless he wanted to take me out for a hot date... Otherwise I'd have to return it... Let's just say I think I'm gonna get a hot date soon.

Weight Watchers Week 6 - ANOTHER GAIN!

I am up another pound, and I'm not going to lie. I am frustrated. I know for a fact I am not overeating, and not only that, I have exercised every day this month, whether it's walking 1-3+ miles at home or going to the gym.

Without going all TMI on you, there are other factors probably contributing to this, but I had hoped that I would see some downward motion on the scale anyway, or at the very least, to stay the same as last week.

I'm still not giving up, though! Resisting any kind of junk temptation just gets easier and easier by the day, and cooking healthy meals is something I love to do. Exercising isn't my most favorite thing in the world, but i love the way I feel once I've done it. Just going to keep pushing harder... there is absolutely no reason I shouldn't see a loss next week. If I don't then I am going to need to re-evaluate this situation further.

Since my no-smoothies for meals resolution for the week didn't help me any, guess what I had for breakfast this morning after my weigh in? ;)

Here's a few other things I've been eating this week...

Mondays dinner: shrimp, zucchini, garlic, tomatoes. Yum. Josh made this, as I was still feeling really crappy.


Snack: spicy roasted chickepeas. Yum! He made these, too.


Last night's dinner: Cayenne-spiced "fried" (baked) chicken and lemon-basil smashed potatoes. Josh was not a fan of the lemony potatoes (though he loves lemon), but I thought they were amazing.

Daily Photo for 2.15.11

I had to do it.


Beautiful sunset:

Happy Day to you, whether you're a lover or a hater!

Valentine's Day - very few people are indifferent to it. They love it or hate it. The haters talk about how it's a "made-up" or "Hallmark Holiday", or even the cruel history behind it.

I take it for what it is now... a day of hearts, funny or sappy cards, and chocolate. What's wrong with that? Not a damn thing. I enjoy every holiday that comes around, and since winter is a pretty bleak time of year, a little extra romance can warm you right up! And, of course, it's not just about having a significant other. I have always loved Valentine's day, even when I was single... I don't just love my partner, I love my friends! I love my coworkers! I love putting stickers with hearts and lip-prints on funny Valentine cards. I just embrace the whole dang thing. And I love it!

However, I am not a roses and dinner kind of girl. Restaurants are always ridiculously crowded, and I am not a fan of roses unless they are growing in my yard! Luckily, my Valentine 'gets' that about me, and we've been celebrating in our own way. I bought him some shoes, a shirt and a belt (which I gave to him as they were delivered ... we're not good at waiting!), and he gave me a gift certificate for a massage and facial, which I had done on Saturday. I had not had a massage in years, and I've never had a facial. It was two hours of absolute, relaxing bliss! I felt glow-y all day long and the massage therapist worked on my IT band until it was loose and not causing me any aches or pains anymore. It's the most relief I have felt in that leg in almost a year!

Yesterday I felt like crap most of the day (but let's not talk about that). I did manage to rally around 8 p.m. and I started making these shortbread/salted caramel/chocolate bars. It was a little daunting, since I had never made shortbread and the dough was all kinds of weird. Also, I had never made caramel from scratch. But, I wanted my sweet Hubbin to have a special treat (after all, he cleaned the entire house yesterday when I wasn't feeling well, and put all the groceries away for me, too!)... Luckily, they turned out pretty good. Not perfect, and very messy, but delicious.



They took a few hours to make... make the shortbread, let it chill...bake it, let it cool completely.... make the caramel, let it set...and finally, top it with the chocolate! So in between all those steps, I made us each a Weight Watcher's Frozen Hot Chocolate - wow, these were divine!



I managed to find some fun, red straws to make them a little more Valentine-y, and surprised him with one while he was studying.

This morning, we exchanged cards (I gave him two because I was torn between a lovey-dovey one and a silly one that described us to a T!)



He also helped me get my lunch together today, as I was running really behind...and he ironed my clothes. Those are the kinds of things he does all the time, not just on Valentine's day, and I appreciate it more than any massage or facial (but don't get me wrong, I really, really liked those, too!)...

I brought some of those delicious bars for my sweet coworkers...


And tonight I can't wait to get home and snuggle up my big Valentine and my two little ones, too!


Life is beautiful and we're all lucky to be living it. You are loved. Have a wonderful Valentine's day, whether you 'celebrate' it or not!

Snow Day = lots of cooking!

Snow has once again come to Nashville. Wednesday afternoon got pretty treacherous. My drive home took about 2 hours and 15 minutes - and it was only 20 miles! My driver's side windshield wiper caked up with ice and I couldn't see anything. I was that panicked person with my hazards on all. the. way. home.

Yesterday morning, I knew there was no way I was going into work. I looked outside and saw none of my neighbors were going anywhere, not one car had driven down the street (until about 11 a.m.!), and then I turned on the news and watched people's cars spinning on the interstates. No thank you. I knew that even if I was able to make it out of my neighborhood, there was no way in the world I was going to drive the icy interstates. I wisely opted (with about half of the rest of the staff) to keep my booty parked at home.



Winter, I'm over you.

However, staying home isn't too exciting. So I spent most of the day cooking. When being housebound made me too anxious I'd hop on the gazelle and do a mile (3 miles total yesterday, yeah!). Craft night was supposed to be last night, but I cancelled it due to the weather. I had turkey meatballs mixed up and ready to be baked for it, so we had those for lunch with a cilantro dipping sauce. Both of those recipes are from http://www.skinnytaste.com/.



Josh didn't like the dipping sauce and also thought the meatballs were 'too oniony', so I brought the leftovers to work (along with the white bean dip I made for craft night) and they seem to be going over just fine here!

I find baking to be good for soothing the ol' nerves as well, so next I decided to make a Weight Watcher's chocolate souffle I've been drooling over, since I already had all the ingredients on hand. It only takes about 12 minutes to bake, since you do it in a skillet. If you can melt chocolate chips, whip egg whites, and fold it all together, then you can make this! Don't be intimidated by the word 'souffle'!



Obviously the portion with ice cream belongs to my husband, who has never met a chocolate dessert he didn't like! He ate eight out of the ten servings it makes, and managed to do so in just two tries! ;)

Lastly, I decided to make some pear muffins.



I have happy coworkers today. I think they forgive me for not being here yesterday!

Weight Watchers, Week 5 - I gained. :(

Yep, that's right, folks... I gained half a pound this week. The good thing is that I think I know where I went wrong.

#1. Mother Nature takes some of the blame *ahem*. Nothing I can do about that.

#2. I am not consuming all of my points most days, and I think that's working against me. I'm not doing it on purpose, it's just that I'm not that hungry anymore. I don't snack, and most of the time I don't even want to EAT. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am fine with drinking smoothies 2 meals out of the day (I'd do it for three if I had a blender at work). However, it was explained to me that digesting liquids uses less energy than digesting and breaking down actual food, so I am burning even less calories. I'm really doing myself a disservice.

I really though that with eating less and really stepping up the exercise that I'd see a nice change on the scale this week, but I didn't. There is always next week! While this wasn't my happiest weigh in, I don't feel discouraged or want to give up. I love Weight Watchers, being active, and my current lifestyle. I'm not going to stop!

Here is last night's dinner (though I didn't eat it, I opted to have a smoothie instead). Can you guess which one is mine? (Hint: it's not the one covered in so much cheese that you can't even see the tortilla!)


I'll be eating it for lunch today...in just a few minutes, actually! Yum.

My goal for this week is NO SMOOTHIES AS MEAL REPLACEMENTS. I will allow myself an occasional 2 pt WW smoothie WITH a meal, but not AS a meal. And my mocha PB smoothies will only be a treat after an extra hard workout at the gym on weekends. Looks like my chewing muscles are going to get a long-overdue workout!

The Wishing Year. (book review)

I am currently reading this book -

http://www.amazon.com/Wishing-Year-Memoir-Fulfilled-Desire/dp/B002SB8PJC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297192627&sr=8-1

- and it's just so great, that I can't stop thinking about or talking about it.

Basically, it is the true story of a woman who decided to spend a year "wishing", or using "the law of attraction" to get what she wanted out of life. Her desires are to buy a home, find spiritual peace/fulfillment, and a romantic partner. Each chapter encompasses a month, so you can follow her on this journey.

I am not even halfway through this book yet, but I am finding it uplifting, hopeful, and thought-provoking. I relate to the author on many levels... she is uncomfortable with the idea of wishing for material things, and a believer of "God helps those who help themselves." I feel the same way - sure, I'd love a new dining room table, and my wardrobe could use a serious makeover. I think of these things in passing, and I even daydream a little. But would I ever pray "Lord, please give me some new clothes and an antique round pedestal table with two explanding leaves"? No way. I pray for others, for spiritual things and healing for the many imperfections in myself, but never for material things.

What I find fascinating about the author, and see in myself (though she has not touched on it yet and I am not sure if she will), is that she doesn't seem to feel deserving of her desires. She has massive guilt for things she has done in her past (which she didn't even begin to talk about until the 4th chapter). Boy, can I relate to that. She mentions at one point that if you look at the root meaning for the word "remorse", it basically means "to bite again." How true is that, that we continue to let things eat at/bite at us when we "choose" to carry so much remorse around with us? Of course, this might be an easier thing to let go of  if the whole world wasn't so darn judgemental... maybe I should wish for that? ;)

Anyway, I could go on about this forever, but I wanted to share two paragraphs from the book that really "spoke" to me:

"You just have to shift the paradigm," Carole has told me more than once, and I hear her voice now as I drive through the gaudy green and yellow hills. "How can you receive the blessing of abundance when your mind is closed like a fist?"

Wow. It's amazing, really, how deft her question is. How neatly it replaces one worldview with another - so that what, for centuries, might simply have been called "greed" becomes "receiving the blessing of abundance." And what, for centuries, might have been seen as the virtue of self-restraint begins to look more like the absence of gratitude.

I hope you will read this book and love it as much as I do so far!

Weekend (and the cardio lecture that backfired)!

The boys came home Friday night from their dad's (yes, my ex and I share custody of the dogs), and while my little momma's-boy Julio was happy to see me, he was more happy to see his poppa.


Julio says "This is MY poppa."


"MINE"


"ALL MINE :)" (look at that little doggie smile)

The weekend wasn't all about the dogs, however... I was a cooking and exercising fiend. It started last Saturday, on my walk with Meredith. It felt good to get my body moving again, so good that on Monday I drug the Gazelle out of the spare bedroom and did a mile. Tuesday morning (Feb 1) I read on a friend's FB page that she and some others were running a mile every day for the month of February. Now, I am not a runner and I don't know that I ever will be...But I decided to join in in my own way, by committing to walking a mile every day on the Gazelle (still too cold to walk much outside, and I can't watch TV outside either - haha). After just a week, the changes in the way I look and feel are very apparent (to my eyes), so much so that  a mile is not enough! I just keep going and I love it.

Saturday was the return to the gym for the Bip and me (he hadn't been since he got sick shortly after our wedding. I went a few times but then got too involved with canning and other Holiday things for a few months). On our way there, I received the "cardio lecture" yet again from my loving husband. In his mind the only "good" cardio is the elliptical (which I hate and it aggravates my knee), or running. He informed me that the treadmill I was planning to use was simply not good enough and I wouldn't see any changes. I ignored him - after all, one of my goals for the new year is to find an exercise plan that works best for me.

When we arrived at the gym, I hopped on that treadmill and swiftly walked my little (shrinking) tail off, my ponytail whipping from side to side as I read the closed-captioning for "That's So Raven" on the TV above me. In the mirror, I could see my loving husband behind me on the elliptical.. and it was kicking his ass. After 3 minutes (yep, I timed him), he had to get off and take a break to "stretch". It was hard to keep from smiling. He did get back on the horse, so to speak, though he spent much of his time on it bent over as though he were about to pass out at any given moment.

After my treadmill time, I moved onto the exercise bike, two ab machines and some sit-ups. I'm proud to say I whipped my sweet husband's butt on those. I think I will be spared the cardio lecture for at least two more weeks, because he cannot deny that even though I am not doing it 'his way', it's working for me. I'm not going to tell him "told you so", as being silently right is sometimes the best revenge. ;)

Cooking also played a big role in the weekend. I love meal planning and shopping, though I could still live on these, and sometimes do for two meals a day:
http://recipes.rodale.com/Recipe/mocha-peanut-butter-cooler.aspx (this or oatmeal are the two sure-fire breakfast things that truly keep me feeling full until lunch)

Friday night I made this beef and broccoli stir-fry. So darn good, and the leftovers were just as great.


Yesterday I made a chili roasted chicken & potatoes, and roasted some cauliflower and grape tomatoes with garlic. It was a great (though not very colorful) Sunday meal.





And then the Bipster begged me to bake WW mini-choc chip cookies, so I obliged him (very quick to mix up and only 6-8 minutes to bake).


After I made our menu for the week, I noticed we were leaning heavily on spicy and/or mexican food. I mean, chili-spiced chicken, spicy beef tacos, enchiladas, chorizo burritos... wow. We like spicy. Tonight, however, is a repeat of last week's shrimp sandwiches since we loved them so much. Thursday is potluck/craft night with some girlfriends, and we're doing all appetizers. I found some great WW ones that I can't wait to try. Southwestern Turkey Meatballs with a Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce? Yes, please.

And here's two gratuitious dog shots:




I'm out... happy Monday!