Healthy Home~~Weekly Weigh In

From now on I'll be linking up to Healthy Home.  This was known as Fit Mommy Friday, but the hostess of this meme could no longer do this.  This is where I will document our journey as a family to shed the extra pounds.  We are also changing our lifestyle at the same time.  I've often thought about my Great Grandparents....mainly my Great Grandmother who lived until the age of 99!  She never once went into the hospital until the week she died.  I don't even think she went to the doctor.  I thought about what she use to cook for us while visiting.  Yes these were often high fat foods, but always natural ingredients.  We are living in a society of the grab and go!  High salt prepackaged foods.  Have you ever looked at what is in those packages?  No wonder we are not living as long as our ancestors did.  Food now a days is fake!  We are also a very LAZY society!!  I can't remember a time when I ever saw my grand parents sitting around!  Still my grandmother is in her 90's and still runs around.  There is no getting around that...We are getting back to the way of our ancestors.  Growing and preparing our own foods.   Eating healthy isn't just about a lot of fruits and veggies and cutting out the fat.  It's about wholesome food AND getting off the couch. 

I want my children to learn how to grow their own foods, prepare the food, and preserve the food.  It's not that hard at all.  No matter what you think.  Even if you live in an apartment, or have little land.  It does not take that much space to grow veggies.  IF you just plain do not want to grow veggies go support the local farmers at the farmers markets.  Buy a large amount of them and freeze them.  You might surprise yourself and really like putting up your own foods.  

Now to my weekly weigh in....I have not been to a Weight Watchers meeting in 2 weeks.  In that 2 weeks we had 3 birthdays.  Which means cake and other goodies.  I faced the music this morning and I gained 4.8 pounds!  At first I was very angry with myself, but my son said to me in that little cute way..."You came here to weigh in today mommy, that is the first step!"  I asked him if he had been talking with my friend Jen M??!!  That's exactly what she tells me all the time.   I am going to get back on track and shed this weight!

Go on over and link up with the Healthy Home.

Fit Mommy Friday

The past 2 weeks have not been very good for me!  April-June are very hectic times in our lives.  We are wrapping up our schooling for the year.  The kids have testing they have to do, I have quarterly reports I have to do.  The months are full of birthday parties....yada yada yada.

In between all of that I've had health issues.  So you can say I am really struggling to find me time to workout.  Now that the weather is nicer I've been getting outside more.  But I need more of a workout.  After this week things S.h.o.u.l.d slow down a bit.  To help me fit in more workouts I got myself a bicycle!  I have not rode one of these since my early teen years...like age 13!  I started by just riding it in the lawn...softer landing should I fall off.  LOL!  The saying is right...you never forget how to.    My son is always asking me to go riding with him now.  Unfortunately I can only go about a 1/4 of a mile up our road.  My legs feel like jello after our ride.  But I know it will get easier as time goes by.  Before you know it I'll be riding it to my parents house about 3 miles away.  

I did not go weigh in again this week.  I know I'm up at least 4 pounds...it happens this point in the month!  How do you control your eating during these "bad" days?   I will go next week and face the music, but just not today.  I can honestly say I'm struggling!  This IS hard to do.  It seems that food is everywhere.  I just need to retrain my brain to make the good choices.

To see more Fit Mommy Friday posts visit Got Chai? 

Fit Mommy Friday

This has been a very tough week for me.  I found out I have gallstones and will be seeing a surgeon in April.  Not the news I had hoped for!!  But I continue to press on, it's just a small stumbling block.

I went to my Weight Watcher's meeting today and I stayed the same.  I am very thankful for that!!  I have not been able to exercise at all.  Today I will start with a small workout session.

I wrote these down from the Weight Watcher's room today:

Helpful Habits- Build a strong foundation

• Ask for help
• Learn from experiences
• Manage your environment
• Manage your feelings
• Manage your thoughts
• Monitor yourself
• Take care of yourself

These are habits I need to incorporate into my life.  The first one I've done...asking for help....I joined weight watchers.  That is a hard thing to do.  Admiting that I needed help.  I've always been an independent person....admiting that I needed help with weight loss was the hardest thing I've had to do.  I'm an addict when it comes to food.  I'm slowly learning from experiences.  Sometimes I don't even think when putting food in my mouth.  It's like I'm in a haze...then it's over and I'm left with a feeling of failure. 

I am working on getting into that mindset that I CAN do it, instead of the I can't do it.  One of the many things I learned so far from "Made to Crave" by Lysa TerKeurst was to lean on God not myself or any human.  Psalm 18 1-3 says, "I will love You, O Lord, my strength.  The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

If you have not read that book I highly recommend you do.  This book has changed my life, both physical and mental.  My walk with God has never been stronger.  I've also lost a total of 11 pounds in 4 weeks.  But it's not all about the number on a scale.

To see other Fit Mommy Friday posts visit Got Chai?

Weight Watcher foods

Broccoli and cheddar roasted potatoes.  These are Smart Ones meals.  I loved this one.  It was so creamy and tasty!  Next time I make this I'm going to steam some broccoli and add it.

I found these at Walmart for $1.98!  I also had a coupon to use as well.  I have stocked my freezer with these.  It's a great go to meal.  It is 6 Weight Watcher Points Plus.  The only problem I have is keeping my kids away from it!! :-)

For desert I had:

Turtle Sundae...YUM!  I really liked this one as well.  Again very creamy.  With it all premeasured I did not have to worry about measuring it.  Sorry I forgot to take a picture.  So the picture below is from the Smart Ones website.

I also picked these up at Walmart.  These were $4.89.  A bit expensive for ice cream but to me the cost is nothing compared to how I feel loosing weight.  Weight Watcher Points Plus is 4 points!!

Fit Mommy Friday

Today I went to my weigh in!!  I lost another 1.2 pounds.  That makes a total of 8 pounds in 2 weeks!

I made it a point to exercise everyday.  I'm really liking the Zumba for the Wii.  I'm getting really use to it.  You know how it is when you start something new.  It takes a while to get your groove on.  :-)

I tried to follow the Weight Watchers plan to a T.  But had trouble from time to time, it's taking me some time to get use to Points instead of calories.  I'm not a breakfast eater and that has caused me to be SUPER hungry at lunch.  So last week I went to Walmart and they have a number of Weight Watcher foods at really good prices!!  So yesterday I had a Weight Watcher Bagel with homemade grape jelly! YUM!  The Weight Watcher Bagels are good.  They taste a bit different than other's I've had...I'm just so use to the thick crusty ones at the local bakery.  This whole weight loss thing is a learning process. 

I'm working this week on eating at least something first thing in the morning.

Working out everyday

Eating more vegetables

Eating the points allowed

To join in on Fit Mommy Friday go on over to Got Chai?

Fit Mommy Friday

I went to my first Weight Watcher's meeting/weigh in this morning!  In my first week I lost 6.8 pounds!!  I was walking on air!!

This week has been a week of adjustment for me following this WW plan.  I'm so use to counting calories and such.  On WW they do it all for me.  I just need to learn the points system a bit more.  Tonight the kids and I headed out shopping to find some WW foods.  I was thrilled when I found the yogurt, string cheese, frozen meals, cheese slices for my LOVED grilled cheese.  I even found cream cheese!  I'm thrilled and excited for this coming week.

Here is a recipe I tried this week and it was SO good!!

Turkey, Bean and Vegetable Chili

1 lb. ground turkey

1 bag of frozen onions

1 bag of frozen peppers

1/8 tsp granulated garlic

2 large carrots chopped

2 stalks celery chopped

1 Tbsp chili power

1 Tbsp paprika

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano dried

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

29 oz fat free chicken stock or broth

29 oz can kidney beans rinsed and drained

15 oz can fat free refried beans

Cook up the turkey, add spices midway through cooking.  Continue to cook until it is done.  Place the rest of the ingredients into your crockpot.  Set crockpot on high for 3 hours or low for 8 hours.

I made this the night before and place in the refrigerator.  Then put it in the crockpot before leaving for church.  This was SO good.  Also it's only 5 points per serving which is 1 1/2 cups!

Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms

I got this recipe from the Weight Watchers website.   ENJOY!

Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms

2 tsp. canola oil

3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 garlic clove minced (i used granulated garlic)

4 (4 oz) boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 cups mushrooms sliced

1/3 cup chicken broth

1/4 tsp. dried thyme

Mix 2 tablespoons of vinegar, mustard and garlic in a bowl.  Add chicken and turn to coat. 

Heat one teaspoon of oil in a non stick skillet.  Put chicken and vinegar mixture into hot pan.  Saute chicken until cooked through.  Transfer to platter and keep warm.

Saute mushrooms for 1 minute.  Add chicken stock, thyme and other tablespoon of vinegar.  Cook stirring occasionally until mushrooms are deep brown.  Pour sauce and mushrooms over chicken.

Weight Watchers Pita Bread

These are actually very good.  I have a number of ways I plan on using them.  I'm not quite sure why they have them pictured on the front with strawberries but ok.

Just a word of caution when using them...they are very thin.  They do break at the seam very easy.  I used them with my tuna salad today.

Tuna Salad

1 can of tuna (packed in water) drain well

2 tsp. light mayo

granulated garlic or one clove of garlic minced

one small onion diced or onion flakes

1 small cucumber diced

any other seasonings you might want...I use dill or red pepper flakes

Mix it all together and enjoy.  For those who are on Weight Watchers this meal is 7 points!!

The next thing I'm going to make with these is a pizza.  Then I might do a taco pizza with it.