30 lbs to lose!

So once again I'm recommitting to this weight loss thing so I can lose this last 30lbs to be at my goal. I have been struggling lately with motivation, I have none & it is very frustrating because I could of been at a different place than where I am now. Today is a new day & I'm praying this new found motivation sticks. My sister-in-law got engaged & her wedding is in Fall 2008 & my friend just got engaged as well & her wedding will be in late summer 2008 & I'm a bridesmaid. We are also going to Disneyland & the Disney cruise in Fall 2008, so you would think these events would be motivation enough! November 3rd will be my first weigh-in & hopefully I'll be able to tell you all that I lost weight.

Realization!

In these last 4 weeks I have spent more time eating whatever I wanted & lot's of it. I've come to the realization that this weight loss thing is about what you eat! It has been too easy to gain back 10 lbs. I've also realized that this weight gain has been entirely my fault, & the only way to rectify the situation is to bust my butt & eat properly. These last few days I've already seen the scale go back down which reaffirms to me that I have to eat properly. I can still reach my goal for Christmas if I loose 1.7 lbs/week which I know is possible, but I think right now I'll be happy just by eating the right things & seeing the scale consistently move downward & not go back up!

It's Friday!

Well this week has been up & down for me. I walked 4 out of 5 days which I was very happy about. I ate my vegetable soup 3 out of the 5 days & when I stepped on the scale during the week, I apparently gained weight! I've been very frustrated & have decided to not step on the scale, continue my walking & eating well & judge my weight loss on how my clothes fit etc. It also bugs me that I've already lost some of this weight & I'm struggling again to get rid of it. All I can do is eat right & exercise & hopefully the scale will start going down again. I think I need to relax, not be so stressed about the scale & just do my best.

Start Up (Not so good)

So my motivation for a new start didn't last too long. The week started off with good intentions but near the middle of the week things became out of control. I did manage to walk twice during the week which I guess better than nothing. Since I knew I didn't loose any weight last week I ended up buying ice cream & having several sundaes & floats, they were very yummy! But this week is a new week & I must say I've been doing good these past 2 days!!! After I drop my youngest daughter off at Nursery School I go for my walk which has been working out really well for me. I also decided to try & sort of cleanse myself from all the crap that I ate last week, so I made soup! Some of you may of heard of the cabbage soup diet where you are supposed to eat cabbage soup all day long adding a few other things to go with the soup each day. It is a very bad way to loose weight, but I thought I would use a bit of the concept. I've found that suppers are usually when I eat the most so I thought I would eat my soup ( which is more of a WW zero point vegetable soup) during suppers to kick start my weight loss again & so I don't eat so many calories at supper 7 I could never eat soup all day long! My soup actually turned out really well & is really tasty. This is an actual picture of it.


Ingredients:
- mushrooms
-onion
-garlic (about 3 cloves)
- green pepper
- celery
I sauteed those ingredients & then added them to low sodium chicken stock.
Added : carrots, zucchini , green beans & a few handfuls of coleslaw (cabbage)
Then added 2 tbsp of tomato paste, 1/2 tsp basil & 1/4 tsp oregano, sprinkles of salt & pepper & a few drops of hot sauce. It's pretty good!

I just want to eat the soup for one week if it lasts that long. I didn't want to step on the scale until Sat a.m. but I couldn't resist today & the numbers are still not good but they are moving in the right direction. I did put my verse up on the fridge & cupboard to encourage me & I think that it is. Hopefully on Sat I can change my stats & add a loss to my weight loss ticker.

Goals

So it's been 2 days since the start of my goal to finish loosing this weight. I've been doing pretty good.
My new goals are :
- to drink 8 - 10 glasses of water per day
- to walk every day (try to)
- to do water aerobics at least once per week
- to loose 10 lbs by Oct 20th (I have a hair appt. booked for my treat to myself)

I've managed to drink my water, I walked yesterday & I plan on starting water aerobics next week, my DH wants to do it with me & as all of my kids will be in school we will be able to do it. If I loose at least 1.5 lbs per week I will achieve my goal & I hope & pray I can do it. I'm going to try really hard at least. I think I'm going to post the verse Philippians 4:13 on my fridge to keep me motivated in my weight loss goal, hoping that will give me some extra help.

Kids start school tomorrow!!!!

New Month, New Start

Well the summer has just flown by & I'm anxiously awaiting school starting on Wednesday. My youngest starts Nursery School which will have her going to school every a.m. five days a week, she's very excited as well as myself. My husband & I will actually have a few hours everyday alone, what will we do!!!

We had a great summer though it went by very quickly. We just finished our holiday in St. Louis, MO & we had a great time. It was very hot but the shopping was great! We floated down the Meremac River & then toured the Meremac caves. We went up in the arch & visited the St. Louis zoo which had an excellent sea lion show which was my favorite, they are so cute!! It was great to come home, & now it's busy getting the last minute things needed for school.

I did gain back some weight which was entirely my fault as I ate whatever I wanted, I'm disappointed in myself because now I have to go back & re loose the weight. I changed my ticker at the top of my blog to reflect my current weight & I also decided to change my goal weight to what I originally wanted. I want to weigh the same as when I first met my husband. I know that I can do it. We are also doing the Disney land & sea vacation in October 2008 & I'm determined to be at my goal weight, hopefully sooner than later. I'm praying I stay motivated & will work my big butt off.

In regards to our company, 5 out of 8 people have viewed our proposal & we are to wait a bit longer. Pray that we get pre-approved for licensing so we can start changing the lives of children in care as well as our own lives!

Weekend at the Lake

Long time no write, but we spent the past weekend at my DH's Uncles cabin at Moth Lake which is just past the Ontario border. We had a great time, our last day was the nicest weather wise but we still managed to swim everyday. The kids did great, last year only my youngest daughter went in the lake but this year they all did! The dogs did really well & enjoyed swimming especially Clifford, but he couldn't swim with us as he always wanted to save us which meant drowning us because we didn't need saving. Blue didn't jump in like Clifford but did manage to enjoy the lake. I did manage to burn over my burn but not as bad as before. I probably have the most color that I've had in many years.

The kids finished up their swimming lessons & my son passed to Level 2 after being in Level 1 three times. He was so excited, he has come a long way. The girls have to repeat but they are both doing so good.

In regards to our proposal in case any of you are wondering, we haven't heard anything. We haven't called or emailed as no news is good news & it is summer things happen slower in the summer as people are on holidays. So we will wait & hopefully the outcome will be good.

In regards to my weight loss, I gained over our weekend, too much trail mix & smores but I haven't been able to stop eating!!! Hopefully in the days to come I'll smarten up & loose this extra weight that I gained back.

Hope everyone is having a good summer!

Cornerstone Community Residences Inc.

As some of you may know, my DH & I have been trying to start group homes for children with disabilities, basically the high needs children, the ones that are hard to place. Anyways, when we were in Ontario we managed to start a corporation and become a charity. We had a builder who was willing to build for us to our specifications and then lease the home to us. We had gotten pretty far except our organization would have never been operational because of several factors, mostly we couldn't get any response from our community Child & Family Services, for whatever reason, we even had an MP trying to speak to them on our behalf. Anyways, our idea was to move to Winnipeg & try again. We decided to start over, we are waiting to incorporate until we get the go ahead from Child & Family Services (it gets costly starting companies that don't become operational). Unfortunately for us there is an increasing amount of children coming into care each year & in Manitoba the majority are Aboriginal children. Another unfortunate part is that the kids are becoming increasingly more high needs. FASD(Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) contributes to the majority of Aboriginal children coming into care & FASD is 100% preventable! Our goal is to provide culturally appropriate homes for these high needs children (alternative care placements). In order for us to do this we need to write & submit a proposal to WCFS(Winnipeg Child & Family Services) to get a pre approval for licensing. This proposal has been a long time coming. I decided to finally write it, as the worst thing that WCFS could say would be "NO". Our proposal is being submitted on Wed July 11th. There is basically a 95% chance of them approving us for licensing. I'm basically writing about our organization for prayer. Prayer because I am very scared that our proposal is actually going to be accepted. I'm slowly coming to the realization that my life may be changing as I know it. I'm not sure how long we will have to wait for a response but I have a feeling that it won't be long as there is a HUGE need for our home. Our goal is to have the best organization in Winnipeg and to grow to have several houses. This actually may happen very quickly! I have a lot to learn, & our next steps after pre approval are huge steps to accomplish. "I can do all things through HIM who gives me strength" All I ask for is prayer!


Andy's Notes: I may decide to delete this post as this news should probably be private for many reasons but for right now please read & pray. Thanks

Banana Bran Bread

Banana Bran Bread Prep Time: 15 min Total Time: 1 hr 20 min Makes: 12 servings

1-1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar 2 tsp. CALUMET Baking Powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 1 egg 1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3 bananas) 1-1/2 cups POST 100% Bran Cereal 1/4 cup water 2 Tbsp. oil 1 tsp. vanilla

MIX flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Beat egg in medium bowl; stir in bananas, cereal, water, oil and vanilla. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. (Batter will be lumpy.) POUR batter into 9x5-inch loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray. BAKE at 350°F for 55 to 1 hour 5 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Nutrition:(per serving)
Calories 170 Total Fat 3g Dietary Fiber 4g


Andy's Tips:
This recipe is really easy to make & tastes great! I've made it with Splenda instead of sugar & it turns out great. You can also substitute 2 egg whites for the 1 egg(I haven't tried this yet but I will). I also add cinnamon & you can add a few chocolate chips as well! In my oven it takes 35 - 40 minutes so check the loaf before the allotted time. If you are using mini loaf pans, I believe it makes 3 of these and the cooking time is less as well. Each serving is 3WW points. Enjoy!

Walking...

So the kids have had two days of swimming so far & they have been doing really well, I think going everyday is a good thing. My youngest daughter didn't like her teacher the first day (she did that the last session as well), but today she said that she likes him! I have managed to walk both days so I'm really happy about that, I know I should be walking farther but this is a start since I haven't been walking for a long time. Hopefully you'll see me post a weight loss this week.

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day to everyone & hoping that you all had a great long weekend. My DH had off this weekend so it has been pretty relaxing.

On Friday my son had his first Dentist appointment & he did really well. He cried a bit at the beginning but then was fine. They pulled out a rotten tooth(couldn't save it) & he had a tooth filled & a cap put on. He did great!

Friday night our friends from Ontario came for supper, we had a really good evening & everyone enjoyed dinner. I made sweet & sour sausage with rice and buns & butter & a big salad. For dessert we had chocolate delight!

Saturday my DH & I went on a date(we never get to go out) & we had a great time. We went to Pony Corral for supper & I had calamari, Cesar salad & pita bread, it was really good. After we went and played mini-putt, which is special for us as we played mini-putt on our honeymoon & if we get a chance we try to play it on our anniversary. Anyways I won, I even got a whole in one! Then we went to Osborne Village, they had the street closed off for Canada Day festivities, we sat on the patio at Baked Expectations and had Cinnamon torte which was really good, we couldn't finish it! We then went home, we had a really great night!

On Sunday we visited my Grandpa for his 81st Birthday & then went to the in-laws for burgers & hot dogs (I ate too much)

Today we are having Chinese food for supper that my Dad & Mom are ordering for us from St. Louis, we are looking forward to that (Thanks Dad & Mom)

Once this weekend is done I'm going to get back on track. The kids have swimming lessons for the next 2 weeks so I plan on walking home from the pool each day while my DH brings the kids home in the car. I have been the same weight for 6 weeks which is a little bit frustrating though this weekend I did get a few compliments, though I think it has been what I am wearing that has made me look like I've lost more weight. Maybe I'll loose this week!?

Update

Well, tomorrow is the last day of school for the kids, they are really excited about it, especially my son. We have some things planned for the summer. First two weeks of July the kids have swimming lessons everyday, once done we are going to my DH's Uncle's cottage which is near Kenora, ON, we should have a nice relaxing time. Beginning of August two of my kids go to Winkler Bible Camp for peewee camp. Then on August 20th, we leave for St. Louis,MO. So we should have a good summer, hopefully the kids won't drive me too nuts!

Now to my sunburn, it is getting better but I still can't go too long with my bra on, it starts hurting. I was thinking last night that I am like a big turkey getting browned in the oven, never again, though I do like it that I don't look so white!

I haven't lost weight in a while, staying the same but when I went shopping today I managed to squeeze into a pair of size 11 jean capris, yeah me! Hopefully next week I can get more active so that I can get some more weight off.

Product Review

I bought this White tea to go Apple Cranberry flavor @ Walmart for $2.77 for 10 packets & 0 calories. I really liked it, it tasted more like apple than cranberry. They have a raspberry flavored one as well. I usually buy the Lipton teas to go as they are only 0 calories, where the Crystal Light ones have 5 calories or more, not that that's lots I just don't like drinking up my calories, I'd rather eat them. Enjoy!

Ouch!

So on Saturday, my sister-in law, other sister-in law & my nephew & my cousin-in-law & her children decide to go to St. Malo beach. My DH was working for 16hrs yesterday so I decided why not! So after our beach excursion where the kids had lots of fun as well as myself I left the beach a totally different color. I am now not the whitest girl on the beach I am the reddest, & I hurt so much! My legs are still white but my shoulders, back, arms & my face & chest are now not white! Last night after I showered everybody off, since my DH wasn't home I had the girls rub aloe gel over my back for me. My sleep was restless & it hurts to wear a bra. I went to the store today & I had to wear my bra as I am too big to not wear one & I was in so much pain & off it went as soon as I got home. But I am not white anymore!!! *My three peanuts at St. Malo beach

The Dentist Saga Continues,,,

My baby had her dentist appt. today where they did a mini root canal & fillings & stainless steel caps. I was sort of expecting her to be the toughest one out of the three. The freezing(sleepy juice) needle was given & not a peep from her & then the tickle machine(drill) started & all HECK broke loose. She cried & screamed like you would not believe(she even popped blood vessels around her eyes). My DH was in with her & the Dentist said he would have to leave if she didn't calm down, my DH left & she did calm down, but even after it was all done she started crying again, she was not happy. The Dentist thought maybe she was feeling something but she wasn't, I think she was just scared as she had never experienced the Dentist like that before. When her brother & sister got home she showed them her silver teeth & when talking to her sister she told her that she had cried & tried to get away, & her sister replied just like me!LOL I'm still wondering how my son will be, who knows he may surprise us all!



* Some of you may know how I like finding free stuff or deals on the computer. Some of the freebies that I have received are: full size Tresemme shampoo & conditioner, natural match hair color, Splenda, Tylenol caplets, tampons, dog food, dog treats etc. just to name a few. So I've put a link to the website I get most of my freebies from. Enjoy!

My Exciting Weekend!

Happy Belated Father's Day especially to my Dad & to the wonderful man whom I married who is a great father(most of the time)

We had a good weekend as it was my DH's weekend off. Sunday we spent at the in-law's & had a really good supper, ribs, chicken & shrimp skewers & of course my strawberry thaw that was delish. On Monday the kids had no school & they had a cancellation at the dentist so my daughter went again & she did really well. The Dentist looked in my son's mouth & he has more work that needs to be done then what was told by the previous dentist. We also went to the Zoo as the kids had never been to the Winnipeg Zoo & we had a good day, it was cool out so the animals were pretty active.

In other news, I had the worst veggie burger tonight & I threw it out. It was a blue menu bean & lentil patty & it was all soft in the middle. I wonder if I can take the box of them back? Horrible burgers. I'll need to find ones that taste more like burgers, anybody know of some good ones?

Strawberry Thaw

I just made this recipe for our Father's Day BBQ that we are going to tomorrow.
It is really good!

2 medium egg whites (You can buy a carton of egg whites at the grocery store, I just found that out recently)
1 cup white sugar
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whipped cream whipped (I used 98% fat free cool whip)

Directions: In large mixing bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks then gradually add white sugar. Add strawberries, lemon juice & vanilla. Beat on high speed until tripled in volume & stiff peaks form. About 10-15 minutes (About 5-10 minutes using kitchen aid mixer)

Fold in whipped cream. Spread mixture over top graham crust.
Graham crust: 1 1/4 cups graham crumbs
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup margarine melted
Pat into spring form pan & bake at 350 for 6 - 9 minutes

Freeze overnight.
To serve: loosen edges with knife. Cut in wedges & garnish with strawberries.
Makes 12 servings

(Use the biggest spring form pan that you have as it more than triples in size & if someone makes this using splenda instead of sugar please let me know how it turns out.)

If I get a chance I'll take a picture & post it.


Edit: There will be no picture as I ate it all & it was good!

The Dentist Part Deux

So today was my middle daughter's trip to the Dentist, she was sent to the pedodontist because she is somewhat high maintenance. Anyways, she was screaming & crying & I was almost crying and then she managed to run out of the room. My DH went in with her & she eventually calmed down & let the Dentist do his thing. She has 3 more visits to get her teeth all fixed up. She said she would go by herself next time, she wouldn't need Daddy, so we'll see. Then, as you recall the normal dentist who gave my son a mirror to watch his tooth being drilled said she wouldn't deal with my other two children, so the pedodontist looked in my youngest daughter's mouth & she needs caps & fillings etc. more work then what the regular dentist said. Why would I get different info, they are both dentists, didn't they go to school to learn the same stuff! Anyways, I believe we now have the right dentist & we should of seen him from the beginning. My youngest needs 4 appointments to get all her teeth problems fixed. I'll let you all know the continuing saga of the dentist.
In other news I haven't eaten any chips today, & I did pretty good, maybe had a little too much taco salad for supper but otherwise I did o.k. I'm not going to get out for my walk tonight as I'm watching a movie "The Dead Girl" with my DH hopefully. I'll let you all know if it was good.

I keep Eating!

Today started out good food wise, but then while making supper I got into the potato chips again & then ate 2 hot dogs, I feel so full and bloated right now. I should have not ate so much but I just couldn't stop. I think TOM(time of month) is starting. I'm sure all you females have this problem, if not you are lucky. About a week or so before TOM I just start shoveling it in, it seems hard to control this month. I'm going to fight it, I can't keep eating, I really want to lose some more weight before my vacation. I don't want to make excuses but that has to be the reason. I have a huge headache this evening and Blue(our small dog) is driving me nuts. I'm starting to dislike DH always working evenings. Oh well that's life.

Pat: I've been eating healthy, sort of following Weight Watchers, but I didn't want to pay for it so I never joined. I also make sure to drink my 8-10 sometimes 12 glasses of water a day. Yes, I do need the bathroom all the time. For excersize I walk which I haven't been doing lately, I want to start going out again tomorrow. That's it!

The Dentist

Today was one of the days that I have been dreading as my oldest & youngest had to go to the dentist to fill cavities. Needless to say they froze my son's mouth who is 7 but he wouldn't sit still(the dentist gave him a mirror to watch, of course he wouldn't sit still, he was watching her drill his teeth) so the dentist wouldn't continue. The dentist wouldn't even attempt my daughter! Obviously the dentist did not have experience with kids. Oh well they will go see the pedodontist(not sure of spelling) that my middle daughter is seeing to fix all her teeth problems. Food wise today wasn't the best as DH(Bob) brought home timbits which I consumed a few of & then we did a Costco run which had DH buying some really good potato chips which I had to sample! Oh well tomorrow is another day. I will lose the rest of this weight.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bran Muffins

So here's my excellent muffin recipes that I had found on the Weight Watchers Board. I know I've sent it to a few of you but if you lose it you can always look on my blog.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bran Muffins
Makes 12 @ 1 WW Point
Bake @ 375 for 18 - 20 min

1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp. vinegar
1 1/2 cups All-Bran
1 cup flour
t tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup splenda (can use granulated sugar)
1 med banana
3 egg whites
1/2 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Combine milk, water & vinegar. Mix in All-Bran. Let sit for 20 min. Mix all dry ingredients in separate bowl. Add 1 mashed banana, 3 egg whites & apple sauce to bran mixture. Add dry ingredients to bran mixture & mix with spoon. Fold in Chocolate chips. Spray muffin tins.


I don't think that using regular white sugar will change the Points as it is only 1/4 cup sugar used. These make quite large muffins, they are not piddly. Enjoy!

Here We Go

So I thought I would start with this whole blogging thing as it seems like everyone is doing it so I thought I should try to. I'm trying to add a weight loss ticker & I just can't seem to figure it out, I'll need to ask my brother. Anyways, I'm starting this having lost 35lbs already and only needing to lose 17 more lbs & then finished, I was hoping to lose it by the time I go on vacation on August 20th but the last few weeks my weight loss has been on a standstill. I bought a little black dress, it's still black but it is sleeveless, which is something I haven't worn for over 7 years & it is a size Large which they said is sizes 12 -14. I think I look really good in it. There's a picture of it in the left hand corner, cute eh? Also I bought these really good popsicles for the kids, they taste like milkshakes on a stick & they were so good, only 1ww point each. Well I think that is it for the first blog post & hope to figure this blogging out. I just wish I knew how to put the ticker on, oh well I'll figure it out yet.

* Yeah me, figured out how to add a ticker finally & all by myself!