Roller Coaster

Wow has it been some time since the last time I have posted. I am still sticking with Weight Watchers and now have a large support group of friends that go with me. :) I am trying new recipes all the time and will be sharing those in the next few days. The past months have been a roller coaster of my weight going down and up (a little here and there). One of the big reasons I think my weight is so inconsistent is that I don't track what I am eating each day and I need to start doing that. I need to come up with a way of doing that and I am thinking that blogging daily about it may just be the reason (plus it will help me blog more to keep track of what I am eating and my thoughts o the recipes). One thing I have learned thru the process of Weight Watchers is the healthier choices of things to eat, don't get me wrong I am not making the best choices 100% of the time however I am learning and that is HUGE!

Weigh in tonight.....not the greatest

I had my weekly weigh in on Wednesday and I knew walking in the door I wasn't going to hear the words...."fantastic job Amanda, down another blah blah blah". I was expecting to hear I had gained, it wasn't that I ate horrible or anything this past week I could honestly just feel that I was up. So when I stepped on the scale I was waiting and waiting and she comes back with "you are up .8lbs". Seriously .8lbs? I was expecting 2+lbs so .8 was nothing and I know I will lose that and more this coming week.
Gaining those .8lbs did trigger something in me though. I thought about the meals for the week and what I was going to buy at the grocery store. I actually wrote down the different meals and am putting them on a new calendar so I can stay organized and on track. I went onto the E-tools portion of WW and got some recipes that I am going to try to make. I looked more for things not to cook in the oven since I am told it is going to be in the 80's and 90's next week so we will see what happens.
I need to start getting out walking and running again, it is just so hard to be a single parent and figure out when to get out there exercising. It use to be so easy to just put Camdon in the stroller, pack snacks and walk for 90+ minutes. Now that he is 4 and full of energy it is a challenge to get him to stay in the stroller so I can just move, instead he wants to walk with me....but that also means we have to stop at every sewer and find rocks to drop in there. That isn't my idea of exercising and I think this slow paced, stop and go action is going to do no good to my exercise routine. I know I can't use him as my excuse and I am not but it just being me makes it hard. So my goal in the next month is to start exercising more and finding the time to do it.
I need to get some pics of me still, maybe I can get to that this weekend. I want full body shot photos so I can monitor my loss but I guess I can also post up pics from when Camdon's recent birthday party so at least they are up there to remind me of why I am changing how I eat and what I eat.

5%

It has only taken me 16 weeks but I have finally hit my 5% marker at Weight Watchers. I know I could have lost more than that in the 16 weeks, but life has been a little hectic and I am happy with my 13+ lbs in 16 weeks. I have weigh in on Wednesday and I am hoping to hear I have lost more so I am closer to the 15lb marker.

It has been forever since I have blogged and I need to get back on track. Blogging not only helps me clear my head but it is a great way to track where I have come from. I need to take some pics of how I look now relatively soon so I can compare thru the time how I look to motivate me to keep going.

So so busy

I have been so busy lately it is unreal. I haven't forgotten about myself in all of this but I also haven't had time to clear my head by jotting things down on here. I have made some really yummy dishes lately, but not as many as I would like since we have been so busy!
I haven't had time to update on my weight loss so I guess I need to put it all down on here, where I come to see my journey of changing my life. :-)

I don't have much time but I figured I would at least get the past 2 weigh ins logged and start from scratch with the week coming.....so may I have a drum roll please......

Week 2/17 weigh in......I LOST 3.2 lbs bringing me down to 243.6lbs and a total weight loss of 8.4 lbs. SUPER EXCITED!!!!

Week 2/24 weigh in.....I LOST 1 lb bringing me down to 242.6lbs and a total weight loss of 9.4lbs. I am even more EXCITED!!!!

I am now 3.6lbs away from loosing 5% of my weight! 5% may not seem like a lot to some but to me that is HUGE (no pun attended).

I think I need to find a chart or something to put up that I can see how it is going....that might just motivate me even more than I already am. I am also itching for the warm weather to hit so I can get back out on the roads walking/running. I know with that I will be loosing more weight and inches along with burning calories like crazy!

Busy and challenging

I haven't been on here in forever and part of it was because I was disappointed in myself with not my last weigh in but the weigh in before since I ended up gaining weight. On my 2nd weigh on in WW I ended up gaining 1.8 lbs bringing my weight loss from 4.4 lbs to 2.6 lbs. Yes I didn't eat completely like I should have but I still did really well and it kinda threw me for a loop.

Last week I had so much going on from Saturday to Saturday. It started off with a gathering at my friends house in which we all ate YUMMY food. Sunday was dinner at my bosses house where he served us GINORMOUS steaks (again very YUMMY). Tuesday was my birthday, Wednesday was weigh in where I gained 1.4lbs and than pizza dinner while the kids opened Christmas presents, Thursday was girls night doing pottery and Saturday was a gathering at Margaritas for my "30th" bday again. OH MY was the night at Margaritas so much fun...and so YUMMY (as I had 6 frozen margaritas, appetizers, chips, dinner and DESSERT).

I went into my weigh in Wednesday night knowing that I was going to be told you gained! I was ready for it! I was expecting it. I walked in, took off my coat and shoes and stepped on the scale. I told the rep that I knew I was going to gain but that it was okay. So I was standing there and all of a sudden heard "You lost 2.6 lbs"! I am sorry can you say that again....You lost 2.6lbs is what I heard. HOLY MOLY!!!! Really 2.6 lbs, HECK YES!!!! I am not even sure how it happened but it did and now I have lost over 5lbs in 3 weeks!

Each time I weigh in, no matter up or down, I get more motivated to continue my journey and make better choices of my eating habits, drink more water and overall take better care of my health. I have a friend going with me which may also be a help....but the thing I find the most help is that I have to weigh in every week in front of another person who gets to see my weight. I feel accountable for my weeks changes and I feel as if the person weighing me will be disappointed in me if I gain. I am motivated by my child, who I want to be able to run around with, to go on rides at the amusement parks with, to have him not ashamed in what his mama looks like....I just want to be around for him for a very very very long time. :-)

Last night I made a new dish....and may I say it was rather tasty! I got it off the WW website, where I have found many more that I plan on trying.

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

(1 serving is 1/6 of the pie and is 5 pts)

1 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 cup(s) water
1/2 cup(s) wine, dry white (I used Martini & Rossi Dry Vermouth)
2 cube(s) chicken bouillon cube, crumbled (I used 4 cubes instead)
2 medium carrot(s), chopped
1 cup(s) frozen green peas
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion(s), chopped
3 Tbsp white all-purpose flour
5 oz fat-free evaporated milk
15 1/4 oz canned white corn, drained
6 sheet(s) phyllo dough

Place chicken, water, wine and bouillon cubes in a medium pan. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook gently, uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Set aside one cup of broth and chop chicken into chunks.
Preheat oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Coat a deep 8-inch (20cm) pie dish with cooking spray.
Microwave carrots and peas for 2 minutes. Drain. Heat oil in a medium nonstick pan, add onions and cook until soft. Stir in flour and cook over low heat for 2 minutes.
Remove pan from heat and stir in milk and reserved broth. Return to heat and cook, stirring, until mixture boils and thickens. Add carrots, peas, chicken and corn.
Pour chicken into prepared dish. Layer sheets of phyllo over pie, trim edges and press down firmly to seal. Lightly coat with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes, lower temperature to 350ºF (180ºC) and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes more.

Guess What!?

I had my first weekly weigh in last night at WW and I LOST 4.4 lbs.

Let me say this again....I lost 4.4 lbs in the first week at WW. I am so super excited. I officially way under 250 lbs (which was my heaviest weight EVER!) I so excited! I now weigh as of last night 247.6 lbs. Thank goodness to watching what I eat and thinking before I put anything in my mouth. This week I tried my hardest to think before I eat something and make sure I am eating foods that are going to keep me fuller longer.

This week coming is going to be a challenging week. I have a get together on Saturday night where everyone is bringing something to share...and I am bringing my heath bar trifle (SO GOOD but not good for you). I am hoping that there are healthier foods there, but I plan on eating a fulfilling dinner prior to leaving so I wont' be so tempted to munch. I also have a cookout on Sunday, my birthday on Tuesday so we will have dinner and possibly cake (oooooh maybe I will make an angle food cake instead), Wednesday is another get together and weigh in. What a challenging week I have a head of me, but it will be a good test to see if I can handle it and see if I can make the right decisions.

Day 5/6

I wasn't able to blog last night, I was too tired and was getting ready to go to work after being out a week with Camdon. What a week but even being home I stuck with WW and did what I think was my best for the first week. I ended up making another rather yummy meal......

Chicken Marsala

(4pts per serving)

4 (1/4 lb) thin-sliced chicken breast cutlets

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

2 tsp olive oil

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

2 tsp all-purpose flour

1/4 cup Marsala wine*

1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook through, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken to a platter and keep warm.

Add mushrooms to skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until browned, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle mushrooms with flour, stirring to blend. Add the Marsala wine* and broth, bring to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Spoon sauce over chicken.

*Now I didn't have Marsala wine so I used Martin & Rossi Dry Vermouth and I think it turned out just as well....It was SCRUMPTIOUS!!!

With the Chicken Marsala I served it with 1/2 cup brown rice and steamed mixed veggies. My dinner all together was 6 pts and kept me full for the rest of the night.

For lunch that day I also had a healthy salad with cucumbers, carrots, mushrooms, lettuce and 1/2 cup of tuna salad. I ate as much of the salad as possible without salad dressing and just mixing it with the tuna fish, what I didn't have tuna fish for I used my new FAVORITE salad dressing. It is Ken's Steakhouse LITE Red Wine Vinegar & Olive Oil.....so good!

I am really proud of myself and hoping that at tomorrow's weigh in it will show with a weight loss of at least 2lbs. I know not too expect it all to be gone over night because I didn't gain this all overnight. Seeing a negative number on my book would make me so happy and even more motivated to continue this journey I am on.

Day 4

Today has been a pretty good food day for me. I have been making decisions prior to getting too hungry and thinking about the best options to make me fuller longer.
With my weight on WW I am allowed to have 31 points, that seems like a lot to me.
So this morning for breakfast I had a 2 egg omelet with 2 slices of cheese, onions and mushrooms and a cup of coffee with 2 splenda and a dash of skim milk. I have been drinking lots of water, which I love as long as it is cold.
For lunch I made a yummy potato chowder that I found in one of the pamphlets they gave me on Wednesday. I didn't have any bacon on red onions as it calls for as well as the corn on the cob(I used canned corn), but I made it without and I have to say it came out YUMMY.

Potato Chowder

(serves 1, 6 pts)

1 medium Yukon Gold Potato

Cooking spray

1/4 cup chopped celery

2 Tbsp chopped onion

1 piece cooked corn on the cob, kernels removed with a knife (I used canned corn)

1/4 cup diced red bell pepper

1 oz diced Canadian-style bacon

1/2 cup fat-free milk

Salt, pepper, and hot pepper to taste

Pierce potato in several places with a fork; microwave on high power until tender, turning over once, about 8 minutes. Allow to cool; peel and mash. Meanwhile, coat a medium saucepan with cooking spray. Add celery, onion, corn kernels and red pepper; saute over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Stir bacon and milk into saucepan;stir in mashed potato and mix well. Season with salt, pepper and hot pepper; stir to combine. Cover and simmer 10 minutes (do not allow to boil).

I am super excited that I tried this recipe and have to say I can't wait to make it again and add bacon to it to see how the flavor differs.

Hit a bump but still hanging on

I haven't blogged lately about my new way of life...mostly because my motivation went from high in the sky to barely there. The past few weeks have been a tad bit stressful and exercise has been the furthest from my priority list, which is not a good thing.

A friend of mine, who I haven't seen in forever and miss dearly, sent me a message that she was joining Weight Watchers again and wanted to know if I would do it again with her. At first I wasn't sure if I should do this, spend the extra money, and finally I decided I would because I would have the support from her and that would be a HUGE help. I started WW on Wednesday (January 20th) and have been on it for days now. I weighed in at 252 lbs (HOLY COW). I have done it before so it wasn't too hard to start back up, but the program has "changed" a little so I still had to read thru the pamphlets and see what was in it. I went grocery shopping yesterday, just to get a few things in the house that were healthy and I was interested in eating. I will do another bout of shopping this weekend coming up after I get paid. I wasn't able to do much of a work out this week, Camdon has some sort of bug and has been much of a cuddle bug when not getting sick. I think I am starting to get it or it is just exhaustion kicking in from our eventful nights.

Last night I made a WW recipe for dinner. It was fairly easy and quick to make, it was fulfilling and kept my hunger gone until I woke up this morning. My only qualm is that it was bland so next time I make it I will just add more garlic.

Chicken with Broccoli and Garlic Sauce

(serves 1, 7 points)

1tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp minced garlic

4 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces

pinch dried thyme

salt and pepper

1 cup frozen broccoli florets

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 cup cooked brown rice

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic saute one minute. Season chicken with thyme, salt and pepper; add to skillet. Cook, stirring frequently until browned, about 3 minutes. Add broccoli; cook 1 minute. Add broth, cover and cook 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

Today I have been trying to log everything I have eaten, so far so good. I am trying to make food choices that will keep me fuller longer, instead of picking lower point foods with less substance and will only last a shorter period of time.

Excercis, what's that?

I am addicted to NBC's Biggest Loser, I watch it on Tuesdays and find great motivation in the contestants on the show. I think it is amazing that these individuals are given a chance to improve their life and learn how to move forward in their life with eating habits and exercise routines.
With this new way of living I have decided that I am going to use my Wii and Wii board as much as possible since a gym membership is out of the question. I did some research and found out that the Wii has a Biggest Loser disk. I read the reviews and purchased the disk from Amazon.com. I set up my profile and weighed in (UGH!). The only time I have to work out is first thing in the morning, so I set my alarm this morning to 5:30 am, got up and started my first day of routine. WOW am I totally and completely out of shape! I completed the routine, which was only 20 minutes long since I did the shorter session and marked myself as Beginner.
I know that I have to give it time and that it will get better. My body isn't use to do these exercises and just has to get back on track. I just need to keep telling myself.....YOU CAN DO THIS!
My friend A joined WW (weight watchers). We did this together years ago when she was getting married and it worked for both of us as we were our support system. I went back last year and did it myself, worked but not as well. So I am thinking of joining WW with A as another way or helping in this change of life....but I keep coming across the question of do I really want to spend the $40 a month on this?
Here is to a new day in my new life and another step forward in right direction with the exercise program.

Back in the day

Sunday my mom, sister and I went thru a bunch of old photos. It was pretty funny to see some of the pics from "back in the day" but it was also pretty sad to see them as I am at my heaviest I have ever been and it just brought it home even closer. The photos did give me a little more motivation to change the way I eat, exercise and live my life as I don't want to be like this anymore.

The beginning of a new chapter

My childhood was not such a bad thing....I had a mom and dad in my life, although they were divorced when I was 2 years old. I saw my dad on a regular basis up until I was 15 and started working. I lived in a house, in a good neighborhood in a suburb. I was constantly out playing in the neighborhood with the kids, I had boyfriends as I got older and even got engaged when I was in my first year of college with my high school sweat heart. I look at pictures of me back than and now think that I had an amazing body and would love to be there again, unlike how I felt back than.
I was in college, 18 years old. My boyfriend was in college in PA, our first time apart from each other. We worked on it and it was going well so the next step was to become engaged and start planning the wedding, I was on cloud nine. My fiance decided he wanted to move back to NH and go to college with me, life was even better. As time went on, he decided that college wasn't his thing and moved to IL to live with his parents and work out there. PA was a hard enough time away from each other but we survived because it was literally a drive to see each other, IL on the other had a lot harder to see each other so relying on phone calls and emails was the way we lived. To make a long story short things became distant between us and I later learned that he was cheating on me. My heart was broken, literally felt like I was dying inside. I turned to food for comfort and gained quite a bit of weight and this is where it really started.
As time has gone on in my life I had many more heartbreaks and more devastation in my life. I became so unconfident with myself. I was out one night with a good friend, definitely not out there looking for a guy to be in my life. As the night went on, my friend had found a guy she was interested in and he just happened to have a friend. I didn't get a long with the friend, even when they came back to her apartment the friend and I sat on opposite sides of the room and didn't talk. As time had passed we were basically forced to talk to each other and seemed to hit it off. We spent every day together after I got out of work. He would call every day and send text messages. I was caught up in the attention he was giving and amazed that I found a good guy again. We started dating and lets just say when it was good it was good....but when lies were told and promises were broken it was bad. I was already unconfident at this time and when bad came I became more and more unconfident, I stuck around thinking that this would change or I was just making things up in my head or that it was okay I deserved it or things would go from bad to really good again and the bad was forgotten. I now know that the above is 100% wrong and that I deserve the best.
As I spent time with the friend, my now boyfriend, I started turning into a completely different person, not a place I ever want to visit again as it wasn't a good person to be. I eventually found out I was pregnant, a complete accident but wouldn't change it for the world. This surprise information is what pulled me out of the lifestyle I was previously living and made me grow up, I am grateful. I decided to keep the baby and become a mom. My boyfriend continued in his ways and his lifestyle of alcohol, drugs and other ladies. I spent many nights being left alone or ignored. I spent part of my pregnancy vising my boyfriend in jail, because with his actions this is where he landed. I cried daily. I was miserable and couldn't enjoy my pregnancy, but I stuck with my boyfriend thru all the pain and heartache I went thru. 4 weeks early I went into labor and had a 5lb 6oz baby boy, the happiest day of my life. I was left at the hospital by my boyfriend and ended up having to have my sister in law drive 45 minutes down to pick me up. My boyfriend was MIA for 3 days and I still let him back in when he decided to show up. I was trying to keep my family together. I thought that maybe since my boyfriend had a family he would instantly grow up and things would change.....I was wrong. 1 year later I decided to leave my son's father and stop going thru the heartache and depression I was constantly going thru. I wanted more for my son and didn't want him to have to go thru all the lies and broken promises I had to go thru. At first I was eating very little and later turned to food as a comfort, which is how I got to where I am today.
I want to be a healthier person not only for myself, but for my son as well. I want to be able to be more active with him and have more fun. I want to be healthier for myself. I got the Wii Biggest Loser and started it this week. Using the Wii board it was able to weigh me and gosh did that make me angry. I was horrified that the scale said I was 250lbs, HORRIFIED. I currently have 3 pairs of jeans that fit me and 2 pairs of dress pants. I am not comfortable with how I look with or without clothes on. I figure if I start putting things down this may be a more motivating way to be on track and not slack. I plan to journal on my daily activities, my food intake, ups and downs that I come across and anything else I need to vent about.

Current weight: 250lbs
Current measurements
chest:
hips
abdominal area:

Here is to the beginning of a new chapter in my life and the success in the battle I continue to fight.