Weigh In and New Favs!

http://www.thelaughingcow.com/all-recipes/

This is my new latest love...Laughing Cow! Tonight, I'm making Shrimp Alfredo with the Laughing Cow alfredo recipe and whole wheat pasta. This is the creamiest cheese and it's so versatile! I use it on eggs, on sandwiches, on crackers, on celery, and now on pasta. Yum! There are lots of recipes on their site that I can't wait to try. I'll post them as I make them and see which ones I like best! If you haven't tried their Chipotle flavor, hurry up and do so - yum!

On to my weigh in...173 lbs - and that's on a week's worth of steroids! I've had a lot of success during my 6 weeks on Weight Watchers. I'm averaging about 1.8 pounds per week, slightly more than my original goal, but I had weeks of no weight loss to make up for from this summer. It's great to fit in clothes I haven't worn in a year or so, and I'm looking forward to a big shopping trip when I reach my goal.

I got out and walked two miles yesterday and was thrilled to have no pain again, but today I'm limping due to pain in my left hip. Bummer. I didn't walk today, but I'll get out again once this is reasonable enough to walk with. I see the rheumatologist on Tuesday, so maybe she'll have some ideas to help me along.

Looking ahead, I'll be down and out with sinus surgery for a few days at the beginning of next month. On the bright side, I doubt I'll be overeating since it's really hard to swallow without being able to breathe through your nose. This is my fourth time. Let's just hope I make it out without double vision this time. I really like and trust my doctor and feel I'm in great hands!

My Christmas shopping is done, and I have Kindle books on my iPad ready to read, so let's bring on the cooler weather, please. This 95 degree stuff is for the birds! In fact, the hummingbirds are still flitting about like it's mid-summer. Geez. Migrate already! I'm ready for a fire in the fireplace and hot cocoa in my mug!

Happy Autumn!

Another Sunday, Another Walk

Okay, so walking once a week isn't likely to get me into great physical shape, but it's a start. This past week was crazy, and I'm battling major fatigue in the late afternoons so I didn't go out. This week, however, I get another B12 injection and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll give me that extra energy boost I need to get out there more than once. Keep those fingers crossed for me, please!

I'm not on my official weigh in day, but the scale was looking pretty at 174 pounds today. That's 10 pounds in five weeks, 16 since I started the blog, and 20 since the beginninng of May. If I start walking, I hope I'll keep losing. I'm really committed to getting down to a healthy weight so my choloesterol and blood pressure will drop, drop, drop! I posted a new picture on the sidebar to show my progress. I can surely see a difference from the first picture to the most recent. :o)

The next two weeks will be a challenge meal wise. Randy leaves for his annual West Virginia hunting trip with the Horn Hunters and then leaves for New Orleans for business the day after he gets back. He'll be gone a full two weeks. That means I'll be coming home to an empty house at dinnertime and no one to cook for but me. I tend to want to go through a fast food place rather than take the time and make the mess to make a meal, even if it's small. To combat this, I froze several meals in small containers that I can quickly defrost and eat with the promise that if I do that, I'll treat myself to sushi nights at the end of both weeks. I'll post about my progress. It's realy going to require some serious self discipline.

On to food finds...Rebecca gave me an early Christmas present of two signed cookbooks from Holly Clegg. She cooks easy, flavorful, nutritious food. We picked the Blackberry Chicken to try and it was delicious! I looked for it online so I could post a picture of it, but I couldn't find it. I did however find this and it's very, very close. The only differences were two teaspoons of oil rather than two tablespoons, and add in 1/2 cup of seedless blackberry jam and 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar rather than the cornstarch and lemon juice. Oh, and dust the chicken with salt, pepper, and a sprinkling of thyme. Check out the youtube link below to watch her make it her Easy Chicken.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oPywEfqPwE

You can also check out her cookbooks at her website or on facebook. http://www.hollyclegg.com/

This is one of the books she got me since I love seafood and Southern cooking. I can't wait to try some of out when Randy gets back from hunting! It even has venison recipes in it for this hunting wife!



Enjoy!

Wednesday Woes - 6/22/2011

Oh, I have the Wednesday woes! We've been over 100 degrees for the past two weeks and dry as a bone for about 6 weeks, so we're very grateful that it's been raining for the past two days. However, I haven't exercised in two days and I'm paying the price in increased fibromyalgia type pain today. My muscles are sore to the touch, my joints are sore, and I'm headachy from sitting around. Ugh.

I got out for a bit today and ate some delicious Greek food - spanakopita and a gyro. It was delicious! Then I had a midafternoon skinny latte at Starbucks and worked on my book for a bit. I even thought about walking this afternoon when the sun came out for a wee bit, but once I got home I stayed home. Somehow, having Rebecca and her boyfriend here has knocked me off any and all routines I've established over the past few weeks. It's like vacation all over again. The bad news is Randy had to go to New Orleans for a couple of nights and he's my walking buddy. The good news is we've been making dinners from Cooking Light and even when we've chosen decadent things like ice cream, doughnuts, and steak, I've made good choices on portion sizes.

I could sit here and regret not walking today. I could bemoan the spanakopita or steak I ate this week. But this is my reality. These are foods I love. None of that is going to disappear from my life. Having company isn't going to go away - and I wouldn't want it to! These are the things that make life fun. All I want to do is find the right balance so these things can happen without my gaining 10 pounds every year.

Tomorrow I'll walk by myself in the morning. That's my un-"ugh" plan to help with the pain. Friday, Randy will be back to walk with me. On Sunday, we're heading to Baton Rouge for LSU's freshman orientation with Rebecca and will be there until Wednesday. Then we're going to Pensacola Beach with Randy for a couple of days. We're staying at Marriott hotels and they have treadmills and indoor pools so Rebecca, Randy, and I can all get in workouts. That makes me silly happy! I have a plan in place and a couple of off track days aren't going to totally derail me! Go, me!