Kids & Food

It seems there has been a flurry of chatter in blogland about kids & diet talk, etc. This is a post I've been working on all week - I swear something must be in the air - and thinking about much longer.



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A few weeks ago, I was at dinner with a friend, his two daughters and The Boy One. The oldest girl is the same age as The Boy One (12) & is very nearly my size. So, at dinner she ordered this HUGE platter meal - literally enough food to feed me for an entire day - and proceeded to eat the entire thing! Upon completion of the meal (er, feast), she looks at The Boy One and says, "Look how much food I just ate!!!" There was such a look of satisfaction on her face & glee in her voice. Her joy over this "feat" made me sick to my stomach. It was all I could do to bite my tongue. I felt just sad for her... sad that she thinks eating like that is something to be proud of... sad that her father apparently knows very little about nutrition and what it means to eat healthfully.



Since that day, I have paid careful attention when dining out. The occurrence with her really opened my eyes... but it is far from isolated. It seems nearly every time I dine out, I see/hear children being praised for the amount of food they eat and/or chastised if they dare to leave food on their plate. In one instance, I actually heard a mother tell her child, "I'm paying for that meal and we are not leaving here til you eat every bite." And omg, a trip to the buffet (where I go only for sushi) about had me wanting to cry for the children being allowed to go back for three and four plates of food.



Here in blogland, I have read multiple accounts of people who do things like preparing two meals each night - one healthy meal for themselves and then the "usual" stuff for their kids/spouses, purchase school lunches for their children while packing a healthy lunch for themselves, etc.



All of this has gotten me to thinking A LOT about kids & food. While I would NEVER encourage my child or any other to "diet," I do think we have a responsibility to teach children the importance of eating healthy, nutritious foods.

While I understand the temptation to feed kids a different set of food from what we eat when we are trying to lose weight, I have to be honest and say its not something I agree with doing.

How many of us site how important our children are & wanting to be more actively involved with them as a reason for wanting to lose weight/get healthy? If that is true, why would we want to continue feeding our children foods that set them up to have the same struggles with food that we do? Why would we want to continue feeding our children foods that will put them at an increased risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, maybe even cancer? If we recognize these foods are not healthy for us to be eating, why on earth would we feel comfortable feeding these foods to our children?

How many of use grew up in homes with an overweight parent (or two) and learned the eating/activity habits that lead us to becoming overweight adults? Its no secret kids learn by example and (especially the little ones) want to mimic the adults they look up to in life. If we are setting a good example, by eating healthy foods, why not take it one step further and feed the whole family the same healthy foods?

In our home, we all eat the same foods. That's not to say we don't have treats... but they are treats we ALL indulge in. One day a week, The Boy One & I have ice cream after his therapy session. On weekdays, we all eat a healthy breakfast - for The Boy One its a Cheerios type cereal with low fat yogurt. Then on weekends, he is allowed his choice of sugary cereals, in a reasonable portion. On our "payday" dinners, we all eat whatever looks appealing on the menu and I don't worry about what I'm eating because I know its just one meal. While things like cookies & chips don't typically come in the house, we all enjoy them as an occasional part of life... not the daily norm. The Boy One knows candy is something we have once in a awhile - because it tastes good - but that it is not "real food" to eat on a regular basis. The Boy One (and The Husband when he's here) happily eat the healthy recipes I prepare... they are tasty & honestly I don't think they even realize they are eating "healthy food." For me, this is part of the "doing it in a way I can sustain for the rest of my life" approach. It only makes sense to teach him to eat, now, in a way that he can eat for his whole life to maintain his health & wellness.

This is the approach I have taken with him since he was small & it works for us. A few years ago, he had a beloved uncle pass away after battling cancer & congestive heart failure. In the process of explaining the illness to him... we told The Boy One gently, but honestly, that part of what contributed to his uncle becoming ill was his unhealthy diet, drinking alcohol excessively, and smoking. That put the first seed in his head that he needed to take care of himself. Today, he watches his Grandma's health deteriorate and when he asks why she is sick... I continue to be honest with him. He knows that while people are sometimes predisposed to illnesses, that there are ways you can take care of yourself to help stay healthy. And yes, despite his "differences" he really does know and understand these concepts. Am I burdening him in some way by being so open and honest about these things with him? I hope not. I believe with my whole heart it is important to be honest with him & not beat around the bush when it comes to matters of illness & what can be done to minimize the risks.

For me, it is critically important to help our children learn to eat in a healthy manner, NOW when they are young, so that it becomes a life long habit... not something they struggle to learn as they reach adulthood. Because of that I am going to focus most of my healthy recipe tests on meals & snacks that are kid friendly. I'm guessing this will involve some recipe "makeovers" and some brand new creations. We will let The Boy One be the "kid taste tester" and I will share our findings.

For those of you that take this approach or a similar one, what are some of your kids' favorite "healthy" meals?

And for those of you who feed your kids a different "diet" from yourself, I'm genuinely curious as to why you do this.

Please know I'm not trying to attack anyone for the way they choose to feed their children. I am merely burdened with fear over what America - at large - is doing to our children (often without even realizing it). It makes me sad to see a generation of children growing up on Happy Meals & cardboard pizza... especially when there are so many ways to make kid-friendly healthy meals.

I keep coming back to this one thought...

If we love ourselves enough to fuel our bodies with nutrious foods on a regular basis... shouldn't we love our children enough to do that and more?

A Blank Screen

For the last hour I have sat staring at a blank computer screen... debating what to write about. I have several posts in the works, but none that feel like they fit where I am this moment. Today I feel like a fraud. My actions have been the classic example of saying one thing and doing something else entirely.

Food today was anti-healthy at each and every turn - chips & salsa, McDonalds and pasta salad. There is no good reason for this day of awful eating. Truthfully, Wednesdays are always crazy with kids group & this day is much like all of my Wednesdays were in the past. Last year, I had done a pretty good job of making it a priority to take healthy meals with me on Wednesday nights... this fall I've yet to get back in the habit. That needs to change IMMEDIATELY!

Exercise did not happen. Yes, I could still pop in a video or get the Wii going and get in something that would technically count. But, I'm exhausted - emotionally and physically - and just don't have it in me right now.

One important thing did happen today though. I wrote Draz earlier, telling her that I wasn't planning to blog about it, but I've changed my mind... because quite honestly I'm proud of myself and feel like a major step toward standing up for myself in life was taken. Today, I took steps to end the friendship with the "friend" I wrote about a few days ago. After much thought, I realized that the emotional damage that would continue to be done to my heart if I attempted to patch things up just wasn't worth any perceived benefit. So... this morning I set about the necessary tasks... phone number changed, email sent stating exactly why I can't continue the friendship, deleted & blocked on facebook. All of that may seem extreme to you, but to me its what has to happen. If I didn't take such serious steps, she would keep pushing to "fix" things and eventually I would give in. It is hard to thing of this person no longer being a part of my life, but I know all in all... Its better this way...

As I was taking each of these steps a feeling of freedom & satisfaction swept through me... like a weight was lifting off my shoulders and stress was leaving my body. I felt empowered. Never before in my life have I stood up for myself in such a concrete, definitive way! While a little part of me was sad to be ending such a long friendship this way, I was mostly relieved to be resolving the situation... and to be resolving it on my terms! To do it without the opportunity to be browbeaten into changing my mind! It was empowering!!!

The Boy One is done with school for the week thanks to parent-teacher conferences. Tomorrow we will be visiting my gym together. He is old enough to be added to my membership. If he is comfortable there, I can start bringing him with me part of the time. That will help me get more workout time in, so I'm hopeful. Besides, he is wanting to exercise and has been upset that he isn't getting a full PE period at school this year.

Bedtime for me... early tonight. LOL

PS- This is my first post from my brand new laptop. HP really went above & beyond in replacing my broken one. Plus, they refunded the price of the extended warranty I purchased. I'm truly, oddly, impressed with them right now. :)

I'm In Love!!!

Today was my Mom's trip to Bankruptcy Court, so I spent my morning driving her there... listening to her chatter... all the while mentally writing my next blog post. Then this happened...



We went to lunch... Mexican more precisely... and I fell head over heals in love... with this salad!

The Tapatia Salad

Menu Description: Carne asada, romaine lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, onion, corn, avocado, asparagus, black olives, whole beans, tortilla strips, ranchero cheese and their own vinegar dressing

Just to let you all know, when I go to Mexican I usually eat one of two entrees and don't even look at the menu, so the fact that I ended up ordering this salad is somewhat of an anomaly. This was a Mexican restaurant I've been to numerous times, but they had changed the menu since my last visit, so I actually took a look at the menu. The first thing that struck me is that they actually had new healthier choices - from Veggie fajitas to Spinach Enchiladas - all vegetarian. Then my eyes went down the page to salads - I've never seen a menu with so many salads - a dozen in all. When I visited LA a couple of years ago I had a steak salad at this little char-broil joint that I adored, so when I saw this salad I was hoping for a similar taste and decided to give it a shot.

What I got instead was quite seriously the BEST salad I have ever eaten in my life! Their menu description doesn't even begin to do it justice. The carne asada was very thinly sliced, super tender, very moist, and not even a hint of fat to be found. The asparagus was grilled to perfection... six whole pieces. The onions and tomatoes were diced small... almost like pico de gallo... with the corn mixed in. The vinegar dressing was just the right amount of tangy and didn't seem to have much oil in it. I swear this was the PERFECT salad!

I almost feel guilty for how much I loved this salad, lol. I mean how many times have you heard or been told that you shouldn't get your happiness from food? From the moment they set this salad in front of me, my entire mood changed. The presentation was so beautiful and such a surprise considering this is just your average Americanized Mexican restaurant we were sitting in. Then I took my first bite of it and literally fell head over heals in love! The way the flavors blended together was AMAZING!!! It was sooooo good, I was immediately torn between savoring each bite and shoveling in as much of the yummy flavor as I could as fast as I could. After the first couple of shoveled in bites, I settled down and opted to savor each and every bite that entered into my mouth. By the time I was done - I was well satisfied - and wanting to lick the plate. I swear if the guy had not come along to pick it up when he did, he may have found me finger licking it.

Believe it or not, there really is a point to me telling you all about this wonderful salad. The point is this, its been a really long time since I truly enjoyed eating a meal as much as this. Its always been one of my goals to only use (waste) calories on foods that were truly satisfying to the taste buds and enjoying this salad the way I did made me realize that I have really slacked off on that the last few months. I've been eating whatever happened to be available or what would pass for moderately healthy without giving enough thought to what the food really tasted like or if I was enjoying it. This salad serves as a wake up call to how far off track I have let myself get while attempting to please those around me. I have no idea what the calories/fat for the salad were (they didn't have nutritional info), but to me it doesn't matter as much as the wake up call it provided.

Quick note about scale day: I gained a pound in the last two weeks. Not what I would have liked to see, but what I expected for the effort (or lack of effort) I've given things the last few weeks.

Oh, I have news about my Mom and the BOOBS too. She no longer thinks I am going to be assaulted, strangled or killed during the course of the weekend. It only took explaining to her weekly since May what I was doing & why I was doing it. Some peoples mothers... lol.

Be back soon with my original - still in my brain - post...

Adios to the 200s... AGAIN! & Vacation Report At Last

Again... and for the absolute LAST time... I have said farewell to a number on the scale that starts with 2. I swear it will NEVER, EVER happen again! When I hopped on the scale this morning and it read 198.8 I could have done a happy dance... it was a like a huge sigh of relief to see that I am recovering fairly quickly from my vacation gain.

Jeans in 15 has now become jeans in 12.8.

And back to the vacation.. long overdue... but I want to share my adventure with you. It was seriously one of the most active vacations I've ever been on... which I guess is why I was a little surprised by the amount I gained (even though I ate like a pig at way too many good restaurants). Sorry I don't have pictures to add at the moment, they are stuck on a different computer. :(

Day one of my vacation, I went to preschool, lol. My niece is a preschool teacher and she had one more day of work before her vacation started. We took the kids to a park to play, it was about a six block walk each direction. Then on her lunch hour we walked about four blocks each way to get food. Oh and that night after she was off work we went to REI and I got some awesome hiking boots on clearance for a great deal (I LOVE me a bargain!).

Day two was antique stores, bead store & laundry... nothing too exciting.

Day three we took the ferry from Oakland to Fisherman's Wharf. We walked all over, including a several block trek to find a Starbucks (apparently its the only coffee she finds to be worth drinking). That would also be the day we ate at both Bubba Gump and the Hard Rock Cafe.... and I don't regret a single food choice I made that day.

Day four we visited Point Reyes Lighthouse out on the California coast. It was breathtakingly beautiful & freezing cold. The winds were intense and even though we had bundled for winter, it was still chilly. The walk from the parking area to the lighthouse area is something near a mile I think. But its the trek from there to the lighthouse that makes this an intense active experience, they even have a sign posted warning people how strenuous it is. The stairs that lead to the lighthouse are equal to a 30-story building! Going down was naturally easier than coming up. Before we started back up, I joked that we were about to put all my stairmaster time to the test. Turns out that all the effort on the stairmaster really has paid off... I was able to easily do the 30 stories back up & actually sprinted most of the way. When I got to the top I was barely even breathing hard & didn't break a sweat!!!! Seriously a year ago even, that would have been a VERY different story! I was pretty proud of myself and even considered going back to the bottom to do it a second time. Truthfully the only that stopped me was the wind blowing 40mph all around me. If you ever get the chance to visit, do it! Its so worth it, both from the exercise standpoint and the sheer beauty of the place.

Day five was another AWESOME day! We started out by meeting my brother and sister in law for lunch. I hadn't seen my brother for a couple years, thought I wasn't going to see him this trip, so this was a great surprise for me. After lunch, we set out for the Golden Gate Bridge. We parked and took some pictures from the park that overlooks the bridge. Let's just say I wasn't thinking clearly, 40mph winds up there and I was in shorts and a little tank top. By the time I got back to the car I couldn't feel my fingers. Next, we walked across both spans of the bridge to the San Fransisco side and back.... round trip is right around four miles. For the walk I was smart enough to grab a jacket, but my legs were like giant icicles by the time we got back to the car. Walking across the bridge was amazing... it totally ranks right up there with top moments in my life. There was just something about experiencing such a well-known historic landmark in that way that is hard to put into words.

By day six, I was admittedly a bit on the sore side after two really active days in a row. But nevertheless, we went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. It was a lot of fun. We saw the dolphin show and whale show. The dolphins drenched me, so I spent the rest of the day drying out... not so fun. This was another one of those little victories... being able to truly experience and enjoy the park with NO worries about fitting on the rides. Its amazing how something so simple can lead to such feelings of freedom and inner-peace.

So there it is... the run down on the most active vacation of my life. All in all it was a great trip and I have to say in addition to being the most active... it was also the most fulfilling vacation I've ever been on.

Next stop on my travels.... CHICAGO!!! I can't wait...

Emotional Overload

Those two words pretty much sum up my life right now. Besides all of the other stuff I've shared recently there is an additional situation wreaking havoc on my heart. If I've never mentioned it before... let it be known I have little ability to cope with rejection and am extremely easily hurt. Once hurt, healing the hurt is next to impossible... I may squash it down and try to put it in the back of my mind... but honestly it NEVER really goes away.

And right now I've been attacked and rejected for no other reason than the fact that I exist... and I'm hurt... beyond hurt. Its all I could do to make it through the day without breaking down in tears. It was so bad that even the idea of retail therapy held no appeal - after all that would have required gathering myself enough to enter a store and pretend to happy (or at least not falling apart).

This is the thing... I've put myself in a bubble of sorts to avoid feelings of hurt. As bad as things are here sometimes with The Husband - he may get under my skin, irritate the crap out of me, make me want to scream in aggravation - he has pretty much zero ability left to hurt me emotionally (I suspect because I am so emotionally detached from him). Things that happen with The Boy One may hurt my heart because I wish things could be easier or better for him & they may bring up tough to swallow emotions connected to what his father did to me... but they don't hurt ME in terms of who I am. Even my Mom's ability to hurt me is diminished as I've come to terms with who she is and why she acts the way she does. Unfortunately there are still people that have the ability to hurt me... dang it!

And as if that isn't enough on its own... I get this phone call from The Husband. He is completely freaking out over a status I put on Facebook a few days ago - something about considering options. Of course his mind automatically jumps to the wrong conclusions and he goes off on me telling me how inappropriate it was for me to put that when he is thousands of miles away. Seriously, that could have been about a hundred different things - it was actually about something to do with my blog (more on that later) - no need to get your boy panties in a bunch. Classic example of something that irritates me, but has no ability to hurt me. Yes, there was a day when I would have been crushed at what he was implying, but that time has passed I guess.

The emotions of the day (the last couple really) definitely have had an impact. Food was miserable today- Mexican for lunch followed by pizza for dinner. On the bright side, I didn't snack during the day or evening and I limited myself to two pieces of pizza at dinner. Yesterday exercise was more or less non-existent. Tonight, I drove across town and walked on the beach for an hour or so as the sun was setting and even dipped my feet in the water. It was absolutely gorgeous... so wish I'd grabbed my camera from the car when I got there. The fresh air was wonderful and it felt good to move... even if it wasn't an intense workout & probably didn't burn too many calories.

My big weekend plans are a trip to Crate & Barrel and I'm finally going to go visit a bead store in Seattle I've been dying to get to for months now. Yay! Besides that, I'm gonna chill with The Boy One and catch up on more blogs... I'm sooooo far behind.

One final thing to mention... I FINALLY bought my plane ticket for Chicago... after getting reassurance from Draz that she isn't going to chicken out (I can't be the only band-less one there, I need her to eat with me, lol).

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

It Felt Good...

Despite a rough start to the day - I accidentally turned off the alarm instead of hitting the snooze button - by 12:45pm I was headed out the door to the gym. As I was puttering around the house - getting my shoes on, water bottle filled, post workout snack packed - I realized that I was already feeling energized. It felt good to go through the steps to prepare for a workout. It felt good to walk into the gym and see familiar faces. It felt good to climb on an elliptical machine and get moving. It felt good to have sweat running down my back (and I hate sweat, lol). It felt good to peddle on the bike. It felt unbelievably good to get in there and do a solid workout - not my best and not the most intense- but solid nonetheless... 30 minutes elliptical and 35 minutes on the bike.



Today was the first day in way too many days that I ate NOTHING from a restaurant or convenience store. Breakfast was a bagel thin with laughing cow cheese & some blueberries. I had some trex mix for a post workout snack. Lunch wasn't the best... a quesadilla with white tortillas and too much full fat cheese... but at least it didn't come from a restaurant. Dinner was grilled chicken salad with turkey bacon & 2% cheddar. Then after dinner I made some lemon poppy-seed muffins... which I proceeded to eat way too many of... the good news they are only about 40 calories each. Still, I'm pleased with the day overall... I avoided restaurants, sugary soda and was pretty healthy for two of my three meals.

I felt more like "me" than I have in a long time today. It felt good to make & execute a plan... It felt good to put healthy foods into my body (if we ignore the quesadilla). It feels good to get to the end of the day and not be beating myself up over caving into the temptation of a drive-thru on my way home from the gym. And high on the list of things that felt good today... all of the warm welcome backs I received from you... those comments mean so much.

Thursday is a busy day with therapy for The Boy One and Margatini night with my BFF. I don't know if I've explained margatini night before... we go to Applebees 3-4 times a month, she drinks a martini, I drink a margarita... so we named it margatini night. I generally try to eat one of their "healthier" options. I've had the steak and chicken from their 550 calorie menu.... any other ideas on tasty meals there? I'm kind of in the mood to try something new & definitely want to stick to a healthier choice.

And just for Draz... because I adore her so much... I'm finally writing my Victoria Secret post. :)

The Weekend Experience

After all of the struggles over the past few weeks, I am relieved to report that I had a very successful holiday weekend! I have to start with my BIG NSV because I am so excited about it!!!

For the first time in 13 years, I got to go on my very favorite carnival ride... The Ring of Fire.

Three or four summers ago, I remember looking at it longingly - knowing there was no way I could squeeze my wide hips in there with another person (and they require two riders). When I was in high school, it was a tight fit for me and my then BFF... so there was NO chance that I'd fit after packing on an extra 60 pounds from my high school weight.

When the carnival was here in the spring this year, I knew I was small enough to fit once again... but there was no freakin Ring of Fire. Driving to town Thursday night, I saw it sitting there in all its glory and was giddy with excitement. The next task was finding a victim to accompany me... enter my friend Melissa... who just happened to come stay the weekend. We got to the carnival and the darn thing was closed for some unknown reason! I was so bummed... I could have cried. We let the kids do their thing and toward the end of the evening it was reopened and I got to ride... FINALLY! Not only did I fit... I fit with room to spare!!!!! It was amazing!!!!

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Saturday was a busy day. My friend, Melissa, was here with her oldest son and three year old niece. We took the kids to one of the local parks/forts and had a blast walking all over. I couldn't find my pedometer (a sure sign that I've been away from my normal routine for way too long), but I think we probably walked about three miles all together. Plus, every time we came to a staircase, I went up and down them a couple times each while waiting on the kids. The kids were pretty worn out by the end of the day... burned some extra calories carrying the three year old around at various points. It was also pretty cool, we happened to run into an old friend and his kids there... I used to babysit them when they were little, but hadn't seen them in years. We packed along sack lunches for the day... mine was filled with a whole wheat bagel thin spread with laughing cow cheese, a pine nut mix with dried cranberries, and a 100 calorie pack of cookies... satisfying and a perfect amount for a busy, on-the-go afternoon. Plus, I was pleased with myself for not caving in to the temptation of fast food...

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Food was a better experience in general this weekend... despite the "crap food friends," lol. I ended up doing a lot of cooking... and for the most part there was no complaining. Food items included homemade chicken taquitos (about 225 calories for two of them) and a breakfast scramble with turkey kielbasa, onion, garlic and tomato. Seriously, I don't think they even realized they were eating healthy foods. Thank God for Hungry Girl recipes. :)

At my Mom's yesterday, we managed to have a pretty healthy 4th of July meal too. We had grilled kabobs, fruit salad with a yogurt dressing and corn bread. The corn bread was my splurge and it was soooooo yummy... it didn't even need butter.

They do the community fireworks right by her house, so we got to watch from her front yard... super nice to be able to avoid the crowds. The last two years I have been gone on the 4th, so it was lots of fun to watch The Boy One watching the fireworks. He used to be scared to death of them, but this year he was jumping up and down excited and hollering "BRAVO" at the top of his lungs between each burst.

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Monday has proven to be a most relaxing day. I finally finished planting my flowers for the back patio and the veggies are all in pots too. In the afternoon, I was in the car, on the way to the gym, and the weather was soooooo nice I couldn't stand the thought of being cooped up indoors. So... I went to one of the beaches in town and walked. It was a pretty short walk - about a mile - because I was sans-sunscreen... but I walked down on the rocky beach which is a way more intense workout for the legs than the boardwalk portion. It felt good to get out there. If the weatherman is right, we are headed for a stretch of awesome weather... which makes me itch for all the different beaches and trails... I can't wait! I'll just have to dash into the gym for some weight training. I just installed RunKeeper on my NEW phone, so that will be fun to use too!

Drazil says I must report on my trip to Victoria Secret... among other things... so I shall try to oblige her in my next post. Also, I know I have some awards that I've been terribly remiss in responding too... thank you so much for them... they mean more than you know...

Keeping my fingers crossed for a happy scale day...

Empty Cupboards...

Breed Disaster...

Attempting to get back into the swing of "normal" healthy eating today proved to be quite challenging... due to empty cupboards. Seriously, I don't know what happened around here... too much spur of the moment shopping and not enough planning I guess.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized this is a huge part of where I derail myself so often. I get so busy with "life" stuff that I don't take the time to plan and shop accordingly. Then, I get hungry and either grab some fragment of a healthy meal or - far worse - decide a quick drive into town and xyz drive-in is a good solution. Because we all know you shouldn't go to the grocery store hungry, right. This would probably be okayish if it was a rare occurrence, but it has seriously happened every day for the last two weeks with few exceptions. Yikes!!!!!

Seeing the error of my ways, I made a quick run to the grocery store (after eating Chinese food for lunch) and picked up enough staples to get us through until I can successfully plan a few days worth of meals and get to the commissary. In my temporarily enlightened state, I also came to the following conclusion regarding the eating habits of my friends... I am going to plan pack along meals for when I'm visiting there. They'll just have to understand. If they happen to make something I feel I can eat, then I will... but no more eating what they offer because I have no other choice at hand. Also, I think I will start inviting them to visit here - where I can be in charge of meals- more often.

Now for the question of the day... does anyone have a good low calorie/fat recipe for seafood alfredo? One of my friends that will be coming to stay for the holiday weekend is dying for me to make some for her. I have a splendid full fat recipe - which I would normally splurge and make for her - but I don't want to do that when I'm just trying to recover from this lapse in healthfulness.

Maybe the problem with June was that its the "hump month" of the year... just a thought...

Let's All STOP!

Before I get on to my post, I should report that the scale LOVED me today... to the tune of 4.2 pounds!!! Holy crapola I can hardly believe it... its rare, if ever, that I've seen that large a number. I stood staring at the scale having one of those moments of "how the heck did that happen? am I sick and don't know it?" Then I thought how different this past week was from the few previous and I calmed my not-so-little self down.


So the report for week one: I had a loss of 4.2 pounds, which brings me down to 194.4. My calories ranged from 1190-2500ish during the week. I had restaurant food on three days, but on the third day kept it within the calories of my planned meal. Exercise was a real struggle, which I wrote about yesterday. I got in a tad of cardio... I think about 3 miles walking is all; two core workouts and one general strength training workout.


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Okay, now on to what is really on my little mind... something that has been lurking for a few days and has gotten to the point where it is nagging at me the second my mind starts to wander to blogging.

Remember, last Thursday I took The Boy One to Applebees for his school fundraiser... and proceeded to add quesadillas and a margarita to my planned meal. I think that meal is where this thing began nagging at me. Since then, I've seen or heard several people in blogs, on FB or in text messages practically begging for forgiveness for little indulgences such as candy, chips, ice cream, an extra dollup of sour cream, etc. That night, as I was eating, I texted Melissa and told her I was committing "foodicide." Her response is something that I want to repeat to every person I hear or see admonishing themselves.


DON'T BEAT YOURSELF UP ABOUT IT!!!!!


She didn't shout it like that, but those were her exact words to me... and they are my words to you should you happen to have a few M&Ms, a little bag of chips, an extra piece of bread, a scoop of ice cream or whatever.


By now you probably know that my philosophy is to live a healthy lifestyle & lose weight in terms that I can sustain for the long haul... meaning its not going to be perfect from a nutritional standpoint and its not going to be so strict that I snap one day... meaning its going to have highs and lows... means its going to adjust within reason for the other areas of my life. This is why when I do a gym challenge, I increase my calorie intake so that I don't lose weight too rapidly... because I know that while I may push myself beyond my normal levels to finish a challenge its not something I can do day in/day out for the rest of my life.


When it comes to food, the same rules apply for me. I eat mostly nutritious, healthy things. I feed these same foods to my family. I know what is and isn't beneficial for my body. I also know that some things which are definitely not beneficial happen to be mighty tasty. I know that, for me, it is unreasonable to expect that I will never again eat a donut, fried cheese stick, croissant, etc. For most of us, we have spent a good portion of our lives eating foods that were not good for us, but we surely enjoyed the taste... and its probably not likely that we will never have them again. And being perfectly honest, there are certain foods that I feel are worth every minute I have to spend in the gym to compensate for them!


Instead of beating ourselves up over "giving in" to temptation or having a "slip up" by eating that ice cream cone, we can turn it into a positive and say something like "I choose to incorporate foods I truly enjoy into my plans." Or something like, "I can choose to eat anything I want... if I plan for it and if it is worth it to me use the calories that way."


I know there are people out there that have problems with binging and I recognize that a simple bite can lead to an all out binge for you... and for you I know its often better if you just stay totally away from certain foods. This I understand... and I commend you for having the mental fortitude to avoid foods that are triggers for you.


For the rest of us, though, I say....


Let's all STOP beating ourselves up over the occasional treat & remember that living a healthy lifestyle does NOT mean we have to be perfect with every morsel that passes our lips.


And even if you totally fall off the train for a day, remember this... its not what we do once in a while that is going to make or break us in our efforts; its what we do consistently - day after day - that will determine our success.


Plan for success!

Thursday's Trials...

Looks like I'm playing catch up again. This is my Thursday night post, coming along on Friday morning. Oh well...

Thursdays are therapy days for my son, so I always pick him up from school early to go to the appointments. Yesterday, his teacher asked if I could arrive a little early for a meeting. Meetings are never good at school right? Surprisingly, this one actually was... right up until the end. He's doing well for her & the best news of the meeting, she is going to come back for one more year specifically to work with him. Now the not good part - she told me that she has seen a "difference" in him since I started working. I asked what she meant, because I've noticed more of the "characteristics of an autistic child" in the last few weeks (but I didn't say that to her). She paused and said "I don't know how to put it, but he seems more autistic" and went on to describe the same behaviors I've seen an increase in at home. To me it just reaffirmed that I've made the right decision in staying home with him all of these years. But, what to do about the current job - I do plan to finish it out, since its only supposed to be another three weeks - but for the life of me I couldn't force myself to leave him home and go work last night.

In the spirit of watching grass grow and digging ditches I have a short story. Driving home from therapy yesterday I noticed this bird flying rather oddly - diving down like it wanted to land and then springing back up - repeatedly as we were approaching. Watching the bird - more than the road - I saw the cause of its dilemma. There was a huge bald eagle perched on top of a house... I suspect the bird feared for its life, lol. We see eagles here almost daily, but I think that's the first one I recall perched on a roof like that. Anyway...

The boy one's school partnered with Applebee's for a fundraiser last night. I promised we'd go, picked out my meal online before we went...


The Asiago Peppercorn Steak from their "Under 550" menu is actually 390 calories. Its really flavorful and just the right size meal. With this meal, I would be using one of my restaurant opportunities for the week, but would stay within my calorie range for a "typical" day.

Then this happened...


The boy one wanted quesadillas (dang the waitress for mentioning them)... so naturally I ate half the order. Holy crap... do you know these things have 90 grams of fat in a whole order??? Seriously? They look so puny & its chicken!!!

And if that wasn't bad enough, part way through the meal the best bartender on the planet arrived at work. Honestly, this girl makes the BEST margaritas I've ever had (and yes I've had plenty of them in plenty of different places). I swear I would kidnap her and make her live in my kitchen if she didn't have a baby at home that would miss her. Okay, not really, but I would so pay to have her as a personal bartender. So with her arrival I had to add this to my meal...

Really I HAD to! Her schedule almost never coincides with when we eat there anymore so I hadn't had one of her drinks in a LONG time.

All told, my dinner was over 1400 calories - a whole days worth of calories!!!

On the exercise front, my mystery pain has mostly subsided. I was able to do core & strength training yesterday. Yay!

Today I must squeeze yesterday's missed work in with today's... not to mention three bracelets that must get finished today and babysitting... I'd better get my tush moving, lol. Have a great Friday everyone!

I Wanna Run!!!!

Don't worry, I have no intention of changing what I write about or how I write it. You all cracked me up with suggestions of writing about grass & ditch digging, lol. I didn't have time to watch grass or dig any ditches today, but I saw an amazing sunset and beautiful rainbow on the way home tonight. :)

The highlight of today was my first ever trip to an actual "running store" for running shoes. If you're remotely in the local area Fairhaven Runners and Walkers in Bellingham is sooooo the place to go. They were super knowledgeable & the prices were pretty reasonable. Not only that, it was sort of a pampering experience... they do pretty much everything for you. Totally glad that I went there instead of trying to find something at a store where the employees know nothing about the products they're selling or how they relate to the feet you're putting the shoes on.

Now why did I buy running shoes?

Because I want to RUN!!!! Seriously, I can't believe I'm even saying that. I have NEVER been a runner. Remember I'm the girl that begged and pleaded her way out of physical education from the 7th grade on. Maybe I'm inspired by all of the people I've read about doing 5Ks lately. Maybe I just need a new challenge, something that will really push myself. Maybe its the awesome new trail that they just finished by our house. Whatever the reason, I can't wait to get out there. I just hope my body will hold up for me... remember back problems, knee problems, the nearly broken ankle...

Food was a nightmare today. Well, breakfast was good... but after that it all went downhill. And the really bad thing, I made a conscious choice to eat the foods I ate. Large lunch/dinner at the Olive Garden... followed by Cold Stone Creamery. I thoroughly enjoyed every bite. Won't be doing anything like that again for a long time. Enough said.

June 1st... the official kick off date for my personal "Deployment Challenge." I'm really excited to get it started. I've figured out the details, the rewards (mostly), a cool little motto... now if I could just come up with a nice little graphic or button. I'll be sharing all of the details in my next post. And just a heads up... if you're interested in participating in my latest round of craziness I would LOVE to have you join me for the ride. :)

I'm off to watch some grass grow or something... lol

How It All Fits...

Okay friends, I got an email yesterday questioning why I talk about so many things completely unrelated to weight loss/healthy lifestyle on my blog when that's what its supposed to be about. Here's the answer:

In my opinion (take it as you will), everything in our lives contributes to the struggles we face when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle and/or losing weight. Stress caused by jobs, spouses, children, friends, finances - whatever - it contributes... so its relevant. And my adventures in shopping, jewelry making, gardening - to name a few - those are things that distract me from obsessing over food/fitness... so they too are relevant.

Saturday, I might as well confess now turned into a bit of a "shopping frenzy."

I got up bright & early to go order my furniture.... and ended up purchasing something else entirely. They were having a super good sale & I was able to get a sofa, chair and ottoman for the price of just the sofa from the other set. One more chair and the seating area for the room will be complete. Everything gets delivered Wednesday & I'm super excited.

Next stop, the jewelry counter... where yes, I cancelled the layaway. When she pulled them out for me to look at (to be sure), I knew I was doing the right thing. It will mean so much more to get them when I'm finally where I wanna be.

I used part of the money they refunded to get this little beauty...

Do you get the idea I love all things Coach by now? LOL. Seriously though, I chose this little beauty for a few reasons. First, I've been wishing for a pink watch for awhile now (though it seemed frivolous to spend the money for something that would only go with a handful of outfits). Second, it is bangle style & prior to losing 50 pounds it NEVER would have fit on my wrist (even with the extender piece). Reason number three, it has silver hearts... which will serve as a reminder to love myself enough every day to make good choices for my body. The last key factor was the price - we know I love a good bargain. The suggested retail on it was right around $400 & after all of their good discounts for the holiday weekend, I got it for $150! There are a few advantages to being able to shop on base. :)

Before I was done for the day, I had also purchased one Vitamix blender, one Kitchenaid Chef's Chopper (which will fill in til I replace my food processor) and a new DS game for the boy one. The chopper was a display model that they replaced for a non-dusty one (and sold the "old" one at way less than half price). Well, the blender is on layaway & he used his birthday money for most of the game... but still it was a BIG shopping day.

Food victories of the weekend - I resisted Krispy Kreme donuts that were being sold outside of Walmart as a fundraiser & I made it through the snack aisle of the commissary without caving in. Oh, and my friend DiAnne made these scrumptious peanut butter cookies last night...

3 1/2 dozen of them! I admit I ate four of them last night and have had my share today. But, I also took a dozen to the people at the furniture store & there are still at least another dozen left... so I'm not literally inhaling them. I swear to you these are the best peanut butter cookies on the planet... the fact that there are any left at all is a miracle.

Here is my big dinner treat tonight... and its actually healthy, lol.

Copper River Salmon.... YUMMY! At $20/lb I just got a small piece... but it was like heaven & I savored every morsel.

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend... and please take a minute (or more) to remember the meaning of Memorial Day...

Something Long Overdue

If you've been reading for awhile you might remember my post about the "outfit in the window". Two long months after purchasing it, I finally have the picture that some of you insisted I must share. Pretty sure this is the first pic I've posted since I changed my hair color & I know its the first pic since Around the World ended. Please ignore the pasty white legs, lol.

I actually wore it on Mother's Day/my son's birthday... but finally got the picture uploaded tonight.

Why did I wait so long to wear the outfit? Well first I had to find the shoes... which actually was easy (they were already "hiding" in my closet). Then, I had to wait for warm enough weather... which turned out to be a long wait here in western Washington. Particularly here on the island, where even when its sunny the wind still tends to blow.

The debate over what to do with my "fun" money from my first paycheck is still ongoing. I actually ended up using the money to buy stuff for kids group... so I'm waiting to be reimbursed before I can use the money for myself. I'm torn between a spa treatment at this hotel I've been dying to go to for years or something like the spendy sunglasses I've been eyeing (but don't really want to spend The Husband's money on)... decisions I tell ya... but considering my Mother's Day experience, I'm tempted to do both, lol.

Ohhhh.... look what I finally got....

My reward to myself for finishing Around the World!!! They finally got another one in stock. Its actually sitting on layaway - just til we're sure The Husband has everything he needs for deployment - along with a little swing pack that matches it. :)

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Day one of food/activity journaling went okay... Food wasn't the best; but I wrote it all down & I talked myself out of hitting the Starbucks drive-thru when I was in town. Activity was non-existent. I had planned to go for a long walk in the evening... but we got news of a serious financial setback and I ended up in a ball of tears instead. Sigh.

Wait... can crying count as physical activity? Probably not, but I'm tellin ya my abs are screaming at me after all the tears, lol.

The Gym Sandwich

How does one make a gym sandwich?

Start the day with nearly two hours at the gym.

Spend the entire afternoon at the carnival & street fair.

End the day with another 1.25 hours at the gym.

There you have it... one gym sandwich. :)


For everyone who gave me permission to quit after my last post, I'm glad you were so concerned for my well-being and I appreciate it, however I have to say thanks... but no thanks! I've come way too far to stop now. Whatever seems to have caused my body's meltdown on Saturday seems to have passed... I was totally fine today.

The StairMaster is DONE!!! Yay!!!!! 200 floors today... so I actually finished with 2107 floors! While we were at the carnival, we had to walk up a flight of stairs to get to the food/shopping area... and OMG, I thought my legs were going to fall off by the time we got to the top.

I managed to knock out another 4.5 miles on the treadmill in my second visit to the gym. At beginning, I was thinking I might end up hurling after all the crap food I ate at the carnival... but it was okay once I got going. And no, I didn't eat that much crap food... just ate it fairly close to when I went back to the gym.

There I was, trotting along on the treadmill... and everything came to a crashing halt... the power went out (I guess in the whole town). Its a good thing I was walking; the lady a few machines down was running & she crashed into the front of her treadmill. It was a short outage & I was able to finish up with no problem.

So for the final day... I have 8 miles on the treadmill & 36 free weight sets. Is it weird that those numbers seem easy to me?


The carnival was lots of fun. We let the boy one have a wristband and he amused himself on rides for a couple hours. The food was wonderful... I ended up skipping the corn dog. This BBQ place had a long line... which around here we assume to be a sign of good food. I had a BBQ Baked Potato topped with cheese, sour cream & beef brisket. Not sure how it compares calorie wise to the corn dog - but I can tell you with total honesty it was some of the best food I've ever had in my life! And because I planned for an indulgence today... I was able to fully enjoy it without so much as a smidgen of guilt or anxiety. :)

I'm off to get some rest... the next time you hear from me I will have successfully completed the Around the World Challenge for the second consecutive year!!!

What do you have planned for this final week of April? Will you reach your goals for the month?

Dear Accidental Fat Chick

Dear Accidental Fat Chick,



You asked me to cooperate with your demands for three more days. I grimaced & unwillingly agreed with this request. Now, you have the nerve to tell me I must perform for a fourth day!!! Who do you think you are? Why do you not understand the warning signs I'm sending your way?



Today alone I gave the following "hints" that I'm ready to call it quits:

• Muscle fatigue


• Aching in my knees


• Aching in my hip


• Sharp pain in my thigh


• My total inability to keep my heart rate in a productive zone


• Abdominal pain that keeps on going like the Energizer bunny


• Unquenchable thirst (three times the "normal" water while you subjected me to the StairMaster)

And now, at this late hour, I am presenting you with terrible back pain... hoping (though I suspect in vain) that you'll take the hint & give me a good LONG rest.

Your demands are unreasonable & I'm sure they must break some rule in the proper care and treatment of the human body! I am sick & tired of being treated this way!! Let this be your notice, I'm not gonna take it anymore!!! You can't make me!!!

- Your Body

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I swear to you... every part of my body is ready to quit - to be done - to throw in the towel. Today's gym experience was the kind I haven't had in months - and not in a good way. I started out with free weights, which were okay. Moving on to the StairMaster, I immediately had problems. Within the first 30 minutes I had to stop the machine to catch my breath. Throughout the whole time I was sweating way more than normal, couldn't regulate my heart rate for the life of me & drank about three times as much water as I usually do on it. It was so bad that I was stopping every 15 minutes & then when I'd start again it would take every bit of my strength to keep on going. At 250 floors... I called it a day. Its very disappointing because I had lots of available time to get stuff done there today & my body just wouldn't cooperate at all.

We put off going to the carnival (my corn dog experience) until Sunday. The weather is supposed to be better. It should also be a little less crowded. Saturday is always a crazy busy day there because it starts with a parade in the morning & people seem to hang around for hours after.

We did do a quick walk through the street fair part of the event. There were so many tempting things that I managed to resist purchasing... though it seemed like selection is way down from last year. I did buy a hat - which is way out of character for me - but I really liked it. For food, I had bbq chicken on a stick, 2 small pieces of lumpia, and 1/2 an elephant ear with cinnamon & sugar.

We're having a late dinner of shrimp, baked potatoes & zucchini... I want brown rice instead of the potato, but I'm too tired & hungry to wait for it to cook.

Time to go cook... but first... a special thanks to Melissa for keeping me company while I'm at the gym. Text messages are a great thing! :)

She's Gone & Done It Now!

All of you lovelies who told me to come here when my Mom was driving me nuts... you're in for a "treat" because here I am. And its not a pretty visit. She has seriously gone & done it. I am just seething inside - and that's after running my mouth (just a tad) and kicking my butt for 2 1/2 hours at the gym.





Remember we all agreed that I'm going on business as usual around here - well it seems that decision will be a source of discontent. We were watching Dr. Oz & he was giving the food comparisons for different meals at Mexican, Italian, Chinese, etc. When he gave the calorie count for french toast, she went on tangent number one of the day. She literally said that she can't wait to be dead so she doesn't have to worry about food anymore! Worse yet, she said it within the hearing of my son!!! OMG, I wanted to slap her!!! And, no I would never slap her... but good grief why on earth does she think its okay to say things like that? And why would you ever say something like that where a child can hear it? She clearly has no clue the impact of hearing things like that can have on a person. This isn't the first time she's said something similar... but the most blatant. Somehow, by the grace of God, I managed to keep my cool on the outside... while SCREAMING loudly inside.





After that unpleasantness I got myself ready & headed to the gym. Walking through the door I was wishing for a punching bag, lol. My workout today consisted of 160 floors on the StairMaster, a mile on the elliptical and 10 miles on the bike. I wanted to do more... but I just didn't have the energy to keep on for some reason. I burned 1,155 calories...so not bad.





A quick stop at the grocery store and I came home to make these yummy chicken fajitas for dinner.

Guess what? She complained about the fajitas... because... they were messy!

Oh and she HATES all things chicken, unless its rolled in flour & fried. Considering the fact that my menu is chicken, chicken, chicken, shrimp, chicken, chicken and chicken until further notice... she's gonna have plenty to complain about.

Here comes tangent number two (or three if we count the chicken/fajita comments as a tangent) of the day. I was watching (ok more listening to) Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution while I was cleaning up from dinner. I made a comment about the "poor girl on there probably weighing 300 pounds or more" and her immediate response was "well then she doesn't have the right to a good life!" STOP right there because that's where I couldn't bite my tongue another second. At my objection, she insisted that she had heard people saying things like that on some talk show recently, which she may have... I don't know what she watches. The thing is & what I said that I probably shouldn't have was that she lives her life in a manner that says she believes that. Everything about the way she lives says "I'm fat so I don't have the right to a good life." Me saying that had her in tears... and I feel bad for making her cry... I just couldn't hold it in... I'd had all I could take.





Sorry for all the venting... but really you guys are all I have right now because I don't dare share this with The Husband... he'd probably really let her have it & I'm TRYING to maintain the peace around here. Thanks for "listening" to me, you're the best! I promise I have a positive, upbeat "thankful" post coming SOON!



Hope you all have an awesome weekend! :)

Day One is Over

Thank you for all of the supportive comments about my Mom's visit. You guys are the best!

Day one is in the books & I survived. She had one minor meltdown when I mentioned the nutritional content of the ice cream cones from Dairy Queen (yes we had these today, it was my son's treat day after his therapy so planned in my week)... something about how the only thing you can eat - that's good for you - is raw fruits & vegetables... I sort of tuned her out. We're just going about our normal routine, not making a big deal out of things & not making concessions or compromising the way we live... which I think irritates her some. Despite her sitting with her Doritos & scads of sugar free chocolate, I did a really good job staying on track with my food for the day. 1426 calories total... including the ice cream!

The gym and I had two meetings today... sometimes I even surprise myself, lol. Round one lasted for about 90 minutes. I did 3.6 miles on the treadmill, 35 floors on the stairmaster & 20 sets on the circuit machines. My pace was slow on the treadmill - oh how I detest that machine! - and the only reason I managed to stay on it for a whole hour was that one of my friends was in the audience on The Price is Right, so I was trying to spot him. Whatever works. Round two was a solid hour - 115 floors on the stairmaster & 3.5 miles on the bike. I burned 975 calories in round one & 677 calories in round two - 1652 for the day! Splitting it into two sessions like that really cuts down on the fatigue, wish I could do it that way more often. Still, I'm starting to feel anxious about the gym challenge (more on that after I've had some sleep lol).

Just for fun... while we were doing our late Egg Hunt at kids group last night, we remembered a picture that was taken of me last year and attempted to recreate it for comparison. 2009 on the left & this year on the right.

What do ya think? Is there a noticeable difference?

We Didn't Even Make It Home...

before she insisted on stopping for food. It seems that she failed to eat a proper dinner & had to have food so she could take her medicine. So naturally we were supposed to stop at McDonald's for her to get a meal... because yeah that's the first place I'd go if I were hungry & needed to take medicine. I refused to go to McDonalds, but agreed to AM PM... not much better; but there are no fries there & you can at least add fresh veggies to your burger.

When we pulled into the "lovely" AM PM parking lot, I insisted on going in by myself, figuring that if she went in she would add to the "meal." I picked up a single cheeseburger for her and loaded it with veggies & mustard. For myself, I did get a corn dog... which was a thousand times better tasting than that nasty hot dog from the other day; not the best choice but surprisingly under 300 calories.

Next stop was the pharmacy for her to pick up her meds before we headed up here. Finally we were on the road, driving toward home. She chows down her cheeseburger in the span of about five minutes - which is being generous - I seriously think she may have inhaled parts of it. Then... OMG... you wouldn't believe what comes next. She starts digging in her bag from the pharmacy and out comes a bag of - you guessed it - Nacho Cheese Doritos. I'm not even kidding. Ding, Ding, Ding... I'm the winner! Husband is gonna have to pay up now; I should have bet him something worthwhile, lol.

That was the adventure home. And now... guess where she is? On my couch... sound asleep. Oh well, at least its quiet & I can blog. :)

Thursday's plan: Put child on bus, breakfast, go to gym, lunch, pick child up from school, take husband to work, take child to therapy, round two of the gym, dinner, laundry... relax or fall face first into bed. Of course all of that is with a smattering of blogging thrown in... because lets face it I need all the moral support I can get at this point. This is gonna be a LONG seven days, but...

Mama Pimp is right - I am IN CONTROL!!!

Home Sweet Home

Help me please! Wasn't I supposed to come home on Friday? Why then did it take until 7pm Saturday to get here? Hmmm... could it be the weatherman that predicted blizzard-like conditions on the mountain pass for Friday? Why yes, he gets some of the blame... but in his defense he did amend his forecast & report that the pass wasn't THAT bad after all. Moving on... could it be The Husband who chose to go off with his cousin, not answer his phone & walk into his Auntie's house stumbling drunk? Yep, he gets some of the credit too... but in his defense he was too drunk for it to have made a difference by the time the weatherman changed his tune. So yeah, we stayed over an extra day and I don't even want to say what I ate in that extra day... it was BAD, BAD, BAD. :( I cannot wait to get back to my routine & the gym (its crazy how much I miss it). Still have to face scale day & see how much these days hurt my progress... sigh.

We had to get on the road bright & early so that we could get to my nephew's wedding. The drive started out rather promising...

Down the road about an hour we saw this...

And they weren't joking about the snow & slush....

What they forgot to mention was that the advisory was going to change and start requiring traction tires - something we don't have - while we were midway across the pass. The road was miserable... but at least the snow and wind were mild when we crossed. Gawd, I miss 4-wheel drive!

Despite the slow moving across the pass we made it to the wedding... with about five minutes to spare.





It was a totally casual affair... though it was actually in a Church (I almost fell over when I got the invitation listing a Church, lol). Very thankful for that since my "wedding attire" was 90 minutes away and there was definitely NO time to go home for it.

The wedding happened to take place just a few blocks from a Trader Joe's, so being the smart girl that I pretend to be at times... I did a little shopping before heading for home. Oh & a quick stop at Ross produced what will hopefully become the replacement pants for my favorite ones. I'll share pics of the loot tomorrow... right now I have to go play Easter Bunny & then fall into bed.

I am one tired Mama tonight... long, long day... but soooooo glad to be home!

No Foolin Here...

Ladies & gentlemen (wait, do I have any guy readers??? lol), I have no time for the pranks of April Fools today... so I swear everything you are about to read is the honest to goodness truth... fortunate or unfortunate as it may be.

Remember the dinner I was going to try not to eat too much of last night? Here's my plate...

Let's just say that my plan to eat a small meal went a bit awry. I had one small spoonful of the casserole after this. Hopefully the fact that I substituted a banana for the bread & butter that everyone else ate with their meal counts for something.

And about that chicken I was looking so forward to at the casino... I ordered it, they cooked it fresh and I was excited to sit down with it - 7 "flamin' wings" - at the only remaining table in the cafe area. *Insert here that I attempted to take a pic of them, but the 300+ pound security guy that came to yell at me for using a camera in the casino was less than helpful.* The first bite, of the first wing, was luscious - spicy with just the right amount of heat - and juicy. The first three were fairly tasty. On wing #4 the trouble began. There was such a thick layer of fat between the skin & the meat that I could NOT force myself to take a second bite. Wings #5 & #6 same story! Gross, disgusting, wretched nastiness! By wing #7 I gave up & was literally picking the flavored coating off the last piece - being careful not to get any of the nasty skin. And if that wasn't bad enough, when I got up and started walking around the casino, I had the WORST stomach ache I've had in ages. Lesson learned - NO MORE WINGS AT THE CASINO!!!

And while we're on the subject of the casino. I FAILED to make my regular donation! That's right, I actually left the building with more money than I took. Not a lot more - but a little - plus I bought food there. This is one time when it felt pretty darn good to fail, lol.

As I type, I am waiting for the rest of the family to assemble themselves so we can head off to dinner - at the freakin BUFFET! Honestly, I swear I will be lucky not to undo all of last weeks progress & then some at this rate. The good news is I knew what was going on for dinner ahead of time, so I had this for breakfast...

One grapefruit with 1/2 whole wheat bagel & a scant 1 tablespoon of reduced-fat peanut butter. 310 calories... and way satisfying. Plus, I've eaten a small portion of the leftover casserole from last night, which is actually pretty low calorie other than the rice since she used 96% lean ground beef, so I won't be famished when we get to the buffet (that's if we get to go sometime before now & next year).

We spent the afternoon visiting some local antique stores... and I've got to tell ya I never knew before today that its possible to pile on the calories while shopping for things older than dirt. Every store we went to had out trays of cookies and/or candy - free for their "valued" customers. Its embarrassing to report - but I had four huge malted milk balls (they were the best I've ever tasted) and five freakin cookies (not even homemade yummy cookies, but store bought sandwich cookies). Even more embarrassing that was pretty much what ended up being for lunch too! Ugh, I can't remember when the last time was I had that much sugar in a single day, much less an afternoon.

Even after all of that, I'm looking forward to the buffet tonight. I will follow my rules & it will be fine. They have awesome food & I know in advance what is worth using calories for. And the best part, I can steer clear of anything known as "beef." I swear its like I've had a "cow relapse" or something - going from eating beef maybe once a week to having had it (omg, wait while I try to count here) four times in a 48 hour period. The Husband has been "dying" for a good steak... I think his wait just got extended by a nice long period of time. Maybe that will be his farewell dinner before he goes on deployment, lol.

One "yay me" event of this trip: I have not had a single chip the whole time! Normally not a big achievement because I don't eat chips that often. But, they are everwhere here. The Husband ate them on the way here, they have bags sitting on top of the fridge beckoning, they pull them out at lunch or for snacks in the afternoon... and though they are right there mere inches from my fingers (and my nose) I do not reach for them. I am strong. I will not bend on this... small & insignificant as it may be. Now those addictively tasty pepper jack cheese sticks in the fridge are an entirely different ball of wax - or should I say artery hardening dairy product?!?

I'm gonna try to catch up on some blogs while these SLOW people are finishing getting ready, lol. I'll be back later with my April lifestyle goals & to take care of an award I received... hopefully tonight.

What surprising places have you found mounds of goodies free for the purpose of widening your arse? I must know so I can avoid them in the future, lol!