Happy New Year

Happy New Year! And yes the year is still new. It's still January for another week (at least). The past couple of months that I haven't been posting is because I have been busy. I worked at Hobby Lobby for all of three weeks before I had to quit. The store manager at the store that I was working at was not helpful in how he made the schedule for people to know when they were to work the following week.

Now I'm working at a pretty active job as a cashier/bagger. The days can feel long while working there but my Active Link is showing that I am really banking the Activity Points. Bad thing is I haven't been following the plan for Weight Watchers with either the Points Plus or Simply Filling. My weight loss chart shows this too.

I obviously need to get back on track and start following one of the plans. Hopefully in the near future (i.e. the next two months) I will be finally moving out. People say that divorce is the best weight loss plan out there, but so far it hasn't been. I started working at my grocery store the last day of November last year. I really want these Activity Points to be put to good use.

I want to start doing the Simple Start/Simply Filling starting tomorrow. I do believe that I have all of the stuff I might actually need (at least for a day or two).

Couponing is also going to be a big focus for me this next year considering I'll be on one income. I just hope that I'll be able to stick to losing when I have to save money.

Do you have any money saving tips while trying to lose weight?

Dolls, Dolls, and More Dolls! And an Update

This last week has been mentally very busy for me. I've been thinking about all of the different ways that I might be able to make some kind of income regardless of what I might end up doing as a day job. I just have this feeling like I'm going to have to do something else. I know that whatever I might end up doing myself I'm going to have to like it as a hobby at the very least.

I know that I already enjoy to crochet and to knit. I also wanted to try my hand at making doll clothes a while back too. These doll clothes could be crochet, knitted, or even sewn. Anyway I look at it I could do anyone of these things. And since I also have a bit of a background in jewelry making I could also make jewelry for the dolls too.

I didn't realize just how many different types of dolls are popular now days. I also didn't realize just how much people are willing to spend on a doll. I already knew of American Girl dolls that are 18 inches tall. I knew that Cabbage Patch dolls are also kind of making a come back. Then there is a whole other world of ball jointed dolls like Blythe Dolls and Monster High Dolls.

The Blythe Dolls have really caught my eye! I'm going to have to save up some money so that I can own one for a model of clothes and jewelry at least. Maybe they can be the next set of dolls that I work my way into.

As for the update this coming weekend is a job fair! I'm hoping to see if there are any employers that would be interested in having me. Then next week I am going to press on and start doing more Simply Filling meals to get me back on track. It's sad I started a Diet Bet and I've been ignoring my diet!

Talk to you more soon!

Simply Filling Week 2

The second week of me doing Simply Filling Technique didn't quite yield the results that I hoped for. But at the same time I knew that there would be a gain no matter what I tried. This last week was stressful with it being more than just myself at home.

I found myself eating out of comfort. I felt like the only way that I would feel better was for me to have something in my mouth. I tried to eat only things that were Simply Filling even if I was eating. That was probably my only saving grace. My gain wasn't a
terrible one. I only gained 0.8 this last week.

As you can see from my weight chart up there I need change. I need something to boost me onward to greatness. I am tired of looking at that 10% goal line. This weight chart is from when I first started at Weight Watchers until now. So 2 years worth of weigh ins. There was a whole year there in the middle that my life got in the way. THE ONLY REASON that I am not back up to my start weight or beyond was that I kept going to the meetings and half trying to stick to program. Weight Watchers works. I'm going to stick with it until the end. I am going to be a lifetime member.

I am going to try out a couple of new recipes this coming week and I'll post them as I try them. There is a Crock Pot Salsa Chicken that looks good that I can make sure is SFT and I'll let you know how it works out!

I also signed up for a Diet Bet so I'm hoping that it helps me stick to my goal. I'm going to have to lose 4% of my weight in the next 4 weeks. Maybe since I've got money on the line it will motivate me even more.

Have any of you ever done a Diet Bet where you put your money in a pot to reach a goal weight by the end?

Simply Filling Bread

Today I thought that I would make some Simply Filling Technique friendly bread. I did it this afternoon an oh wow. Some good stuff right there. :)

Now as far as cooking and baking goes I'm kind of a newbie at it. I remember a few things from Home Ec. But not much. I don't remember my mom making bread at all growing up, but when it came to other baked goods like cookies, cake, and other yummy things from the oven, those were plentiful.

Alright. So here is the recipe that I found on the internet on 3fatchicks.com

• 1& 2/3rds cup of warm water
• 2 tsp of salt
• 4 cups (650 g) of Cream of Wheat (farina/semolina)
• 1 tsp sugar (There are no points in 1 tsp of sugar FYI)
• 2 tsp of yeast

Put all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. Slowly add water (because sometimes the cream of wheat absorbs it more than others so you might not need all of it. When I made it I did need it).

Knead it for 10 minutes. Divide into rolls, loaves, etc. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place until they have doubled in size.

For loaves place in the middle of a preheated 450F oven for 30 - 35 minutes. Cool on wire tray.

Instead of regular sugar I used brown sugar because I didn't have any real white sugar at home (and I didn't want to buy a whole new box of sugar). I put all of the dry ingredients in my Kitchen Aid mixer and mixed them up. Then I took the water and slowly poured it in while the mixer kneaded it with the bread hook. I let it go for 10 minutes. Another thing I didn't do was cover it while the bread rose on the cookie sheet. I was able to make 2 loaves of bread with this recipe. Next time maybe I'll have bread pans to put the dough in.

Making this bread was a lot of fun.

Have you tried making bread before? Was it a reduced calorie or a Weight Watchers friendly recipe?

Simply Filling Chicken Fried Rice

I had a great week doing the Simply Filling Technique last week. I lost 2.6! Don't get me wrong there were times when I was wondering if I was going to be able to make it through the whole week but I managed to pull it off. I am going to continue with it this next week.

I tried some recipes that I hadn't before this past week too. The one didn't turn out half bad for me but one of them didn't agree with me. Though it might agree with you. The first one I did was a "mock" Chicken Fried Rice!

I didn't use that many ingredients this time around and I'll probably tweak it a bit the next time I make it. I used the following:

1 Bag of Steam in Bag Brown Rice (Publix Brand)
1 Bag of Steam in Bag Mixed Vegetables (Publix Brand)
2 5oz Weight Watchers Frozen Chicken Breasts (You can use what chicken you have on hand)
1/3 cup of Better Than Eggs egg subsitute
A couple of sprays of Pam
A couple of shakes of Low-Sodium Soy Sauce

I went about putting it all together the hard way (Is what my mom told me. Love you Mom!). I put the chicken breasts in the oven to cook for 35 minutes, when they come out I diced them.
As the chicken was coming towards the end of time to cook I steamed the brown rice and the veggies together. In a wok I sprayed it with Pam and then cooked the egg. Then mixed the veggies and rice in with the egg. When the chicken was diced I put it in with the rest then seasoned it to taste.

The next time I make it I will be using sesame oil, and some teriyaki sauce. Those might get it to closer to the flavor that I was looking for. It was filling and I was able to keep some for leftovers! :)

The other recipe that I thought that I would try that ended up with me having terrible heartburn was a Frozen Banana ice cream. I won't even go there with how I made it because I'm afraid of just thinking about it for too long will bring the heartburn back. I guess I'm just allergic to bananas and won't be eating them again because there wasn't anything in the ice cream but frozen pureed banana!

In any case thanks for following along. If you try making the Fried Rice let me know how yours turned out!

Simply Filling Day 3

I'm doing a good job so far. At least I believe I am. We'll have to see what the scale brings next Saturday but I feel like I'm doing okay.

I've been kind of shocked at all of the things that are actually power foods. Today after Church my family and I went to a Mexican restaurant. This was not planned on my part but should have been. I have my staple few dishes that I like to eat there so I didn't know what I should actually eat, because everything on that menu that I would have normally eaten I would have had to count the points because things are oozing with cheese and grease.

Today I looked in the salad section for the first time. I actually ordered from there. I got the 2 Pesos Salad with chicken. This is basically a giant plate of fajitas minus the tortilla shells. Oh man was it sooo good. Mixed lettuce, chicken, sliced green peppers, sauted onion, black beans, pico de giao, sour cream, guacamole, very light white cheese, and (what tasted like to me anyways) a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Mmmm wow! I counted the sour cream, guac, butter (that cooked the chicken and veggies from the fajitas) and cheese for about 11 points. Best salad ever!

Now like I was saying before this salad was huge, and I am doing Simply Filling so there was not a chance in the world that I actually finished this whole thing. I wanted to eat it all because it was awesome, but I listened to my body's signals and stopped when it told me to.

I was able to get my activity goal done for the day too. So at least I got 1 AP today.

I'm starting to go through my house and pack things and get things that go with a "set" together so I can start putting them in boxes. At least I am feeling the packing bug. I know I have to go through so much stuff to get rid of because I have a feeling that I'm going to be moving into an apartment for a little bit of time in the least. I don't want to but I'm going to have to pull in some serious cash if I'm going to move into a house. I just don't know how people do it.

I have been looking for a job lately (because I'm without right now) and in order to move into my own place I'm going to have to have at least $15/hr to start to feel comfortable. I'll have to scrape even then to save money for retirement. I didn't used to have to worry about that because I was making close to $30/hr before I quit to be a stay at home mom. Now that I've been out of the job market for more than 3 years I'm going to have to pray for an awesome job to come to me. Pray for me or send good thoughts my way if you would!

Here's to another good day ahead. <3

My Second Simply Filling Day

I walked a ton!

Today was a good day. I started out my day with my Weight Watchers meeting and found that I had lost most of the weight that I had accumulated in the week previous. Which was very nice. I knew that most of my gain was water retention and I wasn't that worried about it.

I had an Fuji apple for breakfast with a 16oz bottle of water flavored with Crystal Light. My day continued with no points used of my 49. I am already planning for tomorrow and what I'll be eating then too.

I have been jonesing for some spaghetti so I grabbed some whole grain/wheat thin spaghetti noodles and some plain tomato sauce and paste. I'll add my own flavoring tomorrow while I mix it up. I'll probably stop tomorrow after church and get some ground beef to go in the sauce too. 

I did a lot of walking today. I went to the mall to see if I could find myself another pair of shoes for the job that I will eventually have (no luck there), then kept walking a lap. Then I stopped and grabbed some new tea at Teavana (Moroccan Mint is very yummy by the way). Later this evening I went to Walmart to walk around and get organization ideas and to see how much I could figure I would be spending. I have to know what kind of house and space I'll have before I can even fathom buying any of this stuff though. In any case it helped me get some more movement in.

Here's to another good day tomorrow!

Starting to Do the Simply Filling Technique

I have been going to Weight Watchers for going on two years now (at least this time around) and I have been disappointed with myself. I have lost weight but with the stresses that have been in my life I haven't stuck to plan like I should have. I find myself making excuses and justifying to myself that I deserve some type of food item that I don't need.

I started back on September 10th, 2011. I weighed in at 224.8 pounds. I'm not ashamed to say it, because I never want to be there again. Ever. Last week I weighed in at 202 pounds. I totally destroyed my downward trend that started earlier this summer. I was in it to win. Then all hell broke loose. Now I'm looking at that 202 and I'm upset that I let it get that far.

I went up 4.4 pounds from the week before. It has taken most of this week for me to become totally disgusted with this fact. Because at the beginning of the week I was making excuses of "Well I had Chinese on Thursday (my weigh in is on Saturday mornings)." There were other excuses. People have started making excuses for me. That is the crazy part.

Okay so since I'm having a hard time keeping track of what I'm eating and I'm feeling restricted (which is stupid because you can eat anything you want on Weight Watchers Points+) I have decided that I am going to use the Weight Watchers' Simply Filling Technique. This Technique is exactly how it sounds. You eat until you're satisfied and you eat your 8 healthy guidelines. Very little processed foods at all.

The guidelines in no particular order are: 1) Drink 6 8oz. glasses of fluids (non-alcoholic), 2) Get 2 servings of low-fat or fat-free dairy, 3) Get 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day, 4) Take a multi-vitamin, 5) Get in 2 tsp of healthy oils a day, 6) Get 30 minutes of activity a day, 7) Eat whole grains instead of white when you can, and 8) Eat lean protein.

To be healthy adults and kids even we should be following these steps anyway. They are essentially the food pyramid that we were all taught in school. It is do able. You just gotta do it. Plan it. Do it. Perfect Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

I know that today is Friday and the last day of my week. I get that. I started a day "early." Why not start when it's the day I weigh in right? Well the other mantra is you can always change what you eat as soon as the next meal. You make your own choices.

Last night I planned as much as I usually do and I went to the grocery store. I spent quite a bit of money on fruits and veggies. I am sticking to this. No veggie or piece of fruit will get left behind. They are expensive and I'm going to get my moneys worth.

I'm sure that when I go to weigh in tomorrow morning I'll probably see another gain. I half don't even want to be told if I lost or gained because it's the past and it's behind me there is nothing I can do about it now.

I'm doing the Simply Filling Technique, and I am going to lose!

Also I still have items up for sale on eBay you might want to check out. Right now I have books and DVDs that I don't want to have to move. Next items to go up will be baby clothes.