Down 2 ...

Well down 20 pounds and 2 pant sizes ... but man my body has been fighting back with a vengeance. I have been so hungry the last few days. Normally the food I take in I am totally fine on, but not the last few days my stomach has been roaring like a lion. I been doing my best to stay under calories, and drink more to fill my belly but boy it hasn't been easy. I know it is likely a normal response from my body going, "Hey you are losing fat fast, we need that stuff. Eat More!" It will get over it. I just need to stick to it. Saving my cheat day this week for Thanksgiving. I hope to get back to exercising soon too. I had hurt my knee a few weeks back and it is just now starting to feel normal again. So that may help too. I will not let the fat consume me! Have a Happy Holiday!

Working my butt off...

So I seem to be working my butt off, both literally and figuratively. Literally I am down 20 pounds and still moving. Figuratively, I have work 40 hours a week, two kids under 5 to take care of and a part time student so fit in time to study, take tests, do homework etc. Factor in time to take care of the home or myself and man where does all the time go. I just been feeling stressed lately about all the crap I need to get in line. Why did I wait till my late 20's, early 30's to get my life in order... really I feel like I am always playing catch up. Well back to work... thanks for reading...

-Anna

Plateau number two ...

stuck in the mud again, but finally today 0.2 pounds down. It isn't much but at least it is something. I was actually a bit surprised to be down. I ate bad yesterday but we did go out walking around the Army heritage course and Gettysburg, PA for a few hours. Maybe that was all I needed was a little walk. My knees been bugging me so it has been hard to walk lately but doing what I can. As long as I keep moving down, even 0.2 pounds at a time, it all adds up in the end.

mini goals

So I am a pound away from my mini-goal-1... 20 pounds ... Hopefully in the next few days I'll hit it. It be nice to reach a mini goal. I can really start to see a change in my face and legs mostly. I mean don't get me wrong I am still way fatter then I need to be but it's nice to see a visual change. I twisted my knee the other day and I have been having to take it easy and stay off of it. With as big as I am I am surprised I haven't had more issues with my knees really. I just really need to get back in shape ... for me...

When you get sick ...

So I have kids, and kids we;; they are like germ warfare in your own home... so Nicholas comes home from Gymnastics and wee... the entire family gets a cold the next day... funny how that works. I have to say when I was sick I really could care less about how I was eating. My calorie counting went out the window for those few days, but glad to say i didn't go crazy either I just didn't care...lol It's hard for holidays, special days, etc to eat well. I had a Birthday part to go to a state away last weekend and I still only went over by a hundred calories or so. Here is how I look at it. As long as I am eating well most of the time the few days I am not feeling well, or have special days like Birthday parties or Holiday meals aren't going to drastically impact my success. Life is about balance so if you are feeling like you are going to tip over give yourself a break and balance out.

fluids...

Okay does anyone else have trouble drinking enough fluids... if I was left to my own devices I would likely drink 16, maybe 32 oz in a day, at best. I just don't get that thirsty. So I find it a real struggle at times to drink my eight 8oz glasses. What I been doing is making 2, 33.8oz bottles of sugar free lemon-aid and drinking that. It really is a struggle. So why do I need that much liquid if I am not thirty at all. I do feel better and tend to eat less when I drink more so that is helpful. I just don't know why I hate drinking so much...lol

Plateau ...

So the plateau has to be the hardest thing in dieting to over come. You are losing going along great, progress, and then POW, it stops, you haven't stopped watching what you eat. You aren't doing any less than before but the progress stops. What a frustrating feeling. I know plateaus are a normal process of the body's while losing weight and yet it is no less frustrating to me. Makes you feel like you are stuck in the mud just spinning your wheels.

being fat...

Being fat is kind of like being stuck in another persons body and in some ways literally. It's like you have all the fat, but none of the soul of this life leech and you are swallowed up in the middle. You are in control, you make the choices, but it makes them hard. The fat makes it hard to move, hard to feel good about yourself, hard to enjoy many thing you would enjoy if you could just shed this parasite. I am tired of sharing my life with fat. I want MY LIFE! I want it on my terms! I am going to change it and by no means is this thing going to leave me alone easily it's going to fight, but I am ready to fight back. Yesterday I spent a day with my family out and for the first time in a really long time I enjoyed myself completely and a lot of it was because I lost a few pound and I am not as tired,  or as sore, I lost part of the leech and I found joy. I am going to beat this thing. I am tired of being stuck inside someone else's body. I am tired of living life in another skin. If you are too, make a change, beat it with me!

revisitng old favorites...

So some things I have noticed about my new eating habits...At first it seems I wasn't really eating more healthy I was just eating prepackaged food because they were easy to track caloric intake on. "If it eat this frozen meal I know I will have eaten 250 calories." Now that I been doing this a while I been revisiting some of my favorite recipes and revising them to be more caloric friendly. Here is an example we tried recently.

5 pounds ground beef
1 small/medium sweet onion
1 small/medium white onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 24oz can of crushed tomatoes or whole tomatoes
3 jalapeno peppers
3 cerano peppers

1 pint of beef stock
1 large can of kidney beans
1 small can of black beans
1 small can of tomato paste

1 table spoon fresh ginger

2 teaspoons olive oil

Spice list for chili seasoning:

• chili powder
• cumin
• cayenne
• coriander
• paprika
• oregano
• turmeric
• salt                   
• pepper

In a large skillet heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over high heat, add both onions diced small. Cook until slightly caramelized then add peppers and garlic also diced fine. Cook on medium heat until peppers soften, add ginger. Move cooked mixture to crock-pot on medium heat. Place skillet back on stove medium heat and brown the beef. Once the meat is fully cooked add crushed tomatoes, and drained beans. Cook on medium heat until fully warned, add chili spices to taste, and teaspoon of olive oil. Add cooked meat and beans to crock-pot. Add the pint of beef stock and allow to heat on medium until ready to serve. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.

1/2 cup chili powder

1    tbl cumin

1    tsp oregano

1    tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp tumeric

1    tsp chipolte chilli pepper

1    tbs dark chili or mexican chili powerdere

1/4 cup evoo

My Old Chili was very yummy but caloric wise it was a beast. So we made a few small changes. In stead of the 5 pounds of beef we used 3 pounds of ground Turkey Breast. Just that small change made the chili come out to about 222 calories per cup, not that bad. And we decided next time to leave out the quarter cup of evoo from the spice mix which will cut another 500-1000 calories off the entire batch. Small changes, but results and the best part was it still tasted great!

Seeing some results

So as I said it's hard for me to see the changes I am making because, well really, I still have my mental body image of a 100 pounds ago... but yesterday I got to feel a change. Over the summer my family went to Hershey Park. For some of their coasters they have "sample" seats near the line entrance so larger people can see if they are going to fit in the ride. At the end of August I wasn't able to fit in the seat for Great Bear. Yesterday my hubby and I got a baby sitter so we could go to the park and ride the coaster (since we rarely go with out the kids) and I was now able to fit in Great Bear. It was a nice simple realization. I might not be able to see the change, but it is happening.

Hubby

So as part of this my hubby has been playing along and this was a fairly recent picture of him from this summer. He has lost about 16 pounds so far and you can already see a difference. I am really proud of him.

When I realized I needed a change...

So this what the picture I seen of myself when I really decided enough was enough. This is me and my oldest son at Coca-Cola world. Seeing this picture in a way shocked me. I still have a mental body image of myself when I was 100 pounds lighter. So seeing this was really hard. I also started realizing I was tired and cranky and hated to walk too: because my feet or my back would hurt.  Amusement parks were no longer fun because I can't fit in many of the rides, or if I do the attendant has to help squeeze me in... I needed to change this for myself and my kids.

New Blog

So I decided today to start food blog, not because I eat about at all kinds of amazing places, but because I recently started watching what I eat using a website and iPhone app called myfitnesspal. So far I have lost a little over 13 pounds. I been following the apps recommendations and also been allowing myself cheat day every Friday. I don't go crazy but if I want to eat out something special I allow myself. My Husband has been doing it with me as well and he has also lost over 16 pounds. So my intension with this site is just talk about what is going on, what I been eating, calories in things, upload some pictures of myself and some food here and there. Just another way to keep myself motivated in losing this weight. Some background on me. I gained over 100 pounds between several pregnancies. I gained 2 awesome boys out of the process as well so well worth it but it is now time to correct the damage I did with all the depression and bed rest I went through. Please feel free to comment and visit often. Hopefully I will keep this up.

Anna~