Valentine's Day Temptation and Praises

I have such wonderful people God has placed in my life. This is a very hard holiday for so many.  So many people are in need of that movie romance .  It is hard to find. 

My best friend and I went out on Saturday night for Valentine's day Best Friend date night lol.  We met at the movies to see The Vow.  It was a cute movie but I didn't cry like many said they did.  Maybe I am a little jaded. Then we ate at Texas Roadhouse.  We then went to play BINGO at the local American Legion.  It was a blast the whole night but the best part was sitting in the car together just talking.  I love that we can be honest and open about EVERYTHING in our lives and not judge one another.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and there were so many temptations all around me.  My day started off really good I had my mom and a few friends over for a nail salon party, lunch and great conversations.  Then a wonderful, very thoughtful friend knew that this day was going to be hard for me emotionally so she brought me a beautiful card and wonderful yummy cupcakes for the kids and I.  She knows that I am on a weightloss journey and still made 2 cupcakes for me.  Sabotage I Tell YA!!!! just joking.  She reads my blog and has been a very helpful willing ear to turn to.  I didn't want to neglect the kids of all the wonderful treats this day has to offer so I made a party for them.  I invited my mother, nephews, and a friend from church and her daughter.  I made beef stew and a chocolate fountain. Actually it was a huge bowl full of melted chocolate since I couldn't get the fountain to heat up properly.  I served it with mini cupcakes, strawberries, pineapple, banana, and watermelon.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Then we were all entertained by the 5 kids (6 if you count the teenager that wanted to but never did) singing, playing drums & guitars and dancing.

God has always placed people in my life that know just the time I need them and vice versa. I am so thankful that I receive so much encouragement.

Update:
 I have had to adjust my workout a bit.  Jillian Michaels is a bit to intense for me at this point.  I have been doing the Wii Fit daily to start with now.  I will work my way up.  I am still very happy with my progress I am losing weight and very happy with that.  I also feel better not as tired and happier.  I have also started to take vitamins (multi and B12)

Egg Whites, Spinach & Ham Puff

Here is my go-to breakfast:

 Ingredients:

• 3 Egg Whites
• Fresh Spinach
• Ham - I use Hillshire Farms Low Sodium/Thin Sliced

First fill/overfill your microwave save bowl with fresh spinach.

Take about 1 oz of ham and rip it up into small pieces.

Add 3 egg whites.  Place in Microwave on high for 1 minute 

(my microwave is a small 700 watts, so adjust time.)

Take out and stir.  As you can see the spinach really does shrink. 

Put back in microwave for 1 minute more.

This is how it looks when it is ready.  There should be no runny egg whites.  

Take your fork and scrape the sides away from bowl.  Then turn over bowl into plate.

I serve with one of these: small apple, banana, carrot sticks, cucumber slices, salsa, etc.

Nutritional Info (per Spark People Recipe, I added my recipe to find the info)

• Servings Per Recipe: 1
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 101.4

• Total Fat: 0.9 g
• Cholesterol: 15.0 mg
• Sodium: 425.6 mg
• Total Carbs: 4.1 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1.0 g
• Protein: 18.3 g

Busy Life = Bad for Diet

This week has been very busy for me.  I feel like I am running actually driving (if I was running maybe I would feel better) from one thing to the next. We had 2 birthday parties, 2 playdates, church, appointments and so on.   I have learned I have NO willpower.  If I am not at home where I have my limited food choices I will eat things I shouldn't.  I also learned that your body adjust really quickly to eating healthy and when you don't your body lets you know.  Between the homemade pizza, chips with dip and 1/2 cupcake at party #2 with all the cheese, grease and sweets my stomach was in knots.

Progress I am still losing weight even with my cheating (I think this has to do with not drinking Soda).  I am down about 7 lbs in 2 weeks.  Not bad for a newbie.

Today we are starting our Encouraging One Another bible study at Church.  I can't wait to be around such a wonderful group of women that God has connected me with through his Church.  I will let you all know how God moves through this study over the next 12 weeks.  This is a study that I feel is very needed at this time.  So many of us are hurting in so many ways.  We need to learn to turn to God first then our Sister in Christ that can encourage and support us.

Hopefully my update in a few days will be much better and I can tell you have much I have worked out LOL. 

Local Gym

So I finally "cashed in" my 3 month membership to a local gym this morning.  I will be utilizing the childcare that they offer for my little one.  Today I walked/jogged on the treadmill for 20 minutes and I was at .95 mile and did some arm lifts on another machine.  It was a lot easier using the treadmill instead of pushing the stroller lol. I need to make a plan of what machines I need to use and how many reps to take with me to the gym.  Maybe I will recruit my sister for this (hint, hint).  She is very fit and goes to the gym frequently.  My eating has been good.  I had my Girl Scout Troop over last night and they are working on a cooking badge so they cooked dinner and dessert for themselves.  Their meal was pasta with tomato sauce and cupcakes with chocolate icing for dessert.  I made sure that I ate dinner before they came so I wouldn't have any urges to eat.  I did really well no cupcakes made sure they were all gone and no pasta ...............until everyone left and there was still pasta in the pot so I couldn't resist.  I did boil about 3/4 cup of peas and mixed that with 1 cup pasta with sauce so I didn't feel so bad.  I really can't have any temptation in my house yet I am way to new at this watching what I eat thing.  I have been reading my bible and on average I am doing 2 days of readings in 1 day.  I went on my Wii Fit to check my weight and I am down 2.5 lbs in about 2 weeks.  One of those weeks I wasn't even trying.  Overall I feel really good. 

Thanks for Sharing my Journey,
Rachel

Weekend Recap

So Friday I started my plan.  I walked/jogged 1 mile in 20 minutes.  I was pushing my 4yo and her doll in a double stroller.  I felt good but realized how out of shape I am.  My ankles are hurting me for some reason.  I will say after that walk it seemed like I had more energy that day (might be wishful thinking).  Friday night I "tried" to do the 30 minute shred.  I realized quickly that I need to wear supportive undergarments do to this workout.  I was only able to do about the first 5 minutes.  The video asked you to do jumping jacks and it went downhill from there.  I felt very discouraged that my weight/body shape was actually stopping me from doing something I wanted to do.  It discouraged me so much that I haven't done the video since.  Hopefully I will try the video again Monday night.  Friday my eating was really good.  I am having a little problem though, I am having a hard time with calories.  I am eating too LITTLE calories.  All of the vegetables, fruit and natural things are so low in calories.   I felt like I was eating all day long.  I am a little concerned that my body will go into starvation mode.  Does anyone else have this issue?  I will start the 50 Million Pound Meal Plan.  I think this will help with calories. 

Saturday was a good day.  I made the kids cinnamon rolls (I didn't even have 1).  I had my yummy Egg whites/Spinach/Ham Puff (recipe coming soon).  Then I met my friend at the mall to eat lunch.  She is also on a diet so we both got deli sandwiches and side salad.  We walked the mall, stopping in many stores, for about 3 hours.  That night I had a GNO- Girls night out.  We went to a local restaurant for Greek Night. It was a bunch of fun with Belly Dancer, Folk Dancers and great food (definitely not diet friendly).  I did have 1 cup of soda (no refills).  I have decided that I enjoy eating out and will not let myself get down about doing it once in a while.  I want this to be a long term change and if I took that away I wouldn't do well on this plan.

Sunday was a bit different for me.  My kids slept over a friends house so I could go to my GNO.  So I went to sleep and woke up all by myself.  My kiddos are always with me so this was very weird.  I got dressed and was really excited to pick them up and head to church.  Then I got a call from the sweetest little voice.  It was my oldest asking if they can skip church for today and just play.  I allowed it and headed to church solo.  Church service was good.  After Church a bunch of friends decided to go eat Mexican for lunch so I joined them.  I am sure that calorie intake was high.  I ordered Steak fajitas. I ate about 3/4 of the order and was saving the rest for dinner.  I am still really full from it so I didn't eat the rest just had a green apple instead for dinner.

Even with it only being a few days I seem to be in a better mood. It is kind of funny how this whole process is mind over matter. I am still really excited about this journey and looking forward to what God has in store for my future.

Rachel

Renew ME 2012

I have come to the realization that I need renewal.  There are so many areas in my life that are changing and I need to renew me in a positive way.  I will be taking a journey over the next few months on RENEWAL.  I will be renewing myself Spiritually, Physically, and Mentally/Emotionally.

Yesterday I made some decisions that I WILL BE following through with over the next couple of weeks.

Spiritual Renewal:

• Read my Bible - NIV Bible in One Year
• Made to Crave Bible Study - this is a bible study on craving God not food.  This will have duel effect Spiritual and Physically.
• Encouragement Bible Study - this is a Women of Faith Bible Study
• Encourage fellow Sisters in Christ - this will not only bless them but will bless me.  I will send cards, emails, and phone calls.

Physical Renewal:

• Start Couch to 5K Training Plan  - Couch-to-5K
• Do 30 Day Shred - this is a Jillian Michaels DVD that should take me 20 minutes a day 
• No more soda - I am VERY addicted to Coca Cola
• Eating healthier - I will be using the plan on 50 Million Pound Challenge  this program is totally free
• Tracking everything - I will track at Spark People. This is a great FREE site that you can track everything from food to fitness to weight & measurements.
• Join the Gym - I won a trial membership for 3 months to a local gym in August 2011 and still haven't "cashed" it in.  So on Monday morning I will be starting the gym

Mental/Emotional Renewal:

• Go to counseling - we all need an outlet. Just someone to talk to and share things with that is not family or a friend. 
• Limit TV - this has taken over most of my day
• Surround myself with like-minded people - positive, up-beat, energetic, can-do, prosperity thinkers, movers
• Take candlelight baths daily
• Renew a strong environment - Have soft music playing all day 
• Renew my life  - daily AM and PM habits: even though I do not follow them perfectly my pattern/systems propel me, have routines and habits that support the life I want for my family.

Everywhere I am reading says it takes 21 days to make a habit.  So the next few weeks are going to be hard for me.  I am going to need all the help I can get in the process of me Renewing Me.  Please help me to be accountable.

Join me on this journey,
Rachel