Who's getting their eyebrows waxed?

ME!  I AM!!

Goal #1 (Goal post ) reached and surpassed, baby!   Wooooo!  And not only did I lose the 10 pounds, I threw in a few extra for good measure.  12.6 to be exact.  I got to change to my next goal weight on the Weight Watchers site and even lost a daily point!

It's funny.  I don't really notice where I've lost the 12.6 pounds.  Blessing and a curse I guess.  That's how it is when I gain weight as well.  It just sort of evenly piles on.  I guess that's how it is coming off too.  As long as it's coming off, it can come off wherever it likes! 

So, after work, I'm heading out to reward myself before coming back home to puppy pandemonium.  What a great day!

Newest advancement in bringing awesomeness to my life...

Meet Scout.  The newest addition to our little family.  He has caused quite an uproar but in a mostly good way.  Can't say I've had much to say about my usual topics but give me a couple of days and I'm sure my brain will return to its normal programming.  Until then, enjoy the cute!

Weigh in day! SUCCESS!

Down another 2.2 pounds this week!  That makes a total of 9.6 pretty darn painless pounds over the past month.  Very motivating, very motivating indeed. 

This week will be interesting as we're eating out as a family to celebrate some really good news and I'm going out for dinner and cocktails with a friend on Wednesday.  I do plan on getting back to my Couch to 5K runs this week though, so hopefully it will all even out.

I'm soooooooooo close to Goal #1 and the eyebrow wax that comes with it!  YAY!!

What a day looks like for me.....in food.

Let's kick today off by talking about food.  Why not, right?

I've had a couple of emails wondering about what I typically eat in a day.  Clearly, the concern is about me not starving to death.  I understand - it's a large concern of mine as well.  Luckily, I have some natural padding to see me through the tough times still.  I'll have to start thinking of my survival plan to fight off starvation once I hit my goal weight though....

To get us started, here are a few broad ideas I like to keep in mind when planning my menus/meals:

• Don't bring food into the house that will tempt you to a point you're not ready to match with will power.  I have a six year old whose taste buds do not always go the way of healthy eating.  Intentionally, I'll allow her "fun" foods or snacks that I know I won't eat - fruit snacks, GoGurt, mini Baby Bel cheese.  She's a fan of dessert (who isn't??) but she has a drawer of things like mini Tootsie rolls and Dum Dum suckers.  If they were to get too frisky and entice me to eat one, damage would be minimal.  But she still likes them so it's a win/win.  We also have Cheez-Its in the house but I've built up a tolerance to their presence and only indulge when I know I have four points to burn. 
• Speaking of indulge, do it.  Not all day long obviously.  But if you KNOW there's something you always crave, find room for it.  What I have discovered is 90% of the time, I REALLY want a taste of chocolate after supper.  I have two choices, ignore it and hope I don't go C to the RAZY at some point and take down an entire pound of peanut M&Ms or induge it in a sensitive, controlled way.  Clearly, I indulge.  My indugence?  ONE Riesen candy.  It's exactly enough if I allow myself to slow down, taste it and enjoy it.  And one Riesen is ONE point.  Perfect!
• Along the lines of not bringing tempting foods into the house, it's also a huge help to have healthy tasty foods always available.  Some of the big ones for us are:  Homemade Ranch Dressing (see previous posts for that recipe!), pickles, carrots, blackberries, Fiber One 90 calorie bars, Jolly Ranchers (You get THREE for one point!) and sunflower seeds in the shell (that's for Mark.)  In a pinch, you've got something you love and will keep your mouth busy for zero to 1 points.
• Plan ahead.  I meal plan over the weekend and assign each supper to a night based on how busy our schedules are for that day.  Then, after breakfast I load in all my points for breakfast and morning snacks as well as my anticipated points for supper.  That automatically tells me how many points I have left for lunch, afternoon snacks or even dessert.  I've found this to be a great way to make sure I'm not only eating all my points and not hoarding them but also to spread them out appropriately throughout the day.  Trust me, I have no need for a points binge at the end of the day before going to bed!  That helps no one!
• Consistancy can really help.  I don't think it's the key to success, but if you take the thinking out of it, food gets put back to it's place as something YOU control - not something that controls you.  I always have cereal for breakfast.  This is a LEARNED behavior.  I've long since been one of those people who thinks that eating early makes me sick to my stomach.  And it did for the first two weeks I did it.  You're welcome metabolism, for getting you back on track.  Now, I'm appropriately hungry in the morning for the fuel to kick start my day.  I also have fruit and a Fiber One bar as my snack at work.  If I don't have it, by the time I'm home I'm ready to eat EVERYTHING.  Not good.  So, I pack a snack.  Lunch tends to be pretty similar every day - mostly so that I can just come home, make it and eat it before the hungries start blinding me.  Thomas bagel thins or mini bagels, Weight Watchers cream cheese spread, veggies and dip and some pickles are pretty common.  That leaves supper as my daily wild card.  So far, it's working.

Onto what an actual day or two looks like for me.  I'll go on record to say, at no point have I been out of my mind starving in the past month.  To me, that says I'm doing a good job with the types of foods I'm choosing.  Protein is always somewhat of a challenge for me because I don't like meat and eggs sort of make me gaggy unless I eat them at suppertime.  There are only so many beans a gal can eat and still be allowed to participate in society, so I just do the best I can.

So here's what I had a couple of days ago - note: I don't track water on my food list.  I drink plenty as it's the only thing I drink aside from coffee (and the occasionaly cocktail, but shhhhhhhhhh.....)

Morning
1/2 cup(s) Original All-Bran                          1
1 large banana(s)                                            2
1 serving(s) 90 Cal. Fiber One bar                 1
20 oz black coffee                                          0
1/2 cup(s) fat-free skim milk                          1
Subtotal 5

Midday
1 serving(s) Thomas Bagel Thin                    1
1 1/2 serving(s) Old Dutch FF Pretzel thins   3
1 oz Reduced Fat Cream Cheese Spread       1
3/4 cup(s) blackberries                                  0.5
1 cup(s) carrot(s)                                           0
1 Tbsp sunflower seeds                                 1
3 Homemade Ranch Dressing                        4.5
Subtotal 11

Evening
4 oz frozen grilled salmon                             3
2 Tbsp sliced almonds                                  1.5
1 1/3 cup(s) cooked green beans                   0.5
1/2 Tbsp canola oil                                       2
1 serving(s) Uncle Ben's Fast & Natural Brown Rice 3
1 cup(s) watermelon                                     1
1 serving(s) Smart Pop mini bag                   1
Subtotal 12

A perfect 28 points - which is what I'm allowed in a day.  I was never hungry.  And it's a LOT of food!  (As you can see by my lunch, I was craving salty/crunchy!)  While suppers change dramatically, I'd say, the point spread stays about the same - I use 5-7 for morning foods, 8-11 for lunch foods, and 10-15 on supper foods.  I'm working on trying to shift more calories to the mornings, but for now, this is working well.

Hopefully this will soothe some minds that I'm sitting here starving all day just nibbling away on clear broth and carrot sticks! 

What else?

As is evidenced here in the past posts, a big focus this journey is related to my physical health.

But what else?

There's just gotta be more to it.  And in an effort to not leave you hanging, I think I know what "that" is...

I've stopped challenging myself.  There was a time when I was totally fearless - informing my mother at 15 that I was going to volunteer at a camp for mentally handicapped kids and adults two hours from where we live; day trips to wherever felt fun at the moment; taking a year off from college to "discover myself" as well as learn more about my chosen profession - heck, just the CHOOSING of theatre as a profession.  I felt armed and dangerous (in a non-lethal, weapon free way of course!)

Somewhere, that love of challenges got lost.  I'd even go so far as to say it all but disappeared.

But fear not, dear anonymous blog readers!  The time for challenges has returned!

Bold, right?  I know.  Of course, I haven't really identified too many yet.  One is that whole being able to run a 5K.  So that's good.....every list needs something to kick it off!  Another, embarassingly enough, is that I NEED to get back to auditioning.  That one's trickier because I have qualifications to it.  I want to love the show, ideally it would be something Holland could see and it has to "fit" into our lives.  Lots harder to balance when there's a kiddo in the mix.  But it has to happen.  It's been too long and now I'm sort of scared of it.  Which is dumb.

What else is a good challenge?  Reasonable here people - I'm not putting bungee jumping in at #3 so let's calm that idea right down.  You think of some too and we'll get together for tea (virtual or not) and discuss.  I'll let you know as I come up with more!

Murphy's Hot Hamburger

AKA - Heaven on a plate for my meat loving husband.

I'm going to warn you.  This recipe contains gravy.  And fries.  And hamburgers.  MMMMmmmm.  I know.  It had me at gravy.

I originally found this on the Pioneer Woman website, but she links it to here:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/2010/03/a-tasty-recipe-murphys-hot-hamburger/

Here's the picture:

Seriously.  Do you hear the angels singing?  And I don't even LIKE hamburgers. 

This household always has a small challenge when it comes to meal planning.  Basically, Mark loves meat and I do not.  There's very little I enjoy about meat and in case you're fearing an ethical debate from me, fret not.  It's simply a texture thing.  I don't like to touch it raw and I don't love the texture when I eat it.  Fish being about the only exception to the taste texture issue.  Because I do most of the cooking, I win.  And Mark's pallatte has had to adapt.  I do try to have meat dishes a few times a week to play nice.  This is one of those that's great for both of us.  All I do is skip the eating of the hamburger patty.  Trust me, I'm down with just eating fries and gravy. 

Want to know the best part?  The way I prepare it comes out to only 8 points a serving!!  CRAZY, right??!  Doesn't it look way worse than that?  Onto the magical recipe...

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Murphy's Hot Hamburger

Ingredients

1 pound lean Ground Beef (7% fat)

Garlic Powder to taste
Onion Powder to taste
1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
Black Pepper to taste
5 Tablespoons Flour
28 oz. Fat Free Beef Broth
3 Large Potatoes
1 Tablespoon canola oil

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice potatoes into fries. Place on large baking sheet. Pour oil onto fries and toss to coat evenly. Bake for approx. 45 minutes or until golden and crispy.

In mixing bowl, mix hamburger, garlic, seasoned salt, onion powder, and salt and pepper. Mix well. For 4 large patties. Place in large preheated skillet over medium heat. Brown burgers on each side until fully cooked.
Remove burgers from skillet and place on plate covered in paper towels. DO NOT drain the grease. Add the flour one tablespoon at a time, stirring with a whisk until all grease is absorbed and flour mixture gets thick and bubbly. Slowly add the broth, whisking constantly. Bring to a simmer and allow to thicken.
To serve, place fries on plate, hamburger on top of fries and cover all in gravy!
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Julie's Notes:

• Cutting the fries is actually not all that hard to do by hand.  I bought a cheap fry cutter from target and it was junk, so I threw it away and just do it by hand.  I also peel the potatoes due to a finicky 5 year old who lives in this house.
• Parchment paper rules.  I use it on the baking sheets under the fries and have no trouble with them sticking or burning.
• In using the 93/7 lean ground beef, I've found there is very little "fat" left over for the flour to get mixed into.  There's MAYBE enough for a tablespoon of flour and that doesn't make it thick enough.  I'm still researching a way for more flour to get incorporated without lumps.  Although the lumps don't seem to be slowing anyone down in this house when I make this recipe.

There's not much more that needs to be said for this recipe.  It's amazing. 

WHOA! Huh?

I lost this week!  .8 pounds to be exact!  Huh??!!!

To be 100% honest, I didn't track a single point from Wednesday afternoon on.  Life was just too busy with the craziness of the rummage sale and eating at my parents' house most of the meals.  There were donuts consumed, fancy coffee drinks swigged, Chinese food ordered and eaten.

And I still lost!

My theory?  I need to eat my activity points.  At least.  I've been trying not to - thinking it would help me lose weight faster.  And knowing that if I stopped losing, it would likely be due to needing to up my fuel intake.  This has proven it to me.  I wasn't eating enough.  I could sort of feel it too - I was really lethargic and FELT hungry pretty much all day long for the previous week and a half (pre-rummage sale madness).  But, since I don't have a great track record with proper eating, I didn't know if it was part of me adjusting to just eating LESS or if I wasn't eating enough. 

So, YAAAAAAAAAAAY!  I don't need to feel hungry and can still lose!  This has just totally jazzed me back up for the week.

(Although talk to me after tomorrow's run and you may not hear the same enthusiasm!)

Is this totally crazy?

There's a 5K walk/run on July 31st.  It was established in memory of a local doctor who died of a heart attack while out for her daily run three years ago.  She happens to be the doctor we credit with saving Holland from much more severe damage during her ear situation three years ago.

I'm considering registering.

ACK!!!

Is that totally insane??  Is there any way I'd be ready to run a 5K by then?  I certainly could walk it - it's not that far to walk.  But if I registered, I'd want to run it.  I feel such a strong pull to do this.  Even down to the last phrase on the registration pamphlet I picked up:

Those who ran with Nancy often remember her saying, "We must be nuts."

See - it's like everything is pointing me to do it as it would be NUTS for me to think I could!

To run or not to run.....that is the question...

Thank goodness this is a marathon...

What in the world do you do when you are trying to count points but are away from your house for hours and hours and hours while running like a chicken with their head cut off trying to prep a rummage sale as well as sell for thirteen hours across two days.  In the snow - incidentally.  Ick.

Well, if you're me, you just eat what's there and deal with the aftermath later.  I'm exhausted.  I'm sore.  I'm a little crabby.  And I just really felt like if my brain had to do one more thing, it would pull a Bret Michaels and explode.  (Too soon?)  I did the best I could for the meals I was in control of, but we were at my Mom's house for this sale and frankly to feed nine people during the ridiculousness that is a garage sale is challenging enough.  She doesn't need me in there poo-pooing everything because I can't figure out points in that environment.

My plan is to get a good night's rest, meal plan the heck out of the week and hit the grocery store so we're totally ready to get rolling again.  Who knew a silly ol' rummage sale would cause so much disruption??!

Crab Stuffed Tomatoes

For many reasons, this wasn't the next recipe I planned to post.  One major reason?  I feel like "stuffed tomatoes" are such a weigh loss cliche.  Especially if they're stuffed with cottage cheese - aka "diet plate".  So, why post it?  Well, for one, it's super yummy (I was actually craving it last night so that's a good sign!).  For two, well...just remember the phrase "grapefruit spoon."  Trust me.  We'll come full circle.

What should you know before reading the recipe?  Orzo.  Yup.  Another totally "new to me" ingredient.  It's a really good thing I watch a lot of Food Network or I would still be of the opinion that orzo is a vegetable of some sort.  Thank you Rachel Ray for enlightening me.  (Please note:  This will probably be the only thank you Rachel Ray and her "Yumm-O!"s will ever get from me.  Bask in the glow Rachel.)  From her show, I learned orzo is actually pasta.  Yeah.  But it looks like flat rice so go figure.


Again, scale is tricky on a blog, but the little pieces are maybe 1/2" or 3/4" in length.  The only package I found was a tiny little bag of Barilla brand - maybe a cup or a cup and a half total?  So, keep those eyes peeled.  (Although, I'll admit I was flustered so it might not be as hard as I made it!)


Onto the recipe!  (Nope, not time for the secret of the grapefruit spoon yet!)  It's right off the Weight Watchers site - apparently from the book "In One Pot".

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Crab Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients
1/2 cup(s) uncooked orzo
8 medium tomato(es)
3/4 pound(s) cooked crab meat, lump, picked over for pieces of shell
1 medium stalk(s) celery, chopped
1/2 small sweet red pepper(s), seeded and chopped
1/2 small onion(s), chopped
1/3 cup(s) reduced-calorie mayonnaise
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp parsley, fresh, chopped
1/2 tsp OLD BAY Old Bay Seasoning

Instructions
Cook the orzo according to package directions; drain and rinse under cold water.


Slice off the top fourth of each tomato and reserve. Using a spoon, scoop out the pulp from each tomato. Place the tomato shells upside down on a layer of paper towels to drain; set aside. (Save the pulp for use in stews and soups.)

Combine the orzo, crab meat, celery, bell pepper, onion, mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, and Old Bay seasoning in a bowl; mix well.

Fill each tomato shell with about 1⁄2 cup of the crab mixture, mounding if necessary. Replace the reserved tomato tops.

One serving = 6 points.  2 stuffed tomatoes per serving. 
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Julie's notes and the reveal of the grapefruit spoon mystery:

1.  OK - are you ready?  I had an EPIPHANY last night while getting my tomatoes prepped for hollowing out.  And since my husband wasn't as enthusiastic as I needed in my moment of glory, I present it here for you to worship and adore.  You know that grapefruit spoon you have?  Serrated and shoved all the way back to your silverware drawer?  USE IT TO HOLLOW OUT YOUR TOMATO!  Seriously, I'm not sure I've even been more proud than when that occurred to me last night.  And definitely follow their suggestion of just cutting off the top 1/4 and then going in - sort of like if it were a pumpkin you were about to gut and carve.  The first time I made this, I didn't do that AND I tried to hollow it out with a small spoon with mediocre results.  I mean, it's a tomato and I'm a person, so I eventually won, but still.  GRAPEFRUIT SPOON.  Ahhh...soooo worth it.

2.  I used imitation crab both times.  Really, it was a matter of cost.  I'd never touched a piece of imitation crab and well, it's a little weird and creepy.  But it tasted just fine so I'll get used to it.  Not to be too graphic, but I bought the "leg" style and peeled them each like a piece of string cheese.  THEN I diced them up. 

3.  Due to my dislike for raw peppers, we left those out.  And used onion powder instead of onion.  That's due to laziness, not flavor.  And dried parsley.  For the same reason as onion powder.

4.  I'd never tried Old Bay either.  Is that weird?  Sometimes I'm not sure.  It's pretty yummy - no need to fear it.  Sort of like richer, slightly zestier Lowry's Seasoned Salt.  At least to me.

5.  It doesn't tell you to do this, but it's a lot better chilled.  More crab salad-y.  But, I don't always plan ahead as well as I should, so I can confirm it's good room temperature as well.

6.  I used regular mayo because that's what we had in the fridge.  With that change and the use of imitation crab, the points come out to 7 per serving instead of 6.

7.  The serving size is TWO tomatoes in case you missed that.  And while it doesn't seem like enough, it's absolutely filling enough for a suppertime meal.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this recipe.  Obviously, you'd need to like crab to like this.  I suppose you'd be able to omit the crab and just do the filling as sort of a pasta salad and it would still be good.  Maybe I'll try that next time just for research purposes.  Until then, I'll let you go find that grapefruit spoon so you're ready to make it on your own!

Feats of strength!

Today is the day all the women of the church I work for come together to bake apple pies for the roast beef dinner tomorrow.  There are goodies all around to keep the workers full and happy while they wait for their payment.  In the previous installments of apple pie day, I've eagerly and gratefully accepted my "payment" of a piece of fresh, warm, amazing pie.

Not only did I pass on ALL of the goodies - I also passed on my piece of pie!  NOT EASY PEOPLE.  I feel compelled to take out a billboard or something.  But blogging is cheaper, so you get to be the first to know.  FRESH APPLE PIE.  And I was in the kitchen the entire time it was baking.  It smelled sooooo good. 

I'll settle for my half a piece tomorrow with my roast beef dinner.  It'll probably taste all the sweeter!

Weigh in Day!

Duhn duhn duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun........ *that's the ominous soundtrack music*

Yep, I was up a little today.  .6 pounds.  I'll own it.  And for good measure, I'll add that the blueberry martini, fondue, dessert and evening out with my husband feeling all fancy was 100000000% worth it. 

I refuse to get all worked up over .6 pounds.  Please.  I could probably cut my hair and lose more than that.  (But I won't as that's goal reward #3, right?!)  And I really believe that the slower you lose the weight, the surer you can be about it being gone for good.  I've got time.

The plan is to just get back to working on my habit goals for this week and let my body even out from all the celebrating.  Might be easier said than done with the craziness this week looks like it will bring (doctor's appointments for the kiddo and a massive garage sale over the weekend).  Why of why can't I be one of those people who drops 400 pounds at the mere mention of stress?  Instead I'm one of those people who tells stress to shut up by feeding it cookies.  Tastier, but not healthier.

I promise I'm here this week....I'm deciding which recipes to put up next and I want to make them great ones.  Keep checking back or go up to the top of the screen and click "follow".  That way you can just pop onto your blogger dashboard and know if I have anything new.  I promise not to write 87 posts about the garage sale. 

Blog Flashback: Farmer's Market Phobias!

As I sat here wistfully thinking about when the Farmer's Market season opens around here, I thought of this blog entry I wrote a few months ago for another blog site.  While I know it's too early in the life of this little blog to be repeating entries, my guess is, very few of you have read this one.  And those who have, well, enjoy it again!  :)


Hello. My name is Julie and I'm scared of Farmer's Markets.


Yes, lame. Trust me, I know. I LOVE the idea of Farmer's Markets. I love everything about the idea of Farmer's Markets. But I have this thing where I don't like looking like an idiot. And my perception of Farmer's Markets is that there is something I'm missing. Like, can you just buy one apple? Or do you have to buy the whole bag? Can you buy one tomato or do you have to buy that whole little flat? And how will I KNOW what and how much of the stuff I want to buy? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!! It's just a little overwhelming for this detail oriented gal.

Secondly, there's the issue of guilt. I feel like I need to buy something from everyone if I'm buying anything at all. They're all right there LOOKING at you. The produce guy at Super One doesn't care if I buy that bundle of beets. But I feel like this nice Hispanic fella DOES. And the one next to him, and the fella selling honey, and the guy selling Kettle Corn, and the list goes on and on. Who am I to say this tomato is going to be better than the one a booth down from you. And will that guy see I'm buying a tomato here and feel slighted that I didn't buy his? Seriously, I'm already feeling guilty enough about needing to eat more produce and now we've added interpersonal issues and baggage into the mix. It's just all too much.

However. Today I went to a Farmer's Market. With Holland and Mark who obviously don't have the same ridiculous issues as I do. We got a GIANT bundle of flowers - GORGEOUS for $6. Insanity. Mark bought 2 huge tomatoes and I bought a bundle of beets. Total spent? $9. 

And it didn't dissolve me into a puddle of indecision and need to keep things equal and fair. What a big girl, huh? I mean, yes, next time I'm likely going to feel compelled to buy organic honey and artisan chocolates because well, I didn't this time and I don't want them to feel like no one wants organic honey and artisan chocolates (even though truthfully, I have no use for artisan chocolates or organic honey.) If they would all just sell tomatoes and flowers, I think we'd really be onto something.

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooo-al!

Heehee.....I wrote that how those crazy soccer announcers say it. 

Goals.

Whew.  Intimidating.  At least for me.

Why don't I like to set goals?  Probably fear of not attaining them.  That's pretty common, right?  But here's the twist.  In my brain, it's not usually *my* fault when I visualize not attaining goals.  It's usually someone else getting in the way and goofing it up.  Great, huh?  That way I take no blame at all!  Brilliant, really.

But these are the times for bootstrap pulling and becoming responsible.  Enter goals, stage right.

Looking at this whole process, it's really easy for me to get overwhelmed by where I want to end up in terms of my weight.  Truthfully, the total I should lose is around 80 pounds.  Ouch, huh?  Way too overwhelming to simply think in terms of getting to a certain number so very far away.  Which is a little ironic at the same time.  Setting that as the only goal - single focus - is exactly the thing that is the most overwhelming. 

I've chosen to set two different types of goals.  Weight related in one corner and habit related in another.  See, I can only do so much to achieve the weight goals.  Sometimes, you do everything right and your body has other ideas and plans.  If you hitch your feeling of accomplishment to that, I think you run a bigger risk of frustration.  That's why I have additional goals in place - ones that *I* am in full control of fulfilling.  And the best part is, I can adapt them to try bolster up areas in which I might be slacking.  Not that I would ever slack.........  *uneasy whistling*

Before I unveil the goals, let's talk rewards!  WOOOOO!  Getting stuff for doing stuff!  Awesome!  Do you know how tricky it is to think up non-food related rewards?  Whew.  And non-expensive rewards?  Double whew.  It's important to reward yourself though....you're working hard!  But yeah, can't be food.  I also don't attach the reward to accomplishing a goal in a certain time frame.  Just accomplishing.

Onto the unveiling of the goals!

Let's start with the weight goals and rewards as the first few are pretty set.  Once these are accomplished, I'll have to re-evalute.

Goal 1:  Lose 10 pounds
Reward:  Brow wax

Goal 2:  Lose 20 pounds
Reward:  Cash in the gift card I already have for a 45 minute massage

Goal 3:  Lose 30 pounds
Reward:  Cut off all my hair!  YAY!  Makeover week!

Between that and losing 80 pounds, I have nothing planned.  Luckily, I'll have a little time to decide on something!

My habit goals don't have outside rewards because DOING them is the reward.  Like that?  uh huh, I'm pretty clever like that.  Also, I'm likely to change them up as I refect on the past weeks successes and challenges.  This week's goals are:

Goal 1:  Repeat and Complete Week 2 of Couch to 5K  (My knees are making this a CHALLENGE)

Goal 2:  Drink twice as much water as coffee a day.  (Um, I drink a LOT of coffee.  Which is a whole different challenge for a whole different week.  But I need to up my water.)

Goal 3:  Off the computer/couch by 10:30pm.  Period.  I need to get more sleep.

That's what it looks like for this week folks.  Those are my goals.  I'm EXCITING aren't I?

Decisions, decisions

Tonight, Mark and I are going out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary.  The actual anniversary is thiscoming Wednesday - Cinqo de Mayo! - and it sort of snuck p on us this year.  I guess after nine years, I can see how that would happen.

We have the opportunity to eat out tonight - Holland's going to my parents' house for a sleep over.  BUT, we already ate out this week and used up about half of our "weekly points".

So, what's a weight watchin' girl to do? 

This girl is going to go out, celebrate and make sure every last calorie she consumes is 100% totally worth it. 

It's not going to be easy.  It doesn't fit in with my "all or nothing" brain patterns.  I'm firmly in the "nothing" frame of mind and allowing myself an indulgence sort of freaks me out at this point.  I've been doing so well.  And it's going to sting if I gain come Monday.

But it's an idea I need to get OK with as it's in line with what normal people do and how normal people eat.  I know my brain isn't normal (shhhhhh.....I'm specifically talking about food here, people!) so it's a constant struggle to react to food in a normal way.  It's one night.  It's a place we've never been.  It's a great menu of lots of different "heavy apps" and it looks AMAZING from the website.  I'm not tying the feedbag on at the local casino buffet, gulping down quantities of tasteless unidentifiable foods.  Which incidentally is exactly what we would have done had this anniversary happened three weeks ago. 

Mindful eating and balance is the goal and I think tonight is a perfect example of both.  To quote my friend Lisa, "When it's a party- eat like it's a party. When it's not a party step away from the table."

And that's what I intend to do!

For fun - a wedding picture or two:

And our engagement picture - Man do we look young!!