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!)