My Deliciously Healthy Memorial Day

Today I made chicken, fruit, and dessert shish kabobs for memorial day!
They were delish! I was able to escape memorial day, without hamburgers and ice cream cones!For the fruit shish kabobs, I used srawberries, watermelon, and blackberries (I had a sudden craving for oranges, and wish I had bought some to add to the mix).

Then, for the dessert shish kabobs, I dipped strawberries, and marshmallows (cut into 1/3) in dark chocolate (I dipped the strawberries, and marshmallows half way into the chocolate)! It started out with strawberries, marshmallows, and bananas, but I wasn't feeling the bananas, so I left them out.
They were yummy! :
On a side note: I think it would be cute to put strawberries, marshmallows, and blueberries on a skewer for 4th of July!

Later on in the evening, the hubs took me shopping to get some workout gear!
Why do I need workout gear you ask?

Because I got me one of these! :A gym membership to Bally Total Fitness!

I've wanted to join a gym for forever but didn't because, A. with my RA I thought I wouldn't be able to really do much there, and so I was worried it would be a waste of money. And B. because I was/am horrified to go!

Now, after losing 35+ pounds, my knees have been feeling a lot better! I think I may actually be able to incorporate working out, into my weight loss plan! That's so exciting and rewarding for me! I've come so far (a tear;)! I'm proud of myself for facing my fears, and taking the first step: Getting the membership! Tomorrow I'm going to take the second step, and actually go workout!

My original plan was to get a gym membership, just so I could use the pool to do laps. That's still my main plan, as I think it'll be a great workout, and easy on my joints. Although while I was taking the tour of the gym, I saw some workout machines that I may be able to do with my arthritis. That would be a great bonus, if I'm able to take advantage of those spiffy little things! ;D

I'm still pretty darn nervous for tomorrow, but I'm working though it...
I feel like I'm in 1st grade, and tomorrow's my first day of school, lol!

I'm mostly nervous to swim. I can swim, but I don't know how to do the professional kind of swimming. I feel like a complete armature, and I totally don't know what I'm doing! You get a free session with a personal trainer, so I'm wondering if I can ask them to teach me how to use swimming as a workout. I feel stupid asking for that. I'm going to try talking to someone about it tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get it all figured out soon.

I also did my weigh in, on this Memorial Day.
171.
That's a 1 pound loss. I did pretty darn good this week, so I'm kinda confused. I know that the further you get in your weight loss, it tends to slow down a little bit. That's why it made me nervous that my weight loss started out at about 2 pounds a week. I thought, "Oh great! What's it going to slow down to?!" I feel that after losing 36 pounds, my weight loss has slowed to 1 pound a week. Although thus far, I've had little to no exercise. I'm hoping working out will give me the boost I need, to get back to a 2+ pound loss each week!

Well, that's it for me!

Wish me luck for tomorrow!

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day!(Flickr)

**Workout Update!**

I just got back from the gym! I survived!
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Everyone didn't stop what they were doing to watch me enter the building, or pull up chairs to watch me workout, like I thought they would!
That's good ;D

I did 10 minutes on that thingy... what's it called? The elliptical?
And 10 minutes speed walking on the treadmill (well, at least speed walking for me)
I had planned to do more, but by the end of it, I seriously thought I was going to pass out! I have to take baby steps, to get to my goal... I'm not sure what that goal is, but I know it's more then 10 minutes on each machine, lol! I'd say for the first time working out in years, I did pretty good! It felt good to work up a sweat, and feel my heart racing!

I'm pretty darn proud of myself!

Deadlines and I, Don't get Along!

I knew I was thinking about something that was stressing me out, but I didn't know what it was. I sat down and really thought about what was on my mind. Suddenly, I got a flash of
Moose Creek.
Confused?

Every 5 years we have a family reunion. My Great Grandparent's children, and their families (on my Father's side), meet up and camp out near the ranch my Great Grandparents used to own (Moose Creek). I love going there, and I look forward to it every time!
I'm excited to see all my family (even the ones I don't really know), but I'm really excited to have my immediate family all together in one place (there's 8 of us kids, so it's rare that we're all together at the same time).

So why am I stressed out?
It's another deadline.

If you remember, the last time I had a deadline (my hubbies graduation), I sabotaged myself.

My family saw me at 120, before I got married. The next time they saw me, I was 180. And the last time they saw me in April of 2009, I was over 200 pounds:It felt horrible seeing my family, after gaining so much weight. I felt like instead of being excited to see me, and giving me a hug, they were more like, "Whoa! What. The. Heck. Happened to you?!" And that was totally understandable. I had changed dramatically. But the thought of it, still hurt.

I would of course try to lose weight, every time I was going to see my family. It would start out like this:
"Okay, I have 4 months. I can lose 40 pounds before I see them!"
I wouldn't go on a diet. It would turn into this:
"Okay, now I have 2 months. It's better then nothing. I could lose 20 maybe even 30 pounds before we leave!"
Again, I didn't go on a diet. My goals would get more and more unrealistic:
"Sigh. Alright, I have 1 month before we go. Maybe I can still lose 20 pounds?!"
Still not on a diet. It's time to take drastic measures:
"I have two weeks! I'm going to go on some crazy diet! I'm desperate! Hmm, maybe a cleansing diet! Okay, I'm not going to eat anything for 2 weeks, and I'm only going to drink lemonade!" (There's actually a diet like that!)
That would last for like, 2 hours, and I'd say this:
"I give up. I'm going fat. Hope they still love me!"

Before, every time I went on a diet, it was to meet a deadline.
This time was different. I didn't go on a diet because I was afraid of what people would think of me. I went on a diet because I wanted to be healthy. I went on a diet because I wanted to get pregnant, and have a baby. I went on a diet for me! There was no deadline in sight, and what do you know, I was finally successful! I lost weight, at a slow and steady pace, without a deadline stressing me out.

So when a "deadline" comes up, my old way of think comes out:
"Okay, I have 2 months! I can lose 20 pounds! I have to lose 20 pounds!"
My old way of thinking always led to failure. Therefore, I'm determined to fail. It's what I'm used to. I start to believe whole heartily that I can't do it!

This is the point I sabotage myself.
"I cant do it! I can't do it! I can't do it! Where's a donut?!!"
Can't beat em', join em'.

But this time is different.
I've already lost 35 pounds!
Even if I don't lose any more weight from here, I've already been more successful then I've ever been. I'm the thinnest my family has seen me since I got married! I would have killed to be 35 pounds lighter, the last time I saw my family!
(A pic from my last little photo shoot)
My solution to the deadline thing: Don't make it a deadline!
Continue what I'm doing. No pressure. Don't even think about it. If I only lose 5 pounds between now, and when we leave (2 months), then I will have lost 40 pounds! And that's awesome! Of course I want to lose more then 5 pounds in 2mo, but I'm just saying.
I know I can do this, because I am doing this!

How do you deal with deadlines? Do they help you, or harm you?

***

Yesterday's (although it's going to be like 1am by the time I post this, so it's not quite yesterday;) weigh in results had me at 172, for a 1 pound loss.

I'm frustrated with myself. I was really wanting to see 170 this week.
About half way through the week, was when I subconsciously started sabotaging myself.
Fortunately I took the time to figure it out, and hopefully everything will be better from here!

Aahhhh... A Breath Of Fresh Air!

Today was a good day.
The day wasn't wasted because I was tired and dizzy.
Today, the funk that I've been in, didn't take over.

This little funk of mine has been lingering around for a while now, and today, I felt hope that it was leaving for good!

Today was a breath of fresh air, and it felt so good!
Oh so good!

I woke up, and actually got out of my PJ's (I'm a stay at home wifey, if you didn't know:)
I showered, (AND I even shaved my legs!) and got ready.
I took the doggies out, fed them, and watered the plants.
I cleaned. I even mopped the floor!
I ran errands, and went grocery shopping. Have I ever told you how much I hate grocery shopping? If I could hire someone to do one thing for me, it would be to take care of the hole grocery shopping thing. I'd hand them my menu for the week, and the groceries would magically appear in my fridge. That my friends, would be awesome!

Our local grocery store, had a cart with avocados and bell peppers on sale. Right then and there, I decided we were having chicken fajitas for dinner!... And that I was going to make Deliciously Healthy guacamole to go with it!

What's that you say? You want in on the Deliciously Healthy Guacamole?!
Okay, I'll give it to you ;)

Here's What You Need:

1 can (15 to 19 ounces) white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime
1 jalapeño chile , seeded
1/4 cup coarsely chopped sweet onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 ripe avocado, halved and pitted
2 plum tomatoes

This is What You Do:

~In a food processor with knife blade attached, puree beans and 1 1/2 tablespoon lime juice until smooth. Empty into a medium bowl.
~Place jalapeño, garlic, onion, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pulse until juicy and thick.
~Scoop avocado from peel into bowl with beans, and mash with fork until mixture is blended, with some chunks remaining.
~Cut each tomato in half. Squeeze halves to remove seeds and juice. Coarsely chop tomatoes. Stir tomato and onion mixture into avocado mixture until blended.

Then, just spread it on something yummy... or just eat it all by itself like me! ;)

Here's What I'm Thinking:

Serving size: 1/4 cup
Calories per serving: 70

***

Monday's are already cruddy enough, I don't know why I add to it, by weighing in on that day! ;)

Today's weigh in had me at 173
That's a 0 pound loss.

Truth is, I kinda deserve it. This past week was pretty much 50% good, and 50% bad.
I'm grateful I didn't gain anything... but, it's still disappointing. I wish I could rewind this pat week (or 2), but I can't. All I can do, is do better from here.

Today was a new start. I shook the funk off, and moved forward.

Today was a breath of fresh air, and it was just what I needed!

We had rose bushes planted in our backyard recently.
I thought I picked out peach roses, but they look pink to me. Now I wonder why I would have wanted peach? Pink is my favorite color after all :)
They make me smile when I look at them...

I'm Back!!

Did you miss me?! ;D

The first week I was away, I had decided to take a little break from the computer... sometimes you need to give your eyes a rest ;) Then, last week I slipped into a bit of a funk. I didn't have much energy, or motivation to do anything! I was tired, dizzy, hot, and my favorite thing to do was sleep!

I'm feeling much better, and this week I'm determined to
get back to my old self!

Despite being away from my little blog, I have managed to stick to my diet... for the most part ;) I had a few bad days over the past 2 weeks, but other then that, I've been good!

***

Time for the weigh ins!!
(I've had 2 since being away) :

Last Mondays weigh in had me at 174! Which had me at a 4 pound loss!
I had to weigh myself like 5 times to make sure the scale wasn't broken! I had just gotten off my period, so I think it was a post period loss.

Today's weigh in had me at 173! That's a
1 pound loss this week. It's not 4 like last week (I could get used to that;), but hey, it's a loss!

That means that since my last post (2 weeks ago), I've lost 5 pounds!! Yay me!
It also means that so far I've lost 33 pounds!
I'm only 7 pounds away from losing 40 pounds!
I'm so excited to reach that milestone!

So, that's a little bit of me lately.
I hope you have all been doing well!

I've set a few goals for myself this week, to help me get back to normal. One of my goals is to cook up a healthy storm, and try some new recipes! Hopefully I'll have some Deliciously Healthy goodness to share with you soon!

PS. I heart Duffy