Shrinking Thighs

I just wanted to broadcast that my last few weeks are showing results. Typically when I go up to drop my tithes at church (as we go to the front of the church to do so), I have to turn sideways to go between the wall and the pews when going up. Today, I walked straight through. Mind you, I did touch, BUT, I went straight through and didn't turn to go through!!! This made me so happy, I did it AGAIN after church!! I have tears in my eyes writing that. This is a huge obstacle. Hopefully in a few more weeks, I'll report that my thighs are NOT touch the wall and the pew at all. Pray for me on my continued journey

What's On the Menu?

I am trying to get a better idea where I'm lacking in calories as it's been virtually impossible to hit 1800 calories, much less 2000-2500 calories that I used to eat and have better success in losing weight. It's scientific stuff, a website I used in the past and verified with a certified nutritionist in the beginning days of this journey. My body is desperate for calories when I eat less than 2000, so by using SparkPeople's food database, I've been logging and keeping up with these calories.

As far as today's menu, I had turkey bacon for breakfast with scrambled eggs and for lunch, I'm having the following:

1 chicken breast
1 cup of California blend vegetables
1/4 cup Alfredo sauce
1 oz cream cheese

Just like before, I've boiled the chicken breast, then drain and cook in butter until it's browned. The vegetables are cooked per preference or bag-instructions. Sometimes I add it all together, sometimes I don't. Today, I'm not. But the sauce is combined in the pan and poured on top of the chicken and veggies and it's actually pretty good stuff.

I'm not sure what I'm having for dinner yet, but I'm thinking turkey burgers or something. I've attempted to eliminate beef and pork from my menus as much as possible, which is the reason for the significant drop in calories, but I feel much better without them. If I get a craving for beef, I will satisfy it as my body knows when it needs beef (hence: low iron) and will let me know. Otherwise, turkey and chicken are pretty basic for me and I'm quiet creative with them! I'll share as we go!

Thank God It's Friday!

I've been laid off from work as of January 31, 2012 as the job I had (as well as those of 600+ others) was outsourced to an overseas location and because of such, it's been a good and yet a bad experience. The first two weeks, I was thinking, wow! Nothing to do, no customers with high cell phone bills to console, and I could get my house clean. Problem is, when you are used to a schedule, your body desires that schedule! Have you ever played The Sims? This is what I think of sometimes as I felt as if I were a Sim, waking up, going to work, coming home and doing a little of nothing, then going to bed and starting all over. Now that I'm unemployed, I'm losing my mind.

One of my previous hobbies, in another life, I enjoyed couponing. It was a game to me and since I have nothing else to do, I've taken this game back up in order to save as much as I can on items that we need here in the house. Let me say that again, "to save as much as I can on items that we need here in the house". I put emphasis on that as there are too many hoarders glamorizing a fictional way of couponing on a popular television station. It's fictional as there have been quite a few instances of fraudulent "coupons" on that show. Anyhow, back to the point, so this has been what I've done with my time since being off from work.

This blog may be my journey to a healthier lifestyle, but I share everything and I'm going to start sharing my couponing experiences on here as well. I have a few places I will be shopping this weekend and I'll share that with you once it's over. My most recent experience was at Food Lion here in North Carolina where I pay $2.92 for FOUR bags of Bird's Eye Viola meals. No, I don't eat this, but when you have teenagers at the house who love pasta dishes, it makes a great, quick meal for them and it actually includes healthy vegetables.

So be on the look out for that, as well as my continued progress with this journey, and whatever else crosses my mind. But yes, I am so glad it's Friday! Some times I don't even know what day it is and either have to go hunt down a calendar or call my sweetie and ask him what the day is. Sad, right? March is going to be a better month for me. As a matter of fact, nine days in and nothing's been done except two loads of laundry, dishes, and cooking! I'm going to set up a planner for every day this week so I can stay on point and get everything done. I'm beginning to feel like a housewife and I'm not even married nor do my sweetie and I live together!

I hope that you all have a blessed weekend. Mine will consist of cleaning house, going to a pre-pastoral anniversary at our church, and of course church on Sunday. I'm not sure if the teenagers will be here this weekend or not, but if so, I think I'll pull a game out of the closet and the three of us can entertain one another since being cheap is my new name since my income has been cut in half due to this layoff!

Chicken and Salsa Recipe

I'm not sure if this has ever been made by anyone or not, but if so, awesome! I was throwing some ingredients together one day for lunch as I wanted something different as one thing went in, then did another until I came up with this Chicken and Salsa dish. It's really good and I eat it on a bed of baby spinach leaves.


2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup Bird's Eye Stir Fry Pepper Mix
1/2 cup Salsa (find the lowest in carbs)
1 oz Cream Cheese


I typically boil the chicken in the skillet with salt, pepper, garlic, and pepper and then drain. Cut into bite sized pieces, add in stir fry vegetables and either butter or oil, whichever you prefer. Once all is sauteed together and chicken is a bit brown, add in salsa and cream cheese and let it simmer until the cream cheese is melted.


That's it! Serve it on a cup of spinach leaves and even top with a bit of sour cream and cheddar cheese if you desire. If it's for dinner and you want to add a few extra carbs, there are always black olives and jalapeno peppers. I've done it all!


Before you make this for a low-fat or low-calorie diet, please keep in mind I don't do either of those. I don't really follow a plan at all, I simply eat foods that aren't processed, etc... it sort of boils down to a low-carb diet, but I don't think of it as such. 


Here are the nutritional information facts in order are calories, carbs, fat, and protein:

Pictures

Going to add some pictures to show my progress here. My major pic that I compare with is the one of March 2007 when I was nearly 500lbs. This first picture, I took at work in our mirror. I love the new shape!

This next one, I took after losing that 20lbs plus that I had put back on. I do NOT have all that chin, I actually have a neck now, haha. Don't know what's up with the face. I will do another one soon though!

This one is my most recent picture and I absolutely LOVE it!

Now, this picture was taken in 2009 when my sweetie and I first got together:

And this one was taken of us back in March. We're about to do some new ones for Christmas cards though!

So, now he and I need a new picture and I need a new full pic to compare to my 2007 picture. And I'm going to keep this blog updated because having people looking sure does make me work harder, LOL

Tools

What type of tools do you use for your motivation or equipment to aid in your progress? I had came across the Nike+ gadget when I first bought my iPod Touch and was enjoying it, however it seemed to quit working for me. I don't like the basic pedometers which you wear on your hip, because they never seem to be adequate in detail. When I was using the Nike+, I joined a site called Earndit and had forgotten about it until they emailed me some promotional offers the other day. While looking around on the site, they showed another gadget which can be synced to their site, it's called the FidBit. I'm considering adding this to my need/wish list for the next month or so, but I'm not sure. A friend of mine uses a GPS watch which tracks everything she does, however, I don't have the $349 to spend as if I did, I'd be all over that. The accuracy of the watch, compared to the accuracy of the FidBit however, I'm sure they will vary.

So my curiosity is, what do you use to track your steps?

Another thing, as previous discussed, I'm planning on putting a Wii in the house with some games like Just Dance and other work out games, but in the meanwhile, we have Hip Hop Abs and Zumba videos (which both wear you out like you can't imagine!), then of course, add in the walking. I don't see the need of owning another treadmill or any of those gadgets because mostly, they become furniture or places to hang clothes. I had a treadmill once and got tired of it pretty quickly. But what about you? What type of equipment do you use and have the most success with?

Mirrored Image

Plastered on the wall in the ladies rooms at work are these huge, nearly wall-to-wall mirrors in which you can see your entire self in. Last night, I came out of my stall, looked in the mirror and thought, a year ago, I would haven't even looked at myself as I wasn't pleased with my body. I'm still an overweight person, severely of course, however, I like the mirror now. I was standing there last night and looking at myself, measuring up where I'm having the most success in my weight loss. Right now, it's in my waist area and thighs and you can tell it. I get kind of disgusted still, however, because my thighs just aren't catching up with my waist much at all, but I do have a long way to go and therefore, I'm not trying to be discouraged.

In February, it'll be officially a year since I've changed up my lifestyle to becoming healthier. Evaluating the months gone by, I know there are things I could've done differently to "speed" up this process but at the same time, I remind myself, I'm not in a race to health because losing too quick can be as bad as gaining too quickly. As of December 15th, I've gone from 467 pounds to 388 pounds. Calculations show that as being 79 pounds. Figuring that in from November to December, that's an average of 7 pounds per month and then some ounces. Could I have lost more? Absolutely, but the question is, should I have lost more? It's only recommended to lose 1-2 pounds per week, so using those statistics, I'm satisfied with my current success.

What's more pleasing about this however? My clothing sizes are what I see the most change in. Let's put this into the public eye:

February 2010:
Shirts: 6X
Jeans: 40W (For plus size ladies, we know this is HUGE with a near 60" waist)

January 2011:
Shirts 3X
Jeans: 34W

The 34s are snug on my thighs as it seems all the Cheetos and Dr. Peppers accumulated in my thighs, however, my waist is perfectly fitting. The 3X shirts fit nicely too and the few that I have, they aren't draped over me like furniture covers.

I'm pleased with this. I'm going to make an effort to step up in my activity levels as this is my weak point since I'd rather sleep than get up and move. I have opportunity to move at work but have yet to do it because on my breaks, I'm glued to my phone talking to my daughter and my sweetie. One of the changes coming is I'm going to be buying a big screen TV and Wii in a couple of months, so I'm going to use that to increase activity rate and my workout DVDs are headed to the living room. This is a necessity because even my daughter needs movement in her life rather than being glued to the internet. Does anyone have any success stories with the Wii games? There's one about dance something that my daughter was telling me about, I have it wrote down, but something we're going to try out.

Anyhow, I'm going to close this so I can get ready for work. I'm not into making resolutions, but the changes I really need to focus on is eating at work and moving more. I want to see approximately 50 more pounds off by August. Who's in for the challenge? Meanwhile, I'm going to continue to admire my curves that I can see now in the mirrors at work!