Jen's Losin' It!

For Me

2011-03-17T14:17:00.000-04:00

I really wish I knew when, how, why, but I'm not complaining. A switch has been flipped inside me, maybe it was the hair cut. For the past couple of years, I have said "I'm trying to lose weight," but I just wasn't committed to it. Something wasn't clicking and I wasn't successful, at all. I found myself setting insane goals, joining a bunch of weight loss challenges and then giving up rather quickly because of one "bad" day or one "bad" meal.

This time, I'm doing this for me. Exercising because I love the way it makes me feel which is strong, healthy, powerful and a better Jen. Eating healthy because of the way it feels which is healthy, happy and a better Jen. Food isn't "bad" or "good." This time I'm losing the weight for me. I have goals, yes, but they aren't set in stone. I know I won't lose the weight overnight, but I know that every day I continue on this path I will continue to get stronger, healthier and happier. As of now, I set a goal weight at my pre-kids weight. I honestly don't know if I will ever reach that weight again, but for now, it's a good reference for me. But I do know this, if I never reach that number again, but I get to a place where I'm happy and healthy, than I will be perfectly content and happy with that. Health and happiness can't be set on a certain number on the scale.

Thank you so much to everyone who has been so supportive as I have tried to figure everything out.

Who Am I?!

2011-03-16T06:38:00.000-04:00

It wasn't too long ago (about a month) that I was looking to find the quickest, easiest workout every morning so I could be done ASAP. Now, I'm looking to add in more and my body is craving more exercise. It's a terrific feeling and i hope it continues! I haven't said much about it, but it's been a week now, so I will. I have attempted Weight Watchers many times over the past few years, but for some reason, it just doesn't click with me. I admire those that have success with this program, but it just wasn't for me. I'm not saying it doesn't work and it's not a great program, it's just not for ME. When I stopped WW, I went back to another free site that I had used before, but again, it just wasn't clicking with me. I then decided I was fine and could do everything on my own and if I just exercised enough, the weight would start coming off...but it didn't. Last week a friend of mine and I were talking and she introduced me to a website www.myfitnesspal.com. It has been a week now and it is really working for me. The site is very user friendly, and so is everyone else! I love how easy and quick it is to add foods, exercise and it's very simple to use. I was trying to stick to a certain calorie count every day, but some days (especially after strength training day) I was starving all day long and was constantly going over calories. The beauty of this site; the more calories I burn, the more I get to eat :) And it's a different calorie amount every day, so my calories consumed every day are always changing, so I'm keeping my body guessing and I'm having great success!!! If anyone else is on that site; feel free to add me: jenslosinit

Workout: Chalean Extreme Lean3
I know that most of these workout DVD systems come with a schedule, but I like to make my own :)

Breakfast:
Another breakfast consumed in the car. Same picture as the day before, because it was the exact same breakfast. An egg sandwich

and a Trader Joe's Cara Cara orange

Lunch: My new obsession; Salad Beast

Romaine Lettuce, Broccoli, Celery, 1oz cheddar cheese, pickle spear

I also had 2 slices of Trader Joe's Asiago Peppercorn Sourdough Bread (unpictured)

Dinner: Bowtie pasta with Trader Joe's Alfredo Pasta Sauce (man can you tell I hit up TJ's this week!!)

1 cup of broccoli and 1 cup of green beans

YAY for natural light at dinner!!!! :)

Bye Bye Hair!

2011-03-14T19:46:00.000-04:00

The last time I had my hair cut was in 2009, and it's been getting to a desperate situation ever since! But, before I get to the big reveal, let's go back to this morning.

Workout: ChaLEAN Extreme Burn Intervals
The first time I did this workout was probably a little over a year ago and I really thought I was going to pass out. I couldn't do most of the cardio portions and half did the weights portion. Today, even though I had to do the modified versions, I DID IT! I did the whole thing!!! I felt like a total rockstar when it was over!

Breakfast:
Egg sandwich on a whole wheat english muffin, slice of american cheese and an egg

And a delicious Cara Cara orange on the side. This meal was consumed in the car on my way to Trader Joe's.

Lunch: Salad beast. Romaine lettuce topped with broccoli, celery, pickle and cheese

Dinner: Unpictured because I was trying to inhale it so I could get my hair cut. Steak, baby red potatoes and green beans.

**** and now for the hair reveal, I am SO beyond thrilled with how it turned out! So nice to have a brother in law who comes to your house to cut your hair :)
BEFORE

and AFTER

And with that, I'm off to bathe kids, put them to bed and crawl in bed with a movie! Have a good night!!

Burn

2011-03-11T14:53:00.000-05:00

This morning I did a workout DVD called Burn It Off and Recharge. Should be called burn your muscles until you cry and stretch until you feel like gumby!

Breakfast was 1/2 a bagel with peanut butter

Blueberry Chobani

With a tablespoon of Chia seeds

Early Morning

2011-03-07T11:18:00.000-05:00

I tried this weekend to work out during Aiden's nap, but it was way harder than I thought! The more I thought about things, the more it made sense to keep my exercise time first thing in the morning for now. For one thing, 2 kids are at school during the day now, but pretty soon they will be home for the summer and I'll need AM workouts anyway and 2. I'm not motivated enough to say I'll work out later and then actually follow through with it ;)

So, I made a plan that will take me through Memorial Day and then I'll figure out what I want to do next. Here is the schedule for March:

Being able to cross something off every day is a huge motivator for me! So, this morning I did Cardio Party #2 and I was able to do the entire DVD without stopping and without making a ton of modifications. YAY :)

I have a ton of cleaning that needs to get done this morning, have a great Monday :)

I don't know what to do

2011-03-04T10:11:00.000-05:00

I have always been a morning exerciser. Truth be told, I actually like waking up early before anyone else is up, just having some alone time is worth so much to me! But, I just don't feel like exercising first thing in the A.M. anymore. I would rather take that time to just relax. Also, I just haven't been putting my all into the workouts, because I'm not fully awake yet. I don't want to exercise at night because by the time I do dinner, bathe 3 kids, read and they all go to bed; *I* want to go to bed myself, but that's also because I wake up at 4:15am.

I have 2 kids who are in school all day and the toddler naps for about 3 hours every afternoon. I have been using that as more quiet time, but that's a lot of idle time of me not doing anything if I have that in the morning and again in the afternoon. So, I'm thinking I can still wake up early (maybe not AS early though if I'm not going to be working out) and have the alone time then, but then use the afternoon nap time as my exercise time.

Well now that I wrote it all down, I know what to do :) So, let's get down to business!

Breakfast: I woke up this morning with a less than pleasant wake up call of cramps and cravings for all things unhealthy. Thankfully we got a bit of ice last night and the schools are on a 2 hour delay so going out for breakfast wasn't even an option. Instead I had eggs in toast

Banana

With a steaming mug of peppermint herbal tea (you can see my new boyfriend Mr. Blackberry in the back, he's dreamy)

Now it's off to get the kiddies to school and come home to chill with a heating pad :) See you this afternoon!

Why Not?

2011-03-03T15:05:00.000-05:00

I had the hardest time figuring out what I wanted for lunch today. Nothing "lunchy" sounded good, but I was craving oatmeal, so I went with that.

*1 cup So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk
*1/4 cup steel cut oats
1 Tbsp. Chia seeds

And on top
* Banana
* Polaner Strawberry All Fruit Spread
* White Chocolate Wonderful

This filled me up completely. It's been about 3 hours and I'm still full from this. Score!

#1, large diet coke

2011-03-03T11:13:00.000-05:00

For the past, I don't know how long, that has been my order every morning. I would drop off the 2 oldest at school and then toddler man and I would drive to McDonald's and I would get the #1 (Egg McMuffin & Hash Brown) with a large diet coke, give the hash brown to Aiden and I would have the sandwich and diet coke. While I miss my morning fix of McDonald's Diet Coke (which I swear they make it different there, because it's so addicting!); I don't miss the stomach ache and wallet crunch. I was spending WAY to much money every morning, not to mention driving totally out of the way to go get it. It's pretty sad, but I really think my body is going through withdrawals, I want it SO bad, but I'm not giving in.

Exercise: Turbo Jam: Cardio Party 2. I was so bummed I forgot to start the Polar when I started working out, so I only had it on the last 1/2.

And then for breakfast when all I really wanted was an egg mcmuffin and diet coke, I had a bagel egg sandwich

With some citrus in the form of a nice, juicy grapefruit

Snack this morning was a bananawich: banana cut in 1/2 and then sliced down the middle with White Chocolate Wonderful sandwiched between the slices.

Hope everyone is having a great day so far, see you this afternoon :)

Toads in a hole

2011-03-03T06:36:00.000-05:00

Exercise: ChaLEAN Extreme: Burn #3 (using resistance bands)

Holy butt kicker. My arms, inner thighs and shoulders are still burning 24 hours later!

Post Exercise Snack:

Delicious! I wake up at 4:15 to work out and normally eat breakfast after I drop off the kids at home (between 8:45-9), but I'm STARVING and will eat way too much, so I'm trying to find something quick to eat in between exercising and taking them to school.

Breakfast: Toads in a hole. We used to have this all the time growing up and it was my favorite breakfast. So good and really hit the spot. I also had a banana and my favorite part; the little toasted circles :)

Lunch: Roast beef/swiss/mustard sandwich with broccoli and a grapefruit

Dinner: Salad with italian dressing, steak, mac&cheese

March?!

2011-03-02T06:01:00.000-05:00

Where the crap did January and February go?! I love the first day of a new month, it's a fresh start, clean slate, etc... I love it :)
I started the day off with some Turbo Jam

And progress pictures. Measurements to come soon.

Post workout was a Chocolate Jay Robb protein shake made with So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk.

Between dr. appointments and running kids everywhere, I didn't get a chance to take any other pictures until dinner which was cheese tortellini and kielbasa, tossed in italian dressing.

Roasted broccoli

...and STRAWBERRIES!!!! YAY!!!! I was so excited to see these at the store, so delicious!

It was like taking a bite out of summer :)

Unexpected Absence!!

2011-02-27T16:03:00.000-05:00

What a week! I can't believe I haven't been here to update this blog in over a week. SOOO much has happened, I don't have any pictures, so here's some high lights of what has happened since the 19th.

Feb. 19th: Hosted a baby shower for my brother and his wife, who's due date was April 10th (my Dad's birthday)

Feb. 20th: Got a phone call from my brother and his wife that her water broke and she was in the hospital. Ryder Mason was born at 11:12pm weighing 5lbs 12oz and 18.5" long. He is still in the NICU, but doing very, very well and should be home by next weekend.

Monday: Spent the day at the hospital and also digging out from the 8+" of snow we received Sunday night.

Tuesday: Spent the day at the pediatrician's office with the daughter who has an ear infection and has to do breathing treatments 3 times a week until Tuesday when we go back for a recheck.

Wednesday: I started feeling a little sick.

Thursday: Spent most of the day laying on the couch with a low fever, woke up later that night with a high fever, sore throat and my entire body ached.

Friday: Took myself to the doctor and left with the best cough medicine ever and a z-pack that i'm pretty sure is powerful enough to take down an elephant if it was sick ;)

Saturday: Thank goodness for husbands!!!! I spent all day yesterday in bed. I watched movies, read and slept for most of the day.

Today: I'm finally feeling human again! I can't even tell you how much better I feel!!!

*********

As I layed in bed yesterday, I started thinking about how I want the direction of this blog to go and I have a few things I want to do daily, weekly and monthly to keep me on track.

1. Daily: Workout (time and calories burned), meals (with calorie count) and anything else I do during the day...which honestly isn't much, sorry!

2. Weekly: Weigh in (Friday morning), total calorie burn for working out and total exercise minutes)

3. Monthly: On the first Friday of the month take measurements and post pictures.

Sorry this is so long!

It's Friday!

2011-02-18T09:16:00.000-05:00

WORKOUT:
Turbo Jam: Fat Blaster

Sorry it's blurry, it was the best I could do at 5am. This workout is full of intervals and crazy intense. I kept the whole thing low impact and still managed to torch a pretty decent amount of calories.

BREAKFAST:
English muffin topped with peanut butter

And 1/2 a grapefruit

Total calories: 279

I'm off to do some cleaning and other chores that need to be done. See ya at lunch :)

It is the food (Weigh In Day: 2/18/11)

2011-02-18T05:35:00.000-05:00

Well, clearly it is about the food. According to Sparkpeople, I need to workout for 180 minutes a week and burn 1460 calories a week to lose 1 pound a week. This week I did 181 minutes and burned 1605 calories and yet I gained 2.2 pounds. Any other week, this would send me into a tail spin of over eating and just not caring. But, I'm so proud of myself for the exercise I did!! It wasn't by much, but I met and exceeded my goals for the week!!!!

So what can I do?

* Continue working out just as hard through this next week

* Track my calories (as you can tell, my posting of food has been non-existent lately and it's because I have been pretty lazy about tracking anything and just eating what I wanted.

* Post daily.

Last Week: 207.2

Today: 209.4

Polar FT7

2011-02-15T06:48:00.000-05:00

Workout:
Turbo Jam: Punch, Kick and Jam

Can I just say how much I am loving my Polar?! I can't even tell you how excited I was to see that calorie burn when I was done! I have been wearing it for different cardio/strength training workouts and I have to say I am so happy I bought this. When I'm feeling tired and ready to give up, I try and kick it up a bit to keep me in the fat burning stage. It's a total game with myself, but I want to see how many calories I can burn from day to day doing different workouts. I love how it even calculates my calorie burn while doing a weight lifting DVD. I was a little weary because of the chest strap, but I honestly forget that it is even on once I start working out.

Post Workout Snack:
Tangerine with far too many seeds. I hate when every bite requires seed spitting, you can't even enjoy the tangerine at that point!

Breakfast:
English Muffin, Swiss Cheese, Cholula all put under the broiler for a few minutes.

and 1/2 a grapefruit with a bit of sugar sprinkled on top

Lunch:
Mini Chicken Taco's from Trader Joe's, with greek yogurt and cholula mixed in

With the other 1/2 of my grapefruit from breakfast.

Dinner:
I tried the Green Giant Broccoli and Cheese that was sent to me through MyBlogSpark.

Normally, I'm not a fan of cooked broccoli, it's a texture thing for me. I can't stand mushy broccoli. But, this was surprisngly not mushy after cooking! It still had a bit of snap to each bite.

Delicious!

Good day gone bad & Giveaway winner

2011-02-11T05:23:00.000-05:00

I was so excited all day waiting for the UPS driver to bring my surprise I ordered...the Polar FT7. I want to wear it for a few more sweat sessions before I give a formal review, but so far, so very very good!

And that's when things went bad...when the package arrived, the toddler was napping, I was watching something on TV, so I brought it into the family room and put everything on the couch; including the scissors.

The phone rang, I came back and sat down, and felt one of those razor sharp little scissor legs go into the back of my thigh. Hurt like crazy! Since I use those scissors to cut anything and everything and it was bleeding pretty well, I finally decided a trip to urgent care was in order. The puncture was way deeper than I thought, so it's a good thing I went in. I got it all cleaned out, some antibiotic ointment and the highlight of my night...a tetanus shot. Yay.

Honestly, the nurse was awesome because I didn't even feel it and I'm the biggest baby ever when it comes to shots. Last night it didn't hurt at all, but this morning, wow...it's definitely sore now! What's funny is that if Aiden would have been awake, this wouldn't have happened. I would have opened the package in the kitchen and the scissors would have been up high so a certain 3 year old couldn't reach them.

Ok, so onto happier things, we have a giveaway winner!!

Shabby Chic Mom- Susie said...

I use gg frozen veggies for stir fries and as healthy veggies for my baby!

Congratulations! Send me an email with your address, and I'll forward it on to MyBlogSpark and they will send you your prize :)

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:3Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Giveaway Time!!!!

2011-02-08T11:23:00.000-05:00

Green Giant Boxed Vegetables can help you stay on track to achieve your weight management goals in 2011. Twenty-nine delicious varieties are now endorsed by Weight Watchers®, and most have only a 1 or 2 PointsPlus^® value per serving! Packed with flavor and ready in minutes, Green Giant Boxed Vegetables are available in a wide variety of flavors, many featuring mouthwatering sauces and seasonings. They´re a terrific addition to any meal and a delicious way to achieve better health in 2011.

Don´t forget to visit Green Giant on Facebook and Green Giant on Twitter and "Like" or "Follow" the brand to keep up with their latest and greatest products! For more information and great recipe ideas visit http://greengiant.com/.

Through MyBlogSpark.com, Green Giant provided me with the product and information and I'm able to host this giveaway for you!!

You will receive:

*Insulated Bag
*Pedometer
*Serving Bowl & Spoon
*Coupon for frozen vegetables

Want to win? All you need to do is share a comment how you use frozen vegetables.

*One entry per person.
*Winner will be selected on February 11, 2011 via www.random.org

Deep Thoughts

2011-02-04T16:51:00.001-05:00

I always do my best thinking while I'm cleaning, guess it's my meditation time! A couple of things have been weighing on me and I need to just let them out.

1. In 16 weeks (I counted this morning) we'll be heading to our first camping trip of the season (Memorial Day weekend). I was hoping to be a little farther into my weight loss journey, but I've determined that I am the slowest loser EVER. 2 lbs off, 4 pounds back on. Sucks. I would love to be one of those insanely lucky people who doesn't need to use a scale or use anything but clothes to determine weight loss...but I can't. I have to be determined, stick to a certain calorie count and exercise. Once I get closer to my weight loss goal (which I'm not sure what the exact # is because I've never been there), I'm sure I'll be able to relax and not worry so much about what the scale says. I'm not there yet. I weigh over 200lbs. I'm not healthy. I can pretend, but every fiber of my being knows the truth. My legs and feet swell at the end of every day if I don't drink enough water. I have high blood pressure. I'm pre-diabetic. Heart disease runs rampant in my family. I need this weight loss off. Like yesterday! If I can lose 1lb a week (which should not be a problem!) than when we go camping, I will have nearly 20lbs off. 208.4 - 16 = 192.4. I feel this is a number to aim for over the next few months. Not a huge number, realistic enough to lose in the time allotted.

2. Exercise. I'm a bum. Plain and simple. I have the very best intentions when it comes to working out, but when it comes down to it, I would rather plop my butt on the couch and catch up with the DVR or read about how everyone is working out and kicking butt on other blogs. I'm still doing Turbo Jam and I am loving it, it's challenging, but fun. My problem is that I think I'm trying to do to much at one time. I don't know how well this will work, but for the next week instead of trying to do a cardio dvd and a strength training dvd on the same day, I'm going to alternate days and just do 1 per day until that's no longer challenging.

3. I don't have an *off* switch. Normal people can have pizza night and have a couple of slices, salad and it's not a big deal. I could eat an entire large pizza by myself. Pizza sets me off on a huge eating spree that can last for days. Let me just set this up for you: If we have pizza one night, I'm guaranteed to eat at least 5 pieces, and could easily eat more, but don't. The next morning normal people will eat like regular. Me? Not so much, I want more junk. I want a fast food breakfast which leads to eating more crap for lunch and chances are we will also eat out dinner that night as well. This can continue for days before I finally get so disgusted with everything that I stop the cycle. I've decided that until this gets under control, I HAVE to cut myself off of fast food (which is horrible anyway) and also limit myself to eating out. Period.

There were other things but these were the major ones I was thinking about scrubbing floors and toilets this morning, fun times!

Bumsickle

2011-02-04T07:04:00.000-05:00

That's what I have been this whole week. A giant, tv watching, hibernating bumsickle. Thanks to that *special* time of month and too much snow, I haven't wanted to do anything this week and I feel so gross. Thankfully things are ending with the girly issues and if all goes well today I should be back on the road and out of this house by later this afternoon!!!! I ventured outside yesterday for 2 reasons. 1. To document the snowfall and 2. To document what said snow fall did to my poor mom-mobile :(

And then I saw on the news that more snow is coming Sunday/Monday. Blah.
As Spencer was cleaning off our cars on Thursday, he discovered the rear windshield of my van was completely smashed and ready to fall into the van at any given moment. When I got home Wednesday afternoon it was fine and intact, so we have no idea how this could have happened. Someone is supposed to come to the house today to replace it, hopefully it doesn't take long!

About 3.2 seconds after I took this picture, it all fell in...all over the driveway and into the back of the van. Fun times.

Happy 3rd Birthday Aiden!

2011-02-03T12:19:00.000-05:00

Aiden
2.2.08
8lbs 3oz
21.5" long
4 weeks early!

After attempting 2 vaginal deliveries resulting in c-sections, when I found out I was pregnant with Aiden, I decided I didn't even want to attempt to deliver naturally, I knew I would need a c-section anyway. My due date was at the end of February and my surgery was scheduled a few days prior to his due date. On February 1st I was at work and started feeling some contractions and I was so bummed because my OB was going to be on vacation for another week and I had never even met the Dr. who was filling in for him. The following morning I woke up and knew I was in labor, and Aiden was born later that evening on February 2nd, 2008 at 8:58pm. The surgery was way better than the previous two, since I didn't have hours upon hours of pushing, I was well rested and knew exactly what to expect. Here's Aiden and I right after surgery:

Meeting his brother and sister for the first time:

And a few weeks later...:

So hard to believe that chunky little monkey is now a 3 year old! This is also the first time that I've had a 3 year old without having a newborn...I'm loving it! Last night we had his favorite dinner (spaghetti) and then a little cake. His birthday party will be this weekend :)

Snow Monster

2011-01-31T18:05:00.001-05:00

Let me preface this by saying:

1. Yes, I know it's winter in Michigan and it snows here...
2. I've lived in Michigan since 1993 and have never seen a snow of this size come through here.
3. I'm not excited about a dangerous storm. At all.
4. I prefer my snow in nice, manageable amounts. More than 6" is bordering on ridiculous.
5. If one more person says "it's only snow" I may punch them square in the face.
6. Again, I realize it is winter in Michigan, but this snow monster storm is pretty frightening!

That being said, the snow monster is coming!!!

Good news:
1. The husband will not be attempting to drive to work on Wednesday, little car + lots of snow = stuck husband.
2. We do have a generator that controls the water, heat, fridge, some lights and a couple of outlets.
3. I intend to catch up on some scrapbooking :)
4. Gas stove and oven so if the power does go out we can still cook.

Bad News: Let me just let the warning speak for itself:

* HEAVY ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW BETWEEN 8 AND 12 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE. THE MAJORITY OF THIS SNOW WILL FALL THROUGH THE EARLY AND MID MORNING HOURS WEDNESDAY.

* NORTHEAST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 20 TO 30 MPH TUESDAY NIGHT... CREATING AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW AND POTENTIALLY BRINGING PERIODS OF NEAR-BLIZZARD CONDITIONS.
* WIND CHILLS WILL FALL TO BETWEEN 0 AND 5 TUESDAY NIGHT.

Should be very interesting around here the next couple of days!!! I plan on taking lots of pictures, and if all goes well, can update on a pretty regular basis. Wish me luck and for those that are also going to be affected by this monster of a storm, stay safe, stay warm and stay home!!!!

My Oats Will Never Be The Same

2011-01-31T10:36:00.000-05:00

There is generally one time a month that I have a deep undeniable craving...and it's always the same, peanut butter and chocolate. Recently, I picked up a jar of Schoko Mac because it looked delicious, but wasn't sure what to do with it. When I woke up with that craving, I knew it was meant to be an oatmeal topping, along with Crazy Richard's Crunchy Peanut Butter, my oats will never be the same.

Creamy, chocolatey, peanut butter deliciousness! The uterine gremlins were very pleased :) If you spot this on your shelves at the store, don't shy away from it, pick it up immediately!!!!!

I may or may not have dipped a few pretzels into the jar over the weekend as well...

Flashback Friday

2011-01-28T13:51:00.001-05:00

I've never done this before, but recently I started looking through old pictures and decided to start doing flashbacks to when we first got married from that point on. Reasons for this:

1. I don't have a scanner, so it's hard to go back farther than that;
2. We didn't get a digital camera until 2002 and even then it was 3.2MP, a Sony Cybershot and was $600!!! Man, I'm old...

Ok, so these pictures are from our family vacation in August of 2002. I was about 33 or 34 weeks pregnant with my oldest and we were also celebrating our first wedding anniversary. When we first got married, we decided to wait 1 year and then decide if we wanted to move forward to have children right away or wait even longer...4 months later I found out I was pregnant. This first picture, is where we spent most of our days, hanging out on the beach :)

It took my husband and a brother to help me out of that dang chair!
This next picture is one I found of my Dad :) Up until a few weeks ago, I couldn't look at pictures with my Dad in them without crying. It hurts and it hurts bad, but it makes me smile to see him in a picture now. Does that mean I'm healing? I hope so!

And this is the husband and I, so young!!!

Hard to believe this August will be our 10 year anniversary!!!

Mish Mash

2011-01-28T07:01:00.000-05:00

This has been such a slacker week for me with pictures, I think the lack of sunshine is getting to me. Here is a mish mash of foods I have been eating the past few days.

Plain bagel with cream cheese

My favorite dinner from Siam Fusion
Pad Thai

Modern style stir-fried thin rice noodles with tofu, bean sprouts, ground peanuts, egg, and green onion.

Green Monster

2011-01-26T09:21:00.000-05:00

I have been craving green monsters like crazy lately, and even though it's freezing cold, they taste just as good as they did in July.

Pre-green monster yesterday I did 20 minute Turbo Jam and Ab Jam. My obliques are still on fire this morning! 20 minutes of Ab Jam is no joke!!

Hello beautiful :)
This GM included 2 cups of spinach, banana, peach and vanilla soy milk. Mouth smacking delicious. I only have one other meal pictured from yesterday because I kept forgetting the camera every other time I sat down to eat.

Oatmeal topped with Justin's Maple Almond Butter.
This was my first time trying this brand of almond butter, it was really good! Every other almond butter I have tried is really dry, but this melted perfectly into my bowl of oats

And had the perfect amount of nut/maple combo in each bite. My next flavor to try is the chocolate almond butter. Can't wait!!!!

Back at it

2011-01-24T19:09:00.000-05:00

I'm so happy to be feeling human again and able to eat, drink and workout again!!

Workout: 20 minute Jam

Breakfast: 2 eggs dippy style, whole wheat toast

And a very sad looking banana on the outside, but still delicious on the inside.

Lunch: Broccoli slaw, cucumbers, tomatoes, celery

I was pretty happy with this picture

1 cup Fage Greek Yogurt, Peach slices

Dinner: 3oz sweet and sour tofu (best tofu EVER!), rice, green beans

I'm off to do a little strength training and then calling it a night. See ya tomorrow!!

...and I'm back in the game!

2011-01-24T07:13:00.000-05:00

Hello and good morning :)

Thank you so much for all of the well wishes and get well soon thoughts. I'm so thankful for the husband who really stepped up his game around here. Bummer for him because now there is no more slacking on his part ;) Today was the first time I woke up without a sore throat, feeling like I'm coughing up lungs and sounding like a chain smoker.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Sick

2011-01-19T14:22:00.000-05:00

Ugh. I hate feeling sick, #1 I don't get a sick day. Just because I don't feel well doesn't mean anything changes around here, kids still need to be taken care of, off to school, fed, etc. #2. I just hate feeling sick!!!!

Forget food, I have been living on Throat Coat herbal tea

The best sore throat lozenges EVER

And enough water to drown a fish

Oats in a Jar

2011-01-18T06:18:00.001-05:00

I have looked at OIAJ all over the blogosphere forever, but every time I finish a nut butter jar, I just throw it away before I remember OIAJ. Sunday when I finished off my PB, I remembered and kept it for a very special breakfast.

Wow. This was quite possibly the best oatmeal I've ever created. I started with 'nogmeal. , then into the near empty Naturally More PB jar.

and topped with delicious little blueberries. It was amazing. The little bits of peanut butter melted into my oats and it was bliss. Pure and simple bliss.

After breakfast we did a few things and then headed over to my mom's house for sledding and a little day off relaxation :)

She's not a fan of being cold. Or snow.
" I can't put my arms down..."

I love this! He was also less than impressed with the cold and snow.
Now it's time for fluids and citrus. I woke up this morning feeling as if I swallowed an alligator. My throat is sore and scratchy :(

Weigh In Day: January 14, 2011

2011-01-15T05:26:00.001-05:00

Finally! The scale moved in the right direction and I stopped gaining!!!

Last Week: 209
Now: 208.2

Turbo Jam is going great so far, I have read that this program doesn't have a 90 day plan like all of the other programs do, and some people only do it for a month and then move on. There is no way I'll be ready to move on to a more difficult program after only 1 month. I'm going to keep my original plan and do it for 90 days, and then I'll be moving on to ChaLEAN Extreme. Oh, I also am throwing in some extra toning DVD's that I have along with the Turbo Jam cardio DVD's.

Here is my workout schedule for the week:
Saturday: 20 Min. Turbo and Ab Jam
Sunday: Rest
Monday: 20 Min. Turbo and Ab Jam
Tuesday: 20 Min. Turbo and Turbo Sculpt
Wednesday: 20 Min. Turbo and Lower Body Jam
Thursday: 20 Min. Turbo and Weight Loss Yoga
Friday: 20 Min. Turbo and Power Sculpt

Have a great weekend :)

Placemats, Plates, Bowls

2011-01-14T06:03:00.000-05:00

I hit the motherload at Target the other day and picked up a bunch of new placemats and bowls to go along with the plates my Mom got me for Christmas. You know you're a blogger when the thought of new background items gets you all excited :)

So to show some of them, here is breakfast and lunch from yesterday. Breakfast was my latest addiction, english muffin, egg whites with cholula and cheese; along with a tangerine on the side.

And lunch was an open faced sandwich: smashed avocado, spinach, cheese. Put under the broiler for 3 minutes.

Along with 1 cup of Fage Greek Yogurt and 1 cup chopped mango

Essence on Main

2011-01-11T05:13:00.002-05:00

On our way to the store last week, I spotted this little gem downtown and couldn't wait to try it out.

With a pinch of passion for good food and a dash of devotion to providing the community with the highest quality ingredients, Essence on Main creates the perfect environment for a thriving relationship between healthy food and good taste.

Essence on Main is a gourmet specialty food store with an emphasis on local, natural and organic products for those who enjoy extraordinary food.

We strive to complement the community with positive energy, high quality merchandise, and a sustainable lifestyle.

I walked in and felt right at home. It was warm, inviting and a foodie dream!!! I'm excited to go back and pick up some little goodies to experiment with. For lunch I decided on the Oven Roasted Turkey sandwich:

On our sourdough artisan bread ~ Served with a dill pickle
~OVEN ROASTED TURKEY - $6.95~ cheese, romaine lettuce, tomato, red onion, Essence sandwich spread or mustard

This was simply amazing. The turkey and the swiss were cut perfectly. Not too thin, not too thick and I loved the baby swiss cheese. It wasn't overpowering, but strong enough to blend well with the turkey.

And the best pickle ever. It was perfectly seasoned.

Well done Essence on Main, I can't wait to visit you again!!!!

Twitter

2011-01-08T09:53:00.001-05:00

I decided everyone else was doing it, it's time I started using it :) I never really understood Twitter before, but when I logged on this morning, now I have *new* twitter....I like it!!! So, let's be Twitter friends. Hopefully this link works:
http://twitter.com/#!/jenslosinit

We have the daughter's birthday party today at the high school pool. It has water slides, little play area for the toddlers; should be fun!

To start the day right I got my booty handed to me on a plate thanks to Turbo Jam! I am so happy tomorrow is a rest day, I am so sore!!!

And for breakfast I had an egg white sandwich -

3Tbs. liquid egg white, cheese, english muffin

And 1 cup of plain yogurt topped with 1 cup of blackberries. Total Points+ for breakfast: 10. 21 left for the day.

Weigh In Day: January 7, 2010

2011-01-07T05:25:00.001-05:00

Last Week: 207.8
Today: 209

I almost let the scale defeat me. I almost went back to bed and skipped my workout...and then I remembered. Way back when I first started a fitness routine (we're talking 2007) I hit the gym every single day, stayed within my calories and I was SO excited to weigh in, I thought I had lost a big amount of weight...imagine my surprise when I was up nearly 5lbs. But I kept going and the next few weeks the scale payed off big time and I just kept going, every day.

So, I put on my sports bra, shorts and a shirt and headed to the basement where I kicked some major booty! I had a little gain this morning, it's not the end of the world, and it's bound to happen again, I'm sure! All I can do is take it one day and one meal at a time. Putting one foot in front of the other and making healthy choices whenever possible :)

Oh, forgot to mention, I have worked out every single day this week!!! This is a huge accomplishment for me!!!!

Scared

2011-01-04T05:37:00.001-05:00

I feel as if I may have had a breakthrough. Last year at this time, I had such high hopes for 2010. I made a weekly, monthly and year plan for weight loss and fitness. I had things planned out months in advance. I was ready to tackle the fitness side me of wanting to come out and hoping the weight loss would happen. And then it was April.

My whole world was shattered in a 5 minute conversation. How could it be possible that he was gone? How in the world did this happen? I had JUST talked to him! We were supposed to go to the library, relax during the afternoon, how could my DAD be gone?

Ever since that happened, I have had major issues with planning. Major. I always had this thought in the back of my mind; "why plan, who knows what will happen?" So, I stopped making plans for the future. I was reading yesterday about everyone's goals and plans for the year and I just couldn't do it. I thought about this a lot yesterday.
Why am I so scared? I can't be afraid to plan for the future.

It's true. You never know what will happen, no one does, but I can still plan for the future and get excited about things to happen again. For one thing, I know my Dad would be devastated to see my like this and I don't want to disappoint him.

And then I did it, I made a fitness plan.

And I am going to share it, because I want to be accountable to someone other than myself. Over the past couple of years I have purchased various workout DVD systems. Each one comes with a 90 day (except 1) program to follow. Two of them I have started 5 million times this year, but after a few days I stop and never go back. The other 2 systems I've only opened the package. So, I'm starting at the beginning.

Doing each system from start to finish. My 4 systems: Turbo Jam, ChaLEAN Extreme, Turbo Fire and P90X.

I'm starting with Turbo Jam and I started it yesterday. Part of starting a new program is doing the starting measurements. Again, because I want to be accountable to someone other than myself, I am posting my starting measurements right now.

Turbo Jam - Day 1 Measurements

Weight: 207.8

Neck: 15.25"

Chest: 43"

Waist: 41.2"

Hips: 43.8"

Left Thigh: 23"

Right Thigh: 23"

Left Bicep: 14.5"

Right Bicep: 14.5"

I will do the same measurements every 30 days.

So, there it is. While I don't know what the future holds, I'm still going to plan for the best and make 2011 the year I know it can be!

Ringing in 2011

2011-01-03T05:46:00.000-05:00

Gone are the days of partying all night, we ring in the new year a little more low key these days...and it couldn't make me happier.

We brought out the pots and pans and spoons for some midnight noise making

Sent some balloons to Papa in heaven

But when the fireworks started, a certain 2 year old was scared out of his pj's!

Safe and secure :)

The excitement was overwhelming...

Happy 2011!!!!

2011

2011-01-01T10:32:00.001-05:00

2011 will be the year of awesomeness :)

I loved reading everyone's 2010 re-caps, I will not be doing that. It was an awful year. Worst of my life. One I hope to not repeat.

For 2011, I have simple, but hopefully attainable goals.

1. Make Jen's Losin' It the best little blog it can be. My goal for this is to blog every day, develop my photography skills, and enjoy the ride.

2. Continue working on my happy goal weight. I don't know if I will be there by the end of the year, I don't know what my happy weight is yet. I just know I want to be out of the morbidly obese category and then I'll go from there.

Taking the plunge

2010-12-31T15:35:00.000-05:00

and buying Jen's Losin' It!. com :)

Not sure how long the site will be down, but hopefully everything will be up and running soon!

Happy New Year!!! PLEASE let 2011 be a better year than 2010 was!!!

Love,
Jen

Two Special Gifts

2010-12-28T13:10:00.001-05:00

Well, I made it through the first Christmas without my Dad here. So hard to believe it's been 8 months since he died. Christmas was always his favorite holiday, he loved everything about it: the lights, decorations, music, shopping, and his favorite was having everyone over on Christmas Day together to open gifts and spend the day together. We decided that since this was our first Christmas without him with us, we were all going to stay the night at my mom's house. It was so much fun! My brothers, husband and myself stayed up late setting up Santa gifts, watching Christmas movies and just having fun together.

I was given two gifts that are very special and I will treasure forever.

This one is from my brother's wife Sarah. I cried when I opened this.

And this is a gift from my Mom. It's one of my Dad's favorite shirts made into a pillow (she had one made for all of the kids and grandkids.) I can still smell him a little bit.

Emerging From the Christmas Coma

2010-12-28T05:51:00.000-05:00

I don't know about anyone else, but I ate so much sugary foods last week, that by Sunday night I felt like I was in a sugar induced Christmas coma. My fingers were tight and swollen, even my legs were a little swollen. I was sluggish, bloated and just didn't want to do much of anything! I woke up early yesterday morning and it felt SO good to sweat it all out!!! Trouble was, it's been so long since I have worked out that I was spent after only 10 minutes.

Breakfast was an egg white/egg omelet with ham, a little cheese and a grapefruit on the side.

For lunch, I had a delicious little veggie burger.

With sliced kiwi on the side.

Snack was inspired by Biz. Steamed apples with cinnamon. SO good and a perfect afternoon snack!

Dinner was un-pictured, but it was red beans and rice with a giant pile of broccoli on the side.

'Nogmeal

2010-12-22T09:21:00.000-05:00

It's like Christmas in a bowl, you will not be sad you made this.

1. Add 1 cup Silk 'Nog, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Bring to a boil

2. Add 1/2 cup of oats

3. Cook for about 5 minutes, until nice and creamy. And top with your choice of toppings. I went easy today and just did banana.

and more pumpkin pie spice...you will want to as well :)

I'm pretty sure mmmmmmmm was all I could get out after that first bite. It was creamy, egg noggy, pumpkin pied deliciousness!!!

We are off to finish the Christmas shopping! Have a great day :)

Soccerzone

2010-12-20T06:04:00.000-05:00

Saturday night I took Karlie to her friend's birthday party at Soccerzone. Not only do they have indoor soccer fields, but they had an entire room dedicated to inflatables, which is where the birthday party was. Totally fun setting!!! We were there for 3 hours and it was so much fun! I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids did :).

...and then there was this, smack in the middle of the room. I'm pretty sure everyone posed with this at one point in the evening.

No one used it, there was a real restroom in the back of the building, but we all wondered what was up with the phantom toilet ;)

Weigh In Day (12.13.10)...and much more!

2010-12-13T13:22:00.002-05:00

I have so much to catch up on, grab a drink and sit down for a few minutes :)

1. Starting Weight: 207
Last Week: 203
Today: 204
Total Loss: -3

Under normal circumstances I probably would have been upset, but it was a long, emotional week and I'm just happy there wasn't more damage! A new week starts today and I'm ready :)

I posted the other day about my friend who passed away last week, here is her obituary: http://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/flint/obituary.aspx?n=alice-edmunds&pid=147078343&fhid=4727. She was an amazing woman who will be missed greatly.

2. My Mom hosted a cookie exchange on Saturday. Holy cookies! There were so many amazing little treats, here is the box I took home.

3. Our first snow storm of the season arrived yesterday! At first they were predicting 2-4 inches, by Saturday afternoon they were saying 3-6 inches, and by Sunday morning they were saying prepare for 8-10 inches. We ended up with a little over 7".

We have a snow day today, but it's so cold (about -15) that after a brief 5 minutes out in the snow, we had to come back in.

4. Today is 8 months since my Dad died. It seems so surreal that it has been that long since I heard his voice, we had a "Papa Day", received a text from him. I miss him every day. For my new readers, here is the post from what happened: http://jenslosinit.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-life-has-forever-changed.html

Emotional

2010-12-12T11:19:00.001-05:00

Just when I thought 2010 couldn't get any worse. It did.
I got a phone call Wednesday afternoon that one of my good friends at church passed away in her sleep the night before. My heart is breaking for her husband and 4 little children she leaves behind.

I never really thought I was an emotional eater...now I'm sure I am! I'm trying to keep everything together and stay positive, but man, it's hard!!!

This is why I haven't been around this week.

Weigh In Day (12.6.10)

2010-12-07T05:36:00.000-05:00

First things first, my weigh in! Thank you Weight Watchers!!!!

Last Week: 207
Today: 203
Total Loss -4

I've also decided to post this picture I was talking about last week. I'm going to use these as my "before." So when I do make it to my goal weight, I can see just how far I made it. This is really hard for me to post these, but here we go.

...deep breath....ok. Now onto the best.salad.ever!!! Holy cow, this baby was so good!!! The star of my salad were these chili powder/cheesoning roasted chickpeas. I just rinsed, dried and coated the chickpeas with these seasonings and roasted for about 20 minutes.

Then for the salad I had spring mix, cucumbers, tomatoes, a chopped string cheese stick, 1/2 a cup of chicky goodness, salt and pepper and a little olive oil. Simple. Delicious.

Candy Canes and Snowflakes

2010-12-06T05:35:00.000-05:00

We are getting into the Christmas spirit around here! The Christmas trees are up, lights are turned on, Christmas music is playing and lists are being made. We found a bag of hershey's candy cane kisses yesterday and after trying to come up with something fun to do with them (and something two sick monkeys could help with) I decided on kisses and pretzels.

Chocolate and pretzels. You can't go wrong :) Before those little beauties went into the oven, we had a late breakfast, egg sandwiches and orange slices with a cup of lemon tea.

After we placed all of the kisses on the pretzels, I put them in the oven for a few minutes until they melted onto the pretzels. The chocolate held it's form, but it was soft. Perfection!

Lunch was a favorite, chicken/vegetable potstickers and sliced kiwi.

After toddler man was down for a nap, the two oldest wanted to make paper snowflakes.

And then we headed off to nana's house for the weekly family dinner. (Taco night!) and Karlie and nana went to town on a foam gingerbread house.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

My Gym

2010-12-05T10:12:00.000-05:00

My official weigh in isn't until tomorrow, but I took a sneak peek today. I almost cried I was so excited!!! Thank you Weight Watchers!!!!
I have been putting off exercising long enough, for the past 2-3 months I have had every excuse imaginable. It's done. I can't keep putting it off. Now that I feel like I'm getting a tiny little grip on eating (it's going to be a long road), I want to tackle the exercise. I didn't do much last night, but it was a start and I felt so much better and alive after I exercised!! I don't have a gym membership, but here's my basement set up :)

My massive collection of DVD's: Turbo Jam (Maximum Results), Turbo Jam (Fat Burning Elite), ChaLEAN Extreme, P90X, and Yoga with Jillian (yikes!!!!)

Weights, resistance bands, weighted gloves, ball, medicine balls...I really have no excuses why I don't use this stuff...

What I did last night: 20 Minute Workout

And Ab Jam

And the best shoes. Ever. These suckers make it feel like I'm exercising on a fluffy cloud :)

Random Eats

2010-12-03T06:49:00.000-05:00

Still trying to figure out points plus values on foods and realizing how much I need to go shopping this weekend! Here are some random eats from the past couple of days :)

Day 1

2010-12-01T14:25:00.000-05:00

I have to tell you, I am so beyond happy that I decided to join Weight Watchers! It's only been a day and a half, but it's eye opening. Right now I'm just tracking everything, reading about the new program and planning for future meals. I really like the online tracking, makes it so easy! I like having things to check off (water, fruits and vegetables, etc.) to keep me on track through the day. My intentions through January are to not gain weight. If I lose weight I'll be happy, but really I just don't want to gain anymore weight this month.

Breakfast yesterday was a whole grain tortilla with a mixture of pumpkin cream cheese, regular cream cheese and topped with craisins.

And then a side of sunshine- oranges :)

Lunch was a peanut butter sandwich.

Along with crack in a bowl :) Plain yogurt topped with sliced bananas and a tablespoon of pumpkin butter.

And my 2:00 tea time :) I think this will be for every day from now on! Aiden is napping, it's a couple hours before the others come home and I can relax for a little bit.

Dinner is unpictured, it was a church function. I had a spinach salad and lasagna with a slice of garlic bread.

Weight Watchers

2010-11-30T10:09:00.000-05:00

I swore I would never do WW again, but I got an email from them yesterday talking about their new program and offering a pretty sweet deal to re-join. After reading about the new program, I decided to re-join. I lost all my weight before with WW and really didn't want to pay for it again, but I think it's what i need to do to. If I'm paying for something, i'm more apt to using it and not letting the money go to waste.

So, my starting weight is 207lbs and my first goal is to lose 10% which will be 186.2 lbs.

I really like the online tracking tools, makes it really easy to track everything i'm eating. For this week, I'm not going to do much different, just get used to tracking everything i'm eating/drinking and then go from there. If i don't lose at first, that's fine, i need to do this slow and one baby step at a time. I just tracked my breakfast...talk about eye opening!!!!

I want to thank everyone for your awesome words of encouragement yesterday, I can't tell you how much it meant to me to read everything and realize that I CAN do this and I will succeed.

Rock Bottom

2010-11-29T09:11:00.000-05:00

I may even be below rock bottom...I'm putting up my hand for help.

Standing over my Dad's grave yesterday made me realize how short this life is and how everything can change in an instant. 1 year ago everything seemed right in the world, today it feels like that world is crashing around me.

We took family pictures last night and I cried myself to sleep. I can't believe I have let myself get like this. I had to buy a 2X sweater for these pictures, do you have any idea how depressing that is? Everyone else wanted to go home with CD's full of the pictures, while I'm hoping I never have to see them again. While I'm hoping they will never see the light of day and hoping like crazy they don't end up on Facebook.

I have been "trying" to lose weight for almost 3 years now, since my almost 3 year old was born. I weigh more this morning than I did the day before he was born. I can't find a pair of jeans that fit me, I have to wear giant size shirts and sweaters, everything that looks cute in the store, looks ridiculous on me, so I don't bother buying anything new, what's the point? I can't walk up the stairs without being winded. I hate myself and what I have become.

I don't know why I'm posting this, but I feel like it needs to be said. I need help. I'm going to try and make a plan, but I just don't know what to do anymore.

If you got to this point, thank you for reading.

Thanksgiving Through Pictures

2010-11-25T20:37:00.000-05:00

The Tables

My Mom is the only one allowed to call me Jennifer ;)

Plotting our plan of attack for Black Friday

If you look at the picture on the wall, that's my senior picture (class of '98 baby!)

Christmas Jammies!!! (my 3 and their 2 cousins)

Perfect pumpkin trifle

Spinach Artichoke Dip

My Mom's famous chipped beef dip

My first turkey

And now I'm off to bed, since my alarm will be going off at 3:30am to hit the stores :)

Pre-Cooking

2010-11-25T06:05:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is at my Mom's house, but I am doing all the cooking. I spent yesterday cooking all day. It was exhausting, but I was in my glory. It was a great day and I can't wait for today! I woke up at 4 to put the turkey in, and in a few more hours I'll get the potatoes ready for mashing, get the appetizers ready and force mass quantities of caffeine via Diet Coke into my system...

Breakfast was a bowl of cinnamon clusters honey bunches of oats, a plum, holiday spiced hot cocoa and some lemon water.

Lunch is unpictured, but I had a grilled chicken sandwich. And then dinner we went to Leo's.

And I have a new favorite! This was so good and HUGE...I ate maybe half of this plate of goodies.

I don't want to post all of my goodies, but here is one that turned out AMAZING! The pumpkin trifle, recipe from Dashing Dish...holy cow, I can't WAIT to eat this!!

Here is my fridge right now with everything I made yesterday

...and the poor kitchen :(. This will be cleaned once the sun comes up!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This has been the hardest year of my life, but today I am thankful for my family. We have all pulled together and we are a stronger family now because of the tragedy we have had to grieve and endure together. I love you guys!
Love you Dad and wish more than anything that you were here with us today.

Some days I really hate being a girl

2010-11-24T06:31:00.000-05:00

And yesterday was one of them! If I could have ripped my uterus out and fed it to a hungry shark, I would have!! The last thing I wanted to do was cook, so yesterday was all about meal simplicity.

Breakfast was 2 multi-grain waffles, topped with Smart Balance and Strawberry fruit spread, and then another giant plum.

Lunch was a peanut butter sandwich with added ground flax seed and apple slices with cinnamon, which I've never tried, but am in love with now!!!

And dinner was at my mom's house where we had pizza (again...) this time I loaded up on greek salad and had 2 slices of pizza, by the second 1/2 of the second slice I was done for, that has never happened before!!!

Today I'm heading to my mom's house to do all of the pre-cooking for tomorrow. I can't wait for a whole day of cooking :)

A Whole New World

2010-11-23T05:43:00.000-05:00

Oh Trader Joe's, you never let me down!!! All this time I have tried hummus from different places, I have never liked it, but I saw it at Trader Joe's a week ago and decided to give theirs a try. Now I see why everyone loves hummus so much! It's delicious!!!!

Let's back up and start with breakfast ;) Two slices of whole wheat toast with eggs

And a plum the size of a toddler

And then the life changing lunch. Whole wheat bread with roasted garlic hummus and slices of tomato. I wanted to add some feta, but sadly it sat in the fridge too long and was done for :(. This may not look like much, but I was full for hours!!

Dinner is un pictured, but it was 2 slices of cheese pizza.

Turkey Crossing

2010-11-18T13:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the annual Kindergarten turkey trot at T and K's school. The kindergarten classes perform the turkey trot in front of the whole school at their school meeting. Karlie has been talking about this for WEEKS and poor Aiden thought real turkeys were going to be dancing...poor kid.

The Tummy Is Happy Today!

2010-11-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

First, some blog business. I have been the worst weight loss blogger. Ever. Since my Dad died in April, I have gained almost 30lbs. I really never thought I was an emotional eater, I KNOW I am now. I want healthy to be my new normal instead of eating garbage and whatever is fast and easy to eat. I hate what I have done to my family. I want them to be happy and healthy and the things we have all been eating will not allow any of us to be happy and healthy!

I LOVE numbers, lists and cute little tickers to reach my goals. I also need daily accountability or the weight loss will not happen. I know some people say to eat healthy and exercise to feel better and not to worry about weight loss, but when you have nearly 100 lbs to lose, you HAVE to keep track of things. I realize that and I'm truly ok with it, in fact, I'm excited about it. So, starting tomorrow I will be keeping track of my weight, water intake and exercise minutes and reviewing these weekly. I can use all the support I can get!!

For breakfast today I had two slices of whole grain toast with butter, sprinkle of flax seed and poached eggs.

And a perfect little plum to finish off the meal.

Lunch was courtesy of My BlogSpark. A few weeks ago I received a package with this adorable soup cup and two different soups from Progresso.

I have never been a huge fan of tomato soup, but this was really good! I loved the chunks of tomato pieces in the soup and I loved how thick it was. And it was only 200 calories for the whole can of soup (100 calories for 1 cup) I will definitely buy this one in the future. I paired it with a grilled cheese sandwich using Muenster. I love this cheese!!!

Dinner was a HUGE success! It's very rare that everyone likes dinner every night, but tonight, there were no tears and everyone was full of smiles :) The hit of the meal were these potatoes. Wow. Wow. Wow. I got the idea from Yes, I Want Cake, I love her blog! She always has the best meal ideas!!! Once I read about cooking potatoes this way, I knew I needed to try it!

1. The bottom of your potatoes is the flattest part. Then you just peel the top of the taters.

2. Make little slats all the way across the top of the potato, make sure you don't go all the way through, I just cut down to where the skin was still on. Drizzle with olive oil and whatever seasonings you want. I use Mrs. Dash Italian Seasoning this time. Then you cook them for 1 hour at 400 degrees. I took them out with about 5 minutes left because they were starting to get really crispy on the top.

3. They come out looking like a little pocket of heaven! Once they came out, I put a bit of sour cream on top. SO flipping good!!!

I served this with the husband's favorite; steak and the kiddies favorite vegetables; green beans. It was a happy night in our house :)

Quaker Amazing Morning Kit

2010-11-12T07:09:00.002-05:00

Another giveaway! This one looks so dang incredible, I hope I win!!! This contest ends later this afternoon, so enter now :)

http://www.fannetasticfood.com/2010/11/11/win-a-quakers-amazing-morning-kit/#comment-28921

No Longer A Tofu Virgin

2010-11-10T08:47:00.000-05:00

...and I'm happy about it :) I have been reading all over the blogosphere and everyone always has the best looking tofu so I finally bought some to try it.

1. I pressed out all of the water. First, I cut the chunk into slabs, wrapped in paper towels

And then placed this dish with the giant butternut squash in it to help press the tofu, worked like a charm!

Once that was done, I measured out 3 ounces

Covered in some BBQ sauce and Mrs. Dash Original and then pan "fried" it in olive oil. This was 100% delicious!!

I was a little worried how it would be texture wise, but it was perfect!!! I can't wait to try other spices and sauces, who needs meat?! I paired this with stuffing and green beans. In other news, a good friend of mine just returned from Germany and brought me some yummy goodies! I haven't tried them out yet, but I'm sure they are delicious :)

Terra Chips Giveaway

2010-11-09T14:50:00.000-05:00

Trying to catch up on blog reading this afternoon and seems like people are hosting some giveaways, I never win, but it's still fun to enter! This one ends on Friday :)

http://eatingchalk.com/2010/11/09/breakfast-preview-lucky-you-2/#comment-4060

2 Moms in the Raw giveaway

2010-11-09T14:31:00.001-05:00

This contest ends on Thursday, so enter soon!!!
http://cleaneatingchelsey.com/2010/11/08/2-moms-review-giveaway/#comment-3155

Vegg It Up

2010-11-09T06:54:00.000-05:00

On my quest to eat healthier, I'm "vegging" up my meals. Still getting to eat great foods, but making healthier choices whenever I can. I started my day with 45 minutes of Turbo Jam's Cardio Party, I'm STILL feeling it this morning and can barely move my arms today. For breakfast I had some inspiration from Biz. This dish was not the prettiest thing to look at, but I assure you it was delicious and it was very filling! It was 1/2 cup refried beans as the base, a Morningstar Hot & Spicy sausage crumbled on top of the beans and then an egg on top of that, I also added some green salsa to top it all off.

And then I had a sliced kiwi on the side.

Lunch was inspired by Caitlin. The toddler wanted mac&cheese and I really wasn't in the mood to make two different lunches, so I just vegged mine up a bit! I had a base of spinach, then the mac&cheese and topped with diced tomatoes and roasted broccoli.

And then my snack....O.M.G....my snack! It was like crack in a bowl!!! 1 cup of plain yogurt, 1 sliced banana and then a tablespoon of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter. Wow. So freaking good, I can't wait to have this again!!!

Dinner was unpictured, but I had 2 slices of a vegetarian pizza. It was awesome and I'm happy to have leftovers for lunch today :)

November Goals

2010-11-03T07:10:00.000-04:00

I did make October Goals, but I failed so miserably, let's just move on! I had some issues with my scale, the battery was dying and I cried. I put the new battery in, re-set the scale and tested it with a new bag of sugar...100% correct. So I stood on it; and one of two things happened 1. I gained 6lbs in 6 days or 2. The scale was way off because of the battery and needing to be re-set. I sucked it up and decided no matter what happened, that was the weight it was giving me and I needed to just use it and move on. That weight on Sunday morning was 205.6 and this morning was 203.2 so I'm happy :)

Here are my November goals. I'm doing these goals with Jennifer over at We Can Lose The Pounds. If you have never checked out their blog, you should!! Jennifer always gives such great support :) Plus she has an awesome name ;)

1) I will exercise 5 times a week.
*I'm going to do a full 90 day round of Turbo Jam

2) I will journal my food and count calories.
*I need to track ALL calories, no matter what! Just because I splurge on one meal does NOT mean the whole day is *shot*

3) I will not eat any sugary snacky treats.
*NOTHING!!!.

4) Between now and Thanksgiving I would like to exercise 300 minutes.
*NO excuses!!

5) I would like to lose one pound per week.

6) I will drink at least 100 oz of water each day.

7) I will eat no more than two pieces of pizza for dinner on pizza night. Period.
*HUGE problem for me!!!

And now some awesome foods I had yesterday! This bowl of oats was so dang good, I wanted it x3! After the water boiled, I added the oats and sliced banana. This made the oats so creamy and little pockets of banana goodness in almost every bite!! Then I topped them with a little brown sugar and a tablespoon of craisins and dried blueberries.

Unbelievable. Every bite. Delicious!!!

These little beauties also made an appearance at dinner! My plan was to make pumpkin pancakes, but the troops revolted. Loudly. Instead I made some plain, some with chocolate chips and some with blueberries. So good!!!

Welcome November

2010-11-02T07:01:00.000-04:00

Over the past 6.5 months, everyone has told me that the first year is the hardest. The *firsts* without my Dad here will be the hardest. They weren't kidding!!! I am so ready for this suck butt year to be over. I'm trying to stay postive, but little things are what makes me miss my Dad the most. The next two months are going to be the hardest, Thanksgiving, Christmas; all the memories. *Sigh.*

Ok, let's get on to the food/fitness stuff! I'm going to be working on my goals today and I will post them later on. Breakfast and lunch yesterday were so pathetic they aren't worth mentioning, but dinner...oh my delicious! The husband wanted fettucine alfredo and garlic bread. I decided to doctor mine up a bit. And made a broccoli/tomato topping.

I tossed the broccoli with olive oil and cheesoning; if you haven't tried it...find it!!! Then roasted in the oven at 450 for about 10 minutes, then added it to the pasta.

And topped with the tomatoes. Also served with a slice of garlic bread. I'm so happy there are enough leftovers for the husband to take to work today and for me to have at lunch :)

It's the Black Eyed "P's"

2010-10-30T18:03:00.000-04:00

My sister in law (Sissy Sarah) and I were talking a few weeks ago about having some Halloween costumes for ourselves this year, but we couldn't come up with anything...until Thursday night.

Pretty dang awesome right?! Happy Halloween!!!!

Wholly Guacamole!!!

2010-10-29T07:13:00.000-04:00

There is an awesome giveaway going on and it's ending tomorrow, so head over to this blog pronto!!!!

http://danicasdaily.com/

Halloween Weekend

2010-10-29T05:31:00.001-04:00

Between 2 church parties, school parties and the big event on Sunday, this is turning into a big weekend affair!!! Our Halloween fun started last night with our church halloween party. Before we left, I had to get some pictures of the vampire, dragon and bat girl :)

Nature's Pride Inspired

2010-10-22T10:22:00.000-04:00

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker's program, I sometimes receive samples of foods to try and review for the blog. I was so excited when the doorbell rang yesterday and a huge box was on the porch with two loaves of bread from Nature's Pride. I was already planning on French Toast for dinner, so what better way to use the samples?! For the french toast I went with this bread:

Looks delicious, not too flimsy and love the grains on top:

For the french toast, I mixed eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon.

And decided to go the purest route for toppings; syrup. The bread really held up nicely! It stayed nice and firm and got a delicious "crisp" on the outside, but still stayed soft on the inside.

When I woke up this morning, I almost whipped up another batch of french toast, but decided to try something different. Using the same bread, this time I made an egg sandwich and put it under the broiler. I used 1 egg, 1oz of sharp cheddar cheese and Morningstar Hot & Spicy Veggie Sausage and then added a little bit of Cholula. Yummmm, yummm, yummm!!!! This is definitely a bread I would buy for myself, thank you for the opportunity to try it out!

Along with my sandwich, I had a sliced kiwi; skins and all. Perfection!

I'm Not Perfect

2010-10-20T09:02:00.000-04:00

It's time to get real. I'm not perfect. I'm overweight, heck may as well say it out loud...I'm obese. A word I never thought I would hear again. I'm at a weight right now that I never thought I would see again. 3 years ago I was at this very weight and it scared me. It still scares me! This is a weight loss blog and it's time I start treating it like that! I'm not a perfect healthy eater all day every day, I try, but the days I don't eat perfectly I feel like I have *failed* somehow and therefore stop posting. From now on, I will be posting everything, the good, the bad, and *gasp* the really ugly; which I'm sure will happen. I'm human. I'm not perfect. I confess to eating fast food, do I need to cut down? Absolutely. Do I need to stop? Of course, but will I be able to never consume fast food again, probably not, and that's ok with me! I love reading healthy blogs about people I admire and one day I hope to be like them and my blogs will be as full as all of the goodness that they post, for now, I need to concentrate on me. I need to take this one day, one meal, and one snack at a time. So this is me. I'm hoping you will join me on my journey to finding a new and improved Jen. It could take awhile, but I will get there! My first goal is to get under 200 pounds.

The Kidlets

2010-10-19T07:02:00.000-04:00

I've been having a hard time lately, so I haven't had any food pictures, so here are some kiddie pictures until I take some food ones today. These are of T and K trying on their Halloween costumes, they are SO excited and can't wait for the big night!!!

Yesterday I brought out the crayons for Aiden and he had so much fun creating his masterpiece! I tried doing this picture by having him holding it up in front of him, but it didn't work that way LOL!

I'm doing better now, so food pictures will resume today :)

6 Months

2010-10-14T05:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was 6 months since my world was shattered and my life changed forever. 6 months ago two detectives sat in the living room and told me things I never thought I would hear, it was a nightmare. When they told me my Dad had been killed in a car accident that morning, it felt like the air had been sucked out of my body, I went numb, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't do anything but cry.

My Dad was my best friend, my hero and one of the biggest supporters in my life. I still wish I could wake up from this nightmare, but I know he's looking down on me and I hope I make him proud. Yesterday was a really hard day. I can't believe it's been 6 months since I have heard his voice, read a text from him and saw him and my kids snuggling on the couch together. I miss him more than words can say.

I love you Dad. I hope you are finally getting the rest that you needed!!!

Dare I Say It...

2010-10-12T07:09:00.000-04:00

I have found the BEST breakfast and lunches!!! Starting with breakfast, I originally got the idea from one of my favorites: http://yesiwantcake.com/

I used toast with sliced apples and sharp white cheddar cheese

Put it under the broiler and heaven for breakfast was born!!

So amazing and filling!!!!! Lunch was the world's best pizza!!! The star was this:

Started with a pita bread pizza base, with pesto sauce

Then added the sausage, onions and sliced tomatoes

Topped with a little mozzarella cheese and baked at 425 until the cheese was golden brown and melty

Quick, easy, DELICIOUS!!!! Can't wait to make this again!!!!

Lost Memory Card

2010-10-07T06:21:00.000-04:00

...and MAJOR frustration!!!! I know I weigh a ton, I know the weight isn't going to come off overnight, but can I get a little loss? At this point, even a .2 loss would make me insanely happy! I have been working out faithfully for almost 2 weeks now and I have GAINED 2lbs!!! What the?!?! I don't get it, I really don't. If you have any tips or advice, please, please help me!!!

And then I haven't been able to take a single picture because my memory card was being held hostage by the toddler. See this face? Underneath his cuteness is evil! I found it this morning in the bottom of his car bucket...sneaky little booger!!!

Have a great day :)

Weekend Wrap Up

2010-10-04T06:34:00.000-04:00

I'm going to make this short and sweet, lots of yummy food this weekend and not a ton of time to write it all out so here we go; food love :)

Hello October

2010-10-01T14:01:00.000-04:00

Well now that I've figured out why I haven't been losing weight, can't believe it was so simple to figure out; anyway, it's time to get my bootay in gear!!!

October 1st Weight: 201.8
Neck: 14.5"
Chest: 44.5"
Waist: 42.5"
Hips: 45"
Thighs: 24", 24"
Calves: 15", 16"
Biceps: 14", 14"

I am really embarassed to admit these measurements and quite frankly, I'm disgusted. Here are my goals for the month:

Weight: Under 195
Water: 2-3 liters a day (64-96oz)
Calories: Stay within my calorie range (1200-1580)
Exercise: 500 minutes (month)

I have my exercise planned for the next few months (using the DVD's I currently own); here is my schedule from today until next Friday. WATP is Walk Away the Pounds and TJ is Turbo Jam.

Friday: WATP: 5K with a Twist (Done)
Saturday: TJ: Punch, Kick & Jam and TJ: Ab Jam
Sunday: Rest Day
Monday: WATP: Walk & Jog
Tuesday: TJ: Cardio Party #2
Wednesday: WATP: Walk & Firm
Thursday: TJ: Cardio Party #3
Friday: WATP: Walk Away Your Hips & Thighs and Power Sculpt

Jay Robb Contest Winner

2010-10-01T11:40:00.000-04:00

I put everyone's name into an Excel spreadsheet so you would all have a number and then visited www.random.org

Congrats Tara P. I'll send your package out ASAP :)

Thanks to everyone who participated, I hope you will continue to visit this blog!

Amazing(Grass) Smoothies!

2010-09-30T10:35:00.000-04:00

Over the past couple of days I have made two smoothies using similar ingredients, dang good I tell ya!!! If you have any doubts about buying Amazing Grass, there is a solution! Click on the GET YOUR GRASS ON link to your right and order the sample box, it's $2.99 and you can sample the amazingness of this product!

I used different Amazing Grass Meals, the first one is Pomegranate Mango

Mixed with a banana and Vanilla Almond Milk

And the 2nd smoothie was the Amazing Grass Original Blend

Mixed with Vanilla protein powder, Vanilla Almond Milk, a banana and a scoop of Crazy Richard's Creamy Peanut Butter

Both smoothies were delicious, but I think my favorite one was the smoothie I added the peanut butter too...but that could be because I have a slight obsession with nut butters!

Don't delay, buy some Amazing Grass today, you won't be disappointed!!!

Oh and don't forget to enter the Jay Robb Protein Powder Giveaway!!!! I will be choosing a winner tomorrow, here's the link:

http://jenslosinit.blogspot.com/2010/09/jay-robb-giveaway.html

Jay Robb Giveaway!!

2010-09-28T14:29:00.001-04:00

I am so excited to host this contest, the winner is going to get all sorts of awesome goodies!!!! You ready?! This is the package the winner gets :) Chock full of awesomeness!!!

1. Black Canvas Bag

2. Jay Robb Tank Top

3. Jay Robb Protein Bars

4. Jay Robb Product Catalog

5. Jay Robb Egg White Protein

6. Jay Robb Whey Protein Powder

Pretty sweet huh?! Want to win? Here's what you need to do (Leave a separate comment for each entry, the more comments, the better chance you have to win)

1. Leave me a comment with your name and email address *Mandatory Entry*

2. Add Jen's Losin' It! to your blog roll

3. Link back to this contest on your blog

4. "Like" Jen's Losin' It! on Facebook

If you do all 4, you'll get 4 chances to win! Make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry :)

The winner will be chosen at random on Friday, October 1, 2010. Tell your friends and good luck!!!!!

**** For everyone, here is a coupon that anyone can use!! ****

Amazing Grass

2010-09-28T14:12:00.000-04:00

When I received the package of samples from Amazing Grass, I was a little nervous. I was scared I wouldn't like the way the powders would taste and was really apprehensive about trying them. For breakfast yesterday I decided to go with Chocolate Infusion to start my day.

I really like how they list all of the vegetables, fruits and other ingredients:

Amazing Meal Chocolate Infusion is a naturally balanced source of protein, antioxidant & phytonutrient rich superfoods, cleansing fiber, digestive enzymes and probiotics. Infused with chocolate to give this drink powder one powerful chocolate punch, 15 servings per bottle.

10 grams of complete protein, 6 grams of fiber in every serving

Full spectrum of Green SuperFoods – wheat grass, barley grass, alfalfa & kale

Great source of chlorophyll, antioxidants and essential fatty acids

100% whole food nutrition – no fillers or isolated vitamins

With everything in here, it's like a little scrub brush for your insides!!!

I decided to mix it with Almond Milk

Both went into my little shaker cup and this was born:

It was good! All of my fears were released!!! I drank this on my way to drop the kiddies off at school and it held off the hunger goblins! I'm way excited to try all of the other flavors now!!

Over the weekend we went to Whole Foods, and I picked up this Ethnic Gourmet frozen meal. I read about all of these Indian dishes on the blog world, but I have always been afraid to try it. After my success with the Amazing Grass meal, I decided to go ahead and try this meal for lunch.

It came with brown rice mixed with peas (next time I'll add more frozen peas of my own)

And then I put the chicken on top of the rice and mixed it all together

EPIC! Not too spicy, but not bland either. Probably one of the very best frozen meals ever!!!!

Dinner was a meatless Monday easy meal :) Cheese quesadillas

And GUAC!!!!! You can't have a quesadilla without the Guac :)

If you would like to try out Amazing Grass for yourself, please click on the link to your right :)

So much to catch up on!

2010-09-27T06:28:00.001-04:00

Whew, what a busy weekend!!!! I have lots of blogging to do, some new products to sample, it's going to be a good week!!! To start, here's with Friday's eats :)

Breakfast was a yogurt mess with Chobani Vanilla

With a little black cherry jam mixed in

Lunch was light, wasn't really that hungry that day. I had an english muffin topped with Crazy Richard's Creamy Peanut Butter and a sliced banana.

Even straight out of the fridge, this peanut butter still melts right into the toasted muffin. I love this peanut butter!!!

A few weeks ago I received a box of Crunchmaster products to sample.

Lightly seasoned with olive oil and a fresh rosemary flavor, this variety will excite your taste buds from the first crunch.

Very impressive!!!! 14 crackers was the perfect amount for an afternoon snack. Love the ingredients list too:

This cracker had just the right amount of seasoning. Not too overwhelming that you wouldn't be able to top it with anything, but delicious enough to eat on their own too. I did a little of both ;)

Larabar Giveaway

2010-09-24T20:15:00.002-04:00

Enter at this blog for your chance to win!!!

http://cleaneatingchelsey.wordpress.com/

Eating Out

2010-09-24T09:43:00.000-04:00

Eating out has always been a problem for me that starts a horrible eating cycle for days on end after. For normal people, they can go to a restaurant eat something that they want, whether they choose to indulge or not, and then the next meal get right back to eating normally. For me, I go to a restaurant over indulge and continue the binge for day after day after that. It's a cycle I'm trying to break. My oldest's birthday is Saturday and my little brother's birthday was yesterday so that fam went out to dinner to celebrate. I knew we were going to Applebee's so I decided to check out the nutritionals online before leaving. I was really appalled at the nutrional values of some of my favorite dishes. Like jaw dropping. I decided in advance to order from the under 550 calorie count section and I was pleasantly surprised!!!

Ok, so let's back up to the start of the day. For breakfast I had an egg and cheese sandwich. Simple. Delicious.

We had some errands to run in the morning and by the time I got home, I was ready to rip my arm off and eat it!!! I went with a veggie filled salad

Topped with a Boca Chik'n Patty

Before heading off the Applebee's, I had a little snack to keep me from wanting to over indulge once we arrived to dinner. I had a pink lady apple and more creamy, delicious, Crazy Richard's Creamy Peanut Butter.

As I mentioned earlier, I ordered the Asiago Peppercorn Steak and it came with herbed potatoes and steamed broccoli.

This was REALLY good!!! The steak was cooked perfectly, the potatoes had just the right amount of seasoning on them and the broccoli was cooked, but still slightly crisp. I highly recommend it!!!

Once we got home I had to get started on the dozens upon dozens of cookies for Tyler to take to school for his birthday treat. I am not a baker. I can cook pretty well, but when it comes to baking, it's hit and miss!! I went for it though, and they actually turned out pretty well.

And I didn't have any! Normally, I would gorge myself on the dough and some "samples", but I was still full from dinner and the cookies weren't even tempting. Score!!

It's Getting Easier

2010-09-23T10:35:00.000-04:00

I'm really trying to stay on target with not snacking in between meals and planned snacks and trying to eat cleaner and it's working! I'm not craving the things, especially fast food anymore and daily salads are something I'm looking forward to! Now, I just need to get my booty in gear and start working out!!! I do really good for a couple of days and then just quit :(

Ok, so for breakfast yesterday, it was a two parter. I started off with a delightful green monster

* 2 handfuls spinach

* 1 Peach

*1 Banana

* Ridiculous amount of ice

*1/2 cup almond milk

* 1 cup water

I forgot to add the protein powder and it made a big difference, I like it a lot better with the protein powder!! The 2nd part of breakfast was a PB&J Oatmeal mess

Did I mention it's Cinnamon Vanilla Sunbutter?

And Black Cherry Jelly? Yummmmm!!!! Heaven in a bowl :)

Lunch was a standard salad - salads for lunch are my new favorite thing!!! I love the giant bowl of veggies and I'm really surprised how full it keeps me!

Yummm....cheddar cheese :)

Afternoon snack was a pink lady apple

Dipped in Crazy Richard's Creamy Peanut Butter

Perfection!!!!

Produce Day!

2010-09-22T10:43:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned it before, it's a pretty long drive, especially with a two year old in the car, but the prices and the variety make it worth it! After toddler man and I dropped off the two oldest, we headed off to Randazzo's. and we stocked up on fruits and vegetables. I brought home 6 bags stuffed full and spent $25. You can't beat it!!

For lunch I had another kitchen sink salad

In the bowl:

*Romaine Mix

*Chopped purple onion

*Sliced Tomato

* Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Dinner was simple, yet delicious!!

Kielbasa/Potato Dinner:

* 1 Package Kielbasa, sliced

* Sliced potatoes

* Onions

*Green Peppers

Served with mixed vegetables on the side

Sick of "Before"

2010-09-20T19:23:00.000-04:00

I'm ready for my after!!! I'm taking this one day, one meal and one workout at a time. I started my morning with ChaLEAN Extreme Burn it Off and Recharge...yowzers. I could barely do the modified versions!!!

Breakfast was a whole wheat tortilla with scrambled eggs, cheese and salsa

Rolled up for easy devouring :)

After grocery shopping I was ready for a little snackage

In the mix:

* 1 cup Oiko's Greek Yogurt

* Drizzle of honey

* Tablespoon of Tart Cherry Jam

Lunch was a kitchen sink salad. My diet has been seriously lacking in the fresh vegetables/fruits lately. This salad was just what I needed!

Kitchen Sink Salad:

* 2 cups Romaine Mix

* 1/2 chopped green bell pepper

*1/2 sliced tomato

* 2oz sharp cheddar cheese

* Almonds

This salad filled me up way longer than I expected...it was great!!! My stomach also enjoyed the *roughage* ;) For my afternoon snack I enjoyed an apple (can't remember what kind it was) It was HUGE and kept away the late afternoon/early evening munchies!!!

Dinner was a family favorite: Thyme/Mustard Pork Tenderloin

*Heat oven to 375

* Season with salt, pepper and thyme

* pour about 1/4 cup of chicken broth on top

*cook for 20 minutes

Then you'll make your glaze

*1/4 cup or so of chicken broth

* Honey (enough to make it glazey...)

* Thyme

* Dijon mustard (about a teaspoon)

*Mix and pour over the tenderloin

Reduce heat to 350

And bake for another 30 minutes

Serve with kid approved sides (mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables)

Enjoy!!!! Have a great night :)

Peanut Butter Lovin'

2010-09-15T07:21:00.000-04:00

I never thought this would happen, but I have seen this peanut butter all over the blog world and everyone professing their love for it, so I picked up a sample packet. Under normal circumstances, I'm not a fan of dark chocolate so I was a bit skeptical trying this. After one finger dip, I may have dumped it into my oatmeal and also may or may not have licked the package...

It's safe to say I'm in love :) Sorry Spence! Along with the dreamy peanut butter and jelly on top of my oatmeal, while it was cooking I added in 1/4 cup of these bad boys.

Where have these been all my life?! I knew I should have bought more than one bag...
Later in the morning I was craving something sweet so I had a nice juicy and sweet plum

Totally hit the spot and held me over through lunch. Speaking of lunch, yesterday's was a can of Hormel Vegetable Chili. Lots of beans = Yummy for my tummy!!

After lunch is when my uterus decided to hate me, and sent in the uterine trolls to ruin my day. Cramps, bloating, EXHAUSTED...ugh. It was horrible.

Making Some Changes

2010-09-13T12:25:00.002-04:00

I've decided to take the plunge and purchase the blog and make it my own :) Stay tuned!!

1st Day of School

2010-09-07T14:09:00.000-04:00

It's here!!! I'm pretty sure I was more excited this morning, but Tyler and Karlie were plenty excited themselves!!! Tyler started 3rd grade and said "It's awesome, Mom!!!" "I can't wait to go back!!" Music to my ears :)

...and miss Karlie had her first day of Kindergarten!

Today was just a trial day for her, it was only an hour long and moms could stay today, made it easier and she also is excited to go back tomorrow.

Crazy Day!!!

2010-09-03T05:16:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a crazy, busy day and my camera sat lonely all day long :(

We woke up early so I could drop off the monkeys with the babysitter and I went to the dentist for what was supposed to be a permanent filling for my root canal I had done a couple weeks ago. This tooth is going to be the end of me! I had noticed that for a couple of days, the crown that was on the tooth seemed loose. Long story short, I had a crown on the tooth already, so when they did the root canal, they just drilled through the middle of that crown. So he took it off and I need a new crown ARGH!!!! But, I have already used almost all of our dental insurance benefits for the year, so I'm looking at nearly $1,200 for a new crown right now. I laughed. Instead, he cleaned and shined the old one and re-cemented it back on and it should last 6 months, my insurance resets in January, so it just has to last until then and then my insurance will cover the new crown...problem solved :) For now!!

Picked up two kiddies, had lunch with my mom, and then put the toddler down for a nap while I took the older 2 to meet the teacher day at their school. That's when it hit me that my baby girl is going to start Kindergarten!!!!! I almost cried :(, but she was so nervous I left a happy smile on my face.

After that we dropped off the oldest at my brother's house so he could spend the night and then go with him to the campsite this morning.

We are supposed to leave sometime this morning to go camping, I still have to pack...

I'll be taking my laptop with me, and I'm hoping for way less drama this camping trip!! Have a great weekend :)

Giveaway!

2010-09-02T07:59:00.002-04:00

I always enter and never win, but it's still fun!! If you want a chance to win, head over to this blog to enter :)
http://eatingchalk.com/

1 More Week

2010-09-01T07:53:00.001-04:00

I don't know about everyone else, but we are more than ready for school to start around here!! Even Tyler is asking how much longer. We have our last swimming day at Grandma's house today, tomorrow is dentist appointments and meet the teacher day and then we go camping again until Monday morning.

I started off with a delightful green monster

1 handful spinach, 1 banana, 1 chopped peach, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 cup water, ICE, 1 scoop of protein powder

Lunch was a Morningstar Farms Spicy Black Bean veggie burger, this is my favorite veggie burger of all time.

On an english muffin topped with mustard, cheddar cheese, onion and a pickle....with a side of cucumbers

Last night was Find Your Classroom night at the kid's school, so fun! We got to the school, into the cafeteria with the rest of the students, found their envelopes to see who their teacher was and then we went to go see classrooms and lockers. Before that, we had a yummy, quick dinner:

Broccoli and feta frittata

Ingredients: 7 eggs, 1 tablespoon butter, 1/2 cup feta cheese, 1 package broccoli, chopped onion

1. In a skillet, cook broccoli and onion in the tablespoon of butter

2. Beat 7 eggs with salt and pepper (to taste)

3. Mix broccoli and onions with eggs, put into a pie dish and top with feta cheese.

4. Bake at 350 until eggs are cooked through.

Then marvel at it's beauty :)

Weigh In Day: August 30, 2010

2010-08-31T14:15:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's been almost 1 week since I posted on here! I blame it on my previous post, I have been spending hours and hours of blogging time looking through other healthy living blogs at www.healthylivingblogs.com. Wow there are A LOT!!! I've also been trying to figure things out with diet and exercise. As you'll see from my weigh in yesterday, it wasn't good, but I have learned a few things this week, the most important thing was I can't lose weigh with diet or exercise alone...I have to have both to achieve success.

Last Week: 199.6

This Week: 200.8

and I forgot to re-take my measurements.

Health Living Blogs

2010-08-25T20:08:00.000-04:00

Healthy Living Blogs is a new resource for the health blogging community. Created by Lindsey of Sound Eats, HLB is a site designed to enhance the positive community of the healthy living blog world. Bloggers and readers can explore the site and find more blogs to love, bloggers in their area, and forums to deepen healthy discussion and support. If you're interested in having your site listed on HLB, simply send the following information to healthylivingblogs@gmail.com and check the site out for yourself!

Email subject line: MEMBERS
Your name (please share if you prefer to go by first name, first and last, or however you prefer to be known on the Internet)
Blog Name
Blog URL (please start with http://, not www.)
Your twitter handle, if applicable
Your location (if you prefer not to disclose this information for privacy's sake, that is completely understandable. We'll simply include your blog listing in the A-Z listing, not by location, too)
Any specific labels (i.e. vegan, gluten-free, weight loss, running, etc.)

9 Years

2010-08-25T14:46:00.000-04:00

Happy Anniversary Spencer!

We started out as two crazy kids in love

Got married and started out with just the two of us

And over the years we have added these to the crew

This year has been the hardest of my life, you have been my rock, my shoulder to cry on, my ears to listen when I don't know how to do anything but cry. Thank you for working so hard for our family, I love you and look forward to many more years with you :)

Full Speed Ahead

2010-08-24T08:13:00.000-04:00

I have been losing a little bit of weight for the past few weeks, it's time now to kick it into high gear. I'm going to be working on a work out plan today and continue tracking food and water using Sparkpeople.
For breakfast yesterday I started with a green monster

1 cup spinach, 1 banana, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 cup water, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, large amount of ice

A couple hours later I was feeling a bit hungry so I toasted a bagel thin and topped it with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter

Lunch was Progresso Split Pea with ham.

I loved the chunks of vegetables, potatoes and little bits of ham. It was so good and left me full for hours.

For a snack, I had a yummy snack wrap

Wrap topped with smashed banana, cinnamon and sunflower butter

Delightful!
I washed it down with this:

On the rocks ;)

Dinner was a cherry smoked Butterball turkey breast

With steamed peas

And a cold pasta salad

After dinner and baths, I left the kids watching a movie with Spencer and I went downstairs to get my sweat on.