Heaven from Down Under!

This week we had a friend visit us from Australia!  It was his first time in America and we were thrilled to show him around.  He also brought gifts:  Cadbury chocolate and other chocolate treats from the land Down Under!!

I looked at Brent and we decided that we'd try a little of this rare treat.  And I have to tell you that I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!!  The choice to eat a bite or two (or three or four) was a conscious decision yet there ARE times when it's overwhelmingly tempting to eat some high calorie unhealthy food placed in front of me without thinking about it.

Here is what I found from my "Habits of Health" that I've adopted.  

It's the STOP, CHALLENGE, and CHOOSE method.

STOP - and think about your goal

CHALLENGE - yourself as to what is more important

CHOOSE - the choice that supports your goal.

This is what I do when I attach a mental picture of myself to every food choice.  One picture is of the morbidly obese me, the other is of the me at my goal weight.  I choose the food that supports that "goal" of my mental picture.  Makes it an easy choice.  (It's hard to rationalize when it's a blatant choice like that)

Dr. Anderson also has these steps to follow:

1. Identify the foods, situations, and feelings that trigger your bad habits.  Write them down.
2. Decide that you are going to learn to control them. Only work on one trigger at a time.
3. Stop, Challenge, Choose

Be conscious that there are always moments of temptation and then the decision will be made. And the decision maker is you.  The choice is yours to make.  It is a great feeling to be in charge of your self and your choices.

This week I made Broiled Tilapia Parmesan and it was pretty good.  I substituted olive oil for the butter and used less and my family enjoyed it.  

Then with our Australian guest, we made taco salad.  I used 93% fat free ground beef mixed with ground turkey for the taco meat.  While our kids used whole grain tortilla shells - we used iceburg lettuce to wrap our taco's in.  Another time we just put it on our bed of lettuce and added some salsa.  Delicious!

Today... food and shopping!

Today I treated myself to a little shopping.  In anticipation of our tax return in a few days and with the fact that I don't have many clothes my actual size I slipped out today to a couple of stores and got a few things to wear.  How fun!  I found a size 10 denim skirt on sale.  My only other skirt is size 16 and I've been wearing it for a few months.  And I finally got a few size 10 pants!  I am going to get rid of all my size 14 and up - many I've only worn once, but since I'm not going to ever go that direction, I might as well get them out of my house.

My shopping haul!

I also got a couple pair of leggings - which I love wearing around the house or even to bed.  I find that I like pants that are more like skinny jeans all the way to the ankle.  They just are so comfy.  Whenever I try on the flared jeans, I just can't stand them.  It's fun for me to even realize that I have likes and dislikes in clothes.  I have been subject for so many years to whatever the huge plus size styles were and mostly just stretchy pants.  I love jeans!  I even tried on a couple dresses that I liked but I was trying not to splurge too much.  This is so much fun!!

Tonight, Brent and I had the same thing we had last night... taco salad.  I used extra lean ground beef and ground turkey breast simmered in a light taco seasoning (and sprinkled with some low fat cheese) on a crunchy salad with some Walden Farms bacon & ranch dressing.  Very satisfying.  I really want to drop some pounds this month so let's see if I can be strictly on plan and increase my exercise!  Gotta do it!  So many of my blogger friends just haul butt and really get their work outs in.  I need to step it up and at least get some consistent walking in.  Thanks for all your inspiration and encouragement.  Let's do this!!

Week 24 ~ on the 24th of July even!

I lost 3 pounds this last week and my man stayed the same. I am SOOO close to "Onederland" I can almost taste it.... feels like it's taking so long to get there but it will be so SAWEET when I do!! I loved the "learning list" that Sam came up with over at Believe in yourself... the main two being: 1. Believe that you can do it. 2. Don't Stop.

Okay.... I think those two things will be my new Mantra!!

Believe that you can do it, and Don't Stop!!

And I tell ya... this week, for the first time in 24 weeks, I felt a little food deprived. I let myself, for a time, feel sorry that I'm not eating out and having fancy breakfasts at IHOP or having more fun lunches with friends and for a day or two, I felt a little pity party.

BUT that's OVER now because I feel SO much better than I ever did!! Goodbye to all that is old and negative and sorrowing... and HELLO to my new healthy, happy, positive future!!

We've been doing a lot more on the BBQ this summer. Here is some chicken we did with some friends and this time, I just used Walden Farms BBQ sauce and it was simple and yummy! My daughter made that big salad... doesn't it look fresh and good?

I made cauliflower pizza again... yum! (see recipe in a previous post) And here is a taco salad where I just put my taco meat (lean ground beef & ground turkey breast with a little taco seasoning and tomato sauce) on a bed of lettuce with some veggies and sprinkled a little Walden Farms Ranch dressing on top. I did this same thing again with a little less meat, and added some low fat cheese. I enjoyed it!

Here I added my Orange Sauce to my chicken and then put it on top of my sauteed zucchini and mushrooms. And, we are loving the Kale chips. Here is the Kale all cut with a little olive oil on them and sea salt, ready for the oven (at 350 degree for approx. 15 min.)... they come out so tasty and with a crunch that kind of melts in your mouth!

Here is to another week of BELIEVING THAT WE CAN DO IT, and NOT STOPPING!!!

Week 16!!

Weigh in this morning showed me having lost 5 pounds, and my man lost 6 pounds! WOW!! I have lost 61 pounds so far! My man has lost 66 pounds! We thought we had a slow week (too much checking the scales), BUT we both made efforts to drink LOTS of water and were pleasantly surprised this morning!

We checked our BMI today. My STARTING BMI was 49.6 and today it's at 38.8. My man's STARTING BMI was 41.8 and today it's at 31.7. He is so close to getting under 30 BMI and then he will be officially downgraded from "Obese fat" to just "fat". My man is more than 1/2 way to his goal!!!

I have a new Favorite Snack/Meal this week. I had ordered some powdered peanut butter (PB2) from Bell Plantation and it's been on backorder for like 2 months, but it came last week! I LOVE PB2!! For 2 T of Peanut Butter, it's only 45 calories and 1.5 g. fat. Compare that to normal pb which is more like 200 calories! And it tastes great and doesn't have the preservatives and hydrogenated oils as even the low fat pb do. I am SOLD!

I have the chocolate kind too and I LOVE to dip my medifast pretzels in the chocolate PB2. I've also mixed it with the Medifast hot cocoa and formed peanut butter cup balls! Love 'em! I need to order more of this stuff immediately!

This week I made an egg scramble for one of our L & G meals. I used 1 cup of egg whites (in "real eggs" carton), chopped peppers & mushrooms & celery, and some low fast cheese and scrambled it all together. SO yummy!

I also made this taco salad with ground turkey and lean ground beef with some taco seasoning, low fat cheese on top - all on a bed of romaine lettuce and some cucumbers. Delicious.

This week I have connected with several other people's blogs on their weight loss journeys. I have LOVED looking through their blogs and connecting. It's been SO inspiring. Lindsay, from Utah, on her blog "Healthy Stride" has already lost well over 100 pounds and is training for a 1/2 marathon. THAT is where I hope to be in less than a year.

SO inspiring.

I also was given a "Beautiful Blogger" award from Diane at her awesome blog "It's Time" who herself is also a great inspiration. Thank you Diane - I am truly honored! I will have to blog about the award and follow the rules for receiving it and awarding it to 7 others. Now to choose...