WEEK 20 ~ Almost 5 Months of our LIFESTYLE Change!!

Last week I lost 4 pounds... OH YEAH!!! I have reached the 70 pound loss mark today. Oh my gosh, that feels GOOD! I caught up to my guy - I totally want to CELEBRATE!! My man stayed the same but he is LOOKING SO HOT! Even his new suit from just a few posts ago is getting smaller on him.

I really drank tons of water this week and “Aunt Flo” left from her stay so that’s why I think I lost more than previously... and I’ve stayed totally on plan (as always... because I don’t even want to think of going off plan and sabotaging myself!)

I grilled some salmon again with that same yummy recipe since I had some left over marinade and I also made these “Sweet and Sour Crimini Mushrooms” to go with them. I found the recipe here at the La Fuji Mama. If you like mushrooms, you should check it out. I really enjoyed them.

One evening my hubby came home ravenous and so I hurried and scrambled him this L&G:

1 cup egg beaters, green peppers, sprinkles of low-fat cheese with 3 turkey sausages. He loved it and said it was very delicious (I love the simple stuff I can make quick).

I tried a couple Medifast meal recipes that I really liked:

Vanilla Spice Cookies! and Crunch Cookies!

Vanilla Spice Cookies

1 Vanilla Shake mix

1/4 t. Baking Powder

1 T. sugar free caramel syrup in a 1/4 cup measure, then fil the rest of the way w/ water.

1/4 t. Vanilla

1/2 t. Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/2 T. Cinnamon

1 Packet Spenda

Mix all the dry ingredients and we ingredients seperately. Add wet to dry and mix it up. Scoop out 5 cookies onto a Pam sprayed pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Counts as 1 Medifast Meal.

[I quadrupled the recipe using 4 vanilla shakes and the batter wasn't thick enough so I added a scrambled eggs packet and then made 25 cookies for 5 meals; every 5 cookies equaled 1 medifast meal.]

Crunch Cookies (found on the Medifast Facebook Discussion Boards)

1 Crunch Bar (I used Chocolate, but you can use Caramel, PB, Smores or whatever)

2 Brownie Packets

4 T. Water

Soften crunch bar in microwave for 15-20 seconds then mix all the ingredients together very thoroughly. Spray plate with Pam & divide mixture into 3 equal portion cookies. Microwave for 2-2.5 minutes. Let cool. One cookie = One Medifast meal. YUM. This is a great way for me to help my crunch bars last longer & the cookie is really good and filling!

Freedom Challenge!

I have decided to join Deb's Freedom Challenge and it starts on July 5th and goes for 4 weeks. I am still planning out what my goals will be since one of those weeks I will actually be at girls camp with both my daughters... and I'll be bringing up all my food too... I will NOT go off plan, even for girls camp. :) So I will be posting my goals soon. I'm excited! This is my first challenge!!

Week 19 Down!

Week 19 is celebrated with a 2 pound loss for me and a 1 pound loss for my man!

School got out last week, and we treated ourselves to a yummy family bbq. But before we could do that, the kids and I had to clear our back yard from from it's jungle theme to presentable.

BEFORE PICTURES:

(Okay, these are not really the before pics but the closest I could find ;)

AFTER PICTURES:

I normally am NOT a good landscaper, gardener, planter kind of person (anything living given to me usually dies) but we spent several HOURS out there and transformed that back yard and totally surprised my hubby when he got home. I was AMAZED that I could bend over and work for so long!!! In the past, I would not have lasted even 10 minutes! I even went out for another hour after lunch. I could actually enjoy this. There was a whole section of weeds half as tall as me, many overgrown bushes, and TONS of sticker weeds that pierced me through my gloves and towels... I have the pokes and scrapes all over my arms as souvenirs. But I got such a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment, along with feeling SO SORE two days later. I was thinking of the song by Garth Brooks called "Friends in Low Places" and these new words to the chorus came to mind just today as I groaned from my upper leg and arm pains:

Cause I got aches in new places

Where I didn’t know

I could even move in such a way,

But I’ll be okay,

Now I may groan & moan & walk real stiff

Think I’ll slather on some ‘ol Ben Gay

Oh I got aches,

In new places!

We bbq'd some turkey sausage dogs, cheese hamberger patties (extra lean beef w/ low fat cheese chunks blended in), and Salmon. I used an AWESOME new recipe for the salmon you can find here.

This was really good salmon!!

We also had a watermelon fruit bowl filled with melon balls, cantaloupe balls & strawberries, fresh tossed salad, and homemade ice cream sandwiches made with choc. chip cookies. We were actually prepared for some guests to join us but alas, no one was available.

This week, I also tried a new Medifast meal: Melted Cheese Sandwich!

I mixed one Medifast soup packed (I used broccoli but you can use cream of chicken or tomato as well), with 1/4 t. baking powder, at little less of 1/4 cup egg beaters. After mixing, I poured onto a sprayed plate and microwaved it for 90 seconds.

I sliced it in half and toasted each half in the toaster.. watching it so that it doesn't burn.

Then I spread a wedge of Light Laughing Cow cheese on it and put the two slices together for my melted cheese sandwich! I made it again the next day with Cream of Chicken and Tomato soup and put 1/2 laughing cow cheese and 1/2 fat free cheddar cheese. My man and I loved them! They are a little dry, but yummy - and my hubby used some Walden Farms ketchup on his. (Note - the protein from this meal would need to be deducted from your lean and green.)

I also tried this Fettuccini Alfredo recipe using Shirataki (tofu) noodles.

I made it with chicken for my man and shrimp for myself.

Here is the Recipe:

7 ounces shrimp or 6 ounces cubed chicken

1 cup of Shirataki fettuccine noodles (rinse very well and boil for 3 minutes & rinse again)

2 T. fat free (or low fat) cream cheese

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T. parmesan cheese

1 t. fat free (or low fat) sour cream

Spray skillet w/ cooking spray & add shrimp (or chicken) & cook. Once shrimp turns pink, add garlic, cream cheese, parmesan & sour cream. Once the cream cheese is all melted, add the Shirataki Noodles and toss well. Cook for 5 minutes and serve.

This was good, but needed additional seasoning in my opinion. :)

Sam from Believe in Yourself gave a challenge to set a personal goal to meet by July 21st. I know it might set me up for disappointment but I would really LOVE to get UNDER 200 lbs by then!! (or at least by the end of July). That will be such a milestep for me and I would like to treat myself to something fun when I do reach that goal - maybe a gals night out, spa trip, ... anyone got any cool ideas?

Lastly - it has been a challenging week with opposition really hitting hard, especially with our teens. Could I possibly go in a coma until they grow out of this? My kids are good kids... it's just the contention that creeps in and we're trying to keep our home positive. It puts so much pressure on us as parents when we are tempted to be negative and down ourselves. So it really is a daily relying on the Lord and daily prayer that is sustaining us. And the Lord doesn't take away our trials or change people (drat!)... but He helps us endure longer and see the bigger picture.

Sometimes I really do feel like a wimp... because how I feel inside is so different from what I show on the outside. I feel so much more tender, sensitive, loving, sentimental, and vulnerable that I ever show. I am working on being my true self more... I've just been burned so horribly in the past, but I know that my Savior can heal EVERY heartache and sorrow and THATS how I can do it. Wow, is this ever the journey full of discouraging lows yet sprinkled with the most Amazing highs!