Playing Catch Up

Phew, the past week has been really busy and I haven't had time to post on this blog but do not fear, I haven't given up! On the contrary I'm stronger than ever, just busy :)

So lets recap shall we? Last week I weighed in and to my immense surprise I was down .8lb, totally not expecting that! I really was just hoping that I'd maintain, I knew I had used my points loosely so this was a happy WI. I didn't get cocky though because experience has shown me that you don't always get what you expect when you expect it.

Fast forward to this past Saturday, up .8lb.....my first gain. I wasn't mad or upset or even surprised by it. I know that when I play roulette with my points that often the NEXT week is the one that kicks my ass as was the case this week. I stayed within my points and used most but not all of my weeklies but, BUT, I didn't get my water in like I should have and had more soda (diet of course) this week than I've been doing. Not everyone realized that soda is LOADED with sodium and I for one was feeling a bit whale like from the fluid retention.

So what did I do? Not a darn thing. Well not exactly, I just mean I didn't pout or cry or stomp my foot and tell my leader its not fair, its the scale I tell you, I swear I didn't earn this gain! I went home and made my grocery list for the week, making sure to have 4 meals worth of ingredients on that list and that at least 2 of those meals were ones that have tons of leftovers for lunches. I drank a few big glasses of water, took my meds (high blood pressure) and then ate very conservatively through the weekend.

So guess what? I hopped on my home scale this morning and low and behold, I'm down about 4lbs from Saturday. Crazy right? Not really because I've been peeing like a pregnant women! That tells me I was correct in thinking I was retaining water, this is why drinking water like a fishy is sooooo important. It flushes out the sodium and toxins and other crap that hangs around from processed foods and soda and junk. You can eat 100% within your points and not loose well if its all junk. You'll lose but not nearly as efficiently as you could and should be.

I've got romaine lettuce and black olives in the fridge, ready for a huge salad with light ranch for lunch. I've got chicken breasts for baked chicken for dinner and am almost drooling thinking of it paired with mashed potatoes and broccoli! I'm eating healthier and its showing. My face is slimming down, my love handles and more like little speed bumps now and shrinking by the day. I've had to retire my 'fat pants' in favor of a smaller pair. It's all coming together and I'm working it one day at a time.

This post might have gone a little preachy for my style but that's okay. I type what I think and what I think doesn't always flow smoothly or be easily understood but this blog is #1 for me to say what needs said and keep myself accountable. I can't wait to post that next progress picture meaning I've lost 20lb! If you don't mine, say a little prayer to the Weight Loss Gods for me....Cadbury eggs are in the stores now!

I swear I tripped and the chocolate broke my fall!

No really, it just jumped right up there into my mouth all on its own I tell you!

Okay so we all know that is not true, but it sounds better than the truth...I went a bit AWOL this week and I'm sad to say the scale will probably show it tomorrow. I'm not mad and I'm not upset and I plan on taking it like a champ for this reason, I earned it. I earned whatever tomorrow morning brings. I'm just saying a teeny little prayer that its not too much of a punch in the gut.

Let me elaborate, I didn't go hog wild and snarf down everything chocolate covered I could find but I did indulge in the 2 caramels in the kids valentine boxes (and I didn't track them, doh!) I ate out more meals this week than I have the past 6 weeks and I do not like how I feel at all. I did indulge in a bit way in sushi Wednesday night and OMG was it good! However, we snarfed it down so quickly that I was a bit fuzzy on the actual number of pieces I had. We got several kinds and shared so it came out platter style and we just picked away at it. NOTE TO SELF, next time keep a tally or better yet, know how many pieces you can have going into it and take those from the tray and then only eat whats on your plate. DOH!! It's not hard Cortney, you know these things!!!
Sigh.

So anyway, tomorrow is a new day and a new week and I've thoroughly kicked my ass back into shape. I know I can indulge in my favs here and there just not all in the same week! Looking forward to starting a new week.

Some Perspective

So there you have it!

Week 6 Weight In

I love it when I am actually excited to step on that scale! I have a good week and I'm confident I'll have a loss so the scale doesn't hold dread but actual excitement. That was me today! I KNEW that I would have a loss and I was crossing my fingers and toes that it would be at least 1.4lb so I could hit my 10lbs. So I show up, go potty one last time then hop on up and......-3.6LB!!!!!!!
YES PEOPLE, THAT IS -12LB TOTAL FOR ME!!! So what did I do?


I was jumping around like a kid who'd just been told they were going to Disney World! I am beyond thrilled. So now I'm only 3lb away from 15lb which is my next mini goal. I feel good and its starting to show in different parts of my body. I can tell around my waist, like when I put my hands on my hips I can feel my hip bones. There's still a lot of pudge to go but its awesome just feeling the difference. Janice mentioned that she could see it in my face and others agreed and that was AMAZING to hear. It's so hard to get past your own self-image and sometimes don't notice the changes like outsiders would. So to hear that someone who doesn't see me daily can see a difference just makes me feel great.

This was a perfect ending of a great week and hopefully a great beginning of another wonderful one! I'm more dedicated and determined than ever. 2lb away from my 5% goal, exactly 6 weeks away from my trip with Erin to MO for Dawn's wedding and halfway to my hopeful goal of -25lb by that trip. If I don't quite make it I'm okay with that as long as I know that I'm still losing in a healthy way and I'm doing my best to make good choices.

YAY ME!!!

New Do Does It All!

I've been planning for a few weeks to get my hair cut once I hit 10lbs. and although I wasn't quite there (only 1 more pound, fingers crossed for saturday!) I just couldn't take it anymore. I haven't had more than a trim since Stella was born so my hair was about 2" from my waist and driving me crazy! My daily do was either a braid in the back if it was dry or a top knot if it was wet......do you know how much 2 1/2 feet of wet hair weighs on top of your head??!?!?! I don't for sure but its a lot! Not to mention every where I went in my house you could see long strands of hair wrapped around stuff...gross. So Tuesday night I told Steve that I was getting it cut and he was watching the kids. Normally I'd ask as a kindness but this time I made the decision and that was that.

I went to Kenneth's and had a amazingly good time :) Allison was my stylist and I will definitely be returning to her. I think this is the absolute best cut I've ever had. She was about my age, has 2 kids same age and gender as mine and was very easy to communicate with. Nothing worse than a silent stylist! She listened to what I wanted, saw my example picture and was instantly excited about the cut. She was also thrilled that I had enough to donate :) The minimum length for Lock Of Love is 10".....I donated 15"!!! That's a lot of hair, especially when you see how much I still have. Once the bulk of my hair was chopped off we made a marvelous discovery, my hair has a wavy curl to it now! What?!?! When did that happen? Well apparently pregnancy hormones from having Stella changed my hair and it is no longer stick straight. Woohoo! I've longed for those 'beach waves' that you see all the time and could never get them to work without serious time with curlers or a curling iron. She showed me how to use a little bit of curl elixir and scrunch scrunch scrunch (or use the diffuser) and I can get that lovely wavy look with almost no time involvement. EXCELLENT!

I tried yesterday with the diffuser but didn't have quite the luck, although it was there, so I think I just need a little more practice. I actually had to dust off the hair dryer, its been that long since I've used it.The pictures do not do it justice though since Steve wouldn't get off the couch to take the picture and the angle is kind of sucky.

I can't believe how much better I feel, about how I look and my whole personality is just uplifted. I feel sexy and cute and young again. Being a stay at home mom is great but it can be so draining, like everything you do is about someone else and there's nothing left for you at the end of the day. Now I feel like I can do anything at all that I want, I'm not just mommy I'm Cortney again! I've found myself underneath all that hair!

NSV!!!!

I am in a wedding next month, so so so excited! I've got my dress and LOVE IT! Not to mention I look darn good in it. I still needed a dress for the rehearsal though and wanted something new and not my dresses that I wear to church, even though they are cute, I wanted something NEW to reflect the new me that I'm becoming.

I found that perfect dress this morning at Clothes Mentor, its like a Plato's Closet but for grown ups or those of us stuck in larger clothing sizes. They usually have decent quality gently used clothes and for the most part the prices are really good. It's hit or miss though, you never know what you'll find walking in there. Today I hit the jackpot :) I found a really cute, and super fun dress that....wait for it....is a size 20!!!

Ok that sounds like a really big number, and my face is a gorgeous burgundy as I post this, but you have to understand, I've been in a 22 since having Luca and really, lets be honest, it should have been a 24 recently. One should not take off their pants at night and still see the imprint of the button on their tummy. Anyway, SIZE 20! That was a super big deal for me. I grabbed it thinking it would probably not quite fit but maybe by the end of March and hopefully another 10lb it might, well it fits darn good right now! My big hope is that my tummy will continue to shrink while my boobs stay close to where they are in size, then the dress will fit awesome everywhere and if its a bit looser in the tummy then that's okay because of the style. No fat sucker inner for me! (umm that would be what I call those leotard looking torture devices that women wear to smooth out their rolls in the hopes of looking trimmer in their dresses)

So, lets recap... 1) Found awesome dress
2) dress is TOTALLY my style and personality
3) dress was ridiculously cheap at $12
and 4) dress is 2 sizes smaller than I was wearing 5 weeks ago!!

Oh, what? You want to see a picture? Well I forgot to get one in the mirror of me in the dress but I snapped a few when I got home so here ya go!

Surviving Super Bowl

Knowing we were going to my parents house, and not knowing (but having a good idea) of what food would be there, I went on the offense and packed myself a little bag of goodies! I had fresh carrots and mushrooms along with lowfat ranch veggie dip, babybel cheeses, reduced fat Triscuits, mini bag of popcorn in case I wanted salty and a big Vitamin Water Zero. I ate about half of what I took along with a few splurges, exactly 6 sweet and sour meatballs, 5 little smokies, 1 deviled egg and 1/2c (yup i measured!) of sherbet punch. Out of everything, the punch was the hardest to resist because its my absolute favorite, but I had just a taste at the end and had no problem staying within my points. I was able to eat all of my favorites in moderation and with planning and felt really good for not pigging out on meatballs like I would have in the past, or drinking glass after glass of punch.

So, even though my team lost :( I was still a winner!

Week 5 Weigh In

Today was a wonderful weigh in! I'm down another 1.6lb! I made sure that I got a lot of fluids this week and didn't eat much 'outside' food. We cooked almost all meals at home, cut back a little on the amount of fruit I was scarfing, and basically just did the plan and voila! I was a bit concerned that the number would be off since its 'that time' and I tend to bloat/retain water during 'that time' but it doesn't appear to have affected me negatively this week. If it did that means next week will just be that much better!

This post is short as its late and I'm pooped. I'm also working up a new hat and am too excited to stop and write more. So for now, lighter later!

To Bacon Or Not To Bacon

Bacon. The look, the smell, the crunch, even the greasy fingers after....there is nothing I do not love about bacon. Except soggy limp bacon, that is unacceptable. Bacon need to be cooked and cooked until its 1/10 its original size and practically crumbles in your hand :)


We are completely and thoroughly iced in. So in anticipation, Steve went to the store last night and got some more milk and eggs and bacon so we could have a yummy breakfast, at my request by the way. I decided to make my family bacon and pancakes, we never have the time to have a hot homemade meal like that for breakfast as a family so I was excited to do this. The kids were at the table and Steve was doing dishes while I started to fry up the bacon. I did my homework last night and knew that I could have a couple slices of bacon for around 4pts, awesome!

So I'm frying up the bacon and the amount of grease in the pan grew and grew and grew, I mean seriously by the end the bacon was swimming. I've never fried bacon. I never paid attention when my parents made bacon. We always make turkey bacon or get the microwave kind so I had no idea and let me tell you I WAS DISGUSTED! Ick! I ate one piece out of the first batch and was looking forward to my 2nd and 2rd piece I'd allotted for myself. That didn't happen. I was so grossed out seeing the bacon prepared, and feeling all greasy from the splatter from the pan, that I passed my beloved burnt bacon onto my husband to be happily consumed.

I grabbed a strawberry WW yogurt and dumped it in a bowl, measured out my 1/3c of lowfat granola and added that to the yogurt. Add a big glass of ice water and I've got a much healthier, and to be honest much more satisfying, breakfast. Yeah I would have like a pancake or two but I didn't NEED them. I'm going to have an orange or banana in a bit and some cheese and crackers for a snack and leftover stuffed shells for lunch. I'm very very much looking forward to the parmesan chicken fingers for dinner that have become a big family favorite.

So you see, I CAN have bacon and pancakes, I DO have enough points to enjoy it without guilt but I CHOSE to go another route. I will be having bacon again, but someone else can cook it!

Stuff Shells

We have been trying a lot of new WW recipes, on top of modifying old recipes, in the hopes of building up a new 'menu' of meals that we all like. Nothing is worse for losing weight than getting bored of making the same few meals over and over again. We've had pretty much all wins so far and this one is no exception, I'd give this one a solid A-, simply because the filling did get a tad runny but I think that was just from the cottage cheese. I must add that I am NOT a cottage cheese eater so I was a little apprehensive but it was really good.

A little side note, the recipe called for a tablespoon of oregano, unless you love love love oregano you might want to use half that. It was a wee heavy on that flavor but otherwise perfect. We sprinkled a teeny tad of mozzarella on top of each serving and scarfed it down! Let me add, Luca ate 2 WHOLE SHELLS!!! I don't think this child has eaten dinner more than twice the past month unless it was on his list of foods (hotdog, corn dog, fish stick, sandwich, mac n cheese) so I was thrilled beyond words that he loved it and asked for a second shell!!!!! EUREKA!

Ingredients

	1 cup(s) part-skim ricotta cheese
	1 cup(s) fat-free cottage cheese
	1 tsp table salt
	1 tsp garlic powder, or to taste
	1 Tbsp dried oregano
	1/4 tsp black pepper
	3 cup(s) canned tomato sauce
	1 pound(s) cooked pasta, jumbo shells, approximately 24 shells

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
  
  
• Mix together cheeses, salt, garlic powder, oregano and pepper.
  
  
• Spread a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce on bottom of a 9- x 13-inch baking dish.
  
  
• When cooked shells are cool enough to handle, fill each shell with cheese mixture and place in baking dish. When all shells are in dish, spoon remaining tomato sauce over shells. Cover pan and bake for 20 minutes. Yields about 4 shells per serving.

\PointsPlus™ Value: 5
Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 20 min
Cooking Time: 20 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy