Oopsie!

     In the midst of updating my blog I deleted everything. Oh well, that's alright. I'd like to focus less on everything else and a little more on me. Maybe then I'll have more to say. Lots to do today, feeling a little overwhelmed. Very frustrated. Probably PMS. Luckily, Adrian is a really big help on days like today. He doesn't mind picking up some of the slack ( Aka washing diapers <3 ). It just feels like I'm going non-stop lately. I wanted to go out for dinner because I've been craving these lettuce wraps that they have at Cactus Club, but Adriano works till 9 tonight so we're hoping to go next Saturday if my dad will baby sit.  It's going to be a busy week. We're having staff over for dinner tomorrow and I'm throwing a baby shower for a friend on Wednesday. This disaster of a house needs-to-get-clean. I wish it would do it on it's own! Wouldn't that be nice...

     It'll be nice to go for a walk when Nina wakes up so I can clear my head. I guess instead of being here I should utilize my baby free time for important things... you know, like showering.

Those four words, they mean so much.

     I'm proud of you. Not to toot my own horn, but I am proud of me... but that's not what I'm saying. I have a friend who had seen 2 weeks of my meals for a class she was taking. I helped her out by being a "client". She said I needed to cut down my sodium. This was months ago. She's a very smart girl and always has a lot of good advice and answers to all of my questions. I really look up to  her in a lot of ways, she seems to excel at everything she does.  She also told me once that weight loss is 90% diet and 10% working out. While I absorbed a lot of the information she gave me it just sat there, in my head, unused and valuable information. As soon as I realized and followed her advice I started losing weight. I was talking to her the other day about how I had cut the sodium and processed foods and started paying attention to what was IN the food I was eating. I was complaining about 12G of sugar per serving in Campbells Tomato Soup ( it's my fave! or was anyways) and  she responded with "I'm proud of you." It's really a good feeling to have some one care enough about me to give me advice and supports me and cares enough to feel proud of me.

     Today I was talking to a friend, about finally losing 10 lbs and not being stuck at 9lbs anymore. She responded "I'm proud of you, and your weight loss." While to me, I'm always thinking of the bigger picture and 10lbs is just the tip of the ice burg I think I forget that it did take me a lot of work even to get to this point and if my friends can be proud of me then I should be proud of myself. Those are words I'll never forget. I'm proud of me.

     I appreciate my friends and their support and the support of people commenting on my blogs and I'm glad that I can (hopefully) make other people feel like the work they're doing, even if it's for themselves, doesn't go unacknowledged or unappreciated.  To people who write blogs that their words, reviews, updates, failures and progress is not for nothing. I'm proud of you :)

NOTHING NEW.

Nothing at all. Been going to the gym, staying in my calorie range, not really any news to report. No progress made, no new recipes, just chug chug chuggin along. I'm back down to 173 after a 2lb gain and loss. No more cheating days for me. One day just derails the whole train. Not beating myself up about it though Still working on  the c25k, though since I diidn't go to the gym for a few days today it felt so much harder then I remember. I did it though, thats whats important. OH~!


I ordered a new book from Amazon today, Hungry Girl, 300 under 300: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner under 300 calories.  So looking forward to that. Tomorrows Friday so if I'm up early enough I can go to the gym. ( daycare closes at noon) if not then I hope it's nice so we can at least go for a walk. I feel like I'm working out more but burning less calories so I need to step it up. Yesss. Wai up.

I have a super amazing recipe for you.

     At least, I liked... no loved, it. Only one crappy cell phone picture of it. Doesn't show how beautiful it was. No really. I wasn't just delusional from hunger, promise.

Sausage, Spinach & Sundried Tomato Pasta ( Makes 6, 1 cup, servings)  
Ingredients
3 - Marc Angelo Mild Pork Italian Sausages ( I have a whack of these in my freezer that I need to use up, otherwise I would be using chicken or turkey which would definitely lower the cals even more.)
1 cup cooked Spinach
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (moistened)
2 cup Italipasta Rotini
30 G Armstrong Light Medium Cheddar Cheese

Again- I just added the brands of the products that I use because it gives me a more accurate calorie count.

Cooked the pasta in boiling water and set aside in a bowl.
Brown sausage in non-stick pan (this seems like common sense amirite?)
When the sausage is cooked I added the spinach & tomatoes and a little water and fried them a little longer.
I added the sausage mixture to the bowl with the pasta and the cheese on top and mixed it up. Delish.

Ingredients	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Sugar	Fiber	Sodium
Marc Angelo - Mild Italian Pork Sausage, 3 sausage (75 g)	510	3	39	0	0	1,590
Spinach - Cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 1 cup	41	7	0	1	4	126
Mezzatta - Sun-Ripened Dried Tomatoes, 6 tomatoes (15g)	60	6	4	4	2	80
Italpasta - Rotini, 600 mL (85 g) dry	600	126	2	6	8	30
Armstrong Cheese - Light Medium Cheddar, 30 g	90	0	6	0	0	240
Add Ingredient

Total:	1301	142	51	11	14	2066
Per Serving:	217	24	9	2	2	344

According to MFP, that one serving is 217 calories. THAT'S ALL!? Mind you, I ate 1.5 servings with my salad lol. If you use whole wheat pasta and chicken sausage it would be even better for you I bet lol. Actually, it might be a little less since I logged 2 cups of pasta as 600ml but i was not in the mood for math.

Salad was romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers & mushroom with 1000 Island dressing & 2 servings of pasta.

Stuffed.

Pizza

I had pizza and wings yesterday, and I went way over my calories, fat, sodium, sugar lol. You know, everything. Quite Frankly, today's not looking so great either LOL. Weekends are my nemesis. It's fine. Back to the real world Monday. Gym, swimming lessons for the baby. Actually I've been doing so good doing the C25K, I actually love it so much. I'm going to do the first week over again this week since it's been a few days and then start next week with week 2 so I can go Mon-Wed-Fri. Or maybe I should do Tues- Thurs-Sat since Nina has swimming Monday and Wednesday and we need to get time in for a nap or else she's one annnngry little thing. I do feel disappointed because I had been doing so well and I'm sure if I stepped on the scale there would definitely be a gain. I'm not going to though cause as long as I deny it I won't feel so guilty about bbq-ing today haha.

This is 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure... and 50% pain.

Well, I could not just let today go by with out updating you all on two small NSV's today. First, and foremost now that I'm down about 10 lbs ( snuck a peek at the scale this afternoon!) I have noticed one change in my body. My ladies are definitely SMALLER. Thank bloody Jesus.( no offense meant lol) For me, being a G34... this is AMAZING. I can wear lower cut tops... or t-shirts for that matter with out feeling my boobs are putting on a show of their own. Even in a regular t-shirt I had cleavage ALL.THE.TIME. & not to mention no double boob anymore. I can't wait till they actually have some REAL shrinkage. I'm sure all you chicks with big boobies can hear me on this one.

The second NSV I actually consider a big one. I've been wanting to do the C25K, but I have this fear of running, and moreso running on a treadmill. I can thank thousands of hilarious youtube videos for that one. Today I did the Week one, day one work out of the couch 2 5 k and I RAN on a treadmill. In front of everybody, and I didn't fall flat on my face and I didn't quit. I ran and ran and ran... I was SO proud of myself. Still am. and will be again tomorrow when I do it again.

So stoked. On that note, I'll go back to where I said I snuck a peek at the scale. I knowwww I said I would wait until the end of July but I'm an addict... I loveee seeing that number go DOWN. Love it! 173LBS today, after lunch. That is a 9 pound loss from June 15th. 28 days! I have no doubts I can blow my other NSV's out of the water by the end of july... minus the 30 day shred. I might start over again but I just have no motivation to work out at home. I think I'm better suited to be outside, or at the gym. Whatever works for me... sorry Jillian! I do need some good chest flies in my life!

Another day starting and ending on a happy note. Man, I love my life! I never thought I would feel this happy until it was gone... but I'm just SO proud of myself.

Joining in the blog hop.

     Taking part in the blog hop from Fat girl to thin. Todays topic - do you prefer to work out in the morning or at night.

     I prefer to work out in the morning/early afternoon ( depending on how late I get to sleep that day!) then I do at night. If I work out in the morning I feel energized and like I have the rest of my day free to do anything I like and I also feel like I get more done around the house then if I'm waiting till night I don't have the motivation to do as much during the day.

     Today, for example, I had planned to go to the gym this morning but just didn't. I haven't been to the gym for a few days and now I feel back into a rut. I think ok I'll go tonight, and then I end up not going. It's such a pain that the daycare, for some reason, is closed from 1-5. So I only have the option of going early in the morning or late afternoon/evening. I just CANNOT wait for this weather to get better so I can enjoy some of my summer outside and get back to our morning walks. GO AWAY RAIN. GO GO GO. Until then, I'm stuck saying I'm going to go to the gym... then not going... then the guilt sets in. I've also been feeling really okay with not going because I'm staying in my calories and I'm wondering if it's nessesary to go seven days a week and if it's okay not to go to the gym every day with out feeling guilty. Why do I feel the pressure to go every day. I think it's ok I deserve ONE day off a week from working out... then one turns to two... three... more. What do you think? Do YOU like working out during the day or at night? Do you feel pressure to have to work out every day or a certain amount of time before the guilt sets in?

Keep on, Keepin on!

     You all ( all 3 of my faithful followers that is) may have noticed I added a new NSV to my list. Not wearing maternity pants! Can you believe I still wear them? Regularly? They're my favorite jeans. I just don't feel good in my other ones... so maybe after a few more pounds I'll be able to get rid of these bad boys and wear some normal friggin pants. My baby is over a year old...it's time for them to go! I have been doing so well the last few days, I'm so happy for myself. No more overwhelming feelings like it's too much or too hard. I just keep thinking oh wow, i'm doing so great. In a non-self important way that is lol.

     I do wonder though if this is how it's going to be forever. If I'm going to spend every waking moment thinking about what i can eat, what im going to eat, logging what i'm eating tomorrow, or calories in, how many im burning, how much did i work out today...is it going to be this forever or will it soon become second nature? Who knows.

     Not that I'm complaining because I do enjoy it and I am definitely falling back in love with life again. I just have a real "I'm not letting anything get in my way this time" attitude. That I feel like I'm not making a change, I've already changed and I'm waiting for my body to catch up. Slow poke.

Cuz all I do is WIN, WIN, WIN... no matter what.

     It just keeps getting better. Though, I'm certain that I am addicted to weighing myself. I keep saying I'll stop... but I CAN'T. It's fine today though, cause I needed that boost from seeing my lowest number yet! 175. I'm at pre-pregnancy weight. Down 7LBS from my start weight. Perfect! That puts me in a good position to make it to 170 by the end of July. *fingers crossed*

     Now, onto the good stuff. Food. Yum. In my last post I told you how I bought two veggies to try and use and make something new out of. The goal was to use them to make 1.) Some new meals, or meal ideas; and 2.) add more veggies to my playlist of "regulars". This week I started with Spaghetti Squash, and Leeks. Well, the spaghetti squash did NOT go over well with anybody in this house. Even the baby refused to eat it! I will not be trying that again. I did the generic spaghetti squash with a homemade bolonese sauce... just was not doing it for me. Now the leeks on the other hand... I'll be getting those again for sure!

I made a Sausage and Leek soup... Now, there are definitely ways that  you can reduce calories, fat, and sodium ( it's SUPER HIGH in sodium)  in this recipe, but I just used what I had on hand. Things like reduced salt or home made stock, and diced tomatoes. Using turkey or chicken sausage instead of pork would probably also make a pretty good soup. I used a little bit too many red chili flakes so it was pretty spicy! So here is recipe... I hope you can understand my super technical cooking terms.

     First I rounded up all my ingredients. That is...
3 - Marc Angelo Mild Pork Sausages
2 cups ( ish) of diced fingerling potatoes.
1 Cup diced carrots
3 cups Knorr chicken stock
1/2 cup of water
1 1/2 Leeks ( The recipe said 3, but it just looked like way too much so I used about half.
1 cup diced tomatoes ( i used Unico brand)
 Thyme, garlic & pepper Medley, Red chili flakes ( i just sprinkle them in lol)

In a soup pot:
I cooked the sausages a little bit on high heat until they were crumbles and almost done then I lowered the heat down to about 3 and cooked until no longer pink
Add the 1/2 cup of water to deglaze the pot
Add leaks and stir until they're tender.
then I added all my spices, a pinch of this, a dash of that... you know how it goes.
Added my carrots and let them cook a bit then added chicken stock, potatoes and diced tomatoes. covered and cooked until they were tender.

Oh - my - gosh it was so good. It makes what I would call a small pot ( only about half a big soup pot) I'd say about 6 servings, and it works out to about 156Calories/bowl...

I've been going for walks every day, burning a ton of calories. Doing my shred faithfully, today is day 7 of the shred for me. So yeah, I think thats about it. Overall, feeling pretty darn pleased with myself.

I'm a weekend slacker...

     What is it about weekends? I just completely fall off the radar. Well, I've been sticking to my calories at least. I snuck a peek at the scale the other day and didn't like what I saw so it's GONE. No more weigh-ins until the end of July.

     I bought 2 "new" veggies to try this week. A leek, and a spaghetti squash so I've been on the hunt for good recipes. Feel free to share if you have any, if not, then I'll share mine when I find a good one. Back to the shred and walking tomorrow. On weekends it's the drinking, bbqing, eating, it gets me all out of my vibe I have going so well all week. I guess it has to stop :( boo. Nothing better then drinks & bbq imo lol. Other then that, no news here.

     Nina started swim lessons today, I wore my HRM but I only burned 100 calories so I duno if anything was actually burned or if that was just regular day to day stuff so I didn't record it at all. By the time we got home I was just too tired for a shred or walk. Speaking of walks, on the way to the pool I walked through a field which was NOT a good idea. The misquitos are completely nuts this year!! Wow! Won't be making that mistake again that is FOR SURE.

     Awe cutie baby. Well, off to plan my meals for tomorrow and then sleep. I am POOPED.