Abracadabra, Presto, KAZAM!!

Utter Clutter, Batman!

Around this time last year we redecorated our living room. The Hubster moved his gargantuan television to the wall above our fireplace to help make a feasible floor plan, and I built melamine shelves in the little niche beside the fireplace to house all of the electronic must-haves that attach to the television. We were delighted for the shelves, save for one aspect. Board game storage was below the shelves and, while we always keep it neat it just made everything look cluttered!

Then, around June last year, the retail store The Hubster works for was doing a HUGE drapery reset. This meant that all of the floor samples were being replaced. Rather than throw these samples away the store decided to hold a silent auction on all of them, with the proceeds going to a children's charity. Ummm...all that fabric? Yeah, I drooled a bit (okay, more than a bit, but I have some pride!) and begged The Hubster to bid on my behalf. He did. We won. I was the proud owner of hundreds of drapery samples. The possibilities were infinite! To date these samples have made a panel for an odd, octagonal window in my bathroom, been shared with, and inspired a living room and dining room redo, for my mother and father; and, now, utilized to hide my tidy yet cluttered board game storage area!

This is REALLY about to happen!

The only problem was how to hang it. We bought a dowel rod, but couldn't figure out how to secure it under the shelf properly so that the brackets didn't show and there was no gap between the shelves and the curtain. This past week The Hubster and I were cleaning at my parents house and I was hanging things in a newly reformatted closet in their guest room. I saw the closet bars and had a EUREKA! moment. I asked my father if just the closet bars and brackets were available for purchase, as they were part of a kit. He wasn't sure, and I went about my cleaning with my brain hard at work planning on finding a time to head to the home improvement store and see what I could find. A few minutes later, bless his heart, he came downstairs and presented me with a package of the coveted closet bars and brackets! They were left over, and he had no use for them. Gee, you think I was excited?

The Hubster, hard at work on
his Honey-Do List!

Yesterday was the first day of The Hubster's first vacation of the year. We're heading to Cincinnati tomorrow morning bright and early for our first childless and petless anniversary trip since June of 1999! WOO-HOO!! Just a quick, weekend jaunt to a baseball game (Go, Reds!) and a nice hotel. We'll be back Monday, and are planning on spending the rest of the week getting some things done around the house that have piled up. You know the things I'm talking about...getting the fireplace cleaned up and the damper closed for summer, fixing squeaky doors and leaky faucets, some painting, and the doozy - moving our outdoor building to a lower location and fixing the floor. After we had an unexpected free day this morning, thanks to thunderstorms and a cancelled ballgame for our youngest kiddo, we decided to go ahead and tackle the curtain project. I headed to the sewing machine to cut and hem the drapery sample to the correct length, and The Hubster got busy cutting the metal bars to length and attaching the brackets under the edge of the shelves.

The whole project, from the gathering phase to the finished product, took about an hour. We're both absolutely tickled with the results, and unbelievably enough we did the entire thing without one loss of temper on either side! Now THAT is proof that it was a truly magical project!!

Abracadabra, Presto, KAZAM!!
Utter Clutter, you have been puttered!!!

Couch to 5K - Week 1 Day 3

I DID IT!! I finished the first week, and with no injuries to speak of!!!

I had originally planned on doing the third day on Thursday, but made plans to go to my parents house and clean the hardwood floors of their downstairs. Yeah, that was enough of a workout, don't you think? Moving furniture, dust mopping, regular mopping, steam mopping, and THEN moving said furniture back into place. Friday was another bust, as my allergies were protesting my Thursday activities and I spent the majority of the day in a Benadryl coma. This morning, though, I decided nothing was going to stop me. I got up, had some coffee, did the dishes, threw my sheets in the washer, and hit the treadmill.

Today's workout was much easier for the first half. I also managed to job all 8 segments at 4.5MPH! For my cooldown I managed 3 minutes at 3MPH and the last 2 minutes at 2.5MPH. After I had completed the fist 6 jogging segments I was pretty sure I was going to die right then, but I kept pushing. Boy, am I glad I did! I'm dog tired now, but I'm SO happy with myself. I think, for a first week of a new program, I did pretty damn good.

Next week starts a 90 second jogs separated by 2 minute walks. Am I nervous? You betcha! Am I going to let it stop me? Hell, NO! I can already tell a huge difference in my energy level, even with my current stay in Allergy Hell I feel better, AND I've lost a pound and a half. Motivation, thy name is results...at least in this case!

Weekly Weigh-In Results!

I haven't posted my weight loss progress for a while now. I don't really know why, either, as I sure haven't digressed from my plan.

When I got sick, in 2003, and came out of the hospital (finally) I was weighing in at 185. During this journey, 185 has been my magic number. I felt like once I reached that weight I had finally shed the shroud of gloom that being sick had left on me would be gone forever.

This morning I am proud to report that I weighed in at 184.7!!

*happy dance*

That's right, folks, that stupid illness that controlled me for so many years has now been completely and forever AKd from my life!! I foresee blue skies ahead, and a new hairdo, which is my gift for reaching this mini-goal.

Hugs & chocolate~

Jenn

x-posted to my LiveJournal & Fitting It In.

Week 11 Weigh-In

Wow, what a week! I'm so excited, because I lost 2.2 pounds this week.

This is a big deal, since Saturday was our eleventh wedding anniversary. I took the day off dieting, and we went to Red Lobster and A-T-E. I was miserable I ate so much. I needed it, though. It has made me appreciate the healthy way my new way of eating makes me feel.

I've now lost over 10% of my body weight, and am just under a third of the way to my final goal! *does the happy dance all OVER the place*

I'll end this by sharing a new recipe I came up with a little while back. I made it again this past week and was reminded of how good it was, so I figured I'd put it out there for whoever is interested.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Pine Nut & Garlic Spinach

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup of feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 of a red bell pepper, diced
1/2 of a small red onion, diced
10 Kalamata olives, chopped
16 oz. package of frozen spinach
1/4 cup pine nuts
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat your indoor grill (an outdoor grill cooks too slowly, taking away the flavors).
2. Using a meat tenderizer, pound out the chicken to 1/4" thick.
3. Combine the feta cheese, diced red bell pepper and red onion, and Kalamata olives in a bowl.
4. Divide evenly between the chicken breasts, being careful not to overstuff.
5. Fold the chicken up so that the stuffing will stay inside when cooked.
6. Cook the chicken on the indoor grill until cooked through.
7. Combine the frozen spinach, pine nuts, and garlic in a microwave-safe bowl.
8. Cover and microwave according to the package directions.
9. When done, divide the spinach evenly between four plates.
10. Place a stuffed chicken breast on top of the spinach on each plate.

This is an incredibly easy dinner to make that even my picky 9-YO loves! From beginning to end it only takes me about 45 minutes to prepare and cook. Let me know what you think, and more importantly, ENJOY!!

SQUEE!

You all know by now that I get up and do the Wii Fit every morning. Well, this morning when I hopped on - man, I HATE the way that thing says, "OH!" when you step on it! - I was in for quite a happy surprise...

I have now lost 20 pounds!!!!!!!!!!

ZOMG! From 2/16/2009 to 4/15/2009 I dropped t-w-e-n-t-y pounds. Whoah. I feel like I could conquer the world right now.

Week 7 Weigh-In

I knew when I started this journey that I would have to set-up little successes along the way to celebrate- to keep me from getting bored and/or distracted. For my first mini-goal I really wanted to get below 200 pounds. That always felt like the point of doom for me - even when I was initially putting on the weight. I remember thinking "I'm okay, I'm still under 200." Then, when I crept past 200, I felt like all hope was lost. It just stood to reason that getting back below that mark would be my first goal.

I'm very ecstatic, today, to report that I finally reached my first mini-goal! I weighed in with a 3.3 pound loss, bringing my current weight to 199.1 pounds. If you could see me right now, you'd see the biggest smile - albeit a watery one because I feel like crying a bit, too. I just feel so relieved! Alright, moving right along to goals for this week.

Number one will be getting used to a new daily points value. Getting below 200 means that I have to drop 2 points from my daily total - down to 24 from 26. This shouldn't be too hard, as I usually find myself having to force something else in in the evening just to meet my points.

Number two will be to try, yet again, to ween myself off of my evening coffee. I'm really having a problem with this, as I love my after dinner coffee immensely. Any pointers or tips in this area will be greatly appreciated.

Number three will simply be to keep myself healthy! Spring allergies are displaying themselves in all of their wicked glory. Add to that the fact that my hubby is on vacation this week and we're doing a lot of hard, physical, outside work and I'm already feeling drained. Not good, as he still has another week before he has to report back to work. I'm just going to have to listen to my body and quit when I need to. I'm making sure to stay hydrated, and to take my vitamins daily - I just hope that's enough to keep me from getting too rundown!

Well, I think that is more than enough to get on with for this week. Anymore than that, with everything I've already got on my plate, and I'll fail on some of them and beat myself up.

Wish me luck!

Food Journal (3/18/2009)

Another SQUEEful! moment from yesterday: I was getting ready to go out and be an awesome wife (I took the hubby out and let him buy new rims for his SUV) and grabbed my old, comfortable jeans to throw on. I had just done laundry, so they were fresh out of the dryer. Yeah, you know the routine, they're always just a little snug - not tight - but just snug enough that they stretch to perfect by the time you run out the door, right? WRONG! These puppies were saggy and baggy!! I started turning from side to side in the mirror looking, and then decided to experiment to see just how baggy they were. After pulling and tugging various parts of the jeans, I discovered that I could take them off easily while they were still buttoned and zipped!!!

This is the 5th week of my new healthy lifestyle, folks - that's right, I only started this on February 16th. It's been slow going, a little here and a little there, but it's working! Because of that I offer this suggestion - celebrate the little victories. Take pride in the way you feel. Even losing 1/2 a pound can result in holding your head higher, standing taller. It's so easy to lose focus on the positive, to become fixated on the fact that you're "dieting", on focusing on what you're missing - as opposed to what you're gaining. Fight it, people! Take pleasure in feeling your hip bones when you lay down at night. Enjoy the fact that your jeans don't leave ugly red marks on your stomach any longer. Notice that your knees and back aren't quite as stiff when you're up and about. That's what it's about and, after all, the little things will eventually all add up to something big!

Okay, enough of the PSA (lol), time for the food journal:

Breakfast (6)
1 slice whole wheat toast
1 Tbsp. peanut butter
1 Weight Watcher's yogurt
8 oz. coffee
2 Tbsp. non-dairy creamer
2 tsp. sugar

Lunch (7)
Chicken breast
1 cup broccoli
1/2 cup pork'n beans

Dinner (11 points)
1 cup whole wheat spaghetti
3/4 cup meat sauce (made with turkey)
1 1/2 cups salad
2 Tbsp. light ranch dressing

Evening Snack (2)
8 oz. coffee
2 Tbsp. non-dairy creamer
2 tsp. sugar

Food Journal (3/17/2009)

I just started my day by having to call and exchange my Old Navy order for a smaller size. *beams* It has made me so ridiculously proud of myself and what I'm doing that I'm almost in tears!

The best part? One more size to go down and I'll be out of plus size in bottoms!! I sure hope this great feeling lasts throughout the day!!

Breakfast (7)
Maple & Brown Sugar Cream of Wheat
3 egg whites
1 banana
8 oz. coffee
2 Tbsp. non-dairy creamer
2 tsp. sugar

Lunch (8)
Weight Watcher's Smart Ones Pepperoni Smartwich
1 1/2 cups salad
2 Tbsp. light ranch dressing

Dinner (9)
Made a run for the border :P
2 Fresco Ranchero Chicken Soft tacos
1 Pintos 'n Cheese

Evening Snack (2)
8 oz. coffee
2 Tbsp. non-dairy creamer
2 tsp. sugar

Food Journal (3/12/2009)

Let me start of with a SQUEEful little yell, because I am wearing my skinny jeans today - AND THEY ARE LOOSE!! Insert happy dance here. What a feeling, this makes it all just that much more worth it, you know?

Okay, so on to yesterday's food journal. I must admit, the stress of yesterday caught up with me last night and I nommed a handful of tater tots. While I totally hang my head in shame, I also realize that it's not a setback. I did it, I felt guilty, I'll think twice about doing it again. Period. No sense crying over spilled milk.

Breakfast (5)
3 egg whites
1 slice of low sodium turkey bacon
1 cup cantaloupe
8 oz. coffee
2 Tbsp. non-dairy creamer
2 tsp. sugar

Lunch (7)
Weight Watcher's Smart One's Broccoli and Cheddar Roasted Potatoes
1 Weight Watcher's yogurt
1 apple

Afternoon Snack (4)
1/4 cup guacamole
100 Calorie Snack Pack Sun Chips

Dinner (6)
Turkey Burger with light garlic mayo

Evening Snack (4)
100 Calorie Snack Pack Fudge Stripes
8 oz. coffee
2 Tbsp. non-dairy creamer
2 tsp. sugar

Faux Pas (4)
Tater tots

Week 3 Weigh-In

Drumroll, please . . .

Last week I lost 1.6 pounds! A little ways off from the 2 pound loss that I was aiming for, but the numbers speak for themselves and a 9.3 pound loss in 3 weeks is nothing to sneeze at.

The best part about this loss is not even feeling my clothing get gradually looser on my body, it's the way I'm starting to feel. I'm not tiring out as quickly now. I still need to rest the day after running around doing grocery shopping and domestic Goddess duties, but the sick-achy-drained feeling that normally plagued those days after is gone. I'm finding myself wanting to be active - Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 has fast become something of an addiction for me - and I've even been out playing with Bradley!

One thing I've figured out is that setting a 2 pound goal for myself to lose every week is kind of overdoing it. I'm looking to lost weight and lose it for good, not go for another yo-yo type of loss. That being said I'm going to lower my goal for week 4. So, hmmm, goals. I guess I need some . . .

1. I want to lose at least a pound.

2. Add in a bit more exercise time. Maybe shoot for 40 minutes a day, not counting Mondays or Tuesdays. Those are the days that I clean all day and count that as my activity.

That should do it! Nice, attainable, productive goals that it is possible to meet and help boost me along. 'Til next time!

Week 2 Weigh-In (& a food journal recap)

Wow. This past week was just . . . wow. I totally failed at posting my food journal, as well as not getting in my recommended amount of points 2 of the days. My baby's 9th birthday was Friday, so the whole of that day was spent icing cupcakes with *hangs head in shame* quite a bit of finger licking. I did manage to refrain from eating anything taboo at the party, but running through the Taco Bell drive-thru at 9PM for dinner - even if it was a Fresco style chicken soft taco and a pintos 'n' cheese - just isn't good diet fodder.

All that aside, imagine my surprise when I discovered that I still lost 1.7 pounds this week! I'm kind of glad that I struggled this week, because now I know that even when life gets crazy I can still keep this thing going.

This week's goals are to:

1. Update my food journal online daily.
2. Lose 2 pounds.
3. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day.

Wish me luck!

Week 1 Weigh-In

I bounced out of bed this morning, jumped on the scale, and then freaked out a bit. After a second I took a deep breath, let it out, and looked down . . .

and found that I'd lost 6 pounds!!

I know that most of it was more than likely water weight, but I still feel proud, happy, and motivated. Let's get on with week 2 and see if I can keep it up!

An excellent day...

So earlier this week I made plans to go today to see the new Twilight movie with my mother. It was running at 12:40 PM, and I wouldn't make it home in time to get my 8 year old off of the school bus. Normally, as in every other time since my oldest was born, this would inevitably mean me canceling my plans and being there. It never would have dawned on me to arrange for someone else to get my child off of the bus and keep him until I made it home. This time, however, was different. I was determined to do something for myself. In order to keep myself from chickening out I pre-ordered my non-refundable tickets. I then told my husband to arrange for his parents to get our boy off of the bus on Friday afternoon.

When I woke up this morning I found that it had snowed last night. Not much, just enough that I had to go outside and spend 15 minutes clearing my windshield and sweeping a path on the porch and stairs. My hubby came out as I was finishing to go to work, and offered to go ahead and take my SUV down the hill where I could just walk to it and be on the road. Then possible disaster struck. In just around 10 minutes, the sky opened up and dumped almost an inch of snow on the ground. Not just any snow, either, but that fine powder that ski resorts love because it packs down to ice with the slightest pressure. I made the decision to keep the boys home from school, as it was just too treacherous for them to be on a school bus. I wavered for a moment over my plans for the day, then told myself that my 16 year old was more than capable of taking care of his brother for the day - another first for me!

By the time I needed to leave, the roads had turned from snow covered to almost inch thick ice - and I was going to have to drive at least a mile on the curvy, hilly road to the nearest intersection where the road would be treated. Nervous, unsure, anxious, worried, I crept my way down the hill. At the end of the mile I discovered that the roads were, in fact, treated and that the rest of my journey would be uneventful.

So, I went to brunch with my mother, went to see Twilight (which is OMG! AMAZING!!), stopped in Target to snag some new undershirts for my oldest and a Christmas gift for my youngest, and then decided to run and pick up some pizzas and cheese sticks for dinner so that I didn't have to cook. I called my boys on the way home and had the oldest throw a quick salad together to go with.

Now it's bedtime and as I sit and reflect upon my day I am just so proud of myself! I faced my fears and drove on wintry roads, refused to allow myself to feel bad for having a day out, saw a movie that I've waited anxiously for for quite a while, and more than anything else I can rest assured in the fact that my boys are quite alright without me stressing myself to the max. They want me to be happy. That is a true gift, that knowledge, and I know that it will help me on my way to becoming the me I used to be.