This is who I am

TUSAL and a pretty good weekend!

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Terri | 1 comment

I was very busy at work on Friday and it spilled over into Friday evening so I didn’t have a chance to post my March 4 TUSAL. I was gone almost all day yesterday, so I’m posting today.

I had a very nice time at my monthly stitch-in yesterday. Our teacher gave a lesson on creating cording (she made it look so easy!) and I finished the stitching part of Summer Queen. As soon as I got home I brought all my beading supplies into the living area.

The bad part of the weekend….my iron died. I pulled it out to get some fabric prepped for a sampler designed by above mentioned teacher to do some prep work for me and it wouldn’t come on. I’ve had it for almost 10 years (if not more) and I really loved the features. I asked in class yesterday for recommendations and am going iron hunting this afternoon or tomorrow after work.

We’re grilling steaks and baking potatoes for supper tonight. Can.not.wait! M excells on the grill.

He’s currently stretched out in the bedroom after a 40-50 mile training ride. He has 4 weeks to his half Ironman. I thought I was going to have to pass on next month’s stitch-in but it was changed to the 2nd Saturday.

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Posted in Life, Stitch-together, TUSAL

Still around

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Terri | 2 comments

I don’t know why I haven’t blogged in a couple of weeks. There has been plenty to blog about. Nothing over the top exciting, but my life has not ground to a standstill.

The last time I blogged about my weight I was rather indifferent to the .2 gain that I had. That was 2 weigh-ins ago. Last week I was down .6. Today, I am back up .6. My WW peeps think I’m not eating enough. I had 13 WPs left. I also had 8 PPs left last night. I am not starving. In fact, I’m rarely hungry enough to snack in the evenings, unlike before the new plan. I am NOT gorging myself on free fruits or vegetables that take up room in my stomach but still leave me tons of PPs left over at the end of every day.

So this week my plan is to eat every single point every single day and to TRY to eat every weekly point on top of that. It was even suggested to me to use the regular foods instead of low-fat versions (mayo, cheeses, whole eggs instead of whites only, etc.).

Today we had a birthday lunch for BigBoss at Olive Garden. There will be no problem eating my daily points today. I have 4 left over right now! The funny thing is I had a hard time making myself eat my lunch because I was full!

The other question my WW peeps asked me about was if I was meeting my GHGs and with the exception of the Healthy Oils, I am. I do attempt the oils, it’s just that our menus don’t always include oils, so I’m trying to saute more of our foods with olive oil, etc.

Exercise is the next biggie. I’ll be adding it in gradually starting this week. I had intended to do that last week but something came up healthwise for me that stalled that. Everything is a-okay now, so no more reason not to.

I know it took me a long time to get to this weight, and I’m okay that it’s going to take me a long time to lose it healthily. I figure as long as I’m eating as healthy as I can in whatever circumstance I find myself then I’m on the right track. And I refuse to give up.

I will say this, I’m down one pant size and that’s a great thing. I’m getting rid of my clothing as I shrink out of it so I’m not tempted to wear it again. I have gotten to the point that if my clothing is tight and uncomfortable it’s a huge incentive to watch what I’m eating. I don’t want the temptation of the larger clothing being available to be comfy.

Stitching. Sigh. I have been stitching, but not near as much as I should be. I am thisclose to being finished with the stitching on Summer Queen. In fact, I should be finished with it by Sunday and already beading. Nothing going on tonight and I plan to stitch after supper until it’s time for bed.

This Saturday is my monthly stitch-in and while I promised myself at the beginning of the year to only take my needlepoint piece in I may fudge on that this time so I can get.her.done! Besides….I just got my first county fair email this week. Eeek!

M is still in training mode for his upcoming half ironman.

Son is working and going to school full time.

Puppies are doing great.

333 more days!

2 Comments

Posted in Life

Weigh In and a Recipe

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Terri | 1 comment

Thank you all for your support over my last couple of posts. As expected I did have a gain today. I was up .2 #s!

Work was chaotic today and I ended up leaving an hour early. I came home and made some comfort food for supper. It’s super easy and even has the HarleyQuinn seal of approval.

Vegetable Beef Soup

1/2 pound extra lean ground beef
11 oz can of whole kernel corn
14 oz can of cut green beans
14 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1/8 cup of Emeril’s Essence or creole seasoning

Cook the meat and seasoning together. Pour in the veggies, juice and all. Bring to a simmer for 30 minutes and enjoy!

This makes 6 1-cup servings at 3 PP each. Double up and it’s still only 6 PPs!

I normally double the recipe and use 1 or 2 pounds of beef depending on what’s in the freezer. The only ingredient that is NOT a power food is the seasoning!

HarleyQuinn almost loses her little mind when you open a can of green beans so we fondly call this ‘green bean soup’ 🙂 M will pull out a couple of green beans to cool off for her (and Jasper) to eat at the end of our meal.

1 Comment

Posted in Recipe, Weight

Tagged emerils, weight watchers

Oh the joys of a busy life

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Terri | 4 comments

I can’t believe it’s been almost a week since I last blogged. There has been so much going on since my last post.

Work has been crazy CRAZY! We’ve had a case fall apart on us, one settle, and there have been so many little post-its on my desk that I had to stop what I was doing and just get them done. I hate when that happens.

Last Saturday was my monthly stitching day. Thank goodness, because that’s the only time I’ve made for myself to stitch lately!

I stayed the night with Melissa and the two of us were joined by Darla that night at Downtown Disney‘s Rainforest Cafe to celebrate Melissa’s upcoming birthday. The next morning Melissa and I headed back to Downtown Disney and had chicory and beignets at the Jazz Kitchen. Oh calories, how I love you! Especially donut-y calories! I actually have chicory coffee at my house and drink it all the time. It’s been a very long time since I made beingets though.

Then of course, Monday was Valentine’s Day. Much to my surprise, especially since he never said a word beforehand, M called me at 4:30 asking me if we were going out to dinner that night to celebrate. I left it totally up to him where we were going and since we couldn’t get early enough reservations at his first choice we went to El Torito’s and split a carne asada platter. It was the perfect amount of goodiness for my Mexican food craving self (I swear I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner — in the same day!). My gallant knight also came sweeping in with a dozen long-stem red roses, purchased from my favorite little mom and pop corner flower stand.

This morning’s weigh in at home for the Power of One challenge at Sisterhood shows me up some more, but you know…I don’t care! Ok, I care, but I’m living with it. After last week’s near meltdown over being up one pound I had a long think with myself — and a good talking to from M. This is lifetime. There are going to be times when the scale is going to go up, I just have to not let it defeat me, and get right back into the swing of things immediately.

Tuesday I packed a very healthy and filling lunch.

Last night I made up a quickie broccoli and beef stir-fry. I winged it with some pre-cut sirloin for fajitas that I tossed in 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, added in some garlic powder, garlic pepper powder, kosher salt, ground ginger and “fried” it in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, I then poured in 1/2 cup of chicken broth, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and while that was bubbling up I steamed up some broccoli, then tossed that in. It made 3 large servings. Well, it should have been 4 but M ate 3/4 of it!

Today, I packed the same healthy and filling lunch as yesterday and added in a banana and blueberries. Tonight it’s BFD (which we do a couple of times a week).

Is my official weigh in tomorrow at Weight Watchers going to show that scale going up? Probably. Am I going to freak out about it like I did last week? No. Am I going to be disappointed in myself. I’m going to try hard to not be, but I’m only human.

4 Comments

Posted in Food, Recipe, Weight

Tagged el torito's, weight watchers

Would you like some 2PP cheese with that Whine?

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Terri | 2 comments

I have gained 1 pound.

There are so many things going through my head as to ‘why.’

M thinks it may be water related because he says one of the things we had for supper last night was salty. I don’t normally eat really salty foods and now I’m wondering if I’m naysaying because he’s trying to make me feel better, if he really means it, or if I’m grasping for excuses.

I’m thinking it could be the change of clothes, partially, but I am reasonable enough to know that my clothes don’t weigh that much more…or do they? The home scale this morning showed me weighing the same today as last Thursday.

I tried to talk to my WW leader about it during the meeting because she asked if anyone had any problems non-Super Bowl related but feel like she just gaffed me off. I had to leave before the end of the meeting because she talked a whole lot about Super Bowl temptations before she got the meeting started and I had to get back to work.

Do I feel like I failed? Well, I didn’t think I did, just more confused. However, I had planned on a 7 PP something for lunch and had a 10 PP something instead. Oh, and I got a diet soda to wash it down, which means I’ve gone almost 2 weeks without drinking a diet soda. So did I feed feelings of failure? Maybe so.

I really don’t know how to explain how I feel except that I think my feelings are hurt that I’ve gained, and how stupid does that sound? I had 10 more WPs left over this week than the week before and I gained.

2 Comments

Posted in Weight

Clean Eating magazine discounted

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Terri | Comments Off

Not too long after I emailed this discount to a couple of friends, I realized other people might be interested as well.

Today only, until 9 ET, Tanga is offering a year-long Clean Eating magazine subscription for $5.99. Just use the coupon code EATING.

Disclaimer: I am providing this information as a courtesy. I’m not receiving any incentive from Tanga or Clean Eating.

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Posted in Life

Wednesday, already?

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Terri | 4 comments

Wow, I feel like I lost Monday and Tuesday!

I was really glad to get to work on Monday morning. The weekend was full of nothing special so I don’t know why. I did manage to stitch some though.

Tuesday found me at the hospital getting my annual mammogram. The tech told me she can tell by comparing last year’s xrays to this year’s xrays that I’ve lost weight. I’m glad someone can tell because I sure can’t!

Which leads me into this week’s Power of One. I’m down again in my unofficial weigh in. Sometimes it’s hard to track because while I’m stepping on my home scale for the Power of One challenge, I’m not caring what it says because my official weigh in at Weight Watchers is what I’m going by. (That sounds harsh reading back over it!)

I’ve had a major struggle the past couple of days. I’m not hungry, but all I can think about is eating. Cravings like crazy for home made fried chicken, coconut cake, soda. Everytime I think about needing to go somewhere the very next thought in my head is what food place is near/next to it. Tears have been involved. Today, a co-worker brought something from the Danish bakery down the street from us. I just want to cry again.

We finally made it to see The King’s Speech last night. It was educational to both of us in some aspects and we both enjoyed it. I read a book a very long time ago about Wallis Simpson, so was familiar with the era and the goings on in that direction, but didn’t know much else about the royal family. It was heartbreaking in several places.

This coming weekend is my monthly stitchin and I’ll be spending the majority of the weekend with Melissa 🙂 Can’t wait!

4 Comments

Posted in Movies, Weight

Fave Super Bowl Commercials First Half

Posted on February 6, 2011 by Terri | Comments Off

I somehow miss seeing one or two, but my faves were
Audi jail break
Pepsi Max Love Hurts
Go Daddy Joan Rivers

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Posted in Life

Woooo Boy, am I in trouble

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Terri | 4 comments

And this little lovely, I’m actually on automatics for! Can’t wait.

I don’t know if I’m going to be able to be strong or not with the other two!

4 Comments

Posted in Stitching

TUSAL Thursday and WI

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Terri | Comments Off

Today is the day we’re supposed to share our ort collection for TUSAL. I’ll show mine in a moment.

It’s been a fairly quick week! I have a ton of little piddly things to do at work that keep me trotting back and forth down the hall between the filing area, copy room, and my desk. We had a staff meeting today and we are on track to have all trials over by the end of June!!!! Yikes! Anyway, all those piddly things make the time go by fast.

I had a lab work appointment this morning. It’s time for my annual physical and I always try to get my lab work and mammogram done beforehand so I can get the results at the same time I get my physical. Because I knew I had a staff meeting at lunch (which is when my Weight Watchers meeting is), I stopped by the meeting on the way to work after the lab visit and weighed in.

Down 1.8 pounds this week! I’ve entered a new ‘decade’ in my weightloss journey!

I’m going to have to change my Weight Watchers’ “uniform,” too. I have been wearing the same trousers and blouse to work on Thursdays to help me keep things as close to similar as the time before when I weigh in each week. I can now pull those trousers on and off without undoing them 😉

To answer a couple of comments from my last post:

Susan – we are moving to Arizona. We have been looking at homes in Mesa, Tempe, Queen Creek, areas.

Katrina – this is only the 2nd time I’ve been excited about moving. The first time was when I moved to Japan (with a 10 day notice!).

Figuringitallout – thanks for visiting!

Now for my TUSAL. I love several of the Yankee Candle scents (although my favorite candle is Circle E). I decided to repurpose some of the smaller sized candle jars for my monthly TUSAL. So here’s January’s next to my empty jar waiting for the first ort of February.