Weekly Weigh-In 6/30/14 & Our Weekend with Uncle Jonathan & Gomer

My brother, Jonathan, and our Gomer came to visit this weekend.

We had a lot of fun just hangin' out at the house and showing them around our little piece of paradise. I wish I would've gotten more pictures, but this one with Jonathan is pure gold - that's the same skirt that my sister and I would put on him when we were little! All that's missing here is some lipstick.

Saturday morning, I ate a light breakfast of coffee and fruit because we were planning to get Long John Silver's for lunch - probably the greasiest fast food around, but my family and I love it and the LJS here is the closest one to them. I filled my plate at lunch - a piece of fish, chicken, a hush puppy and a whole heap of fries; no color, everything fried - but I started to panic a little when I sat down; I did so well during the week and I didn't want to undo it all and undo it so close to my weigh-in day. I whipped out my phone to look up PointsPlus values while I downed a bottle of water and asked myself, "What do I want most right now? It's only lunchtime and I need to be sure to save points for dinner later." So I put the fries back and grabbed some watermelon from the fridge instead, indulging a little without going overboard and leaving enough points for the Chicken and Black Bean Tacos and Cheesy Red Hot Rice that I had planned for dinner. For dessert, though, I did tap into the weekly points allowance for a Weight Watchers Snack Size Chocolate Fudge Bar (1PT) while Jonathan and the girls had Blue Bell ice cream -- my favorite. File that under small victory!

Yesterday evening, we met my mother-in-law and sister-in-law in Port Orange to have dinner at Red Robin and leave the girls with them for a few days.

"You look skinny!" My mother-in-law said when we walked up. Agh, I could have kissed her!

Again, I ate a light breakfast and lunch that day so that I would have plenty of points to have what I wanted at dinner - a Burnin' Love Burger, sub a grilled chicken breast and broccoli instead of fries. Bottomless broccoli, that is. The fries that come with your meal are bottomless, so I thought that was really cool.

Last week's weigh-in (6/23/14): 173.0 lbs
Today's weigh-in (6/30/14): 169.6 lbs

Change in weight: -3.4 lbs
Total change in weight: -12.2 lbs

Another 3.4 pounds down, woo hoo!

What worked for me this week

I planned, I tracked, I exercised.

I made healthy food choices opting for fresh fruit or veggies instead of fries when dining out.

Game plan for next week

Plan, track, exercise, and make healthy food choices.

McKenna and Kendall are going to be with my mother-in-law until Wednesday or Thursday and Alex has taken the whole week off - VACATIONNN, woop woop! We plan on going out to eat a few times and enjoying some adult beverages tomorrow for the World Cup game, but I plan on logging in some extra activity points, too, when I bring Alex along with me to a few yoga classes and hopefully the weather cooperates so that we can do some kayaking!

Staycation, Sans Kids!

Three days. No kids. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!?

Next week, Alex and I are dropping off the girls with his Mom for a few days and we're going to celebrate our 4-year Anniversary with a little staycation. We were originally toying with the idea of driving up to North Carolina to go kayaking, but then we thought, why not save the cash and explore what this little piece of paradise that we call home has to offer!

:-D I'm pretty frickin' excited. 

Wordless Wednesday - Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.

-Marc Riboud 

<3 <3 <3

Flip Flops Fridge Magnets

Summer!

I stumbled across the CUTEST flip flops craft on Pinterest the other day and couldn't wait to make them with my little beach babes. I loved how Blog Me Mom made refrigerator magnets out of them - it reminded me of a Jeep I saw recently with family flip flop car decals that I went totally ga-ga over - so I was going to make some for me and Alex, too.

Here's what you'll need:
Foam sheets
Foam shapes or stickers
Glue
Pipe cleaners
Hole punch
Beads
Magnetic tape strips

I already had a hole punch, pipe cleaners, glue, and magnetic strips on hand and I grabbed one of Kendall's size 6 sandals to use as a template -- my girls are super ticklish, so tracing their foot was not going to happen!

 The rest of the stuff I was able to find at the dollar store.

Three bucks when all was said and done. Dollar Tree is always my first stop when shopping for arts and crafts supplies; you'd be surprised at what you can find there!

To begin making the flip flops, first trace your child's foot or one of their sandals onto a foam sheet and cut it out. Then punch out 3 holes for the strap.

Cut the pipe cleaners in half and string the beads.

To secure each strap, simply thread it through the hole and fold it over the back. Add a magnetic strip.

Decorate!

Weekly Weigh-In 6/23/14

Another great week!

But, WHY am I just now heeding the 'five small meals a day' advice?! When I originally started out with Weight Watchers last year, I would eat bigger meals and no snacks, but I was absolutely starving by lunch or dinnertime! It was much more difficult for me to control my portions that way and I found myself chipping away at the weekly points allowance little by little every day until they were all gone by my next weigh-in. Granted, those extra food choices I made were probably not the best  - sure, you might be able to eat some or all of those points and still see a success on the scale - but right now, until I am more disciplined in my eating habits, I only want to tap into the weekly points allowance for special occasions like Thanksgiving or Christmas or when the day really gets away from us and we're getting points-expensive takeout for dinner.

Last week's weigh-in (6/16/14): 176.4 lbs
Today's weigh-in (6/23/14): 173.0 lbs

Change in weight: -3.4 lbs
Total change in weight: -8.8 lbs

What worked for me this week

I planned. I tracked. I exercised 6 out of the 7 days last week. In Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, one of her tips for getting regular exercise was to never skip a work out for two days in a row. Before, I would workout Monday through Friday and then give myself the weekend off; not only did I feel kind of off the hook as far as food went (and it's always much more of a challenge to stay on track over the weekends), but it was a lot harder to get back into the exercise groove the following week. I took my rest day on Friday last week, and found it so much easier to make smarter food choices over the weekend after having exercised on those days - even with the Pineapple Bliss Cupcakes that I made to celebrate the Summer Solstice!

Game plan for next week

Plan, track, exercise 6 out of 7 days.

My brother and Gomer are coming to visit next weekend, so I need to make sure that I stay focused and stay on track while they're here - which shouldn't be too difficult with my home-field advantage ;-)

Wordless Wednesday - Potty Time: It's a Team Effort

Apparently...

#momlife

We love you, Daddy!

The rain spoiled our plans to hit the beach this weekend for Father's Day, but we were just happy to have Daddy home with us as he's been traveling a lot for work lately.

English muffins were BOGO at Publix, so we had a pizza party!

It's the little things.

:-)

Weekly Weigh-In 6/16/14: Back in the Saddle

We went to a pig roast last weekend and while I had been looking forward to it for weeks, I was also absolutely dreading it at the same time -- it was a pool party. Yep, all day in my bathing suit chasing the girls, playing corn hole, eating, drinking and socializing with other grown ups and me trying to play it cool and enjoy myself while completely writhing with agony on the inside.

You could imagine my relief when there was a last minute change of location and we headed out the door sans bathing suits!

I hate my body :-( But I hate that I hate my body. I don't want to be uncomfortable in my own skin. I want to be a good role model for my daughters and practice what I preach to them about self love. I want to establish healthy eating habits for my children now so that they don't have to struggle with it when they are older like I am.

I have a lot to work on.

But I can do it.

Since January of last year, I've been on and off the Weight Watchers wagon, but I'm ready to get back in the saddle - for good. For real! So, here goes...

Last week's weigh-in (6/9/14): 181.8 lbs

Today's weigh-in (6/16/14): 176.4 lbs

Change in weight: -5.4 lbs

What worked for me this week

I planned my meals. It's easy to stay on track when you're prepared, even when you're out picnicking with friends! 

I tracked everything. This is a good visual reminder of how many points you have consumed and how many points you have left for the rest of the day; slip-ups, "little snacks" and BLTs (bites, licks and tastes) can quickly add up. You're holding yourself accountable by logging in all of the food and drink that you put into your body. You also become more conscientious of the types of foods that you put into your body, i.e. chips versus an apple with your sandwich at lunch.

I put "workout" on my daily to-do list. I love the order and organization that to-do lists bring to my day. Writing down exercise on my list really helps me to prioritize my tasks, and I love seeing that one crossed off!

I tracked before a potentially challenging situation. They were serving pizza - my one true weakness! - at a birthday party over the weekend. I wanted to have two slices, so I tracked it in the morning before I had breakfast and planned the rest of my meals accordingly so as to not go over my daily points allowance yet still be able to indulge in one of my trigger favorite foods. Again - plan, plan, plan.

I drank lots of water. Thirst is often mistook for hunger, so I made sure to always keep a full glass of ice cold water on the counter and would take a sip every time I passed by. If I felt "hungry" before lunch or dinner and I had already eaten my planned snack, I would drink a whole glass of water and the feeling went away pretty much every time.

I calculated the points per serving for everything in my fridge and pantry and labeled it. You'll think twice before reaching for "just a handful" of the kids' Goldfish again!

I ate five small meals a day. By reducing my portions at breakfast, lunch and dinner, I was able to give the 'five small meals a day' thing a go for the first time, and it works! Mid-morning and mid-afternoon, around 10AM and 3PM respectively, I would have a piece of fruit and/or light string cheese with a glass of water and I wasn't starving (or grouchy) by the next meal. This helped tremendously with portion control, especially at dinner.

Game plan for next week

Repeat all of the above.

I can do this!

Egg Mice and the "Magic Words"

McKenna and Kendall are pretty good about using their manners and Alex and I have never referred to "please," "thank you," and the like as magic words; it's just something that you do, a reflex like saying, "Bless you" when someone sneezes. One day, the girls and I were over at our friends' house for a tea party play date and when Miss Caroline was finished with her quiche and tea, she stayed in her seat and very politely asked, "May I be excused please, Mommy?" -- "Yes you may." She got up and I realized that Beth didn't have to hassle her AT ALL to stay at the table while we were eating. Liiight bulb!

Every single day for every single meal it was a battle to keep the girls in their seats while we were eating. I HATED having to repeat myself over and over and over again every breakfast, lunch and dinner for the girls to just sit the fuck down. Of course, I used my manners and didn't drop the F bomb around my little parrots... Other than maybe once or twice to myself under my breath as my eyes glossed over with tears of frustration.

I googled "How to keep toddlers at the dinner table." A lot.

I tried implementing the "When you get up, you're telling me that you're finished" rule, but that seemed to work better in their favor as lots of veggies and other "yucky" stuff was left uneaten.

I tried taking away snacks so that maybe by lunch and dinnertime they'd be so hungry that they would want to sit at the table and eat all of their food, but that backfired; we all ended up cranky and frustrated.

I tried the "Kids will eat when they're hungry; don't force it," way, but... THIS AIN'T DENNY'S!

Later that day when we were at home eating dinner and the girls got up, I told them, "Sit down. You were not excused; you didn't say the magic words."

"Magic words?!" they asked, grinning.

So I explained very matter-of-factly that if they wanted to get up from the table, they must first ask, "May I be excused, please?"

Eagerly they sat down; "MAY I BE EXCUSED, PLEASE!?" in unison with big fat smiles on their faces.

"No. You haven't finished your dinner yet."

And that was that! Magic words.

Whether or not they actually eat all or any of their dinner is a complete toss up, but "if they're hungry, they'll eat" and they have plenty of time to do so as we're all sitting down at the table together and enjoying our meal as a family. Huge victory. I'd say the "magic words" have about a 90% success rate.

One thing that I know McKenna will gobble up for sure is Egg Mice.

She loves hard-boiled eggs and picked this recipe out of one her kid-friendly cookbooks, which I modified slightly.

Egg Mice

Ingredients:

1 hard-boiled egg
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Salt, pepper to taste
Matchstick carrots
Slivered almonds

Directions:

Slice the hard-boiled egg in half and scoop out the yolk; mix with mayo, mustard, salt and pepper. Fill the yolk mixture back into the egg white and place the flat side down on the plate.

Then, poke one matchstick carrot into one end of the egg for the tail and on the opposite side, use a paring knife to make slits for the slivered almonds, which will be the ears.

Serve with cheese and fruit for a super fun, well-rounded meal for your toddler. :-D

Mini Vacay

The girls and I just got back a few days ago from a little mini vacation in Orange Park. My Grandma - or "Grandma Gus" - was down from Maryland for another visit; her second in less than six months! We were so excited to see her again so soon. I was pretty stressed, though, for the few weeks leading up to our trip because I was unsure of how it was all going to go down -- things have been pretty tense since all of the holiday drama at the end of last year and we haven't been to my parents' house at all since Christmas...

But it went really, really well. We enjoyed each other's company, spent lots of time in the pool, the girls and I slept in everyday (oh, the cuddles!), they took their naps and got along really well, I put a good dent in my new book, there was very little whining, and hardly any temper tantrums. For 12 whole days. It was glorious! I was actually relieved that I had to stay a few days longer to wait for Alex to get paid so that I could put gas in the car to get home.

:-)