Merry Christmas!

So my schedule was a little different this week due to taking some time off for the holidays. Mom, Dad, Paul and I went to Marco Island for some relaxing time in the sun. I found a meeting for Mom and I so that we could still weigh in. It was a good weigh in, since I was down 1.0 lbs....but I don't know if I stayed on track enough for the rest of the time.  Back with the personal trainer tonight. I also have carefully planned out my food for the rest of the week. I will post again the Saturday after NYE since that is the next meeting...but until then enjoy some pictures from the trip!

Biking through the Everglades!

Watching a sunset on the beach

Lots of sea life washed up on the beach

Horseshoe crab

Christmas Morning

Pelican with one foot

Back on the downward track

Proud of all the walking

Minor setback, but not discouraged!

It has once again been a busy week. Work has been pretty busy these past couple of days. I have been having a really hard time lately staying on track. I haven't been able to plan very well. My days have pretty much been go to work, go work on the house, and then go to sleep. Andy has been really supportive of getting the house to a point that we can cook some stuff. So we tried to just do simple meat and veggie meals. It also has been hard at work, since there have been holiday parties and food brought in my vendors constantly!

I feel like when I cannot plan it is so much harder for me to stay on track. Planning and sticking with your food and work out plan can sometimes be a full time job. How do you do that when you have a full time job and are trying to get a house ready to move into?

I am not discouraged because I can tell my body is changing, my clothes fit better I wore some pants that I haven't worn in a really long time because they were too tight. Is it wrong that I just want to get to my Weight Watchers goal so I don't have to pay? I know that once I am Lifetime I will still attend weekly meetings. The group is very encouraging and welcoming. It is a great place to talk about the constant struggle with staying on track with food. Luckily next week I am with my Mom, Dad and Paul. My mom and I can keep each other on track, which will be great. I even found a meeting for Mom and I to attend next week in Marco Island.  I also know that we will be active, going on walks, bike rides swimming etc. Hopefully I can undo the weight gain from this past week. Yes I was up 1.4 lbs this week. Overall I have still lost weight. That is the goal. I also know I am getting stronger because my personal trainer has increased the weights that I am using! Keeping the eye on the prize...getting healthy and fit by 30...April 30th will be here before I know it!

Back on track

Andy and I have been very busy working on the house. We have painted the house ripped out a hideous countertop so that we can replace it. We have painted trim cleaned floors, changes cabinet pulls etc....

It is a crazy amount of work to own a house, but I know that in the long run it will be worth it. Even though it was a busy week, I was trying my best to eat healthy foods. It was hard for most of this week because we weren't really cooking. I refocused and decided we needed to start cooking again. So I made a slow cooker chicken stew. We also did a lot of grilling chicken and veggies. Grilling has been great also because we have had our first snap of cold weather here.

I went to my WW meeting on Wednesday. I haven't been and stayed for the meeting in about 2 weeks. I have been weighing in, but either couldn't stay or went to a meeting out of town just to weigh in. I determined that in order to get back on track and stay on track, I needed to get back to the meetings and stay. I went to yesterday's meeting. I was thrilled with the hard work I had put in. I lost 2.8 lbs.

Total weight loss of 6.8 lbs!

My weight watchers leader commented that it is time to set my goal weight and commented on how great I am doing. It was great to have this encouraging week again. I also wore a pair of work pants that I have not worn in about 2 years because they were a little tight. It is great to get back into some clothes that used to fit. Time to work on getting down to that 165.2!!

Post Thanksgiving weigh in...

Life has been really busy with painting the house and getting ready to move in and Thanksgiving last week. It has been a rough couple of weeks. Unfortunately I am up 1.8lbs this week. With both the house and my journey to get fit it seems like with each step forward there are 2 steps back. Getting myself back on track. Got to the gym Monday with my personal trainer and am going to go at least 3 other times this week. Not much to say so I will share some photos! Have an enjoyable week everyone! See you back here next wednedsay...hopefully with some better news :)

Papaya's from out papaya tree that broke....

Before and after photo of cabinet pulls I couldn't remove

Old cabinet pul in the middle, new cabinet pulls on the sides

Freshly painted front door

Theodore likes to take selfies

Adelaide and her Cheerio cake

Flowers at Whole Foods 

Baby Hank the Tank

We Bought a House!!!

Andy and I made a huge adult move this past Friday. We closed on a house on Friday! It is an older house that needs some facelift work....mainly paint and deep cleaning. It is a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with a gorgeous backyard. Buying a house has been a slightly stressful process but I have been staying strong with eating healthy food. Our first project was to paint the master bedroom and to refinish the original terrazzo floors (terrazzo floors). Friday after closing we got straight to work on striping the floors of sealant and cleaning them. We then started painting the master bedroom. 

Outside the house!

Andy's Office before....

Kitchen Before....

Living room before....

Sun porch before...

Dining room before....

Bathroom before...

Bathroom #2...

Master bedroom before....

We have spent a lot of time working on main the house our own. I flew to Chicago on Tuesday to spend Thanksgiving with my family. My mom and I went to a WW meeting on Wednesday morning, unfortunately I gained weight this week. I was up 0.8 lbs. I used this as motivation to stay even more focused through the holiday weekend. I am going to keep working towards my first goal of 165.2!

Still Down overall....which is what matters. 

I had a great time celebrating the holiday with my family. I got to meet my new nephew, John Henry, and I got to spend a lot of quality time with Theodore and Adelaide.

John Henry V!

Theodore loves taking selfies

The cake Adelaide wanted to make...yes it is a cereal cake

Practicing with flowers for the wedding

Momma and Theo

Busy weekend with family

This weekend Andy's dad and his girlfriend Claudia were in town for visit and to go to the Nascar Championship race.

Again since I knew were were going to be busy and not eating the best, I was really focused on eating well on Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the day. Saturday night we made dinner for them. I made some slow cooker pork with apples and onions, roasted sweet potatoes and grilled broccoli. It was a delicious dinner that was also full of power foods! Saturday night we went to see James Taylor. I am not super familiar with James Taylor but know a number of songs. It was a great show! He told some stories  and played for almost 3 hours.

Sunday I got to go to my first Nascar race. It was super exciting. First we stopped at the farmers market to show Mike and Claudia where we got engaged. We also introduced them to out new favorite coffee spot Kay Rico Coffee. They roast the beans the night before and grind them fresh. It is such good coffee, I have made it one of my weekly treats. Again, I planned the food. We had burgers, turkey burgers, pineapple salsa, hummus, crackers cheese and a kale salad. I tried to stick with foods that everyone would enjoy but were also healthy choices. I chose to eat a turkey burger with no bun, topped with jalapeno pepper jack cheese and pineapple salsa. I also munched on some kale salad and hummus with crackers. After we ate, we walked over to the race track. We had parked basically as far away from our seats as possible. It felt great to walk after eating lunch.  Then we got to climb up all the steps to our seats.  This was the first time that Nascar did a tournament style championship. Everyone was curious how this race would go. It was really exciting because the 4 drivers that could win all raced hard. They stayed in the top 10 for the majority of the race.

Andy and I at Homestead Nascar race!

Myself, Andy, Mike Short and Claudia!

We were all pretty beat after the race so we called it a day. On Monday I went to work and Andy showed Mike and Claudia the house we are buying. For dinner we went to a seafood restaurant on the intercostal. I got some peel and eat shrimp and grilled asparagus. It was perfect for dinner. The rest of the week was pretty run of the mill. Although I did get my jawbone and started playing around with that on Wednesday. My weigh in was Wednesday and I was anxious to see if I made progress towards getting to my goal by Thanksgiving week. I couldn't make it to my normal Wednesday night meeting, so I went Thursday night instead.  I lost 0.4lbs, which brings my total weight loss to 6.6 pounds. Small steps are better than nothing!!!

Still in the downward path!!!

Big exciting news coming next week....... Stay tuned!!

Plateau already? Setting a short term Goal!

    So I am bound and determined to get away from 170 since I seem to have plateaued here. It is frustrating to have plateaued so quickly in my journey. I kept positive and decided to track everything this week, even though you don't have to with simply filling. I focused on getting myself back in the gym after being sick for a couple of weeks.

   This week has also been filled with planning. I planned my meals during the week and on the weekend. The tricky part is I participate in meetings over lunch occasionally. For these meetings lunch is ordered and it isn't always the best choice. I was in one of these meetings last Thursday. I planned on grabbing a salad before the meeting started and then just eating that instead. Luckily the person that ordered lunch ordered Jimmy John's and ordered some Un-wichs (turkey, tomato and cheese wrapped in lettuce) I love when there are options like that.

Giant Pummelo

   I love some of the unusual fruit that we can get in Florida, such as a pummelo. It is basically sweet and mild grapefruit. It is awesome! You can only get them during the winter here. Andy and I ate one for dessert on Thursday night.

   I was also thrilled to get back in the gym this week. The combination of gym and tracking my food paid off. I am going to keep tracking diligently and get my butt to the gym. My total weight loss is 6.2 lbs and I am setting a mini goal of getting to my 5% weight loss goal by thanksgiving! Hold me accountable!

Back on track to be Healthy by 30!!

Finally Fall!!

My cousin Colin is in to visit because he is moving to Miami for a job opportunity. He came at the best time of the year. We finally had our first cold weather! With the cold weather also came my first cold of the year. Since I wasn't feeling great I didn't get to work out a ton last week. Since I knew I wouldn't be working out, I made sure to stick only to power foods. On Saturday, Andy, Colin and I went to the Farmers Market in Hollywood. We got lots of fruits and vegetables. When I got home I decided to make chili in the slow cooker.

 Slow Cooker Turkey Chili from Two Peas and their Pod

Yield: Serves 8-10

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 4-6 hours

This slow cooker recipe is easy to make and feeds a crowd! Plus, it's healthy too!

ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb 99% lean ground turkey (power food)
1 medium onion, diced (power food)
1 red pepper, chopped (power food)
1 yellow pepper, chopped (power food)
2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce (power food)
2 (15 oz) cans petite diced tomatoes (power food)
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained (power food)
2 (15oz) cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (power food)
4 diced jalpenos (this was my special addition)
1 cup frozen corn (power food)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Optional toppings: green onions, shredded cheese, avocado, sour cream/Greek yogurt

directions:

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place turkey in the skillet, and cook until brown. Pour turkey into slow cooker.

2. Add the onion, peppers, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, beans, jalapeños, corn, chili powder, and cumin. Stir and season with salt and pepper.

3. Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. Serve with toppings, if desired.

Note-we use a 6 quart slow cooker. I also added 2 cans of pinto beans.

Sunday was another gorgeous day. I needed more balsamic vinegar for salad dressing. I decided since it was so nice, I should walk to the olive oil store. Since Andy was working, Colin and I walked down Las Olas. We stopped at the Las Olas Farmers market and then went to the olive oil store. I got two balsamic vinegars, pomegranate and a white jalapeno lime balsamic. I love using flavored balsamic vinegars for salad dressing. These are aged 18 years so they do not need oil in addition to the vinegar.

Even though I felt like this was going to be a good weigh in this week it wasn't. Since I had plans Wednesday after work, I decided to go to the meeting on Tuesday because the meeting is important heading into the holiday season. I was up a 1 pound. I feel like my body is not letting me get away from 170. I am getting pretty frustrated with this up and down of the scale. I don't know if it was the couple of glasses of wine I had the night before or just the lack of tracking....I know that I have trimmed down because people have started to comment on how I look thinner. 

I am trying to stay positive and am going into this week with a goal to get to the gym now that I am feeling better and track everyday. Any one have words of inspiration to keep me positive?

Another Wedding....

This has been a rough couple of weeks for staying on track. This past weekend we went to another wedding. This wedding was in Minneapolis which mean spending time with family and college friends. It also meant it was really hard to stay on track. With delicious options such as fried cheese curds and Juicy Lucys!

A coworker asked me last week how much weight I had loss. She said she was noticing how my face looked thinner recently, compliments like that are a great boost of confidence. Especially when I don't think my weight loss has been that significant.

Before leaving for the wedding, I was carefully tracking my food and was putting in more time at the gym than usual. I made it 3 mornings last week, which can be tricky because I do love my sleep!
Andy and I flew out on Friday and were greeted by my sister and niece. My sister was great and had made soup for dinner, loaded with veggies and chicken, all power foods :). Saturday we ventured to a farmers market and the Stone Arch Bridge to show Andy the Mississippi River. Below are some of the pictures from our morning adventure.

Soon to be Uncle Andy with Adelaide and Theodore!

Showing Andy the Great Mississippi

Enjoying the fall weather

Sisters and Theodore

Saturday night was the wedding, which was a ton of fun! Then Sunday we had another outdoor day watching my brother in law play ultimate frisbee. Sunday night we went to introduce Andy to Jucy Lucy's and then Andy and I met some friends for drinks.

When we got home Monday, I quickly focused on making correct food choices this week. Loaded the fridge up with veggies and fruits. Tuesday was personal trainer day, and boy did he kick my butt!! I had jelly arms by the end of the session.

Wednesday was weigh in day. I wasn't expecting to lose given the trip to MN, so I kept debating if I should use my no weigh in pass this week. I don't think a weight gain will derail my lifestyle change, but it is so hard to tell how I will react emotionally. I decided to weigh in, and face my food choices, but I also decided it is time to take measurements again and did that after my WW meeting...but then couldn't find the tape measure :( Below are the results of my weigh in:

Weight loss after a wedding weekend!

I felt a great sense of accomplishment that the extra effort I put in before and after the wedding paid off. My total weight loss is 5.4 lbs! Ready to tackle another week