A Month Done, Celebrating Little Things

We have finished our first month in this journey. Yay!! We have little things to celebrate this week: Thomas had to put a new notch in his belt, I was able to button up my coat all the way, and this morning I put on a smaller size pair of jeans! We really cannot say enough how much the support and encouragement helps us with our changes. February is a short month, but we have lots to celebrate and look forward to what's ahead. Brooklyn turns two in just two short weeks, we'll get to visit with lots of family, and will have a date night out. We have broken out of the boring hum drum we were stuck in and are feeling good.

On a side note, I appreciate all the kind words after my last post. It wasn't the easiest thing to do, but was needed. A fellow MOMS member reminded me that it related to the "wheel" we discussed and how the physical, spiritual, personal, interpersonal, intellectual, and emotional all have to be in balance to be in balance.

So here are our week 4 results:

Thomas lost 3 pounds for a total of 14 pounds.

Amie lost 4 pounds for a total of 19 1/2 pounds.

We didn't work out as much this week due some joint pains and such, but will get back on that saddle tomorrow.

A Lyrical Walk

Tonight I walked to give my knees and ankle rest since they have been bothering me. I couldn't help but notice how ironic some of the lyrics coming out of the iPod were to this journey. Here's a few of them:

• keep the faith
• just hang on, a new day is coming
• the old me is dead and gone
• everybody needs somebody
• my baby don't mess around
• thank you for loving me
• I've been traveling down this road to long, just trying to find my way back home

I think we all find inspiration in music and how it relates to different periods/stages in our life. Tonight was a reminder. It also inspired me to listen to the words Jillian says on The Biggest Loser that we all have to confront, "What got you here and why do you want to do this?" and most importantly, "Are you truly happy?" I have known for quite some time that I am an emotional eater, who isn't?

I thought a lot about the what got me here. It was a bit emotional and I even had a few tears fall down my cheek. There are still some things in my life that I have to confront and deal with that I just don't have the courage to do yet. A lot has to do with loneliness I felt in my past. Abandonment, loneliness, loss of trust and security, and dealing with different unhealthy relationships had a lot to do with what got me here. The love I have found in Thomas and as a mother has filled me with more joy than I ever knew possible. I focus a lot on the present and what is good right now, but these things I have to confront still tug at my heart and I hope that through this journey I can work through them.

What a walk I had tonight...

Week 3 Weigh In

This has been a good week. The weather has been nice in spots, allowing us to exercise outdoors. Yesterday we went to the park for another beautiful family walk and also ran around with Brooklyn at the playground. We've also tried some new recipes. We've really been watching portion sizes so that we can keep an accurate calorie count each day. Here is a recipe I made Friday night and is in our top favorites so far. It is from the Mrs Dash Web site. I just had to take a picture because I thought it looked like it came from a restaurant. Here's the recipe: http://www.mrsdash.com/recipes/recipe-view.aspx?recipeID=77.

And now for our week 3 results (insert dramatic music):

Amie: lost 6 pounds for a total of 15 1/2 pounds

Thomas: lost 3 1/2 pounds for a total of 11 pounds

Observations

We are 20 days into this journey and I have made a few observations to celebrate:

• in these 20 days we have only eaten out once and we had salads
• we have eliminated regular sodas
• we have "withdrawn" from caffeine
• our dishwasher has worked mighty hard in the last 20 days, it has been ran more in the last 20 days than in the past 6 months--maybe we need to invest in Cascade
• most importantly, we have reevaluated what is most important in our lives and I feel we have grown closer by doing this journey together!

We both have had people mention that we've lost weight and look good, which really feels good to hear. We may not be breaking records in weight loss, but we feel healthy. Here's to hoping to even better health!

Yummy recipe

We made this last night for dinner and loved it!

Pork Chops and Apples (Cooking for 2)

Pile on the Pork

Pork loin is a lean protein choice. Protein supplies amino acids that give structure to the body in skin, cell membranes and muscles.

22 reviews

1

2

3

4

5

43 ratings - Click to rate

Lean chops and apples baked in one dish to serve two. All you need is a mixed green salad. From eatbetteramerica.

prep time:20 min

start to finish:1 hr 5 min

makes:2 servings

1	medium unpeeled cooking apple, sliced
2	tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4	teaspoon ground cinnamon
2	pork rib chops, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick (about 1/4 lb each)

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. Place apples in ungreased 1 1/2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.
2.	Remove fat from pork. Spray 8- or 10-inch skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat 1 to 2 minutes. Cook pork in hot skillet about 5 minutes, turning once, until light brown. Place pork in single layer on apples.
3.	Cover; bake about 45 minutes or until pork is no longer pink in center and apples are tender.

Week 2 Report

We are two weeks down! How long before it becomes a habit? Anyway, this week we stayed strong on our goals of drinking water, exercising, eating healthy, and staying on budget. Another accomplishment is that we didn't have any regular sodas and only a few diet ones!! I am not affected by not having caffeine in the morning any more, which is nice. We continue to try new recipes for healthy meals and watch our portions. As noted before, we also are seeing how working out helps our energy levels. We are not as tired during the day since we've become more active.

Week 2 Results:

Amie lost 5 pounds and Thomas lost 3 pounds

Total weight lost:

Amie 9 1/2 pounds, Thomas 8 pounds!!!!!!

Thanks for all the support everyone!

Loop-de-loop

The frigid weather has taken a bit of a break and we took advantage of it. We headed outside tonight for our exercise. It was nice to be outside and not cooped up in the house. Our subdivision is in a loop and I improved my timing by 2 minutes a loop. Yes! That felt good.

Last night I cooked fish fillets for the first time (the non-breaded kind). I really like it, but Thomas didn't. I baked it in the oven brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with some Mrs. Dash. If you have any suggestions on how to make it so my hubby might like it, please let me know!

Tonight the menu was turkey burgers. Thanks to my friend Maggie (and I think her mom or new mom), we had a delicious recipe and Brooklyn even ate some!

On another note, we are starting to see the benefits of our exercise. We have more energy during the day since the we've been more active.

The weather is supposed to be in the 50s this weekend, so hopefully we get out to a park for a family stroll.

Passed a Test

Tonight we decided to go to a basketball game and whenever we decide to do this, it isn't worth the drive to go home and back. This caused us a dilemma of what to do about dinner. We picked up a couple of salads and a diet coke. It was so hard to resist the smell of the french fries and cheeseburgers, but we did it and we were quite proud of ourselves. Tom said, "It's a sacrifice for our own good." So my teacher friends, what grade do we get on this test? By the way, the Scarabs won by over 30 points.

Catching Up- Week 1 Report

Well the first week of our journey is up and we have made a lot of strides toward our goals. Although I didn't blog, we continued working out for 6 of the 8 days. Wow... that sounds like SO much considering we never worked out before. We drank 2 regular sodas the whole week, when we used to drink 2-3 per day. Our caloric intake is so much lower and we see the results!

Drum roll please........................Amie lost 4 1/2 pounds!!!! Thomas lost 5 pounds!!!!

We really appreciate all the encouragement and support. Please feel free to share recipes, suggestions, tips, whatever you think might help us!

Here's to hoping for even more strides on our journey during week 2!

Props to my hubby

I give props to Tom for doing really good when he was taken out for lunch today at work. He ordered a healthy meal, didn't eat any bread, and drank water! Woo hoo!

After tonight's 36 minute workout with Bob I actually feel really good. I felt the burn, but I am not exhausted afterwards.

Amie: 2 medium meals, 1 light meal, 1 snack, 5 glasses of water, 36 full body workout with Bob on Wii

Thomas: 2 medium meals, 1 large meal, no snacks, 3 glasses of water, 29 full body workout on Wii

I actually worked out without shoes tonight. My arches kill me when I wear my tennis shoes and work out. Any suggestions as to why this might be happening?

It continues to be frigid

It is cold and we have a possibility of a snow day tomorrow. We'll see if it really comes!

Yesterday we did really well with our meals. For dinner we had an easy meal of spaghetti. Not the healthiest, but we had a small portion and also had leftover steamed vegetables, which we previously never ate vegetables with spaghetti. We drank a lot of water and also both did the 30 minute full body workout on the Wii.

Today we did well with our meals and had light snacks. We rewarded ourselves with some rest. Four days straight and our muscles are finally getting over the soreness. We'll continue working out tomorrow-- and I'm not just saying that! :)

Strange Looks

So I got a few strange looks tonight walking with my hood up and bundled in my layers for my frigid walk tonight. I guess I looked a bit like a criminal walking around. A few people stood in their doorways and just stared at me as I walked by. I just waved and kept going!

Today was the first test of getting the exercise in after a full work day. I did drink a lot of water at work-- I would usually have a diet soda to sip on while working on the computer. Dinner was delicious tonight with chicken tacos. I seasoned the chicken with cajun seasoning and garlic powder vs. taco seasoning and it is great. A bit of cheese and salsa, and we had easy tacos. We didn't get around to preparing our meals yesterday, so hopefully we keep up with the cooking with some easy meals.

Amie: 2 light meals, 1 heavy meal, two light snacks, 4 glasses of water, 40 minute walk

Thomas: 2 light meals, 1 medium meal, two light snacks, 3 glasses of water, 40 minute walk

The Soreness Continues

We began the day barely able to walk we were so sore! The stairs were definitely not our friend today. It was another cold day in Nashville, so we worked out with the Wii.

We had delicious salads today and they looked gorgeous too! I should have taken a picture. Mixed greens, left over chicken breast from last night, cucumbers, broccoli, a few croutons, tomatoes and a bit of cheese topped with lite Catalina dressing. It might have been the best salad I have ever had!

Amie: medium breakfast and dinner, light lunch, one snack, three glasses of water, 42 minute workout on Wii (upper body and yoga) with Bob

Thomas: medium breakfast and dinner, light lunch, two snacks, two glasses of water, 29 minute workout on Wii (full body) with Jillian

Zip & Steam

Okay... this is going to be hard. We both were VERY sore today. We really had to encourage each other to work through the pain.

On a different note, we got lots of fresh produce at the store today and I used the "Zip & Steam" bag for the first time. It steamed the veggies perfectly. We had squash, zucchini, carrots and mushrooms with a bit of butter and some Mrs. Dash. They were quite tasty and easy to make.

We did our grocery shopping today, checking for calorie counts and serving sizes. To help our budget plan, we shopped at Aldi and got many of their "Fit & Active" items. I also give props to Tom for agreeing to skim milk. We've always drank 1%, so it isn't a big change, but tough for him. We did well at Sam's and just purchased our meat, salad mix, and a couple of household items. We filled our cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer (all were pretty bare before shopping) for about $260. Our plan is to hopefully only spend $140 for the rest of the month on food and not eat out.

Amie: light meals, one snack, 4 glasses of water, 35 minute walk

Thomas: light meals, one snack, 2 glasses of water, 37 minute walk

Today's Report

After mulling over it for a week, we pooled gift cards and Christmas money to purchase a Wii today. In all honesty, I have a self-esteem issue and working out in my home versus a gym was a big attraction. We have sat and been "inspired" by the Biggest Loser for several seasons, so we also bought the Wii game for this.

Amie: 40 minute work out with Bob Harper (The Biggest Loser) on Wii, ate small portions at meals and had two light snacks, drank four glasses of water (I never drank water before)

Thomas: 60 minutes on Wii sports, ate small portions and two light snacks, one glass of water, feels like he is going through withdrawals from caffeine.

I wish I had appreciated doing jumping jacks in high school p.e. more. They are much harder to do now. I had to ask Thomas, "Am I shaking the house?"

The Beginning Steps

We're going to be taking baby steps in our plan to get us started. Here are a few things we are starting with in the journey:

• Smaller portions
• Walking at least 30 minutes a day
• The envelope budgeting system
• Drinking more water

We have a great attitude about the road we are hoping to go on and hope it continues. Remember, we need family and friends to keep us accountable, so ask us how it is going!