Things That I Love Tuesday

I have a lot on my mind so today will be two posts. First, my weekly "things that I love" post. I have noticed that most of these are about food. Go figure! Well today's favorite thing is Stretch Island Fruit Company fruit leather:
I usually buy a couple of these 48 count boxes at Costco at a time. But I have also bought them at Wal-Mart. My kids and I have really loved fruit roll-ups in the past. I would always buy boxes of them when they were on sale. Your average fruit roll-up has about 100 cals and lots of added sugar. These fruit leathers are just 45 calories and all the sugar (9g) comes naturally from the fruit. AND they taste better than the overly processed ones we used to buy. One of my kids does not like these but the other two and my husband and I love them. I love the abundant apricot and summer strawberry flavors. Of course, having a piece of fresh fruit would be a better choice but I enjoy these as a snack once in awhile. And I feel better giving these to my kids than the other kinds.

Another New Week

Hey, everybody ! I hope you all had a great weekend. I sure did. I had a great meal on Saturday and watched my fave NBA team win!

Then came Sunday. Superbowl Sunday! All I can say is I made homemade guacamole and homemade salsa, which aren't so bad until you throw in all the tortilla chips I dipped into them. I just couldn't bring myself to pull out the veggies, like I said I would. And I better not forget the pizza rolls I made for dinner.....way too much cheese! Thankfully, yesterday was a fasting day for my church so I didn't eat until dinner. And I did enjoy it all! The scale was still down today so it's all good. Now, if I can avoid eating the rest of the chips this week. On a side note, I thought the Superbowl was a great game! I am a big Peyton Manning fan so I was cheering for the Colts mostly. But the Saints totally deserved to win the game and I'm happy for New Orleans.

You may remember that one of my goals this year is to run/jog (the whole time) a 5K. I am seriously considering starting up the couch to 5K program this week. The first couple of weeks don't seem too bad. I have been running some on the treadmill anyway. It's from about week 4 on that scares me. And looking down at week 9 and seeing that it says run 3 miles, leaves me doubting myself. I will look to Kyle for some inspiration here. I know I can do it if I just take it one week at a time. Okay, I think I just talked myself into it! Tomorrow I will begin my C25k program. Stay tuned......

Happy Monday!

It's Friday!

Happy Friday, everyone! That's right another weekend is here. I am really excited for this weekend. Tonight, the hubby and I are going to watch "Whip It", a movie I've heard a lot 0f good things about. Tomorrow, we are going to one of our favorite restaurants and I'm going to do a splurge item. I'm going to get the parmesan crusted halibut with pesto aioli (at least it's fish). It is sooooooo good. I'll be sure to pass on the mashed potatoes and get some roasted veggies instead.

Following dinner we are going to watch our favorite NBA team play. It should be a great game and the place will be rockin'! I love sports and I love to attend sporting events (which we don't do all that often) so I am really excited. Our seats are in the "nose bleed" section so we will be doing plenty of stair climbing.

Sunday, as everyone knows, is the Superbowl. Again, I love to watch sports and although I don't get into the NFL as much as college football or NBA basketball I am always excited to watch the Superbowl. Or maybe, I've always enjoyed all the food that goes along with it! Ahhh...the food. I'm sure this will be a challenging Sunday for lots of us. I plan on enjoying (in moderation) all of it. I will for sure have veggies and hummus out to enjoy, too.

I hope you all have fun plans for the weekend,too!

I did "30 Day Shred" today and can I say I really like it.....once I get past circuit one. I'm glad the one I least like is at the beginning because I get it over with right off. I just hate jumping jacks! Anyone out there feel the same way? Maybe someday I'll learn to enjoy them.

I don't know if anyone cares but I'm going to list the 10 songs (and a little commentary) I downloaded off of itunes as my 10 lb loss reward. I listened to them while I did the treadmill and I am very happy with my choices. :)

1- Single Ladies- Beyonce (I wonder if she wrote this and just never recorded it before JayZ proposed)

2- Let's Get It Started- Black Eyed Peas

3-Firecracker- Josh Turner ( He sure does have a deep voice for a small guy...oh and he's pretty handsome, too!)

4-Why Don't We Just Dance- Josh Turner ( I love, love, love this video)

5-She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy- Kenny Chesney (I'm pretty sure she likes a lot more than your tractor, Kenny)

6- Footloose- Kenny Loggins ( I couldn't resist and I'm still contemplating downloading the whole soundtrack)

7-Lookin' for a Good Time- Lady Antebellum (FYI- I met Lady A at a concert last year, they are sooooo nice)

8-Just Dance- Lady GaGa ( Why is she so weird?)

9-If Today Was Your Last Day- Nickelback

10-Honky Tonk Badonkadonk- Trace Adkins (I've definitely got a badonkadonk but I don't think he's singing about mine)

So there you have it. I think some of my friends and family would be surprised to see that only half of the songs are Country. I guess I'm branching out for the sake of my exercise playlist.

I think my reward for 20 lbs. lost will be a pedicure. Spring should be here and I will need some pretty toes to show off while wearing sandals.

Have a great weekend everybody!

What I can learn from my kids

I am a hypocrite. Or let's say I used to be a hypocrite. I have always been fairly careful not to let my kids eat what they want (i.e. candy, cookies, etc) when they want (i.e. all the time). I have monitored their TV/Computer time and sent them outside to run and play. At the same time, I have been eating what I want when I want (too much secret pantry time) and have not spent as much time outside running and playing as I should have. I know being a hypocrite is not a good thing, but at least my kids are not obese like me. I am setting a much better example for them now as they see me exercising and eating more healthily. They and my own words to them are examples to me. Here are three ways in which I can learn from them and from my own advice:


This is my 2nd grader. For Christmas, Santa brought the girls roller blades. Sadly, they have never learned how to roller blade and after a trip to a local roller rink they really wanted to learn. They hadn't really tried out their blades because of snow on the ground but last week the weather was nice and so this daughter wanted to try hers out. I was so proud of her! She spent 2 hours on 2 different days outside teaching herself how to Rollerblade.

Our back patio still has lots of snow on it so she did it in our round-about driveway in the front. She wasn't worried about the neighbors or people driving by seeing her fall down. She just wanted to learn how to roller blade! She fell on her bum a lot (notice the dirty bum in the pic)!She skinned her knees. I encouraged her to just get up and keep trying. Before you knew it she was roller blading. She still has a lot of improvement to make but I have no doubt that she will become a great roller blader.

My oldest daughter (5th grade) just started up school band. When the information first came home I encouraged her to take up the flute or clarinet. I felt that this would be easier for her to learn, more feminine and her best friend was doing flute. They would have band the same day. She wanted to learn how to play the trumpet. She has never worried much about what her friends are doing or what is feminine or not. So we signed her up for trumpet. Of course, it is hard and harder than she thought it would be. We've told her the only way to get better is to practice, practice, practice! She is getting better. I am proud of the person my daughter is. She likes to try new things and it isn't worried too much about what others think. She doesn't love to practice so that is what we are working on with her.

My son is a kindergartner learning to read. Learning to read requires lots of patience on both the learner and teacher's (parent's) part. When the teacher first started sending these little readers home, he would say "It's so hard" or "I can't do it". It was definitely hard for me to sit there and listen to him try to pronounce the same words over and over, too. But we did not give up! I told him it would only get easier if he practiced, practiced, practiced. We have sat down every afternoon and read. He is reading! We are on book 17 of set one. I am so proud of him!

So what do these three examples teach me? I think of how often I've thought to myself , "Running is too hard", "I don't want to run outside, people may see me", "I can't take an exercise class at the gym, people will think I'm a dork because I'm so uncoordinated", "How will I ever be able to lose 50 lbs!", " I don't want to watch what I eat", etc....etc...etc... Well, I can learn from my kids as they work to reach their own goals even though the path is hard. My journey WILL be hard, I will fall on my butt sometimes and skin my knees but if I stay on the path and practice, practice, practice I will accomplish my goals.

One thing that I love to say to my kids when they tell me something is "too hard" is "You can do hard things!". I need to start telling myself this more often and believing it.

I CAN DO HARD THINGS....and so can you! Have a great day!

Weigh-In-Wednesday

Well, today was my big weigh-in. And The Biggest Loser's scale said 198 for a loss of 1 pound. My home scale is actually reading a 1.5 lb loss, but I have said the BL scale would be my official one so that is what I'll count. However, I have never seen anything but a whole number on the BL scale so maybe it does not record half pounds. After a great first week, I am sure on the slow and steady pace, aren't I? I will be happy with the loss, though. I have reached my first goal of
-10 lbs and will reap my reward of 10 itune downloads!

So, my weigh in on BL put me below the yellow line and I was eliminated. Yes, it actually ended my challenge! I don't really like that at all about the game. I wanted to complete my 12 week training and now I have to start over. I will still play the game for the training. Maybe I should have bought Wii Active Trainer instead. Does anyone have that and what do you think?
I am seriously considering buying a new scale and using that for my official weigh-ins. Any thoughts on scales? I will do some research online. I want to find one that is accurate and does not cost more than $50.

I know I could be losing more weight if I kicked up my exercise program. Right now, I do 30 minutes on the treadmill most days and then another 30 minutes of strength training about 3 days a week. My plan has been to follow this program for awhile until I hit a wall. I know that increasing my exercise will be a way to breakthrough the wall. Am I right? Anyway, I have never been a big fan of exercise (surprise, surprise!) so starting out slow works best for me. I sure hope the old adage is correct, "Slow and steady wins the race" because I sure am a turtle.

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Things that I Love Tuesday

***Disclaimer: Unless otherwise noted I have not been asked to promote or review any of the products I feature on "Things that I love Tuesday". They are truly just things I love and when I find things that I love I want everyone to know about them!***

Before I get into what I love today I want to refer you to TJ's blog for a giveaway she is doing. It features some of her favorite things. Check it out here.

I love Hummus! I don't know why I tend to only eat this when I am dieting because it is sooooo good. Hummus is a spread made with chickpeas and tahini. It provides a good healthy dose of protein and fat.

I've made it once and will probably try to make it again someday. For now, I have just been buying the pre-made stuff in the stores. I am currently enjoying Atheno's Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. And when that is gone I will start into the tub of Sundried Tomato Hummus I just bought at Costco (Sabra brand). That is one of the great things about hummus, it comes in many different flavors. How do I eat it? My new favorite lunch is a turkey wrap. I spread hummus on a whole wheat tortilla and layer a serving of deli turkey with whatever veggies I'm feeling like that day and roll it up. It is so yummy, I could eat two at a time if I knew better!
I also discovered over the weekend that pita chips dipped into hummus are delicious, as I'm sure veggies would be. This weekend is the Superbowl, instead of buying the normal chips and dips you should try pita chips with hummus instead! So do you all like hummus and how do you eat it? Happy Tuesday! I hope tomorrow is a happy day, it is weigh-in Wednesday.

Happy February and a review!

First of all, thanks to everyone for your encouraging comments on my last post. You guys are the best! I feel like I can do this with your support. Thank you! Thank you!

Happy February to you all! That's right a new month. I feel good to know that this will be my first full month of my new lifestyle. I started the 5th of January so that was not a full month. I look forward to seeing what February brings.....hopefully not too many candy hearts and chocolate!
I had a great weekend. Nothing too eventful. I stayed on my eating plan and did the treadmill on Saturday. I always take Sundays off so on Monday I am ready to conquer a new week. I plan on getting some exercise outside today as it is sunny. I'm just waiting for it to warm up a bit. I woke up early and did "The Biggest Loser" game. Apparently, after 3 weeks it kicks it up a notch. I am no longer doing the beginning level workout, I am now on the moderate level. There is definitely a difference. I have had people ask me how I like "The Biggest Loser" Wii game and so I thought I would do a review today.
I have only watched the show once or twice. I just can't seem to get into it. Sorry BL fans! Because I am not a regular watcher of the show I really did not have any expectations as far as the trainers went. Anyway, the game allows you to do a 12, 6, or 4 week program. I chose the 12 week program. After you input your info and select what your purpose of the training is, maintain, lose a little weight or lose a lot of weight, it creates a program for you. I, of course, want to lose a lot of weight. It set a goal for me to reach by the end of the program. I can't remember mine right off but it is to lose 20+ pounds. The game has features to enter in your calorie intake for the day (it recommends an amount) and to log extra exercise you have done.
I really don't use those features too much because I log those in a notebook and on sparkpeople and usually only turn the game on first thing in the morning.

Now, here's the part I really like and what I use it for. The training workouts. Every other day I have a scheduled training. I really like the training sessions. I have never had a personal trainer and don't know much about exercising so I like that it is all figured out for me. The workout usually consists of two, sometimes three circuits of upper body, lower body, core exercises or yoga. I think the past three weeks, I have repeated the same workout maybe once. Although, I did miss a few sessions. I like the variety of exercises. I feel like the exercises are explained in a manner that they are easy for me to understand and I can follow the trainer easily as well. Like Wii Fit, it measures how well you are executing the exercise. Although, I'm not sure how accurate this can really be. I definitely get sweaty and my muscles burn during the workouts so I figure it must be doing something for me. I do feel more toned as well.

Another feature of the game is the weekly challenges. They are similar to the ones on the show. I have to do two different exercises for a certain amount of time and by doing these exercises my character rides the bike faster, chops wood, tippytoes across the pool, etc. It goes in rounds until I either beat everyone out or I lose a round. I have to do these each Wednesday before I weigh in and can do it for fun anytime.

What do I not like about the game? Well, I wish it was my Mii working out. Instead, you choose a past contestant. Maybe this would be fun for someone who is a fan of the show. As I lose weight, my contestant loses weight. Just today, my son was watching me and said that my character (Allie?) looked a little bit skinny. That made me smile. I find the weigh-ins a little strange. It shows me my weight and then the weight of Allie. I guess her weight loss is proportionate to mine. Then two contestants drop below the yellow line and we vote someone out. I have yet to drop below the yellow line so I don't know what happens if you do. I doubt you could be voted out before your 12 weeks is up.

Anyway, that is my unprofessional review. Overall, I like the workout plan it gives me. I'm glad I got it.

On a total random note. I watched the movie "Footloose" on Saturday. Do any of you remember this fabulous movie? I loved it when I was a teen and I love it now! The soundtrack is so awesome (am I dating myself?)! After watching it, I wished I still had my cassette tape walkman and the soundtrack on tape. I am seriously considering downloading it from itunes. I looked and it costs $10. I think that may be a bit much for a 25 year old soundtrack. However, I will be earning 10 itune downloads when I hit the -10 lb mark. I already have 10 songs on my wishlist, but I may just have to download the "Footloose" soundtrack instead!