Not Much on the Home Front

Walked today. "And that's all I have to say about that." (Know where that quote came from?)

Couldn't decide if I wanted to do the weigh-in before or after my walk so I did both and have recorded the before. It was a half pound lighter. Guess it was all the water I drank while walking. So it was an official 1.5 loss. Yea!!!!

Yesterday afternoon was uneventful except my doggies smell better and look better after their grooming. There was something interesting I was going to tell you but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. Guess I'm going to have to start taking notes in the evenings when an idea hits me. Maybe it will come later in the day and this time I will write it down and tell you tomorrow. Gee, hope Alzheimer's isn't setting it. Boy if it does are you all in for a treat.

Hope you have a great "hump day."

Errands, Whew....

I just got back from running my errands, WHEW! I HATE going to the grocery store. I don't know if it was because I was raised in a grocery store or what but I hate it. As the saying goes, "I'd rather take a lickin'." And there was a lot of road construction between here and there so I had to wait in a long line for the pilot truck to bring a string of cars through and pick up my string. All in all it wasn't that bad but I just wanted to get it over with and get home to my paradise.

I didn't walk this morning either. It was snowing!!!!! And I knew I needed to run the errands so I will get back with it tomorrow morning come rain, snow, sleet or dark of night... I really do miss it. Wow, is that me talking there? Me, missing exercise? No, it couldn't be, could it?

I had a pretty good day yesterday, food wise. Just went over by a couple of points because I didn't have a salad to tide me over. (is it tide or tied?) Cara and I were talking about cheese the other night and I told her how I've cut way, way back on my cheese because of the calories and I just don't like the FF stuff as well. That's all I had in the house. She sent me copy of a newsletter she received about the advantages to cheese and other dairy products. It says that dairy is needed to help you lose weight. After reading it I added cheese to my grocery list. Got some yummy cheese from the deli and had them cut it really thin. Gonna work it into my daily routine one way or another, although I would rather just eat it by itself. May do that in the mornings as my protein snack before walking. Oh, and vidalia onions are in, in my area! I just love vidalia's. One of my favorite sandwiches is onion and cheese, with the onion cut paper thin. Hey, now I know what I'll have for lunch tomorrow!

I don't know what it is about running errands but I never remember to eat anything before leaving the house (I'm just not hungry then) and by the time I'm in "town" I'm starving. So that is usually my treat for myself. Got one hot dog today and now I feel bad. Have you ever had a West Virginia hot dog? They are way different from hot dogs anywhere else that I've been. They come with the regular wiener and bun but on top you put chili (without beans) and slaw. Oh, wow, are they good. I like mine with mustard and onions on it too. Some of you out there may be saying YUK, but you gotta try one just once in your life.

Hope no one out there was in the path of the tornadoes that hit yesterday. I have family that live in that area and was on the phone to them last night to make sure they were unharmed, and they were. While talking to my niece who lives in the VA Beach area I realized that she may be interested in my blog. She is always working on losing a little weight but she's never really heavy and she runs 5 miles often. No one else in my family would be interested in "this here thang" but her and Cara. So I gave her the URL. If you are visiting, hello out there Jen.

Rainy Day Blues

I'm not walking today. It's pouring the rain down out there and after 4 days straight in the first week my "personal trainers" (Cara and Cammy) tell me that I should start off slow and take a day off here and there. I never thought that I'd be disappointed that I'm not walking today, but I am.

I stupidly stepped on the scales this morning instead of waiting until Wednesday. Since I used to weigh in on Mondays and just changed it for this week I was curious, I must be a cat at heart. It showed me up a pound and a half which is really disheartening BUT I have only used 3 of my flex points and 1.5 of my exercise points this week so I know I've done really good. Guess exercising sometimes puts weight on, I dunno. What I do know is that I FEEL BETTER! I'm not as listless as before and really glad for more energy.

Oh, woe is me. I couldn't help myself. Was getting some yarn out of the plastic bin I keep it in and my supply is dwindling. Got caught up in movies yesterday and that's when I crochet the most. Well, I just had to go online and order more yarn. Then after I clicked "complete order" I remembered some colors that I had planned to order and didn't. Oh, well, will have to wait until next time.

Was going to hit the grocery store today because I'm out of salad stuff, "OH, NO." But I remembered that I have an appointment tomorrow to get the doggies bathed and groomed and no since wasting the gas today since I'll be going right by the grocery store tomorrow anyway. We don't have garbage pick up here on the mountain and I have to take my garbage to the dump myself and I need to do that tomorrow too. I think that's the only reason I need a man around the house, I hate that chore. Well, maybe I could think of few other reasons but none so dire that would make me go out and look for one. I just can't see myself starting the dating scene. ARGH! I'd have to find one on a diet because I WILL NOT CHANGE MY COOKING HABITS for any man. Now, that's a commitment, ain't it?

A Bit of a Mistake...

Really didn't want to get outside this morning and walk but I've got you girls watching me and don't want to let you down. Since I didn't want to do this I decided to have my coffee before my walk so I would have time to talk myself into it. What a mistake! I should have known! Coffee works like a laxative on me and yes, it did this morning too. Had to cut the walk short by 5 minutes. I won't do that again. But I did work up a little sweat before quiting, just walked a little faster and harder.

I'm getting really tired of singing to myself to keep me going. Sure hope the Zune gets here soon. I went so far as to take the boom box out on the porch so I'd have something to listen to and low and behold I noticed the cabin next to mine (the picture is my cabin) had life stirring around it. It's a hunting/fishing camp and they only come up during those peak season and only on weekends. So I decided not to turn the boom box on and call attention to myself. They are very snooty people and I didn't want to look up to see them standing in the yard laughing or puzzling over what I was doing, so I just sang "Chain Gang." Have no idea why that one popped into my mind, do you?

I am just so excited about all the benefits of exercising. I feel so much better all day. I'd read the experts that said that if you are really tired try a little exercise to energize yourself and didn't believe them. What do the experts know anyway? It works! And I get to log activity points into my WW planner and when I go over my points a little it comes out of my activity points. Yea! But I'm really trying not to do that.

I love to read and get lost in fiction. I used to read 2 a week and got out of the habit for the past 2 years. I'm back at it and really enjoying it immensely. I had started two books last week (one by the bed for night time reading and one by the couch for daytime reading). I finished the day time one yesterday and will probably finish the second one tonight. I don't think I'll do that again because I kept getting the characters mixed up and had to reread a half a page or so to get them straight.

Some Friends?

It just dawned on me that I didn't give proper credit for the recipe yesterday and I think I should. I got it from a TV program by Graham Kerr and he used shrimp as the meat. As I prefer the taste of shrimp alone I substituted the chicken and have (in my fatty life) used beef.

The walk went well this morning but I've ordered myself an MP3 player so it won't be so boring and I'll have more to occupy my mind than counting laps. I lost count this morning but had been checking my watch so I knew about when I would have the proper length in so I did that and added a couple of minutes. I now have a plan. I'm going to continue what I'm doing for one week then increase it by going down a circuitous route of my driveway. It's actually circular and one part is steeper than the other so I'll go down the steep part and back up the less steep part. I'll do that for a week and reassess my plans. Ain't it grand to have a plan?

A friend has asked me to go out to dinner with her tonight but I have declined. There just isn't any restaurant in this area that doesn't fry everything in lots of grease and I'm just not ready to sabotage myself right now. She's rather upset with me and keeps telling me that one night won't hurt but obviously she isn't as committed to her diet as I am. She's only lost 12 pounds in the last year and can't for the life of her figure out why it is so slow. I keep trying to tell her that eating out the way she does and where she does and the iced tea she drinks with 4 cups of sugar to the half gallon isn't the way to lose weight. And she keeps saying, "but I eat smaller portions." I've tried to get her to do what I'm doing but she just won't. She also fries everything in an inch or two of grease. She has high blood pressure and cholesterol problems and just can't understand why. She's rather hard headed and won't listen to me at all. The last time I went to visit her she jumped my case about my baggy clothes. Now I do have a couple of shirts that fit nicely but just bumming around I don't use them. I'd have to wash every other day to keep them clean. And going to visit her is bumming around in my book since she is just across the road from me, why dress up?

I've stayed off the scales this week so I have no idea what they will say come Wednesday. I'll just have to wait and see. I know I've stayed on program and only used 1.5 of my flex points so far. I just made the strawberry pie and am really looking forward to a piece after supper. I stupidly forgot to buy the FF Jello so had to use some regular. It will only increase the points to 2 for a slice so that will just have to do.

Hope you all had a great Saturday and will have a wonderful Sunday.

Day 2 and a Recipe

Thanks Cara, Donna and Cammy for the encouragement and the ability to roll out of bed (yeah, I rolled this morning) and get out there and do it again. My little girl sent me flowers for starting the exercise regiment! Virtual flowers but what the hey, Mom's appreciate them too and these won't wilt. As a matter of fact they are on the fridge as a reminder. I did the required 22 laps today, so that was a mile. And I have a blister on the bottom of my middle toe now. Think it must be from scrunching the toes. I usually wear clogs and guess the toes didn't realize they were in sneakers today.

I was so excited yesterday that I really wanted to go out there and do it again but since it was my first time I thought it best to just wait until this morning. The legs were a bit wobbly most of the day. But it was invigorating. I thought to myself, "OH, NO, these bloggers have turned me into a junky." I really felt energized until late afternoon and the system crashed. It wasn't so easy this morning but since I have confessed starting I can't stop now or you will all know about it because try as I might I wouldn't be able to keep my big mouth shut. I'd let it slip that I had bakslid. Thanks girls :o) for keeping me going.

The doggies followed me around about once then sat in the middle of the driveway and just watched. They really think I'm crazy, you know. They get plenty of exercise on their own. When I let them out in the mornings they are usually nowhere to be seen for at least an hour and sometimes 2-3. They head for the woods and sniff out any creatures that may have roamed during the night, I guess.

I didn't do so good yesterday on my eating habits. Well, I only dipped into my flex points by one but I had to eat a salad last night while watching TV because I was really hungry. Reminder to self, "Plan better today." Well, the plans are in the making. I've taken out a chicken breast to thaw because I'm having Chicken Paella tonight (and tomorrow night since one breast makes enough for two meals). Here's the recipe:

CHICKEN PAELLA

Lightly brown chicken breast in 1 TBSP olive oil.
Slice 1 onion and 1 sweet green pepper over chicken.
Add 2 cloves garlic chopped.
Cover with diced tomatoes. (fresh are the best but I am using canned).
Place lid on skillet and simmer until chicken and veggies are done.
Remove lid and place a layer of mozzarella cheese on top.
Replace lid and simmer until cheese is melted.

I used to serve this over rice for my hubby (hence the paella) but now I just eat it without the rice to cut down on the carbs. This recipe is 6 WW points for one serving because I use the REAL cheese since the fat free doesn't melt very good so you can be the judge and change it accordingly.

Hey its a 30 minute meal! So you working girls can fix it quick after work.

I DID IT...I DID IT...I DID IT

I started walking today! Now before you say "So What", you have to understand that I've been setting on my big fat fanny for over 30 years. And the only exercise I got was when I went to "Wally World" (Wal-Mart), or a mall. The mall thingy only happens once a year or so (since we don't have one anywhere close to where I live) and "Wally World" only happens once a month or so. I really feel good about myself right about now.

I've been think about it all week and was going to start yesterday but had a sore throat and felt horrible so I used that as an excuse. This morning I hopped (yes hopped) out of bed, peed, started the coffee maker and headed out the door. Since I live on a mountain the only flat place I have to walk is right in front of my cabin, so I decided that boring or not I'd do that. I walked for 15 minutes in all. I even had a pedometer that my health insurance sent me and I stuck it to my waist band and off I went. After 10 minutes I check the pedometer and it registered NOTHING. Guess the fat around my waist was cushioning the durn thing. So I put it in my hand and continued for another 5 minutes. By then I had started sweating and checked the pedometer and it registered 1/4 mile. So I reason that I walked 3/4 mile. After coming in the house and getting my coffee I started figuring out the length of the circuit I walked and it was 250 feet for one lap. So I have to do 22 laps to complete a mile.

I even sang to myself and sometimes to the doggies while I did it. Ureka! I now have an excuse to buy an MP3 player. I just love electronic gadgets and never could find a reason to get one of those. Until it I get one I'll just put my boom box on the porch and go at it.

The doggies were really confused. They kept following me and trying to figure out what on earth I was looking for. And when I sang out loud they'd stop and look at me puzzled wondering what I wanted them to do. I do talk to them a lot since they are the only other living things in the house with me.

After I got in the house and figured that I'd only walked 3/4 mile instead of a mile like I'd hoped I was a little disappointed but in the middle of typing this I went to get myself another glass of water and my legs are a little wobbly. So, maybe 3/4 mile was just fine for the FIRST TIME.

YEA!!!

A Day in the Life of Me...

I woke up this morning with a sore throat and ear ache. Guess I got more out of my trip to the dentist than a few fixed teeth. And when I stepping on the scales this morning (I know I told myself not to do that until the next weigh-in) I was up a half pound. But that is OK because I KNOW I was right on plan yesterday. So there...

Cleaned house yesterday and did some more crocheting while watching a movie last night. I've now got about 30 dish clothes (anybody out there need any?) but they are so much fun to make that they relax me. It's a same crocheting is exercise because I'd be the exercise queen about now.

I really enjoyed setting in front of the computer yesterday and looking out my window and watching (through the woods) my doggies explore the property next door. The cutest thing about it was watching two of my cats follow them around and smell where they stopped to sniff. It almost looked like 4 dogs. Ahh, the small pleasures in life.

Boy, I lead a boring life don't I...

A Few More Changes

Had to go to the dentist yesterday. It's one of my favorite things to do, isn't it yours too? She says sarcastically. Unfortunately when you get old the teeth get old too and brittle. I had broken or cracked what I thought was two and he found three. So now I have to have three crowns. Not looking forward to the impressions, does anybody like having all that goop in your mouth? But I'm looking on the bright side that at 61 years old at least I don't have falsies. I hate the drive to the dentist too. Since I live in a very rural area I have to drive an hour (one way) to get there and it is over two mountains and very curvy roads.

So I try to kill two birds with one stone. Went to (what we lovingly in the mountains call) Wally World. Since I knew I was going to be making that trek I had let the cupboards get a little bare. Boy it sure is a good feeling when you stock up (to the tune of mega-bucks) and know you have everything you've needed for a while. I even bought a couple of new bras, another size smaller around. You know, the last times I lost a lot of weight the breasts were the first to show signs of the weight loss but this time they aren't shrinking. Course this time I really don't care if they do or not. And I even parked way out in la-la land so I'd have to walk further. So those 200 muscles we use with only one step got a little workout yesterday. And I'm so proud of myself...this weekend I was thinking that while I was in Lewisburg (our closest big city) I'd treat myself to eating out at Ruby Tuesdays. I was really looking forward to their salad bar and ONE (and only one) of their Ruby Mini's (I love cheeseburgers). When I finished shopping I decided I really didn't need a cheeseburger so I drove on past it and came on home and had a Thomas Mini Bagel with fat free cream cheese.

On reading every one's blogs I have come to the conclusion that I MUST exercise. That's what you guys talk about the most so it must be something that I am lacking. Cara is sending me a walking video to get me started and I'll just have to figure out how to do the rest on my own. I keep looking at my driveway and wondering if I could ever walk up it without stopping. Maybe it will be a goal of mine, to be able to walk down (which isn't a problem at all) and then back up without stopping. A neighbor walks up my driveway periodically and he huffs and puffs when he gets to the top and he's in the woods at least 5 nights a week walking these mountains hunting (he's in very good shape). So I won't think that I'll be able to do it without the heavy breathing but maybe I can at least make it up. (Hey, and maybe I'll make an obscene phone call when I get to the top. Don't want to waste the heaving breathing.) Since the weather is getting nicer it'll be a treat to get out and enjoy the birds and squirrels and deer and sometimes bear.

We have ~5 bear that live on the mountain. I usually see one each year but last year I didn't see any. I hope this year is different. They are such beautiful creatures. Course I really don't want to run in to one while waking alone. They love wild polk berries and I have some polk and blackberries growing along my driveway and was hoping that they would discover them and grace me with their presence but alas they didn't. On the mountain where I live there are around 65 cabins and there are only 6 of us that live here year round. The rest are used for hunting and fishing cabins. Only 4 of us year-rounders have a well and the rest use cisterns for their water supply and most of the hunting cabins don't have bathrooms. Bet you thought that was a thing of the past. I am the privileged one with a wonderful well (actually the first well on the mountain) and I'm the only one with a heat pump. Course the winters are so cold up here that the heat pump can't keep up so I have to have propane as alternate heat on those really cold days and nights. I hate using the propane because it really stinks and is really dirty but a person's gotta do what a person's gotta do.

I've been thinking about changing my weigh-in days. I've been weighing in on Mondays and since my weekends are so stressful I tend to overeat on those two days which really isn't good on the last two days of my weight week. I was pondering what day was best until I read Yani's blog yesterday and decided to take his advice and move it to Wednesdays. So next week I'll make the change.

This is going to be a rough week. I didn't replenish my supply of Dorito's. Yep, I'm going to try to give them up and find a healthier way to get in the salty stuff that I love so much. I haven't figured out what that will be yet but maybe something will come to me. Wish me luck.

Correction

Sorry the link to Cammy didn't work in my posting "Changes." I had it typed wrong. It is working now.

Are You Getting Enough Sleep?

I just read an article on "The Dream Diet: Losing Weight While You Sleep" and it had some interesting insights. According to the article, when we sleep our body produces hormones. Two of these hormones are leptin and ghrelin and both can influence our appetite. These two hormones work together in that ghrelin stimulates appetite, while leptin, sends signals to the brain that we are full. If you don't get enough sleep leptin levels are driven down which keeps you from feeling satisfied after you eat. In turn ghrelin rises causing your appetite to be stimulated. In retrospect when I go to bed full (really full) I usually wake up starving and thinking about that when I do go to bed that full I usually have severe nightmares. Therefore I'm not getting good sleep which is what the article goes on to say. We need at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep to produce the proper portions of theses hormones for the next days dieting.

There were two studies sited and the Stanford study seemed to shed more light on the subject stating that "Those who slept less than eight hours a night not only had lower levels of leptin and higher levels of ghrelin, but they also had a higher level of body fat...those who slept the fewest hours per night weighed the most." It goes on to say that we are all different in the way that our bodies react to these hormones like those with sleep apnea who do not have low levels of leptin but actually very high levels and when treated for the apnea those levels drop and it seems to help them lose weight. So it may not be our levels of these hormones that matters as much as our response to them. It finally states that "Until doctors do know more, most experts agree that if you are dieting, logging in a few extra hours of sleep a week is not a bad idea, particularly if you get six hours of sleep or less a night. You may just discover that you aren't as hungry, or that you have lessened your craving for sugary, calorie-dense foods."

So I guess we need good sleep to help us get through the next day's cravings and overeating. I'll just have to call the friend of mine who told me that I was going to bed too late for healthy weight loss because it's not when you sleep but how you sleep. And I'm sure not getting healthy sleep at night. Got to work on that and find out how I can sleep better. How about you?

I lost another 1.5 lbs this week, YEA!

Sleepy Eyed Lady

Well, yesterday didn't go any better than the day before but I still stuck within my limits. Today doesn't look like it is going to be any better but I'll do it. I made a mistake of eating too much roughage yesterday and I am paying for it today only in the opposite direction than you probably think. I'm bloated and not making any progress if you know what I mean. I discovered a new blog site that gave me some insight into that matter. She also has great tips on "going green" in today's post and some really helpful ones in her others. Check out Cammy!

I've discovered that since I started on this diet when I start to get hungry, before I can fix a meal I'm starving. Wonder if this happens to anyone else out there? Since I've retired and live alone I haven't been following any kind of a schedule for my meals. I think I'm going to have to start doing that so that I won't be starving before my evening meal is complete, when I usually cook something interesting or at least healthy and it takes longer than just a couple of minutes to get something ready to eat.

My old habits of staying up late ('til around 2:00 AM) and getting up around 10:00 AM aren't working since my vacation. I'm still staying up that late but am wide awake around 8:00 AM and I don't think that is enough sleep. Then in the afternoons I'm so sleepy and tired that I've been giving in to the afternoon naps. Well, I thwarted that yesterday and didn't succumb and I still wasn't sleepy until around 2:00 AM. And...I was wide awake at 8:00 this morning! ARGH!! I've heard that you need 8 hours for healthy weight loss and I'm going to research it to find out. Will let you know my findings.

Hey did you see Cara's blog yesterday? She talked about stepping on those scales more than once a week just like me and I didn't read hers before typing mine. Guess there's something to that "Like mother, like daughter" stuff. Cara also posted my muffin recipe with a twist. Check it out.

If I don't lose more than a half a pound or heaven forbid nothing tomorrow in my weigh-in I'm going to scream. I have been soooooo gooooood this week. I've planned ahead and everything.

Changes

Well, I've had the dogs upset with me. I changed the living room around the other day and Mikey (who only has only one eye and it's the bad one) has had a hard time finding the couch. He doesn't know where he is supposed to lie down now. Of course he has a doggy bed that he and Taz share but when I let them in the house after changing things around I had something laying on it and he was really upset. He finally found it and I cleaned his bed off so now he isn't so mad at me. Sometimes I forget that he can't see so well and do stupid things. One time some friends were visiting and had come on their ATV and left it in the middle of the driveway. We were all outside and the humans were setting on the porch when the dogs heard something and decided to run at all-out-high speed and Mikey was just sure there was nothing in his path until he hit the tire of the ATV and did a back flip. I went ballistic thinking he'd killed himself or broken his snout but he just got up and shook it off and kept going. Now when someone comes to visit I make sure nothing is parked in the driveway while we are all outside.

I really had the munchies yesterday and was hungry all day. Don't know how I managed to keep within my points but I did. Even though I'm on the other side of menopause I think my body goes through some of the PMS stuff that you youngsters go through. I get grumpy once a month and get the munchies once a month but thank goodness I don't have to put up with the rest of it. I've served my time. :o)

I think I'm going to have to hide my scales so I don't' have to walk past them everyday. The temptation is just too great to step on them and see what the progress is. Every day until today (since my weigh-in) I've shown a gain. And that's discouraging. Finally this morning there was a loss. Now I feel better!

Melancholy & Muffins

Had a pretty bad day yesterday. Oh, I stayed on my diet, but I was really down. It seems that when I'm down my brain shuts down too and it tells me to sleep. So I napped on and off yesterday. At least I wasn't eating which I did a lot in the "olden" days. One of the things that got me down is the day before, I found out that all the skin that is drooping from this weight loss isn't going to firm up again. Since I'm 61 not 21 or 31 or...it just won't go back to the way it was. Oh you wonderful young people out there that are doing this be thankful. Your skin is still elastic enough to firm up again. On the other hand mine won't unless I want to get it cut off when I finally lose 108 pounds. Have you seen the movie "Click?" Well I guess that's what I will get to do with my belly skin too. And not to mention my face and the double chins that I have. I'll probably look 80 instead of 62 when I'm finished and that is a depressing thought. Uh Oh, here I go again. Nope, not going there. But it did occur to me to just chuck this diet thing and get fat and non wrinkled again, then I dashed that thought and got on with it.

On a lighter note I have a new recipe for you. It's called 6 Weeks Bran Muffins and they are really yummy. They are only 2 WW points (with Splenda and 3 with sugar) a muffin and those of you out there that aren't on weight watchers they are probably around 100 calories each. They are called "6 Weeks" because the batter keeps in the fridge for up to 6 weeks. The original recipe made 8 dozen so I cut it in fourths since there's only one of me and it was supposed to make 2 dozen but I found that mine only made 1 dozen and that was enough for me (so if you want more than 1 dozen you will have to increase the recipe). I cooked the entire batch and after they cooled froze all but 2. They freeze really well. All I did was take one out of the freezer and placed it in the microwave on defrost for 30 seconds and they were just like coming out of the oven. They are best warm but they aren't shabby cold either. Now the recipe calls for bran cereal and that is the way I will type it but I substituted the second bran cereal with "Special K" because I don't need the extra bran in my diet since I don't have problems going to the potty. Enjoy!

1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup Post 100% Bran Cereal
1/4 cups + 1/2 TBSP solid Crisco shortening
3/4 cup sugar OR 1/4 cup + 2 TBSB Splenda
1/4 cup egg beaters
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1 cup Kellogg's All Bran Original Cereal
1 1/4 cups self rising flour

In a small bowl, pour boiling water over the 100% Bran, set aside.
In a larger bowl, cream the shortening and sugar (or Splenda).
Add the egg beaters and buttermilk and mix well.
Add the Kellogg's All Bran.
Add flour and mix well.
Fold in the soaked 100% Bran.
**Fill Pam sprayed muffing tins 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 14 to 18 minutes, until tops of muffins bounce back when poked with the finger.

They make a really nice addition to breakfast instead of toast and jelly. I used to make these when my girls were little. I'd keep the batter in the fridge and bake them fresh ones in the mornings. I didn't know then that they freeze so well or I'd have tried that. Course when they were real little there weren't any microwaves and when they first came out I surely couldn't afford one.

Mornings

Wow, I hate mornings (especially after only 4 hours sleep). And afternoon naps. I layed on the couch yesterday afternoon reading a book and woke up an hour or so later with the book still opened. This made for a late night last night. My usual time to "lay me down to rest" is around 1:00 am but last night I had to make myself go that that room with the big bed in it at 4:30 am. Of course when I stay up that late I get hungry and last night (or I should say early this morning) was no different. I couldn't think of anything so, yup, I got into the Doritos and salsa. I know those things are bad for me in a lot more ways than I want to know but they do satisfy that urge and I only ate 11 of them. I think that is the only food that I've held on too from my fatty days. I just can't let them go. Like I've said before I'm not addicted to sweets but to salty stuff. Oh, to just set down with a bag of Wise Potato Chips again...but alas I know I can't (I still miss them though). I even tried to kick the Doritos thing with a salad with Free Catalina and it still didn't satisfy that urging. I think I just need that taste because sometimes after a sandwich (where I used to eat a half a bag of Wise Potato Chips) I'll pick the bag of Doritos up and just take out 3 and munch really slowly and that satisfies that craving too. So maybe if I keep the willpower in check they won't hurt me too much. And I am still losing. And I do add them to my points.

I had someone jump my case a couple of weeks ago about my sleep habits. She said that studies show that a person that doesn't go to bed before midnight doesn't lose weight. Anybody know anything about that? I may go to bed late but I usually get my 8 hours of sleep in (except for last night). I've always heard that every person has a different circadian cycle and this is mine.

I have a niece that comes to visit once a year and always brings 3-4 bags of chips with her. She'll set down and eat half a bag then go out and walk my driveway (the driveway from hell) a few times so she can have some more. She's always working on losing weight and never seems to get there. Gee, I wonder why? She didn't come to visit last year because she was moving into a new house around that time and I wonder what she'll do this year when she comes and I cook sensibly instead of the way I used to cook? She loves my vegetable beef soup with a big chuck roast in it and I don't make that anymore. I'll have to make her my cabbage soup with beef broth instead (that recipe to come later). She hasn't seen me since I lost 50 pounds so maybe I can motivate her. Wouldn't that be something?

When I was growing up in my teen years my parents owned a grocery store. Not a big chain but a "Mom & Pop" kind. It was good sized though. So needless to say we didn't have to pinch pennies when it came to groceries. Mom always brought home the best brand name stuff and we NEVER had margarine in the house, always REAL butter. Therefore I never acquired a taste for margarine. I've always eaten REAL butter. Well, since on WW I can't have the REAL stuff anymore and I've really been down about that. Then I discovered Land O Lakes Light Butter Spread with canola oil. You know I haven't had the real stuff in a long time (only the yucky margarine) but I think it tastes pretty good. At least close enough to the REAL stuff that I'm happy to stick with it when I get down there in the land of thin. So if you haven't tried it now's the time.

Strawberry Pie

I'm really new to this blog stuff and it may not be proper to post more than one a day but I just couldn't resist. Like the sub-title says this is ramblings and recipes and I just couldn't wait until tomorrow to share this one with anyone out there that may read my blog. And since strawberries are in season in my neck of the woods next month here goes.

Strawberry Pie (Preperation time only 15 minutes)

1 1/2 cups water
1 package Fat-Free/Sugar-Free Strawberry Jello
1 package Fat-Free/Sugar-Free "Cook & Serve" Vanilla Pudding (it must be cook & serve)
2 cups strawberries
1 graham cracker crust (store bought)

Combine Jello and pudding in a sauce pan.
Add water and mix.
Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until mixture becomes transluscent and thick.
While mixture cools a little, cut up strawberries into the pie shell.
Pour Jello mixture over strawberries and refrigerate until cold. (about 2 houors)
Add a dollop of Cool Whip Free and enjoy.
WW points=1 for 1/8 of a pie.

A Small Accomplishment

I lost a half a pound yesterday. (Mondays are my weigh-in day) I was pretty disappointed since I'd lost 4.5 last week. I was really good and only dipped into my bonus points by 5. Then I got to thinking that the big loss last week was probably why the little loss this week so now I'm happy about it.

To get you up to speed. I do WW on-line instead of going to meetings. Since I'm from a small town whose population is under 300, when I started WW there wasn't a meeting in my town and I had to go to the county seat to join and weigh-in. This was a bummer since the only meeting was Monday evenings at 5:00. I didn't want to eat anything before I went (I'd only have breakfast and lunch) and was pretty hungry once I got through with the meetings. Then to top it off that's the town where I do my grocery shopping so I'd always stop on the way home and pick up what I would need for the next week. By the time I was in the grocery store my stomach would really be kicking up and sometimes I'd get the wrong kind of stuff because of the hunger and cravings. If I tried to grab a bite of something before the shopping I'd invariably eat the wrong things and then feel guilty. I was so committed to do this that I just decided going to a meeting was just too frustrating for me and the leader wasn't that much of a help anyway. So I switched over to the on-line WW. Bought myself a digital scale and all.

This really works for me. I have to face the computer on Monday mornings now instead of a person to weigh me in and to me they are just the same. And it's much cheaper. Remember, I have gone through this before with WW in the late 60's and have heard most of the rah..rah speeches before. I rely on Cara for my interesting tips which she provides regularly for me (see her latest blog on "Red light-Green light"). My leader didn't have a bunch of little tips just lectures. Cara says she couldn't do it without being accountable to someone on weigh-in days. Maybe it's my age or stick-to-itiveness that keeps me on the straight and narrow. My mind is in the right place this time.

Everyone was telling me in the beginning to set little goals for myself like treating myself to something special when I reached a certain weight. I did that and was looking forward to a new style of clothes (that I couldn't wear as a fatty) or a little trip to somewhere special then I saw a commercial for the new Snickers Dark Chocolate. Snickers are my all time favorite candy bar and dark chocolate is just awesome so I set that as my 200 lb goal. I bought it a couple of weeks before I was down to 200. It haunted me! When the day came that I was 200 exactly I picked up the Snickers and looked at it for a long time. Then I checked the label and found that it wasn't that much in points, only a meal's worth. I think I even talked to it a little and then put it away and eventually gave it away. I decided that it just wasn't worth it! Aren't you proud of me? My mind really is in the right place. I'm not much of a sweets eater. Oh, I enjoy them once in a while and while on the easy trail of weight gain I had sweets on a regular basis but didn't crave them like some do. I do enjoy chocolate and dark chocolate especially so I bought myself a bag of dark chocolate kisses and figured the points and found that I could have 3 for only one point. Now some of you would say that they couldn't eat just 3 and in my earlier days I probably couldn't either but now if I want a little chocolate I know I can have it and I usually space them over a day's time. ARGH, have you seen those Warm Delights commercials? They make you feel like if you don't have one your aren't a woman. That they are the most wonderful thing to make you beautiful and so good for you in every way. They used to haunt me too but now they just turn my stomach. Some people complain about all the weight loss commercials on television and they are stupid and most misleading but at least in that time slot they aren't advertising all the decadent food that is sooooooo bad for us, so they don't bother me anymore.

Oops, time for another chicken salad sandwich, bet you wish I'd run out don't you.

TGIM

Thank goodness it's Monday. Yeah, I'm not like most people that look forward to Fridays. Fridays mean that a weekend is approaching and unlike most of you I hate weekends. All of my family and friends have families to have fun with and I'm alone and it sure gets boring. So I'm glad Monday is here. I was so bored that I almost posted on this site multiple times on Saturday AND Sunday, but I refrained.

Wanted to give you an update on the Bran muffin recipe I posted earlier. I made the whole batch and after they cooled I froze them. Took one out of the freezer Sat. and Sun. and just popped them in the microwave on defrost for 30 seconds and they were just like coming out of the over. So give them a try. I don't have much of a sweet tooth (salty is my nemesis) but they do satisfy the sweet tooth and stick with you for a couple of hours and are much better for you than a Snickers for that stick-aroundedness.

This weather is depressing. It was 72 on Friday and it is snowing/sleeting today. I haven't gotten into an exercise regiment yet and I'm hoping that when the weather breaks I can get outside and do something. I hate to sweat. I used to say that I was allergic to it and low and behold one summer a couple of years ago every time I did something strenuous enough to sweat a lot I broke out in a horrible rash where ever the sweat was. So I've sorta put exercise by the wayside for a while because I hate to itch. I've tried a couple of dance videos and I get so tickled at myself trying to do all those moves at the fast pace they do on the videos that I kinda got sidetracked and quit. Been reading some other blogs and it seems that the key to a healthy weight loss program is exercise. Since I live on a mountain and there isn't any really flat places to walk and my driveway is REALLY steep I can't even get walking in unless I want to walk around my cabin A LOT and that sure would be boring. Got any suggestions?

Guess I better go eat another chicken salad sandwich...I've only got 16 more to go.

That's a Bunch of Chicken (Salad)

Yesterday I had a real blond moment. I decided to make myself some chicken salad for sandwiches this coming week. I boiled 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts and meant to save one and a half out to give to my little dogs as a treat for their supper for the next couple of days. Before I realized what I was doing I had chopped all three and added all the ingredients. Then I proceeded to measure out what I had made and found that I had enough for 20 sandwiches. ARGH! There is no way I can eat 20 sandwiches before it spoils. Wonder if the dogs will eat chicken salad with celery, onion and light mayo in it. I'm sure going to try them out tonight. Hey, 1/4 cup of the chicken salad is only 2 points on WW! If you try it on one slice of reduced fat wheat bread you don't even have to count the bread as a point. And if you want a whole sandwich it is only 3 points in all. It sure is tasty and easy to make. My recipe (for a smaller amount) is below.

1 six oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast (boiled 'til done)
1/4 medium onion
4 stalks of celery
1/4 cup light mayo

Place the chicken in a food processor and pulverize. Add the onion and mince until half pulverized. Add the celery and pulse until chopped medium fine. (you can always chop the onion and celery by hand but why bother if you have a food processor).

Place all the chopped ingredients in a bowl and add the mayo. Mix well.

This sandwich is tasty with tomato on it. And I like mine toasted.

In the Beginning

I am starting this blog at the request of my youngest daughter, Cara. She keeps telling me that I have a lot to offer but I'm not entirely convinced. So...I'm giving this a try and hopefully I will find enough to chat about that you will find interesting and maybe inspiring.

I started this chapter of my weight loss on July , 2007. At that time I weighed 249 pounds which was the heaviest I'd ever been. I don't have a full length mirror and thank goodness for that because when I was in a motel room with the big mirrors I wanted to hang a sheet over them. My husband of 21 years passed away in 2006 and with him around I had no reason to feel the need to lose weight. He told me that I was beautiful the way I was and if my weight didn't affect my health it was no problem for him. So I was obliviously happy with my weight. And besides I could cook anything my "little" heart desired and eat it all. Then when he passed away I didn't feel beautiful anymore.

Cara started on Weight Watchers in May of 2007 and didn't tell me about it right away. When I found out I was thrilled for her. I had lost weight on WW before and was successful but that was in the late 60's to early 70's and the program was horrible. I was so glad to get to my goal weight that I went hog wild and went right back into the world of obesity. So when she told me about the new points system and the things that I'd be able to eat I decided that I'd give it a try and be successful.

So, here I am at it again. Oh, and WW wasn't the only weight lose program I tried. There were many many others. The last one was a 600 calorie a day diet with 11 vitamins to take a day. Now that was a humdinger. Bet I don't have to tell you that I was not a happy camper on that one and although I was never told I'll bet I wasn't fun to be around when.

So far I have lost 50 pounds and am ready for the next 50.

Cara has recently posted me as a guest blogger a couple of times and in my next two blogs I will copy them here.

A Journey from Obesity to Health

What a journey this is! It is really hard being addicted to food. And that’s exactly what I have, an addiction. Food is in my every waking thought and sometimes in my sleeping thoughts.

I’ve heard it said (by non-food-addict persons) to just avoid it and it will be alright. Well, how do you avoid food? It is all around us, it is the sustenance of life. How do you avoid something that is necessary for life? Obviously you can’t. When you get up in the morning you start with breakfast, then comes lunch and then supper. When you open a magazine you find ads for food. When you turn on the television, one out of every three commercials is about food. When you drive somewhere you pass fast food places or restaurants. You can’t even fill your car up with fuel anymore because when you pay for the fuel you are accosted by food when you hit the door. So you tell me, how can you avoid food?

I have been obese in the past and gone down to a healthy weight only to return to obesity (several times) as have most obese persons. I am on that journey again and this time (at 61 years young) it is harder than ever. I am retired and therefore not as active or distracted as I was on my previous journeys. All I think about all day long is food. When is my next meal? What can I eat that will taste good? What can I eat that will satisfy? What can I eat and still lose weight?

What about advice from the “weight loss experts?” I haven’t heard any that have helped yet. One of the funny ones is to eat things that you like but in smaller portions. Well, the things that I like are not good for you even in smaller portions. How do you eat gravy on your mashed potatoes in smaller portions? Even one tablespoon of gravy (the way I like to make it) is extremely fattening. And one tablespoon of gravy is a joke. Chicken is wonderful fried in deep fat with the skin on and nice and crusty. Baked or broiled chicken (boneless and skinless) just isn’t the same and doesn’t satisfy the way a good ole piece of fried chicken does. I am not a fish eater and rarely ate it during my obese days. I could tolerate it battered and fried with lots of tarter sauce, but that surely isn’t low-fat. Another tidbit of advice from those “weight loss experts” is to spice up your food so that it satisfies the taste buds. Oh, I love spicy food and do that often but it still doesn’t satisfy as much as a big glob of butter or sour cream would.

The only advice I can give is to look at your journey closely. If you are just starting, look at the way you were. Ask yourself, “Do I want to look like that and feel like that the rest of your life?” If your answer is no then you need to get a plan and if the answer is yes then you have just wasted time reading this. If you are already on this long journey, look back at the progress you have made. Ask yourself, “Do I want to continue or just give up and destroy all the progress I’ve already made?” Then look ahead. Look at what you see in your future. Will you turn the head of the opposite sex? (You sure wouldn’t in the old self.) Do you want to be able to climb stairs without huffing and puffing? Do you want to shop in the regular section of the department store? Those are the things that keep me going. I have lost 47 pounds and have approximately 50 more to go. I want to get there and that is the only thing that is keeping me on this horrible weight loss program. And yes they are all horrible in my eyes. I’ve tried dozens of them.

Support from friends and family help some but you have to dig deep within yourself to find the strength. You can do it but not for someone else just for yourself.

A Month is a Month is a Month

During the month of March, 2008 I was getting ready for a cruise. This was my second cruise and believe you me I was not looking forward to it. This, of course, must be explained, but briefly. My first cruise was the cruise from Hades. We hit a horrible storm and had 40 foot swells and I was in bed sick for 3 days. We couldn’t even get into one port because of the roughness. I swore I’d never go on another one. But, I let a friend talk me into it and here I was again.

I don’t really know what happened the two weeks before the cruise but I had stayed on my diet and was really good and gained 5 pounds the first week and gained 2.5 pounds the second week. I was so disgusted that I thought of quitting but having lost 50 pounds already I was thinking to myself that I’d gone so far already that I didn’t want to let my successes go to waste, so I let my thinking get back on track.

Well… I don’t know if you’ve ever been on a cruise or not but if you don’t like to eat, get drunk or gamble there isn’t much else to offer you while on board. I don’t like to gamble and drink only the occasional cocktail, usually a grasshopper after dinner when in a nice restaurant, so guess what that left…food! Wow, what wonderful food there is! And at any time of day or night. And it’s included in your fare, it doesn’t cost you anything extra. Since I had gained the two weeks before the cruise I had decided that I’d enjoy myself during the cruise (food wise) and get back to basics when I got home. I didn’t want to go hog wild (and didn’t) but I was going to enjoy myself in the only way that I could.

To begin with for dinner you can order as much of an item as you want so before every meal I ordered two shrimp cocktails. In this way I was being good since shrimp are low in points and it helped fill me up somewhat. I hadn’t had pasta in a while and the first night I ordered fettuccine alfredo. Wow, it was delicious. To my horror I could only eat one third of it and was full (well almost, I was saving some room for desert). By the fourth day, and after prime rib and beef Wellington and pizza and French fries and and and (it was a seven day cruise) I was missing my half can of soup and my half sandwich. Yeah, missing my diet! I couldn’t believe it! Missing the right food! What a wonderful thing for me! At that point I was aware that I have finally gotten my head on straight and will never be obese again. What a wonderful feeling it was and is.

When I returned home I had gained one more pound and I got back on it with a vengeance and I lost 4.5 pounds the first week. I didn’t even loose that much my first week on this thing. I felt great. And continue to feel great. I looked back at my weight chart and realized that I had lost a month because I am back to were I was 4 weeks ago. But, what the hey. Maybe your body and mind need a little break once in a while. In the past about once or twice a month I’d indulge in something that was fattening just to keep me on track the rest of the time and not crave the wrong stuff. I am of the mind set now that I need a week of indulgence to get me back in the right frame of mind. I’ve got 50 more pounds to go and right now I am ready to “get-r-done”. I’m not saying that everyone should do what I did. Some of you may do this and never get back on track, and that would be a bad thing. But if you are really committed to this weight loss regiment this might be the way to get yourself motivated again. It’s a thought.