WEIGH IN - 7-30-18

NOTE: This post has been edited to correct the transposed numbers in the weigh in caption

175/166/135

A quick check in this morning. Bob is on his way home - should roll in about 2:30 and I have TONS to get done before then.

As you can see, I've stayed the same for two weeks. I dreamed last night that Bob had lost more than I so we shall know tomorrow.  

I do know I should have worn my stepper yesterday. I'm going to put the band on this morning and retrace one of the repetitive step actions I took yesterday to give myself an idea. I know my knees hurt like crazy last night when I'd finished the project. 

With Bob home there will be lots of going. Four weeks on a boat have given him cabin fever, I'm sure. I'm hoping if the humidity stays low that we can take some day field trips to do some hiking or check out neighborhood walking tracks. We shall see.

In the mean time, what's on track for you this week?

Remember PORTION CONTROL and ACTIVITY are the keys to any weight-loss success.

Enjoy the Journey! 

WEIGH IN 7-23-18

175/166/135

Glad to see that my craving for comfort foods last week didn't hurt me too bad. I had this thing for mashed potatoes and creamy gravies more than once last week  - okay 3 or 4 times.  The good thing is that I was able to feed my cravings without going overboard. Everything is about Portion Control

I'm hard at it on revisions this week plus working on my talk outline and the companion workbook. Bob should be home sometime this week so that will change how I work. 

Weather is much cooler this morning and should be this way through most of the week. Which means I'll have time to get in the garden and yard.

I've also determined that if I'm to get steps in, I HAVE to use the gazelle. Anything more than about 4,000 REAL steps and my shin splints are giving me fits. So yeah... cleaning the living room today so I can reposition the Gazelle.

Whatever is on your menu for the week, remember...

Enjoy the Journey!

ON HIATUS

At some point we all need to decide what is the most important. For now, writing is the most important. I am on multiple excruciating deadlines. If you'd like to know what my schedule is looking like for the next eight weeks, please visit my author blog post on DEADLINES.  I hope you'll be come a fan.

By the end of September I need to finish revisions/ publish my romance novel, finish rough on first of a western historical trilogy, get contest entries written/ polished/ submitted (By Aug. 25th!) and hopefully a companion workbook to a talk I'm giving on October 11th.

So I hope you'll understand that except for the weekly weigh-in, this blog has to take a parking space for the time being.

Thanks for understanding!
~Enjoy the Journey
Kelly

WEIGH IN - 7-16-18

175/166/135

Do you see that middle number? YaYaYa! Finally off that shelf. Now if I can just drop one more before Bob comes home sometime next week (if not this weekend). 

It's been a really long week. I didn't make it to the Gazelle because I was putting in so many steps elsewhere that most nights I went to bed with my legs screaming at me. This week is probably going to be a repeat but I am going to try and pace myself so the legs are not quite as vocal when I go to bed. I really do prefer sleep.

Speaking of.. I turned out the light last night at 10 p.m. Well actually, at 9 because I was dozing off during my recording of the British Baking Competition. As soon as I turned out the light, I was awake so I turned the TV back on and finished watching the show. There are some amazing talents on there. The challenges they provide are very hard, and get increasingly difficult with each week. Though I found it hard to believe last night that so many of them fought with pastry. Pastry is not difficult to make yet only one member managed to meet the technical challenge - barely. 

I miss my days of baking competitions at county fairs. For several years I participated in up to five different fairs per season. I earned decent prize money which paid for my trips to the Ozark Creative Writers conference. I've looked over the local fair book and may enter next year. We'll see.

Later this week, I'm going to be talking about a big box store, their route to invasion of privacy and my attempt to not step foot in their store again. We'll see how that will work out. 

In the mean time, I encourage you to do what you love and Enjoy the Journey!

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Quick Chicken Fried Steak

While there are some things you can buy less expensively at other box stores, these Ribeye Steaks from $Tree aren't bad.

They are very thin sliced. Some are more gristly than others but otherwise they'd be great for a steak and cheese sub. Think of them like a breakfast steak.

The gristle is found in all ribeye steaks. The thicker the cut, the less pronounced you'll deal with. And face it, if you're eating a nice thick steak, unless the leaders are really bad, you don't notice them.

One day last week a writer friend and I were discussing Chicken Fried Steak - the best you can find in Texas. Afterwards I couldn't stop thinking about it so I went scrounging the freezer. I thought I had a couple of cube steaks. No such luck, but I did find two of these and thought 'why not'?

I pounded them out to break up those leaders and cooked them up as I would have any other cut I usually use for chicken fried steak. They fried up beautifully!  And sooo very tender. Pounding them out gave me 4 steaks that I used for dinner that day, breakfast the next day followed by two additional dinners.

You'll notice I get some really good, quick meals for Bob and I from $Tree. I've heard that not all of their stores have the coolers so check yours out next time you're grocery shopping.

Whatever you choose to eat,
Enjoy the Journey!

WEIGH IN 7-9-18

175/167/135

Are you seeing a pattern?

My goal is to finally get on the gazelle this week. The pain factor last week from Monday and Tuesday made doing much of anything until late week hard to do. I'm going for 2 days this week and see how I do.

As to food, I'm working on clearing out the freezer. I've been pulling a couple of things out every two days. Things that would normally be one meal, I've been making into two most of the time. Drinking plenty of water and decaf/ unsweet tea. I drink one cup of fluffy in the morning, tree until about 1 then switch to water the rest of the day. I usually have a coke in there somewhere between the tea and the water. I pour it into a freezer mug to make my own frozen coke then top it with a mini coke and work on it for a couple of days, freezing/ thawing a bit/ refreezing, etc. 

I'm also dealing with a bit of a sore throat from sinus stuff. Just enough that I know the glands are irritated on the left side. I picked up a package of Chloraseptic lozenges last week and use one of those if the irritation really starts to bug me.

For this week, 2 days on the gazelle, keep food in check and try not to overdo the steps again so I'm not dealing with pain afterwards. The cool thing about the gazelle is I'll get steps in without impact so that might help on multiple fronts.

Whatever you have planned for the week...

Enjoy the Journey!

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Freezer Stock-up

FoodSaver

I use my foodsaver a lot. After solid research, I knew I didn't need a fancy one to start with but that I did want the Foodsaver brand. The one shown above is what I use.

About every six weeks I buy protein in bulk, bring it home and package into portions using the Foodsaver. This prevents freezer burn and lets me keep meat much longer than if I just tossed it in a zippy bag or froze in original packaging. Incidently, you should NEVER freeze meet in the original package. Meat department packaging is not meant for long-term storage.

One thing I use a lot of is chicken in many forms. This time around I'm showing you breasts and tenders. 

A #5 bag will net you approximately this in Breasts:

Solid breast pieces

Stragglers.

I have the breasts on the cutting board how they were packaged - one pkg of 3 and three packages of 2. The larger package will be great for Bob and I in the crock pot. I can also use the 2-packs for either both of us or just me, cooking two meals at once. This comes in handy during NanoWrimo.

Stragglers make the best chicken bites, chicken and rice, sweet n sour chicken.. those dishes where you're going to chop them up anyway.

Next, I had a #4 bag of Tenders (failed to take a picture) but here's what I came up with:

These I packaged in 4 pieces each. That gives Bob and I two tenders each for a meal. I can also oven-fry a 4-pack for myself and have them to nibble on over the course of a couple of days.

Do you purchase in bulk? Do you have meals in mind? I'd love to hear what you do!

Enjoy the journey!

FLYLADY - Home Economics

Instead of the usual Flylady routine post this week I thought I'd delve a bit into how I came to be a Flylady. Actually, I was a 'flylady' long before the term existed.

My (step) mom grew up during the depression. She taught me how to cook and to clean. To be self-sufficient if necessary and keep a well-stocked pantry for lean times. Almost fifty years later, I'm still putting those practices to use on a daily basis.

Along with what mom taught me, I learned a lot in school. Home Economics class was mandatory in Middle School (6-8th grades) and an elective in High School. Home Ec was an easy class for me and I enjoyed every moment in class. I see so many young people who have no clue how to run a home efficiently or cook a basic meal (that doesn't require a microwave or drive-thru). But I'm also seeing a resurgence in the willingness to learn how things were done 'back then'.

Thanks to Home Ec, I not only built upon the skills mom taught me but I learned other things, such as basic architecture. We were taught how to sketch out a floor plan. I used that skill when we bought this house. I drew out the floor plan, measured for cabinets, determined where outlets needed to be set when Bob did the rewiring, etc. I also used the same principles when we built my office. My contractor was amazed. Of course, he and his crew also feasted on the labors of my kitchen skills every day for a noon meal.

I have a lot more research to do on this 1950s housewife in regards to cleaning, but I thought I'd share this video I found on YouTube:

Whether you are a 1950s housewife or modern day, I hope you'll Enjoy the Journey!

WEIGH IN 7-2-18

175/167/135

My weight post is beginning to sound like a broken record but at least I'm not gaining. Now that Bob is gone, I'm determined to get an exercise routine in. I HAVE to if the numbers are going to budge.

This first week, I'm going to focus on two days on the Gazelle. I have enough housework/ yard stuff to give me plenty of movement. 

For food, I'm starting on leftovers in the freezer. Wednesday, for the 4th of July, I won't be going anywhere. I have leftover BBQ ribs in the freezer. I'll make a single potato into potato salad, maybe a couple of deviled eggs and a single serve of Cherry Cheesecake. That last one is important.

Growing up, Mom and I always made a 9x13 cake pan of Mother's Dream Cake. 

Graham Cracker Crust, a mix of Dream Whip and Cream Cheese and topped with Cherry pie filling.

We only made this on 4th of July. 

Since it's just me, I can't justify making even an 8" pie pan of the Dream Cake - which I would do if Bob were home. So I bought a tub of Philidelphia Cheesecake Filling. That stuff keeps a long time so I can portion it out. Thinking of trying some of it frozen for a cool treat. I'll let you know how that works out.

I have a ton to do today so this post is short. Tomorrow is Flylady. I have an idea for a different type of post but still related so I hope you'll come back to see what I come up with.

In the mean time, what are your plans for the 4th? Family stuff? Food?  Let me know.

Enjoy the Journey!