Monday Musings

Happy Monday!

This week's beginning weight - 179

Before I go any further I can tell you the BL loser officially lost 9 pounds and walked away with $150. Boy, that would have been nice traveling money next weekend. Oh well. They're already talking about doing another one in November. This time we will know who the participants are and how everyone is doing. That should add to the motivation.

Saturday I went to a pow wow in Hardy AR. I hadn't been to an event in years and knew I'd have a good time. I needed a relax/ all-about-me kind of day. I walked a lot, danced some and found a hand drum. A bit smaller than the one I've been wanting but this truly was a case of 'size doesn't matter'. It has a beautiful, deep sound and I love it.

When I got dressed Saturday, I got into a size 14 jeans! Comfortably!! Yeah, it was a great way to start the day.

Yesterday, I tried a new dish. I love watching Tyler's Ultimate on the Cooking Channel. A couple of weeks ago he featured the POTATO. He made an Irish staple called Colcannon, which is mashed potatoes, cabbage and a meat. The other dish was a potato pancake. After experiencing both of these dishes, Tyler came back to the states and made a Potato Gratin. I knew I wanted to try my own version.

So last night I did a small version in a 6x6 casserole dish with only 1 bottom layer and 1 top layer of potatoes. In the middle I had fried smoked bacon, cabbage sauteed in the bacon drippings and slices of baby portabella mushrooms (they have become my favorite additive to just about anything). I'd make a horrible Italian as I don't care for Parmesan cheese. Instead, I used a grated colby/jack blend. I really think I could have done without the cheese - and the extra oil it provided.

I ate 1/4th of the casserole with a 3 oz Venison butterflied tenderloin. Very earthy meal. I'm thinking in the future I don't even need a meat with the gratin.

Not sure where my appetite is taking me today but I know I will remain on course.

Enjoy the journey!

BL Final update

This is my final post on the BL challenge - well, except to tell you whether or not I'm $130 richer. hehe But I'm kind of doubting it. I do know of 2 people who've gained over the past 8 weeks. With my ups and downs, I'm offically 3.2 pounds less. But the clothes fit different. I have one pair of 16 jeans I can not keep up. They fit like my 18 petites.

Win or lose, I'm not changing how I eat. I still don't want processed foods. I'm still trying to find tasty ways to incorporate more fresh foods and I'm still not adding sugar to foods like tea and coffee.

As soon as my daughter presents me with a new granddaughter and I can get back to a regular routine, I hope to be showcasing more of the recipes I'm trying and comfort foods I'm modifying. Face it, with winter coming on, who can pass up comfort foods.

As always...

Enjoy the journey!

BL update

Whoo Hooo!

I'm down 2 more pounds this week. That brings me to just over 5 pounds down. Okay, not a big loss but I am at my lowest weight in 10 years so I can't complain. It might not put me in the running for the $130 cash pot but I feel better, I'm losing weight and I'm more aware of what I'm NOT eating.

All in all, it's a good week.

Live the journey!

Kelly

BL Check In

Another busy week. The grandtoddler was here all last week and although I was still sitting at NO weight gain (or loss) through Thursday night, on Friday I showed a gain of 3 pounds! What? Overnight? Come on!

So I worked diligently to get rid of it this week. I was good when hubby and I treated ourselves to Red Lobster in Paducah last Sunday. Our daughter lives in Nashville 2 hours from Paducah and we live 3 hours West, in MO so Paducah is a good meeting spot for us to trade the grandtoddler back and forth. That and she gets to play at Chuck E Cheese before getting back in a vehicle... the grandtoddler, not the daughter LOL. She's not doing much right now except hoping our angel-to-be doesn't try to make an early entrance into the world. Little miss Abigail is getting very impatient.

Okay, back to this week. With the toddler back in Nashville and hubby on the boat, I got into a regular walking routine every morning.

Then I'd treat myself to lunch at Memories Sweet Shoppe. This was my lunch yesterday:

I had the mushroom and swiss burger on whole wheat flat bun. Cindy, the owner keeps the flat buns in special for me and I know her burgers are made fresh, by hand whenever they are on the menu. No preshaped, frozen, paper thin burgers. These are thick, juicy and done to perfection. I also had a cup of cheese/ broccoli soup made from scratch like everything else she puts on her menu. Every day is different and every day is made fresh that morning. You can't beat the quality, the atmosphere or the price. Soup, sandwich and unsweet tea costs me under $8 plus tip.

Today it was chicken noodle soup and a Italian Beef on flat bun. That wasn't so easy to pick up but it cut up and ate with a fork just fine. :: smile :::

Today was our 2nd to last weigh in. I was back down the pounds I'd gained last week. Geez! Officially I've lost just under 4 pounds since starting this seven weeks ago. Our final weigh-in is next Thursday. I'd really like to be down 3 more pounds. Can you say, 'Lots of walking'?

Here's to a great week, living the journey!

Kelly

BL Check In

I know I skipped last week. It's just been crazy with deadlines around here and I've not spent a lot of time on the computer.

Weigh-in last week went really well. I was down 3.2 pounds! If I can just do a min of 1-2 pounds a week, I'll be ecstatic and have a shot at that $130 for my working vacation in October.

I was surprised by the drop in pounds on Friday morning because Bob and I went out to dinner for our 27th wedding anniversary the night before. I tried to be very good. We ate at Ruby Tuesday's. I chose the full rack of ribs with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed vegies. I didn't eat the potatoes, only 1/2 the ribs and the steamed veggies. I preempted the meal with a large salad. The remaining 1/2 rack of ribs was my lunch on Friday.

Friday night we ate out at a place called A La Carte in West Plains. A good friend of mine, Michael 'Blindcat' McIntire and his wife, Sandy aka Mamacat were the scheduled entertainment. You can check out his blog at Blindcat . They are talented blues artists, doing a mix of cover tunes and ones they've written.

A La Carte is a trendy restaurant with amazing food - most of it grown locally and made fresh daily. Reservations are strongly recommended. When you make your dinner reservation you also place your entree order from a pre-set list (usually 3 options). Friday night we had the option of Country Pork Ribs, Sesame encrusted Shashimi-grade Tuna filet or a Vegan dish. Bob and I both chose the pork ribs. They were so moist and flavorful. They didn't require any sauce or a knife to eat. The saute'd yellow and zucchini squash were the perfect accompaniment. I also ate both of Bob and I's dinner salads of locally grown greens with Balsamic Vinegar and EVOO.

Aside from great blues music to entertain us, I discovered I LOVE the lighter dressing. I've never eaten anything but creamy ranch on a salad. I was amazed to find salad doesn't need to be covered up. It's better to let the true flavors of great vegies come through.

So my tip for this week...

If you've never tried a lighter version of your favorite food, I encourage you to do so. You may find out you've been missing out on something AWESOME!

To a great week...

Joining a Team

Though I haven't been here, the weight has been doing okay. By 'okay' I mean not down but at least not up! I just want to get over this hurdle. I know once I finally dip below 180, it will be easier.

So this past week I joined a local Biggest Loser group at of all place, our local mini-mart. For a $10 entry fee, we check in every Friday for 6 weeks. There will be weekly prizes and at the end of September, someone is a few pounds lighter except for the extra cash in their pocket. With all the traveling I'm doing in October, I could sure use the money. I won't have to go clothes shopping, as I have favorites in my closet I'd love to be able to wear again. But I might need at least one new outfit. :-)

So although my home scales show 181, the store shows 186.8. So that is the weight I'll be showcasing for the duration of the challenge. At the end of the competition, I'll revert back to my home-scale weight. I know I'm going to like that number so much better. But loss is a loss, regardless of what scales I use.

In an earlier post I talked about sugar. Over the last two weeks I've been trying really hard to eliminate as much sugar and processed foods from my diet as possible. I've read Suzanne Somers' Sexy Forever and what an eye-opener. If you've not read it, I encourage everyone to do so... especially women from pre- to post-menopause. Wow! The stuff that is in our foods to supposedly 'enhance flavor' or add shelf life is killing us. So my focus has been whole grains, lean meats and more vegies. Gee, where have we heard this before?

One thing I've experienced in my education as a writer is that I can hear the same thing over and over, but it's all in how it's presented as to whether or not the information really 'sticks'. The same is true of this. I don't think it was so much about WHAT I NEEDED to be eating, as to hearing WHAT I HAVE BEEN eating. It is quite a scary list. So I guess you can consider me - Scared Straight.

Will I give up all my favorite foods? No. Will I try to learn new ways of making them healthier and less poisonous? YES I hope to share what I learn and create over the next 6 weeks and beyond.

Our weigh-ins are on Friday. This week I should go down as I'm having a tooth pulled tomorrow. Yeah, there's one day I won't be eating. LOL Followed by two days of soft foods while the gum heals, yep.. Friday is looking pretty good.

How's your week shaping up?

Back on Track

Okay, so I've never really been 'off-track' just off the grid.

Right after that last post we got hit with thunderstorms and rain. Lots of rain! Rain every day for 17 days straight, with very few breaks. I couldn't get out in the garden to put anything in the ground, while some people who planted early had all their hard work washed away.

When the rain finally stopped, it turned incredibly HOT and HUMID. Man, I've haven't known such humidity in June and July since I moved out of Baton Rouge years ago. It was horrid! You didn't want to be away from an air conditioner for more than five minutes.

Okay, you're thinking - 'What does humidity and heat have to do with being on-line? I wondered the same thing. But I could not stay on-line for more than ten minutes. Mind you, my HughesNet modem and my NetGear Wireless router are in the office downstairs. My dehumidifier runs 24/7 and we have central air. Heat SHOULDN'T have been an issue. And at the on-set, I didn't know it was. Multiple calls to HughesNet tech support were driving me crazy. I couldn't make them understand that I didn't want a temporary fix. I wanted to get to the root of the problem so it would STOP!

One night I finally bypassed the technician and requested a supervisor who spoke English. I don't have a problem with other nationalities, but I do believe they should be able to understand you and vice versa.

What we determined - mind you, I'd been battling this for most of two months - was that my Hughes Net modem needed to rest. Heck, no one told me to unplug everything at night! I was leaving everything running 24/7. So I started shutting down at night. For the first couple days I was good to go and tried getting everything caught up. Then it did it again! I finally determined the modem was good for about 10 minutes. Then it would overheat and shut down, kicking me off-line. So I made the trip into WM for a $10 desk fan. Voila! I've not had a problem since. Mind you, it took me to the middle of July to remedy this. From then, it's been a massive catch-up.

In the midst of it, I found a full-time writing gig as a columnist for our local paper. I love it being a reporter and a columnist. And a weekly by-line doesn't hurt the resume either.

So this brings me to finally being caught up enough to get back to regular blogging :: crossing fingers here :::

And because I want it to stand alone, I'm going to offer up today's post separately.

So here we go....