Monday Weigh In

I am so excited to post that I lost 4 lbs. last week! That brings my total to 13.8 lbs. I am still watching what I eat and counting calories. I also started walking this week. The whole planning our means and prepping is getting much easier. I have started getting into a little routine with it and it is so much easier that when we were doing it before. 

Craft Night Dilemma

Tonight is our monthly Craft Night at church. Of course we have fun being crafty and visiting, but we also snack through out the evening. Yummy dips and chips, chocolate in many forms, sods, you know all the good stuff! I decided to make things that would help me make good decisions while I am there and not tempt me too much. I love dips of all kids and I love them dearly. Nothing tempts me more than fried chicken or some kind of dip. So I replaced my spinach dip with homemade hummus and fresh vegetables for dipping. The gooey chocolate and other sweets were replaced with strawberries lightly dipped in chocolate and some grapes. That cheese ball looking thing isn't the healthiest thing in the world, but it was made with fat free cream cheese, half the pecans and all white chicken breast. And here is what it looked like:

I might still have a small sampling of what some of the other ladies bring, but I did plan ahead so that most of what I eat would be healthy choices. I am learning that this lifestyle does require planning, but by doing that planning, I have found it very easy to stick to. 

And for any of my friends that read this blog, yes that is celery on that platter! Anyone that remotely knows me knows that I absolutely detest celery in every way. I don't like the way it smells, I don't like the way it sounds when people eat it, I don't like the way it tastes. Basically celery is an affront to all of my senses! I bought precut carrots and they didn't have any without celery, that's why is is there, but I know some people do like it so it is there.

Planning Tool

I have mentioned before that I find it so much easier to follow a healthy eating lifestyle if I take the time to plan my meals on a weekly basis. This is one of the tools I use. It is a dry erase board that has a large space and is labeled for each day of the week. I make a rough menu on paper in a spiral notebook and then transfer breakfast, lunches and snacks to this board. Sometimes I add dinner on there too. but since I normally have dinner started or done when Kip gets home, I don't always do that. I prepare almost all of our food and so this keeps Kip in the look about when he is supposed to eat the foods I planned. It also helps me as I am getting ready in the mornings because I can simply look at the list, grab what we are supposed to have and go. It also helps with the finances. Since everything is planned, I am not going through the grocery store grabbing random food, I do get too much produce and the part of it goes bad, and we aren't tempted to go out "because there is nothing for dinner". We do still eat out on occasion, but it is planned too and not just random or more convenient. This system works the best for us.

Weekly Weigh In

I am a day late this week because we were out of town until late last night and I didn't have a chance to weigh until this morning. I am happy to report that I lost 2.2 lbs. this week. That gives me a total of 9.8 lbs since starting. I am extremely happy with that number since we have been out of town for the past two weekends. We spend yesterday in Gatlinburg and there  are just so many tempting foods there. I have to thank Kip for helping me stick with it too. I think if he hadn't been strong I would have given into too much temptation. We did have a few treats, but I think we really kept them in check.

I did pack some food for us. Last weekend, I packed a picnic and we stopped along the way and ate. That was the plan this time too and I packed what we need for our sandwiches. Well, except for the bread! We ended up stopping at a Subway and ate there instead. I do like to eat there and I can calculate exactly how many calories I am eating. Lots of places have the nutrition information online and I have been checking as much as I can before eating. I also have an app on my iPhone that is helping me keep up with calories. 

I really am just happy to see the numbers on the scale moving in this direction. Every little bit lets me know that I am doing the right thing for my body.