I can't believe I am posting this picture!

Yep, that's me in my bathing suit. I wasn't going to post these pictures because I was embarrassed but then I decided that I have been honest and shared everything about my weight loss journey so far. So why change that now.


This is what I look like in a bathing suit at 183 pounds. I know some of you may be thinking that I don't look good enough to be posting this picture on the Internet but to tell you the truth I am very proud of the way I look. I know I don't look perfect and I still have a lot of work ahead of me but I have worked so hard to get to where I am and I am very proud of myself.


Don't get me wrong. I am not saying look how great I look. I am just saying that I have come a long way and I just have to keep reminding myself of that. If I don't remind myself of this daily then I just get discouraged because I am not at the weight that I want to be.


You are probably wondering why I would post a picture of myself in a bathing suit on my blog. Yes, I am a little crazy but I really wanted to do it to show others that you don't need to be ashamed of your body just because it isn't as "perfect" as the one's in the magazines. We are all different shapes and sizes and there is nothing wrong with that.







P.S. One good thing that happened last week was that when I put my bathing suit on to go swimming it was to big to wear. I ended up having to wear the one that I had in a smaller size. It's not my favorite suit (not enough support) but I was so excited about the other one being to big that I didn't really care.

Camping And Weight Loss Don't Mix Well

I got back from my 9 day camping trip yesterday. We had such a great time! It was so refreshing and it gave me time to think and realize how very much God has blessed my life. It was just an amazing vacation. Everything was beautiful and perfect. Even the kids. :)

The only problem was that we brought so much food. The one thing that I didn't account for was when it rained. What do you do when it rains and you are camping? Play games or eat! It rained quite a bit while we were camping. We didn't have all day rains. We just had mostly showers here and there. It wasn't to bad. Just enough to make me snack to much in between meals. The thing that I was trying to avoid.

We didn't sit and snack every time it rained. We also went on a little hike when it rained the one day. We didn't plan for the rain while we were hiking it just happened. To tell you the truth it was kind of fun being out in the rain.

Sorry the picture is a little blurry. I guess from the rain.

My husband and daughter hanging out under a tree during the downpour.

This was another one of my problems. Roasting hot dogs and S'mores over the fire. Which was also probably my favorite food while we were their. The one day I ate three regular hot dogs over the fire. Yikes! On another day I ate three S'mores and some extra roasted marshmallows. I don't even want to know how many points I ate. I don't know what I was thinking. Marshmallows over the fire are probably my favorite food in the whole world. :)

I know it sounds like all I did was eat but we actually got in a lot of exercise throughout the week. We took our bikes which was great and come to find out my dad has a hitch on his truck so we didn't need to spend the extra money to get one before we left. My daughter had a blast riding her bike. It was hard to get her off of it.

We also walked a lot. The beach was .6 miles each way and we walked to the beach at least ten times throughout our stay.

Jumping on the sand castle before we left for the day.

My beautiful family!

If you want some good exercise try pushing a double stroller on one of those trails. Better yet try carrying a 22 pound baby on your back. I can't complain. I love that carrier. It came in very handy. My husbands cousin gave it to us when their children outgrew it (about five years ago) and we never used it. I kept telling my husband to throw it out but he wouldn't. Boy and I glad that he didn't. My daughter loved it and she was so cute in it.

We also went fishing and my daughter caught her first fish.

And I caught my first fish in at least 15 years. :)

We also took the dog swimming. I didn't realize that Border Collie's like the water. Jake loved it!

And we washed lots of dishes.

And my favorite picture from the whole camping trip.

Enjoying the rain!




Now that I have told you about our whole camping trip I guess I can tell you what number was on the scale this morning. The number on the scale was 187. Yikes! I am up 4 pounds. I really don't feel like I ate enough to gain four pounds and I don't feel four pounds heavier but that's what the scale says. I did eat more food then I should have but I exercised a ton and drank more water then ever.

I really thought I would come back weighing the same as when we left. Boy was I wrong. Honestly the only things I over ate on where the hot dogs and S'mores. Ok, and maybe some snacks. I was very careful with everything else. I did eat a big (healthy) breakfast every morning. My favorite was cream of rice with light toast with spray butter. I was able to almost completely resist the Tasty Cakes. I had one pack on a day that I was feeling down because I felt really fat. I had just gotten back from the beach and seeing so many skinny people in bathing suits made me feel aweful. So of course I ate. I really wish my mind didn't work like that.

It was very discouraging to see that number on the scale this morning but I am not going to let it get me down. I went on vacation and ate to many hot dogs and S'mores and now I need to work them off. I am excited to see if I can lose all of the extra weight by Thursday's weigh in.

Have a great week!

See You In 9 Days!

We are getting ready to leave for our 9 day camping trip. Yikes! I am a little nervous about taking the kids and the dog.

I won't have any Internet or cell phone service while their so I won't be able to post until I get back. I hope you all have a great week and I will give you all of the details from my camping trip when I return.

See ya in 9 days!!!

Fast Food On A Diet

Many people believe that they can not eat fast food if they are on a diet. I have realized that with the nutritional information that is listed on the Internet for these fast food restaurants anything is possible.

For instance today I was running lots of errands before we go camping and realized that it was 1pm and I hadn't fed my kids. My daughter wanted McDonald's but I find their chicken nuggets are way to expensive. So I decided that we could go through the Burger King Drive Thru and pick up a few things and bring them home.

We like to order off of the dollar menu to save a little money. We also save money buy taking our food home and drinking what we have at the house or taking sippy cups for the girls/water for myself and eat in the car. This also saves a couple dollars.

Today we ordered a four piece nugget, a 2pk Burger Shots, $1.00 Onion Rings, $1.00 french fries and a Whopper Jr. no mayo or cheese. Our total came to $5.78 and we brought it home and had a nice lunch. Of course it wasn't the most healthy lunch but it is a nice treat every once in a while.

My daughters ate the nuggets, burger shots, fries and two of the onion rings. I ate the Whopper Jr. and the rest of the onion rings.

I did learn a very important lesson today. Don't eat the Zesty dipping sauce that comes with the onion rings. I absolutely love that stuff. I could lick it out of the container. Between you and me I really do use my finger to get every last bit out. I know it is kind of gross but it is so addicting. Today I actually put the extra on top of my Whopper Jr. Anyway, the point I am getting to is that the sauce is more points then the actual onion rings. It's crazy. Of course I didn't realize this until I ate every last bit of the sauce.


Besides the sauce I did pretty well point wise. The Whopper was 6 P's and the Onion Rings were 3 P's. And the sauce was a whopping 4 P's. Isn't that nuts? All in all it wasn't to bad. It was a 13 P lunch which sounds like a lot but I only had watermelon for breakfast so I ate 1/2 my P's between breakfast and lunch. Not to bad.


I am loving that I can eat almost anywhere and find out the nutrition information online. I also think it is great that I can order off of the Dollar menu at fast food chains and get myself food that tastes good and that I don't have to feel guilty eating. I think $6.00 for a nice little treat is not bad at all.

Here are some of the links that I found for fast food chains nutrition information:

Burger King
McDonald's
Wendy's
Taco Bell
Arby's
KFC

I hope this helps everyone. Let me know if you know of any other fast food chains that list their info online and I will add it to the list.


What is your favorite Low Calorie Fast Food Meal?

And The Number Is... Week 28 Weigh In

It has been a great week. I ate very healthy all week and I feel great. I think I ate more fruits and veggies this week then I have in the past three weeks. I really feel a difference in my energy level.



My big thing this week was eating lots of Watermelon, grapes and raw almonds as snacks. I was also very careful with my serving sizes at meal time. I think both of these helped.





And the moment you have been waiting for. When I stepped on the scale this morning the number that I saw was 183.5. Wahoo!!! I am super excited. It seemed like my weight was stuck around 190 for the longest time and now I am almost to 180. It is so crazy and exciting. It really has given me that motivation I need to keep moving forward. It is hard when it seems that the scale just won't move or is moving very slowly but if you get over those bumps you will be successful. I think those little bumps in the road are the hardest part of weight loss because you lose motivation when you aren't losing like you thought you would be. Trust me when I say that if you just keep pushing harder the scale will move and you will feel more motivated to keep moving forward.
It is definitely the excitement of seeing the number on the scale go down that keeps me going. I know that the number on the scale shouldn't be my main motivation but to tell you the truth it is right now. Changes in your size of clothing seem to take forever but it is really nice to see the changes on the scale every week. Just to know that what you are doing is really working.




My Week In Review:

1. Exercise:I went on a walk every day. I used my errands as an excuse to go for a walk. We walked one day to the post office, another day we walked to the library and another day we walked to our cable company to return our box (we decided to cancel cable to save money). Then after our errand each day we walked around town. Also, last night after church my husband and I took the girls and the dog for a walk. It has been really nice to give myself that little bit of time to relax.

2. Track My Points Every Day: I tracked almost every day. I wish I could be like I was in the beginning where I tracked every day. Something that I need to work on.
3. Exercise Points: didn't eat them.

4. Water: I drank lots of water.

5. Late night eating: I was up two nights this week eating. I hate it because I wake up hungry and can't go back to sleep until I eat something. The one night I ate Weight Watchers Coconut chocolate candy and a 100 calorie pringle pack and the other night I ate two candies and 2 100 calorie packs. Luckily I had enough points left for them. I guess it was my body telling me I didn't eat enough that day.

6. Snacking: I ate so much fruit this week it is crazy. I have been craving Watermelon and grapes. It's definitely not a bad thing. I also snacked on the Weight Watchers Chocolate's that are way to good. I don't think I will buy them again because I can't control myself. Another great snack this week were the 100 calorie Pringle sticks.

7. Eating more fruits and veggies: I ate a lot of salad and a lot of fruit this week.




What do I need to do this week? Get in tons of exercise when I am camping. It is the only way to counteract those S'mores and hot dogs that I will be eating daily. ;)




My plan for the week is to come back from camping (in 9 days) and be in the 170's. Now that would be awesome. That is my goal. It might sound crazy to lose that much weight while camping but I am really going to work my butt off exercising those 9 days. I know I can do it!




How did you do this week?

Am I Crazy?

You probably have started to wonder where I have been this week. It has just been really crazy around here. Actually my 1 year old is screaming in my ear as I type. I have actually been really busy getting ready for our 9 day camping trip. We leave in just a few days.

I forgot how much work goes into camping. I just remember the fun relaxing memories I had as a kid. I didn't realize that my parents did all of the work. :) Thanks Mom and Dad! I realize now how much effort they put into all of our camping trips.

I still have so much to do. I have to do laundry tomorrow so that we have clothes to take. At least I have 90% of the food purchased. Just the last minute things to get. Tomorrow we are having a bike hitch put on our van so we can take our bikes with us camping. Why didn't someone tell me that it costs $268 for a hitch to be put on before we bought the bikes. That is crazy. It feels like such a waste of money but we did buy the bikes so that we could take them comping. So we decided to pay the $268 an just get it done.

I bought lots of healthy food for the next 9 days. I really need to stay on track while camping. It is going to be awfully hard. I am so used to eating everything in sight when camping. Those were the good old days. I am definitely going to eat a hot dog over the fire (Hebrew National 99% Fat Free), and a S'more every night I just have to watch everything else I eat. I have to stay away from mindless eating which is so easy to do when camping. I did get healthy snacks like raw almonds, pringles 100 calorie sticks (I love!!), Weight Watcher's coconut chocolate candies (which I ate already :( ), fat free chips, apples, grapes, cantaloupe, watermelon and salad mix. My mom and I are also making chicken salad (for sandwiches), egg salad, tuna salad and broccoli salad all with fat free Miracle Whip. I am also make pasta salad with fat dressing, smart start pasta, turkey pepperoni and 2% cheese chunks.

I think I am going to have plenty of healthy food around. I just need to not eat to much of it and stay away from the TastyKakes and Fudge Shop Cookies. :)

I think I will do fine. It is going to be a lot of work for me taking two kids and a dog camping. I am starting to feel a little crazy at the thought of doing it. I will definitely be burning lots of calories chasing the kids around. We plan to get a lot of exercise in. Between walking, biking and hiking I should have enough points left at the end of the day for a hot dog and a S'more.

It is definitely going to be an interesting week. I just hope I can relax a little bit.

I just realized that I am going to miss my first weigh-in in twenty some weeks. Sorry guys. I will update you when we get back. I really hope the scale likes me that day



What do you like to eat while you are camping? I would love to hear some new ideas.

Our Garden

I don't think I mentioned this before but my husband and daughter decided to plant a garden this summer. My daughter really wanted to plant one to "help Mommy save money". :)

We live in a small house in town with a decent sized back yard. It's not huge but good for us. My husband built a little garden area with some wood he bought from Lowe's and bought some plants from a nearby greenhouse. My daughter is so excited to have her very own garden and I am so excited that in a few weeks I will have some fresh veggies.

It's just a little garden but it is going to be really nice to have fresh tomatoes (my favorite). They planted a couple different kinds of tomatoes, some peppers and cabbage but mostly tomatoes.

Do you have a garden this summer? I would love to hear about what you planted and what you do with all of the fresh veggies.

And The Number Is... Week 27 Weigh In

Great week...Rough weigh in. I had a great week. I ate really well and tracked my points. I was really excited for today's weigh in because I really feel like I can see a difference in my weight. Unfortunately to my surprise when I stepped on the scale this morning it said 186. This is a .4 loss for the week. I know I shouldn't be upset or complain but I really was expecting a 2lb loss for the week. I really did that well. I am hoping it is because it is that time of the month.



Either Way it was pretty depressing and discouraging. I worked so hard and the scale isn't showing it. Very Frustrating! I really want to be in the 170's soon and it is just not looking like it is going to happen.





My Week In Review:

1. Exercise:: I had a lot of exercise this week. Not my usual gym exercise but instead we were on the move non-stop since Friday. Between picnics, visiting the in-laws, getting ready for jewelry parties and our camping trip the end of next week it has been nuts around here. It's a great kind of nuts but it's been very tiring.

2. Track My Points Every Day: Almost :)

3. Exercise Points:

4. Water: I drank lots of water.

5. Late night eating: I think I got up once this week and ate a piece of apple spice cake. The worst part is that I'm not sure if it really happened, if it was a dream or if I just wanted to and didn't do it. That's how crazy my week has been. I really need some sleep.

6. Snacking: I got three boxes of Klondike 100 cal ice cream treats on sale at my grocery store. Then I got a coupon for three dollars off my next purchase. It brought the ice cream treats to about $2.00 a box. They are amazing and have been my snacks through out the week.

7. Eating more fruits and veggies: I think I could have done better with the fruits and veggies this week. I did good just not great.



What do I need to do this week? Exercise, Exercise, Exercise. Actually I am off for a walk right now. It is beautiful out.




My plan for the week is to keep off the weight that I am pretty sure I lost (just not showing yet) and then lose a little more. I am hoping for a 3 pound loss next week. That would bring me to 183. I think I might fall over if I see that number on the scale. It just sounds so low from where I started. :) It's funny, in my head 186 sounds like a lot but 183 sounds good. I guess I'm just odd.



The good thing about this week is that I don't have any picnics planned. That doesn't mean anything around here. There always seems to be a last minute picnic going on.

I hope you all had a wonderful week!

Freezing Veggies To Save Money

We all know how expensive frozen vegetable have gotten lately so I thought I would write about Freezing Veggies from the Garden to save money.

Honestly this is all new to me. In the past I didn't have time to plant, pick or freeze vegetables. I just bought them at the grocery store and didn't think much of it. Now that I am a Stay At Home Mom and on a budget I need to find ways to save money. This is just another way that I have found to lower my grocery bill.

My in-laws own a large grain farm about an hour and twenty minutes from my house. Every year they plant a huge garden and freeze all of their vegetable to eat through out the year. This year they asked us if we would like to come pick some peas and Green beans and strawberries to freeze for the year. Of course we jumped right on that.

So this past Saturday we went to their house very early in the morning (before our picnic) and picked peas and Green beans (we did the strawberries a few weeks ago). I really shouldn't say we picked them because that is not completely true. My in-laws, my husband and my oldest daughter picked them and I entertained the baby.

My daughter had a blast as you can see from the pictures. She loved eating the raw peas. I had to make her stop eating them because I was afraid that she would get an upset stomach.

I found out this weekend that freezing vegetables is not as easy as it sounds. It took a long time to pick, shell, blanch and bag all of the veggies. But if you have the time it is definitely worth it. Having those vegetables in the freezer is going to save us a lot of money through out the year.

My husband and Mother-In-Law blanched the veggies so I really can't tell you how it is done but if you click here and check out this site it will give you step by step instructions.

If you don't have your own garden you can visit your local farmer's market and buy in bulk and freeze. You may be able to get a better deal when buying in bulk if you ask.

The best part of Freezing your own vegetables is that you have fresh tasting vegetables year round. They are much better tasting then the ones you buy at the grocery store.

I Love This Cake!!!

Can you tell that I am excited about this cake? I am ecstatic that I found a cake that is so inexpensive, easy to make and tastes so amazing.

Yesterday I wanted to make a spice cake. I found a recipe on the Weight Watchers Message boards a few months ago where you mix a spice cake and pumpkin for a low Point cake. I bought the spice cake and pumpkin a few weeks ago but never made the cake. So yesterday I looked up the recipe on the WW Message boards again to make sure I made it correctly and I accidentally found a recipe of Apple Spice Cake.

The recipe called for one boxed Spice Cake and one can of Sugar Free Apple Pie filling (sweetened with Splenda). I was so excited because I have had a can of this pie filling for months and I didn't know what to do with it. I was just so excited that Walmart sold their own brand of sugar free pie filling that I bought it. Sugar Free pie filling is so expensive so if you can find the store brand usually you can get it at a great price.



Spice Cake:

1 boxed Spice Cake
1 can Sugar Free Apple Pie Filling (try to find the store brand)
2 TBSP of water
Fat Free Cool Whip (again, try to find store brand)

Use mixer to mix cake mix and apple pie filling. I added about 2 TBSP of water to it to make it a little easier to mix. Put batter in an 11x13 pan and bake for approx. 20-25 minutes. Cut into 18 slices for 3 P's a piece or cut into 24 slices for 2 P's a piece. Top with 2 TBSP's of Cool Whip for an Amazing Dessert.




This cake was a perfect after dinner dessert. It was still a little warm when we ate it and the Cool Whip was such a great addition to the cake. I think I am going to keep the three ingredients on hand at all times for those short notice invites that we receive. It is a perfect dessert to take to a picnic or a nice dinner at a friends house. The best part is that you can bake it right before you leave and you don't have to worry about letting it cool first. Another plus is that it looks beautiful when it comes out of the oven. You can see all of the spices and the apple pieces. No one would ever guess that it is a boxed cake or that it is low fat.

I am so excited to have found this recipe and the whole cake including the Cool Whip only cost me about $4.00. You can't beat that. I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do.



What is your favorite Boxed Cake Recipe?

My Exciting Weekend!

I'm sorry I haven't been around in a couple days. My husband had off work on Friday, Sat. and Sunday because of the Holiday so we were very busy.

This is what we did on Friday.

We bought a minivan!!!

I am so excited. Look at the picture below and you will know why. This is me putting the kids in their car seats in our two door car. Not fun! We have needed a van for a while and just couldn't afford it. So now you can see why I am so thrilled to have a minivan. No more crawling in a two door car and stretching to get the kids buckled up. Honestly I'm not sure how I fit in the back seat to do it. It was worse when I was 9 months pregnant. So embarrassing! I told my husband that there is probably an imprint of my butt in the back of the drivers side seat. :) I'm so glad those days are over and I hope they make me appreciate my new van more.

This of course was the most exciting part of the weekend but we also went to three picnics. I am so picnicked out. I decided to bring the same side dish to each picnic. I think you will all love it. I really wish I would have taken a picture. I got the idea from Panara Bread. They make an awesome low fat Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad. It is Romain Lettuce, Mandarin oranges, Strawberry's (quartered), pineapple tidbits, blueberries, whole pecans and fat free poppy seed dressing. It is so easy to make. You just throw a little of everything on top of the lettuce, pour on the dressing and mix up. It was a big hit at all three picnics and I was able to enjoy something that was low fat and tasted great.

What Low-Fat sides did you bring/serve at your picnics this weekend?

And The Number Is... Week 26 Weigh In

I'm sorry about the suspense this morning. I was just so excited I had to tell all of you. Biz319 you guessed it. I lost 30 Pounds. That's right I have officially lost 30 Pounds!!! My weight this morning was 186.4. It seems weird to think about. 6 months ago I really wasn't sure if I would make it this far but here I am. It really doesn't seem real that I lost that much weight.

I guess I really have to get a new update picture. I'm sure many of you are wondering why it was so easy for me but so hard for you. I want to tell all of you that the last few months have not been easy. They have actually been extremely hard and it gets harder every day. The weight is just now falling off as fast as it was in the beginning. I think a lot of the problem is that I am not working as hard as I was in the beginning.

Onto my week. It was a pretty good week. I stayed on plan the majority of the days and the other days I didn't do awful. It is so hard during the summer with all of the picnics. I try to make something healthy for the picnics but I always end up eating everything else.



My Week In Review:


1. Exercise:: I went on several walks this past week while in New York.
2. Track My Points Every Day:
3. Exercise Points:

4. Water: I drank lots of water.

5. Late night eating: I fought it this week and guess what? I won!!! It's a big success for me.

6. Snacking: Didn't snack much this week because I need to go to the grocery store.

7. Eating more fruits and veggies: I ate tons of veggies this week. I was really craving them.

My next goal is obviously to get down 35 pounds but most importantly I don't want to gain next week. I plan on working really hard this week to lose another 2 pounds. I just can't wait until I can stop losing and start maintaining. I just hope it comes quickly.

Hope you all have a great week.

Week 26 Weigh In

I am so excited about this weeks weigh in. I am in a hurry to run out the door I am actually running 30 minutes late already so I won't be able to post until this evening. I just wanted to let you all know that it's been a good week and that I will post more later. :)

Weigh In Day Is Tomorrow???

Wow, time really does fly. I was thinking that I had a few more days until I had to weigh in. Oh well, I think it is going to be a decent weigh in. I have done pretty good this week aside from the few times that I ate unhealthy. I am excited to see what I weigh. I really want to get down enough to be able to say that I have lost 30 pounds. :) I also need to fit into that bridesmaid dress in August.

The party went great last night. It was really tiring just because I got home from New York so late the night before, my daughter gets up pretty early and I was working on preparing for the party and cleaning all day. So by the time 9pm rolled around I was feeling very tired.

I ended up stopping at Dunkin Donuts before the party and got myself a coffee (to wake me up) and an veggie, egg white flat bread sandwich. I figured if I ate before then I wouldn't pig out when I got to the party. It worked. I ended up eating 2 deviled eggs while I was their.

I am addicted to these sandwiches. I am so excited that I can grab something that tastes that good when I am on the road. I paid $3.99 for the coffee and sandwich and it was so filling that I didn't need anything else. Not bad for a low fat meal (especially if this is your dinner). The veggie egg white flat bread had 290 calories, 9 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber. It is very low in points (it might be a little high for breakfast but great for lunch or dinner). The Turkey sausage egg white flat bread is actually lower in fat and calories. I haven't tried it yet but it had 260 calories, 6 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber. The points value are exactly the same.

I know a lot of you are wondering how I did with my party last night. I did very well. I made about $250.00. I will get the final number on Tuesday when the rest of the orders are in. I am very happy about the way things went. It was a lot of fun to hang out with a bunch of ladies that love trying jewelry on. It really doesn't feel much like a job and $250.00 for a 2 hour party is not bad. I think my last party I made about $240.00. The company says that an average party is about $225. So I guess I am going to have some big ones and then I will have some smaller ones. Thanks so much for all of you who wished me luck!