Fibromyalgia, Medicine, And Weight Loss

This post is a difficult one for me to write. When I started my blog almost a year ago I decided that I would not mention anything about my medical history on here. I don't like pity and I didn't want to start pitying myself. So I kind of kept this a secret from all of you for the past year.

I'm sure by the title of this post you have already guessed my secret. I have a disease called Fibromyalgia. If you haven't ever heard of Fibromyalgia here is the definition from the Mayo Clinic "Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain in your muscles, ligaments and tendons, as well as fatigue and multiple tender points — places on your body where slight pressure causes pain.
Fibromyalgia occurs in about 2 percent of the population in the United States. Women are much more likely to develop the disorder than are men, and the risk of fibromyalgia increases with age. Fibromyalgia symptoms often begin after a physical or emotional trauma, but in many cases there appears to be no triggering event. "

I was diagnosed in December or 2005 when I was 25 years old and have suffered with it ever since. It is a horrible, painful disease and I hate the fact that I have to live with it for the rest of my life. What I hate even more is that it not only effects me but it effects my whole family. My husband and children suffer because I can't do things that I should be able to because of my pain or fatigue. I try to prevent this from happening at all costs. That is why I seem to have so many flair ups. I am determined to not let my family suffer from this disease. I am going to fight it at all costs because my kids deserve to have a great childhood. Not one where they have to worry about how their Mother is feeling.

You are probably wondering why I would keep this a secret. Well, like I said earlier I don't want to pity myself. The second I start to pity myself and act like I have a disease I start to feel depressed and even more pain and fatigue. If I fight it and pretend that I am not any different I can function so much better. I know it sounds crazy but I have done both and pretending I am normal seems to work best. I can't stand being depressed and this disease causes me to fight every day to not fall into that path.

For months I have felt like I should share a little about my disease because I know that there are so many others that suffer from the same thing and maybe we can do this together.
Weight loss isn't easy and it definitely isn't easy when you have Fibromyalgia. I will give you a few reason why:

1. Sometimes it is so hard to move let alone exercise because of the pain.
2. Fatigue and lack of sleep from Fibromyalgia makes it so hard to not have a "tired binge".
3. Fighting the depression that comes along with Fibromyalgia makes it hard to not overeat. When I am depressed I want to eat. Because I am determined to not get depressed and not take meds for it I sometimes find myself falling into it and wanting to eat. Luckily I am able to pull myself out of it and get back to eating healthy but for some people it is a lot harder.
4. Medication: This is the one that I struggle with the most. I take the medication Lyrica. Unfortunately a side effect is weight gain from an increased appetite.


I have been on Lyrica for about 2 1/2 years (minus pregnancy and breast feeding time). When I first started taking Fibromyalgia I gained about 25 pounds very quickly. I was working a stressful job and love to eat so I didn't think much of it until my Rhuematoligist told me that I gained that weight to quickly for it to be normal weight gain. That is when she told me that a side effect of Lyrica is weight gain from an increase in appetite. I guess I should have read the label. After I had my daughter I decided to go back on the medicine because I couldn't handle the pain without it. I knew the side effects but I didn't know what else to do. At that time the only FDA Approved med was Lyrica. I ended up gaining about 15 pounds this time. This was before I started my weight loss journey.

About 4 months ago my Lyrica seemed to have stopped working. My Rheumatoligist decided to double my Lyrica dose. As you can see by my weight loss in the past few months this has been a major struggle for me. I just want to eat all of the time. It is awful. Something that I am still fighting.

My Rheumatologist has just decided to switch my medication to Cymbalta instead of Lyrica because the Lyrica seems to not be helping with the pain and Fatigue anymore. I am really excited to try something new. When I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia we had no FDA Approved drugs to take for it. I started out taking a pain killer that was awesome at first and then I eventually got addicted to it. This is why I have sworn off pain killers for the rest of my life. I get addicted to easily and coming off something you are addicted to is the hardest thing to do. Now we have three FDA approved meds. Lyrica, Cymbalta and Salvella. The last two I think became approved sometime this year.

I will start the Cymbalta probably sometime next week and I can't wait to see if it helps with my pain and fatigue. That would be awesome! I don't remember what is like to live with out pain but I would love to experience it again. I can't say that I am not excited about the fact that Cymbalta does not have a side effect of increased appetite. It actually has a possible side effect of decreased appetite. I have never had a decreased appetite in my life. :) So it will be very interesting to see if I have that side effect. But most importantly I want to get rid of the pain.


I hope I didn't ramble on to much about this subject. I just wanted to share with all of you some of my struggles so you can understand my whole story. I hope I have helped some of you by sharing with my struggles with Fibromyalgia. If anyone has questions I would love to try to answer them and if anyone has any advice I would love to hear it.

Thanks!

Check Out Jenn's Weight Loss Tips

I just read a great post that I wanted to share with you. It was very inspiring to me. Jenn at "Watch My Butt Shrink" wrote a post today about her top weight loss tips. She really has some great tips that have worked for her. Jenn is on a journey to lose 100 pounds. So far she has lost 31.6 pounds and still going strong. I love her blog and I think you will too. Click here to read her helpful weight loss tips. I think they will be really helpful to everyone trying to lose weight.

A Credit Card Free Christmas!!!

Sorry I have been gone so long. This Christmas was just so crazy I didn't even have a chance to sit down to the computer to post anything. I had such big plans to post everything I ate the over Christmas and somehow I completely forgot. And by forgot I mean forgot to post and forgot how to eat healthy. :)

On Christmas Eve I woke up with a very upset stomach. I had it the whole night so I didn't get much sleep. It did not make for good last minute Christmas Shopping. Unfortunately I had to wait until Christmas Eve when my husband got paid to get the rest of my gifts purchased. On the up side we survived Christmas without using any Credit Cards for the first time in the 7 1/2 years we have been married. It was an awesome feeling! The best part of it was when my husband and I got all of the presents up from the basement to wrap. My husband said to me "I have to say that I am very impressed. I didn't realize that you got this much stuff.". It felt so great that he finally realized how hard I have been working for the past several months budgeting our money to make it a great Christmas for our family.

Sorry, I somehow got myself on a different subject. Anyway, I did the awful last minute shopping thing with an upset stomach and a cranky 1 year old. Fun, Fun! By the time we were done at Walmart everyone was telling my daughter that she looked like a Christmas tree. you are probably wondering why. Being the smart Mommy that I am I gave her a green marker and a tablet to color in and then didn't pay much attention to the fact that she had colored all over her shirt, face and hands with it. It was kind of funny! It all washed off and it kept her happy for the 3 hour walmart trip.

On Christmas Eve night my Mom made my whole family dinner. We had Pork and Sour Kraut, mashed potatoes and baked corn. I didn't eat any of it because my stomach wasn't feeling good. Then we went to my Aunts house for our family's Christmas Eve party. I had a good time chasing my 1 year old around in circles for about two hours. :-) I did have a few minutes to eat two meatballs, two pieces of shrimp, some broc/cauliflower casserole and a slice of chocolate chip cheesecake. It was plenty of food but nothing compared to what I would normally eat. I was kind of happy that my stomach didn't feel good.

On Christmas day I made a very fattening Ham and Cheese puff casserole for my family and they loved it. It was great! It is one of my Grandmothers recipes. She is such a good cook! For lunch we went to my Mom's house and had turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato yum yum, baked corn, and Tuzzie's bread. Again, my stomach didn't feel good but I was able to enjoy two servings of stuffing with gravy. Yum!!!

Later on I started to feel better so we got snacks out. A cheese ball and crackers, baked potato dip and chips, cookies, chocolate, and I can't remember what else but I'm sure their was more. Can you tell that my family likes food??? I ate so much that I felt sick.

In the evening we went to my Grandparents house and I had a few slices of cold ham and cheese, two meatballs and some macaroni salad. I'm sure I burned it all of chasing my 1 year old around. I was so afraid she would break something.

You would think that would have been the end of the Celebrations but it was just the beginning. The next day my in-laws came to visit. They brought the best Bologna (with cheese in the middle) and cheese, cookies, a veggie tray with some great dips. I made meatballs and perigees and we has such a great day relaxing at the house. It felt good to be home and not have to chase my daughter around.

To end the celebrations yesterday we had a Christmas party with my Sunday School Class. It was so much fun and we had tons of great food. It was a really nice way to end the Christmas Holiday. Until next weekend that is. :). Next weekend we have Mammy's Christmas party (Mammy past away in May and we are continuing her Christmas party tradition). It will be sad to not have her their but it will be nice to see all of our family.

Sorry this post is so long. It was a wonderful crazy Christmas and now it is time to relax. Honestly I had a really rough time getting out of bed this morning. I am having a flair up and when it happens it takes me several days to several weeks to recover. I am praying it is only days because I really want to get back to the gym in a few days. For now I am going to just lay around and enjoy my girls.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Celebrate!!!

Just a quick blog to tell all of my followers "Merry Christmas!". I hope you all have a wonderful time with family and friends and enjoy the true meaning of Christmas. Not the gifts and the food (although that is fun too) but the birth of Jesus. What a wonderful gift we were given on the night Jesus was born. Let's Celebrate that gift!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Mission Accomplished!

My fridge is officially cleaned. If you missed yesterday's post click here to view the pictures of my fridge before I cleaned and organized it. It took a few hours but I cleaned all of the old stuff out, washed the dishes and scrubbed the entire thing down. You would not believe how much food I had to throw away because it was old, outdated or freezer burned. It was sickening. I don't ever want to let it get that bad again. It was hard work but I am so happy that it is done. I feel so much better.



I can't wait to start saving money by keeping my fridge clean!

My Clean Fridge

My Clean Freezer

Saving Money By Cleaning Your Fridge

I really need to clean my fridge out. Did you ever think about how much money you can save just by keeping your fridge clean. Make sure you read to the bottom of this post.


(My Grandmother is probably rolling over in her grave as I am posting these pictures. She was a clean freak and as much as I would love to be I don't have time to be. I'm not a dirty person. I am just real. I have two small kids that come first and I am a work from home mom. Sometimes everything else gets put on hold. Like my fridge unfortunately. Please remember this when you look at the pictures. :) )





If you are anything like me you go in the fridge to cook dinner and move things around a little until you find what you are looking for. Imagine not having to move things around. Imagine just looking in your fridge and being able to spot everything that is in there with just a glance. That would be a dream come true for me.





Every week I get so mad at myself because I find the leftover watermelon from two weeks ago or some leftover rice that we could have had with dinner a few night ago. I always seem to be wasting something. It is very aggravating. Imagine how much money I could save if I would have used that package of 3 tomatoes and the head of lettuce before they went bad.




My challenge for the day is to clean out my fridge and freezer. That means take everything out, scrub every surface of the fridge and freezer, throw out anything that is outdated or obviously has gone bad, and rearrange everything else in so that I know where it is when I need it.





If you are still wondering how you can save money by cleaning out your fridge. Think about how many bottles of half eaten salad dressing you throw away each year. Usually because you can't find it until it is expired of course. Think about how many times you buy ketchup because you think you are out of it and come to find out you have three half used bottles in the back of the fridge. How about the number or half eaten salsa, relish and pickle jars you throw away each year. If you are like me several times a year you probably throw out the old freezer burned half eaten ice cream that got hidden in the back of the freezer. Imagine if you could see it and eat it when it is still good instead of having to buy more. Just yesterday my husband bought himself a new bottle of light ranch salad dressing because he thought we didn't have any. Here it was way back in the back of the fridge on it's side. Now we have two almost full bottles and I'm sure one will expire before my husband uses it. My list could seriously go on and on.

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Having a cluttered fridge can cost you possibly a few hundred dollars a year. Please join with me on this Challenge of keeping our fridge clean and saving money at the same time.

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Meet My Fridge:

I will post more pictures when it is nice and clean. It may take me a few days. Just Kidding :)

I Made A Huge Mistake Or Maybe Two

Yesterday was a bad day. For one thing I was drugged with my cough medicine with codeine for most of the day. That did not help matters at all. Especially since I had to leave the house and take my baby to the Doctor's. She has a sinus infection and is now on amoxicilon. Then from 5:30 until 10pm I babysat my niece and nephew. They were really good. It was just hard because I was so tired.

You are probably wondering what my huge mistake was. I'm sure you have already figured out it involves food. Well, all day yesterday I ate just about everything I could get my hands on. Ok, maybe it wasn't that bad but what I ate was so high in fat that it may as well have been that bad. I skipped breakfast. Ate a burger with bacon and cheese and broccoli salad for lunch and half of a piece of German Chocolate cake for dessert. Then I ate about a dozen (small) chocolate chip cookies throughout the day. Then I ate a McFish sandwich from McDonald's for dinner. It isn't that I ate a ton of food it was that I made really poor choices in what I ate.

My daughters making Christmas Cookies yesterday!

On the up side I decided to start my day off right this morning. I didn't take the cough medicine with codeine last night and I feel much better. I woke up and had a cup of hot tea and two pieces of reduced fat toast w/ 2 teaspoons of peanut butter. It was a good start to a good day. I plan to eat well all day even when I am feeling stressed.

It is going to snow today so I plan to stay home and enjoy being able to relax. I am so excited because I just got this new cookbook in the mail that I will be reviewing on the site. I can't wait to read it and then post it for all of you to see. There might even be a giveaway involved. :0).

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What do you do after having a bad day of eating? Do you do anything special to get back on track? I would love any advice any of you could give me. I seem to be having way to many of these days lately.

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And The Number Is....Week 50 Weigh In

It has been a tough week for me. I have been physically drained from this virus. I am actually starting to feel better today. I think the second dose of antibiotics is working. I was just contemplating on whether or not I will go to the gym. I really want to but I don't think my lungs are ready for it. I can't risk it with my asthma.

I feel like such a bum. I have been sick for over a month now and I only made it to the gym once and that is when I started to feel a little better. Right before I got sicker. I have to say that this is the most inconvenient time to get sick for a month. The month leading up to Christmas is the craziest and I have just felt like laying around and doing nothing. Obviously I can't do that so it has been really hard trying to keep up with my normal life and Christmas.

I was pleasantly surprised when I got on the scale this morning. It said 179.8. I can't complain. That is a .4 loss and I certainly did not deserve it. I know I ate to many points several days. I guess it all evened itself out. I'm not sure how but I'm not complaining or stepping on the scale again to double check. :0)



My Week In Review:

1. Exercise: No - my lungs can't take it yet. I've been having enough trouble breathing during regular activities.

2. Water: Yes

3. Late night eating: No

4. Snacking: I ate some very unhealthy snacks this week.

5. Eating more fruits and veggies: No. I just haven't cared to.


What do I need to work on for next week:

This coming week is Christmas. I'm sure I won't be able to make it to the gym until after Christmas. Which really stinks.
My plan is to not eat everything in sight this year. It is going to be so hard. Fortunately I have a 1 year old that can't sit still and when we are at other peoples houses I have to constantly be chasing her around. It doesn't leave very much time for me to relax and eat. I am going to make healthy choices and I am going to post all of them (healthy and unhealthy) on "What Pudget Eats" so that you can all see what kind of choices I made. Make sure you go to "What Pudget Eats" and become a follower. This way you won't miss out on seeing how I do. That and it will keep me more accountable if I know you are all watching me. :)

Chicken Salad with Craisins

Check out this picture. It is the chicken salad that I made a few days ago. You have to try this recipe. It tastes like something that you would get at a restaurant.

It was so easy to make. I boiled the chicken and chopped it with my Tupperware Quick Chef. I love that thing. You throw the chicken in and spin it a few times and walla: The chicken is done.

Then you add these two ingredients to the chicken and a little salt and pepper.

Craisins and Fat Free Plain Yogurt

I never heard of putting yogurt in chicken salad instead of mayo. Honestly it sounds pretty gross. Nyky over at The Crazy Crabb gave me the recipe and said it was so good. So I decided to give it a try. To my surprise it was amazing. I will never make Chicken Salad with Mayo ever again. I actually like this better and it is better for me. The craisins are great in it also. It gives it that little sweetness. I bet grapes or apples would also taste good in it. You have to give it a try!!!

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How do you make your chicken salad?

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Bobbing For Marshmallows!

I will not eat everything in sight. I will not eat everything in sight. I will not eat everything in sight. It's really sad but this is what I have been telling myself all day.

I am feeling a little better today but unfortunately I still feel like crap and I am very tired. For some reason today I feel like I need to eat everything and anything. It is kind of weird because my stomach is a little upset from my antibiotic. Why can't I ever get the good kind of virus. The kind that makes you not want to eat. Just kidding. About the other kind of virus anyway. :)

Today I am determined to fight this urge. I started my day off with two pieces of light bread and two teaspoons of peanut butter. Then I had six Hershey Kisses while I was working with a help technician for a new computer program. For lunch I had cheese and pretzel twists. I love those pretzel twists. They taste good with anything. Now it is 4 pm and I haven't made any dinner. I guess I should start something because I know I will be hungry again very soon. I really want to eat the salad mix in my fridge but it just doesn't sound good.

I guess I didn't eat as much as I thought today. I ate a little to much cheese but on the up side I finished it off so now I can't eat anymore. I really am going to try my best to stay on track for the rest of the night. I am going to be very busy doing games tonight at my Church's Childrens program. It is there Christmas party tonight and am going to have them bobbing for marshmallows in hot chocolate. It is going to be so much fun.

I will let you know tomorrow on "What Pudget Eats" how I do the rest of the night. Wish me luck!

I Need To Get Healthy

I have been sick for exactly four weeks. This is nuts! How can I be expected to function like everything is normal when it isn't. I have felt like crap for four weeks and I am about to go crazy. I can't exercise, I don't want to eat healthy, I don't want to do anything. I am so out of energy. It is Christmas time and I haven't baked cookies or even sent out Christmas cards. I feel like I am missing my favorite time of year.

Yesterday my doctor put me on a second antibiotic and if I don't start feeling better by tomorrow I need to get some chest x-rays done. I just want to get better fast. I want to enjoy Christmas.

As you can see (by clicking here) this cold is affecting what I am eating. Who wants to eat salad when they have a sore throat or anything healthy for that matter when you feel sick. I just don't have the energy to put into it right now. Hopefully in a few days I will have my energy back and my motivation to lose weight. In the mean time please don't think I have given up on my weight loss because I am binging on cupcakes.

Healthy Product Review: TupperWave Stack Cooker Starter Set

When I was asked to review the TupperWave Stack Cooker Set by Tupperware I was a little skeptical on how I could use this product to make low fat food in the microwave. Let me just tell you that it is possible! This is a picture of chocolate diet soda cake that I made today in the Stack Cooker. Just mix a chocolate cake mix with a can of diet soda and then pour into the stack cooker and cook in the microwave for about 8-10 minutes. It turned out great and so easy! It is perfect for a quick dessert when you have company.

This product is awesome and I am so excited to now own one and be able to share this review with you. I have to say that this is my favorite product review yet! I will never ever make a cake in the oven again. Why would I when I can make one in my new TupperWave Stack Cooker in less then half the time with less clean up. Not only that but it saves me money on my gas bill.

Check out my pictures below. You would never guess by the way these cakes taste or look that they are made in the microwave. I made them all for members of my family and not one of them realized that I made them in the microwave. They just thought it was a normal cake.

I really can't say enough good about this product. I really love it! I am so excited to use it for anything and everything. You can do so much with it I don't know where to start. You can even cook your meat in it. How cool is that? I want to get the rest of the set because then I can make a complete meal in my microwave. The TupperWave® Stack Cooker Complete Set comes with an awesome cookbook (that I really want). It tells you step by step how to make a complete meal in the microwave in three little stackable bowls. It is so neat!

As you already know I am very honest about my product reviews. I would never promote something that I don't feel would be worth your money. So believe me when I tell you that this product is worth every penny. It is the neatest kitchen device I have ever owned!

Apple Spice Cake:

1 can of no sugar added apple pie filling (w/ splenda)

1 spice cake mix

2 TBSP of water

Mix together and pour into Stack cooker. Microwave for 10-12 minutes.

I have some great news! Today until Sunday 12/20/09 Nyky at The Crazy Crabb is offering a great special. When you use the code "Pudget" you will receive a free $10.00 Tupperware E-Certificate with the purchase of a complete Stack Cooker Set. All you need to do is visit Nyky's Tupperware site by clicking here. Then place your order and email Nyky your order confirmation number at thecrazycrabb@yahoo.com and make sure to mention the word "Pudget".

Thanks Nyky for allowing me to review this incredible product. My whole family has thoroughly enjoyed it. :)

And The Number Is......Week 49 Weigh In

Wow, I can't believe that next week will be the 50th week of my weight loss journey. Time really does fly.

I had an ok week this week. I did try my best to stay on track but being sick and having sick children who can't sleep really takes a toll on you. Story of my life! You can see what I ate this week and where I struggled by following my blog, "What Pudget Eats".

When I got on the scale yesterday I weighed 180.2. That is a .8 gain. Honestly I'm not surprised. It's that time of the month and I overdid it with the midnight snacking more then once this week.

I'm going to the Doctors today because I have laryngitis and probably bronchitis. Hopefully I will get some medicine so that I can get back to feeling normal and sleeping again.


My Week In Review:

1. Exercise: Yes, I went to the gym once and did Jillian Micheals one time. I don't think I will be exercising again until I get rid of this cough. Right now I can barely talk without having a coughing fit.

2. Water: some days

3. Late night eating: Yes - see my blog "What Pudget Eats".

4. Snacking: I did eat healthy snacks most of the time. It's the bologna and cheese and midnight snacking that killed me this week.

5. Eating more fruits and veggies: Yes, I eat lots of veggies and watermelon.


What do I need to work on for next week:

Start feeling better. Then go to the gym and get lots of exercise in and maybe even some Jillian Micheals.

Don't Avoid It

I made myself do Jillian Micheals 30 Day Shred and I survived! I also made myself do level 2. I wasn't willing to admit that I may not be able to do level 2 anymore because I really haven't been working out like I used to. The best part (besides the ending) was that I was still able to do level 2. I felt like I was going to die by the end and I may be in pain from it tomorrow but I did it!

It really felt awesome to have a good workout. If any of you are feeling the way I was and avoiding exercise because you are to afraid to find out if you lost your strength. Don't do it. If you can't do it as well as you used to then you know that you need to work on it a little but most likely you will still be able to do it to an extent. Jump back in there and you will see how much better you feel.

Sorry about the crazy post. I think I am just on a high from exercising again. It feels so good!!!

I'm even sorrier for this picture. My, " I just completed level 2 of Jillian Micheals 30 Day Shred and I am proud of it", picture. Please if you know me personally pretend that you didn't see this post. At least don't tell me that you saw it. :) I'm such a nut. I just really don't like people to see me before I am showered and have makeup on and my hair done.

No Sleep = No Exercise

I didn't go to exercise last night. I know I should have but the 3 1/2 hours of sleep that I got just wasn't enough to keep me going all day. On the up side I got lots of sleep last night and feel very rested today. It snowed last night so I'm not going to venture out to the gym this morning but I think I may do some Jillian Micheals. I kind of miss doing her workout. I know I will regret saying that in a few hours.

My eating wasn't to bad yesterday but the binging to keep myself awake the night before threw me over my points big time. I still have to post yesterday's eats on "What Pudget Eats". I will do that in a few minutes so you can all see how bad my binge actually was. :)

Well today is a new day. I am going to eat well and get some exercise in. I don't know about you but if I exercise in the morning I much more likely to eat well that day. I think that on those days I don't want to ruin my hard work. That and I feel better about myself when I exercise. When I am not feeling good about myself I tend to eat so much more.

I'm thinking about getting a new workout video. I think it's going to be a long winter so I would like to have a few back ups for when I can't leave the house. I have a Wii fit and I have seen that they have some workout videos for that. Maybe I will have to look into it a little more.

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What is your favorite Workout Video? I think it would be wonderful to get a list together of all of our favorite videos. It would be very helpful to look at a list of good ones to choose from.

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I Need To Go To The Gym

It is so cold today and I am really having a hard time getting motivated to exercise at the gym tonight. I had planned to go this morning and this evening but my baby was up until 3 in the morning. She didn't feel well. The poor baby is having a hard time getting over this head cold. She actually seems much better today.

I'm sure you can figure out what I did to stay awake with her from about 10pm -3am. If you guess that I binged you are right. I don't know why I feel the need to do this when I am really tired. Does anyone else have this problem? Check out my new blog, "What Pudget Eats", later tonight to find out what I binged on.

Needless to say I didn't make it to the gym this morning. I was just way to tired this morning to get up early enough to pack my gym bag along with everything else I needed to pack. It was probably because I took prescription cough medicine at 3am because I couldn't stop coughing and then had to get up at 6:30am. It's a good thing I only took half the dose.

I ended up going for breakfast at Cracker Barrel this morning with my sister. We had a good time and for $5.99 my daughter and I had 3 eggs (I think I forgot to order the egg beaters :( ), two turkey sausage patties and two slices of wheat toast with jelly. I ate the majority. My daughter had about 1/3 of the eggs and a little toast. It was a great brunch. I think I ate more points then I should have so I will have to take it easy with dinner tonight.

Now I guess I have to do a little research to find out how many points I used already today. This isn't going to be an easy task.

Have a great day!!!

Check Out My New Blog!

Today I started a new blog called "What Pudget Eats". It is my way of making myself accountable for what I eat.

So every day be sure to check out what I ate and how I did. I hope you all enjoy seeing what I eat every day. I can't guarantee that it will be pretty but it will be truthful.

Enjoy!!!

Product Review: Herbalife Healthy Meal Shake

I am so excited about the product review I did today. I tried a product from Herbalife. It was a Healthy Meal Nutritional Shake Mix. The flavor I had today was Cafe Latte and it was awesome.

I mixed the shake mix with 1 Cup of Milk in my blender and then added 4or 5 ice cubes. When I opened the lid the shake smelled amazing. Just like coffee. I was a little skeptical at first about what a powder shake would taste like but when I took my first sip I was shocked. It was wonderful. It was one of those things that you can't stop drinking until it is gone. I think I may be craving these in the future. I really do need to place an order because these shakes are great and so are the herbal tea concentrates. Click here to read my review on them.

Emmett, who runs Herbalife Las Vegas also sent me the French Vanilla Healthy Meal Nutritional Shake mix. I can't wait to make this one and throw in some frozen fruit. I think it will be delish!

I have to say that I drank my shake about an hour and a half ago and I still feel really full. That is awesome! Especially since the mix only has 90 calories, 1 gram of fat and 3 grams of fiber. It is definitely a reasonable snack for me point wise. I hope it will help me to only eat one piece of pizza for dinner tonight. I am having a lazy day and decided to order pizza.

This is what the Herablife website says about the Healthy Meal Nutritional Shake Mix "Nutritional shakes that combine the benefits of personalized nutrition with convenience so you can enjoy healthy, delicious meals. Herbalife Formula 1 shakes listed here. Herbalife has developed the number one diet shake and is proven and trusted nearly 30 years. Herbalife shakes have 8 different flavors to choose from. Pick A Shake any Shake! Herbalife Shakes formulated by science. Herbalife Formula 1 shakes have been clinically proven to help loose weight! Herbalife Shakes are great for nutrition supplementaion.".






If you are interested in trying these shakes click here. Herbalife Las Vegas has 8 different flavors to choose from and you can either order them in the packets or in a big canister.



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This Is Exactly What I Needed To Hear!

Click Here to check out this post at Oh She Glow's. Angela wrote a great post on How To Stay Healthy Over The Holidays. This is just what I needed. Like I said earlier I really have trouble with this time of year. It is way to easy to go overboard on everything. Check out her post I found it very helpful.

Bologna And Cheese Are Not My Friends!

When you eat enough bologna and cheese to gain two pounds overnight you know there is a problem. Why does that stuff taste so good?

I had been craving bologna and cheese for a few days so my husband went to the grocery store during a snow storm to get me some. I told him not to because I couldn't eat it but he wouldn't take no for an answer. I think he was sabotaging me. Maybe not on purpose but he did. He doesn't realize that I am not like him. I can't just say no thank you when it is something I really want. I do much better if I don't buy it and it is not in my house. If I get stressed or haven't eaten in a while or both at the same time I stop caring about my weight loss and I just eat whatever I want. And once I start there is no stopping me. I figure, well I already ruined the day why not enjoy it. I know it is stupid but that is what I think.

Anyway, the bologna and cheese was awesome and my husband bought me some really good hot and sweet mustard to go with it. I ate more then my fair share and now I am done. I will not eat any more until Christmas day when my husbands parents bring us our favorite from the butcher shop near them.

Now you know one of my biggest weaknesses at this time of year. Bologna and Cheese! I'm sure you can guess another one of them. That's right! It's Christmas Cookies! Every year my Polish friend makes me the best cookies. She is so creative. She makes all kinds of different cookies. She usually makes pumpkin, peppermint, peanut butter, chocolate chip and so much more. I love it! The only problem is that this year I can't eat them all myself. I think I did that last year. My mom also made a ton of cookies for me. They are in her freezer and she is going to make me a tray before Christmas. I can't wait because she made mini black bottom cupcakes. Maybe it is better off that they stay in her freezer.

This time of year is so wonderful yet so hard. I really have to work on my willpower. I need to say no to all of the goodies. I really think I would be better if I didn't eat any of the goodies. My problem arises when I decide to just eat one. I will admit that I have a problem. I can't just eat one (pretty much this applies to everything). This is a really big problem. It really has more to do with my willpower. I am really going to work hard on this. I know once I get in the groove I will be ok. It is just taking that first step to get back on track and actually saying no to something. I am determined to do it.

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What is your Biggest Weakness when it comes to food? How do you fight it?


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Recipe Success!

My Pot Roast turned out wonderful. If you like mushrooms you will love this recipe. I am very pleased with the results. If you missed my recipe for Creamy Crockpot Mushroom Pot Roast click here to check it out. I ended up using the soup liquid in the bottom of my crockpot and adding a little flour to make some yummy gravy. It was already semi-thick so I didn't have to add to much flour. It had amazing flavor.

I also made some baked garlic french fries to go with it. They were so good. I love garlic so I put a ton of garlic on. My husband and older daughter really liked them too. My baby threw them on the floor and said yuck. So the majority of us liked them. :)

It was a great dinner and right now I am feeling very stuffed. I didn't even eat all that you see on my plate. I couldn't finish the last slice of roast. I love when food experimenting turns out to be a success. It's so much fun playing in the kitchen!

Mushroom Pot Roast Recipe

-before cooking- Yum!!!

I made up a new recipe with some items that I had around the house. It actually looks really good.

I call it Creamy Crockpot Mushroom Pot Roast. I had a roast that I pulled out of the freezer yesterday and I didn't have any of my usual ingredients. So I decided to create a new recipe with what I had on hand. Unfortunately I didn't have much to choose from. But I was able to find some cream of mushroom soup and a can of mushrooms. I love anything with mushrooms! I will post my recipe below and let you all know tonight how it turns out.

- ingredients on hand -

Creamy Crockpot Mushroom Pot Roast:


Ingredients:

2 1/2 pound Eye of Round Roast (or any roast - I like eye of round b/c it is lean)
1 can of Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 8 oz can of pieces and stems of Mushrooms with liquid
1 teaspoon of onion powder
salt
pepper
seasoned salt

Directions:

Place roasts in crockpot. Sprinkle, salt, pepper, seasoned salt and onion powder on top of the roast. Then pour soup on top of the roast and then mushrooms on top of the soup. Cook in crockpot on low for approx. 8 hours or low for approx. 4 hours.

My daughter when she woke up this morning.

Her hair was so funny I had to share!

New Recipes and Giveaway!

I have some exciting news. Every Monday, through December 14th, MyLifetime.com will release about 5 to 7 new recipes from the authors of the “Cook Yourself Thin” book series. These are recipes that cannot be found in their current book or the new one “Cook Yourself Thin FASTER”— which hits shelves right before the New Year.



This week’s recipes have just been released here. They look great! I am very excited about trying the Garlicky fries and maybe even the roasted cauliflower.

· Greek salad pitza

· Roasted cauliflower

· Garlicky fries

· Veggie couscous

· Citrus slaw

· Cream of mushroom soup


The most exciting part is that they are giving away a copy of the new book "Cook Yourself Thin FASTER". Click here for your chance to win.



I am so excited about this cookbook coming out. It looks like it is going to be great! If you click here you can also view more recipes from the authors of the books. The recipes I am going to be trying are Open Lasagna, Sloppy Joe's, and Toffee Bars. They all look so yummy!!!

I Ate Like A Pig Today. No, I Think I Actually Ate A Pig Today!

So today was a great day. I went Christmas Shopping with my Mom and girls today. We had so much fun (even with two cranky kids). The down side to doing Marathon shopping with my Mom is that we love to eat.

We started out at 8:00 this morning and I got home around 5:00 tonight. I was exhausted and stuffed like a pig. We started our day out at Cracker Barrel where I had eggs, sausage, biscuits, ham and bacon. We shopped a little and then went for lunch at Red Lobster where I had shrimp bruchetta, Parrot Isle Coconut Shrimp, Walter's famous Shrimp and french fries. It was crazy! On the up side, we didn't have any snacks in between. :)

Then I got home and ate one and a half slices of cheese pizza and two Christmas cookies. What a day! I did have fun. I guess I just got caught up in the Christmas spirit and it felt good! The stomach ache - not so good.

Tomorrow's a new day. I have a big bag of salad mix in the fridge with my name on it and a lean roast to make for dinner along with maybe a baked potato and a veggie. It's gonna be another good day! I love Christmas!!!

And The Number Is....Week 48 Weigh In

It was another rough week. Life in general is just wearing me out. Sometimes I feel like I don't have time to think about what I am eating. I just stick anything in my mouth because I go and go and go until I get to the point where I am so starving that I don't care. I know from the past that I need to start taking more time for myself so that I continue to get healthier.

This week flew by so fast. Between a vendor show, sickness, Silpada parties, gymnastics it made for a crazy week. I tried to eat healthy but it didn't always happen. I did end up eating half a bag of Reece's Peanut Butter Cups the other night when I had to stay up with my daughter that has croup. It was the only way for me to stay awake and I was so tired at that point that I didn't care what I was eating.

When I weighed in this morning I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. I am at 179.4. That is only a .6 loss but that is better then not losing anything. Especially with the week that I had. I'm happy to say I am still going in the right direction.

I really am going to try my best during this Holiday Season. It is so hard because I am spending almost every extra penny I have on presents for our family or our daughters. It really is a hard time of year financially. I love this time of year but I will be happy in January when I don't have to worry about money as much as I do right now. In the mean time I am trying to spend as little on food as possible. This means a lot of grilled cheese (2%) and tomato soup, or pretty much whatever I have on hand. I have a few roast in the freezer so I hope they can hold us off until the new year. It definitely makes losing weight a whole lot harder but I know it is still possible.


My Week In Review:

1. Exercise: No

2. Water: not really

3. Late night eating: Yes - peanut butter cups and my daughter felt the need to tell the Doctor about it. She is to funny sometimes.

4. Snacking: I didn't snack very much. I didn't have time. When I did I ate watermelon.

5. Eating more fruits and veggies: Yes. I found watermelons at Walmart for $2.50 a piece. They are wonderful.


What do I need to work on for next week:

I need to get back to the gym. I better have healthy kids next week.

Struggling To Get Back On Track

Sorry I haven't been around this week. It has been a crazy crazy week. I have been busy with Silpada Parties and a Vendor Show and also a daughter that has had croup twice within the past eight days. They said that she just happened to pick up another virus really quickly. The poor thing is on steroids again. Hopefully we both get some sleep tonight.

I have also been sick with a head cold for about two weeks. The worst part is that I have asthma so I can't exercise until I get rid of this cough or most likely I will have an asthma attack and it wouldn't be pretty. I don't really have the energy anyway. This cold is really wiping me out. I am feeling better and I made plans to go to the gym tomorrow morning bright and early. I will let you know how it goes.

I have a Silpada Party tonight so I have to start getting things ready. I just wanted to let you all know that I am still alive and doing my best to get back on track. Why can't it be a little easier???