Year of the Hot Mom: Week 16 Update

Well, guys, this is the date (April 24th) that I wrote about back in January as the date I wanted to lose 18 pounds by.  There were 18 weeks until my trip to Florida, and my goal was to lose one pound per week, right in time for my little vacation. 

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Well right off the bat I should tell you that I added wrong.  THERE WERE ONLY 16 WEEKS.  There’s a reason I don’t pay the bills in this house!

Regardless of my stellar math skills, 18 pounds is still my ideal goal weight, but as of this morning I have lost (drum roll please…….)

9.4 pounds and over 19 1/4 inches!!!  That is almost 38 sticks of butter and well over a foot a foot and a half of fat!  lol

So, yes, I’m a only a little over half-way there.

Is it what I ideally wanted?  Well, no.  But am I happy to say that I’ve lost that much?  Well, what do you think? :)

Here’s what happened:

Weeks 1-10:   I focused on portion control, limiting sweets/treats, and working out 6 days a week.  I lost 5 pounds and a lot of inches.  I also plateaued for about five straight weeks.  Talk about depressing!  I tried everything short of full-on “dieting” and nothing – and I mean NOTHING – worked. 

Weeks 11-16: I started implementing the Weight Watchers Points Plus system and continued to exercise 5-6 nights a week (I added Pilates at this point to build more muscle and add toning).  So far on WWPP I’ve lost an average of 1 pound a week for an additional 4.4 pounds lost.  (This week I am a little behind on the pound-per-week thing but this week is also bad timing if you’re catching my drift…) I love that I can eat super clean on this plan – it’s really no “diet” at all.  I eat whatever I want; I just write it down and make sensible portion choices.  It has been a lifesaver for me!

One thing I know for sure after 16 weeks into this: I AM A CHANGED PERSON. 

I work out 5-6 days a week now (rotating between the elliptical and my Pilates toning dvds).  I eat clean as much as I can (something I was already doing), but I also really watch my portions.  I realize the food will still be there later if I’m really hungry.  I don’t eat until I feel uncomfortable anymore. 

I’ve learned to really analyze my food before I eat it.  I ask, “Is this going to be worth it to me later?”  I enjoy my food more.  I am more intentional.  I slow down. 

4 months ago, I despised exercising and would rather have scrubbed my toilet bowl for an hour than gotten on the elliptical.  I can’t say I love it now, but I can tell you that I honest-to-goodness crave exercise now and there is just this force within me that compels me to exercise every night (mostly because I’m too scared to stop in case my bad habits set in again).  I look at an exercise video online and don’t think “Ugh, that looks horrible.”  Instead I think “Oooh, I should totally try that! It looks fun.” 

FUN, people! Am I crazy?!  lol

I am going to Florida for 4 days this week (wheeee!!) and I’ve already figured out that I’m going to bring my Pilates dvds and my sneakers so I can do some exercise at my aunt’s house and hopefully take walks around the neighborhood, assuming I don’t die of heat stroke down there in the tropics.  Working out is part of my life now – vacation or not. 

I am in this to win it.  Clearly you can see by my sloooooow pace that this was not an overnight thing.  It has been HARD.  I thought for sure I would be at my goal weight by now.  There has been more than one melt-down on my part, sobbing to my husband about how it’s not fair that Gayle King can lose 9 pounds in 10 days on Jenny Craig and I need 15 weeks of hard work to lose that much and blah blah blah blah blah. 

But these changes I’m making are permanent.  Every day, in my head, I remind myself: “There is no going back.  You can only move forward.” 

A few tips I’ve learned that I want to share with you:

1.  If you’re in a plateau (they’re the worst!), don’t despair.  Try something new.  Try anything new.  Try everything new.  Don’t stop, and most importantly, don’t give up!  Repeat after me: The plateau will break. 

2.  Portion control, in my humble opinion, really is the key to weight loss success.  We’ve all heard it before: weight loss is as simple as your calories in must be less than your calories out.  I can’t recommend the Points Plus system enough.  It rocks.  (I don’t go to meetings and I’m not a member online.  I had a friend who gave me her points info, and I also use this awesome Weight Watchers calculator when I need to figure out the points of something not in the material.)

3.  Eat clean, healthy, nourishing foods.  Don’t sacrifice your body’s health for the sake of saving some calories on “sugar-free” or “low-fat” items.  It’s not worth it in the end. 

4.  Make time for exercise.  I had only lost about 3 or so pounds back in the winter but my husband was already noticing and commenting on how toned my upper thighs were getting in the back.  Motivation?  I think so. ;)

5.  I can’t stress enough how important it is to take your measurements!!  Knowing that the inches were dropping, even during my plateau stage, was what kept me going. 

6.  Tell someone about your weight loss plans!  Heck, tell everyone you know!  Then you’ll be too embarrassed to go back.  :)

7.  Tell yourself, like I do everyday, that this is it for you.  There is no return to the old lifestyle of bowls of ice cream on the couch every night (or was that just me?!  lol).  If I can do this, the girl who loves food and who was picked last for every gym-class sports team in elementary school, SO CAN YOU. :) 

Here’s to the final 8.6 pounds! :)

My hope is that those of you who shared in the beginning of the year about your weight loss goals have been able to make 2012 your year, too.  I’d love to hear how you’re doing!!

I’m Off to the Community Center Gym….

for the first time in about 6 months. 

I may not make it back out alive. 

{via}

If I do, it ain’t gonna be pretty.  I am not a hot-looking worker-outer.  I do not “glisten.”  I sweat like a man, my hair frizzes out, and I get puffy and red.  I’m pretty sure mothers want to shield their young children’s eyes when I walk by. 

{via}

If it weren’t for the tv and magazines there, I wouldn’t be going.

I am already looking forward to getting it over with, getting home, and gettin’ cozy with Ryan Seacrest and then the Extreme Couponing girls.

I am pretty much the coolest person I know.

"Clean" Onion Soup Mix

{If you're new here, read this post to see why I'm trying out "clean" recipes - and welcome!}

I use onion soup mix a lot, as I'm sure many of you do, too. A lot of my crockpot recipes call for it, as well as a few casseroles that I make. I could also eat dip and veggies every day of my life, if needed, and I frequently combine 3 T reduced-fat sour cream with some onion soup mix and veggies for a 1-point WW snack. However, store-bought onion soup mix (OSM because I'm lazy!) contains quite a few chemicals, the most notrious being MSG:

Again, I count 12 ingredients and only recognize 4.

The problem with trying to make your own substitute for OSM is that all of the online recipes I could find also called for beef or chicken bouillon cubes, which are chock-full of chemicals themselves. I can buy 2 packs of OSM for only 49 cents at Aldi's - price really isn't the factor here!

I finally had some luck when I took a trip to my local health food store, where I found these:

(Sorry about the horrible glare - it contains 6 cubes in case you can't read that part.)

It says "chicken" on the outside, but is only a composite of spices - which also happens to be gluten-free, in case you're interested. It smells *just* like a health food store (if you've been in one you know what I mean), but don't let that scare you!

Enter the new recipe - 3 ingredients! Just onion powder, onion flakes, and "chicken" bouillon.

I found this original recipe online here: http://frugalmoneymanagement.blogspot.com/

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Onion Soup Mix

1/4 Cup dried minced onion

2 TBS instant beef bullion (or chicken bullion)

{I used one package of "chicken" bouillon" and found that to be flavorful enough. Again, you need to sub MSG-free bullion here for the recipe to be "clean."}

1/2 tsp onion powder

Combine all ingredients. This makes the equivalent of 1 package soup mix. Just sprinkle on meat or add to soups or stews and cook as usual.

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Here's what it looks like combined into sour cream for dip -you'll notice it's not as dark as the normal OSM:

Word of warning: I didn't realize there was a difference between "instant" and "regular" bouillon cubes until I tried to chisel mine apart. Apparently I bought the kind that only dissolves in water! So I popped it in the food processor and blended it until it was ground.

I have to say, both Chris and I agreed that this tastes just like the real thing! Took all of 5 minutes - definitely worth my time to eat something made completely of spices.

If you try it yourself, let me know how it turns out for you! If you don't have a health food store near you, I found an online company that sells MSG-free bouillon cubes. (I've never ordered from them so I can't vouch for their security - just wanted to offer that information!)

If you've found any other great "clean" links I'd love to see them!

Happy eating! :)

Linked to the following foodie parties:

Tasty Tuesday @ Beauty and Bedlam

Tuesdays at the Table @ All the Small Stuff

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed With Grace

Some Frugal Workout Tips

I missed the party last week at Kelly's blog, but she was asking people to share their weight loss tips and advice.

I started Weight Watchers after Labor Day Weekend to take off the last 16 pounds after Luke that just decided that they were going to cling to me with all their might. Thankfully, my mom had given me all of her old Weight Watchers materials so I didn't have to join myself. If someone in your life did Weight Watchers in the past, ask if they're currently using their materials - I think the program is fantastic. I'm not someone who needs to go to weekly meetings - I had enough internal motivation because I was so tired of being chunky from baby weight! :)

Using Weight Watchers and the free exercises I'm going to show you below, I did lose all of that weight (slowly, because I wasn't always super strict) before Christmas.

However, I gained weight over Christmas and New Year's, and I'm still working on those pounds - the chocolate reaaaally wasn't worth it. :)

Anyway, being a SAHM with not a lot of disposable income, I looked on YouTube for exercise videos, and to my surprise, I found quite a few! I rotate between all of these 10-minute Pilates videos:

Belly

Thighs

Arms/Shoulders

Butt

Total Body

Flexibility (I've only done this one a few times; it's definitely not a workout - more of a 10-minute stretch but it feels really good!)

If I want to do something more aerobic for free, I click on any video by Paul Eugene. There's tons of them online and just type in his name on You Tube to find him. I do two at a time.

He's definitely not like any instructor I've seen before. :)

But, he has a lot of videos that are 10 minutes long and all of them have praise songs in the background. I usually have to jog when he walks, etc. to keep my heart-rate up, but his videos are free and make me laugh and keep me thinking about God so really I can't complain.

You'll understand why I'm smiling as I'm typing this if you try one of his workouts! :)

You'll feel a little ridiculous but you can't help but have fun! My kind of workout is one that makes me forget that I hate exercising. :)

Hopefully these links and tips will be a help to some of you looking to lose weight like I am!

Linked to:

Frugal Friday @ Life As Mom

Works for Me Wednesday @ We Are That Family

$1 Target Shopping Trip

We were at Target the other day to pick up some formula, and as we rounded the corner toward the Christmas section my heart stopped beating for a minute when I saw the sign:

90% off!

Of course, it had reaaaally been picked over at that point, but I was able to snag 3 ornament packages for a quarter each! That's right people! Perfect for filling glass jars with next year.

Then I went through the food clearance section and on my way over noticed that the Select Harvest soup was $1.25 each. Using a $1/1 coupon I had, the price was brought to only a quarter as well.

{I just want to say that I never was all that crazy about veggie soups before, but now that I've been on Weight Watchers for a while I eat them several times a week. They are usually really low in calories, and the Select Harvest soups use all natural ingredients. The one I picked up was Southwestern Vegetable and if you top it with a little reduced-fat sour cream and some reduced-fat cheese, it's only 3 points and it is SO good! I told you I'm a mexiholic! lol}

Anyway, you know you've done well when even your male cashier comments that "You can't beat these prices!"

Nope, you really can't. :)

Happy weekend!

{Linked to Money Saving Mom for Super Savings Saturday.}

Show Us Your Life: New Year's Resolutions/Goals

This is my first time ever participating in one of Kelly's parties and I think this is as good a one as any to start (wow, bad grammar but you get the point!).

Chris and I sat down a few days ago and made a list of our goals for this year. As I wrote before, this is the first year I really feel like January's a fresh start (rather than September). I figure writing out some of the resolutions here will help keep me even more accountable. I'm going to share the resolutions that directly involve me (not the two of us).

I'll revisit this list on June 1st and then December 31st/Jan 1st to see how I've done!

Personal:

1. Lose 7 pounds by March 1st and 7 more (reaching my goal weight) by June 1st. I am back on Weight Watchers after my holiday hiatus. I'm so mad at myself for gaining 5 pounds over Christmas, but there's nothing I can do about it now except suck it up and work it off!

2. Be more engaged in prayer. I know this might sound ridiculous, but I tend to be a sporadic and quick "prayer-er". I am also one of those people whose mind always never sits still and Chris and I will be praying and I'll realize that I've thought about 50 things before the prayer's up and never really heard most of it. Prayer is a gift that God gives us and I truly want to be more engaged in it.

3. Continue working out at least 4 days a week.

Financial:

1. $300/month on groceries (this includes formula and baby food) and $200/month on household (this includes diapers, wipes, and other baby needs), with the goal of reducing these numbers drastically by the end of the year

2. Cut household waste and find even more ways to save money

3. Find ways to substitute homemade foods for convenience foods (yogurt was my first food like this; next I'm going to try making my own bread crumbs)

4. Make $300 via consignment shops and the flea market {already made $71.17 so far, so I'm off to a good start!}

5. Find some other ways to bring in money besides subbing part-time (which I will start in approximately 2 weeks) {God has already brought two small money-makers into my life - he has provided a voice lesson student and the other one is a surprise which I will share on my blog as soon as it works out!}

*Our goal is to roll as much money as we can into paying off our credit card*

Parenting:

1. Sleep train Luke (he starts next week - poor baby, if he only knew what was coming! lol)

2. Get Luke on a routine that works for both of us

Yikes, this is my 3rd post this week without pictures - I hate reading posts without pictures, so thanks for sticking with me!