Two weeks down and the rest of my life to go......

We just past week 2 and boy oh boy was it a week. Lots of outside stress and lots of good eats. I had 2 soccer games this week and even scored in one of the games. I absolutely love getting out on the field with all the ladies I play with. It is so much fun and sooo mentally therapeutic. Unfortunately my shin splints have reared their ugly head yet again. As I type this I sit with frozen peas, and carrots on my legs. I think I may make a Dr. apt for this since I haven't done any impact exercise for 4 months and they are just as bad. The worst news I could possibly get is that I have to hang up the shin guards and never play soccer again. Being on the field makes me happy and clears my mind. I would spend everyday for hrs on the field if I could. Where getting into the gym everyday is like torture. So I will keep my fingers crossed that this is something that will quickly past so I can get back to enjoying my MA Devils.

OK Back to what I'm here for. Today is weigh in day and the scale read........ 148.4

No change from last week but staying the same is a lot better than the scale going up. I also went out and had Sushi, 3 glasses of champagne, Carne asada and my world famous guacamole, and ate at Chevy's. Not all in the same day that is. So with all that yummy not so healthy food i'm satisfied that there was no change in my weight. My goal for this week is to drop 2 more pounds by being vigilant on what I eat.

I never believed all the talk that stress and not getting enough sleep can stall the weight loss process but after this week i'm starting to think they might be on to something. Bed time for me has been no earlier than 11:30 every night with a few 1am bed times thrown in there. Having kids who are up at 7:30 am no matter what time you put them to bed and a hubby who sets the alarm for 5am so he can get to the gym before work hurt the chance of getting the recommended 8hrs of sleep. On my to do list for the next week I will also add going to bed before 11pm. The stress topic is a little harder to deal with. When it is family that is causing this how do you just ignore it???? I am trying my hardest to live by the belief that it's not my problem there for I should not think about it or let it creep into "my" family life. Certain days are better than others but when it is in your face all the time it's hard to let it slide off. I have begged to move to the other side of the world to get away from all of it but unfortunately Curtis' paycheck comes from here and most likely always will. Damn it!!! So now i'm just begging to move to the other side of town. Let's see if i can make that happen.

Here's to a better week 3 and 2 more pounds lost. See you on the skinnier side!!

One week in....

Well it has been a week into the new life style.It has been pretty easy so far. My goal for the beginning of this change is to learn to eat differently. I have made some amazing meals from Weight watchers. One I will share at the end of this. The kids have really enjoyed the new meals. I have also managed to work my morning coffee into my point system. I also was able to have my favorite wings from Wing Stops on Friday. I see this being a lot more successful than any of those diets that limit what you can eat. I get ice cream at night if i want it. What diet do you know allows that???

Today was weigh in day and drum roll please................... 148.4lbs. In one week of tweaking the food I put in my face I have lost 3lbs. Not to shabby if I do say so myself. Now I need to get my booty to the gym to kick start this weight loss. I have figured that I do have time during the week to go even with all the back and forth driving I get to do. I drop CJ off at 8:45am and don't have to feed Christian lunch till 11:45. Now the only thing to do is get my butt in gear in the morning so I can actually get to the gym. Anyone who knows me knows I am sooooooooooo not a morning person.


The best meal I have made so far was last night. It was Chicken with 40 garlic cloves. It was super easy and oh so very very yummy!! There wasn't a drop of the sauce left over. All 3 kids raved how great it was. We paired it with artichokes and it was a total of 8points on weight watchers. Who knew dieting could taste so darn great. Well that is all for this week check back in next week to see if I continue this down hill slide on the scale.

See you on the Skinnier side!!

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Weight Watchers Recipe

by Everyone Loves Chicken, from Weight Watchers Publishing Group 

Course: light meals PointsPlus® Value:    8 Servings:  8 Preparation Time:  7 min Cooking Time:  75 min Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Don’t let the amount of garlic scare you—slow roasting brings out its natural sweetness.

Ingredients

	40 clove(s) garlic clove(s), separated and unpeeled (medium)
	4 pound(s) uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 8 pieces
	1/4 tsp table salt
	1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
	2 tsp olive oil, extra-virgin
	1 cup(s) white wine
	1 cup(s) reduced-sodium chicken broth

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425°F.
• Place the garlic in a single layer in a small baking dish; spray with nonstick spray (preferably olive-oil spray). Cover tightly with foil and roast 15 minutes. Stir, then cover and roast until the garlic just begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Uncover, then stir and spray with nonstick spray and roast until browned and tender, about 10 minutes longer.
• Meanwhile, sprinkle the chicken with the salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned, about 5 minutes on each side. Transfer the chicken to a large plate. Add the wine and broth to the skillet; bring to a boil, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Add the garlic to the skillet, then add the chicken, nestling the pieces among the garlic cloves.
• Place the skillet in the oven and roast the chicken until an instant-read thermometer inserted in a thigh registers 180°F, about 20 minutes. Lift the chicken from the broth mixture in the skillet and transfer to a serving dish; cover with foil and keep warm. Transfer 12 of the garlic cloves to a fine sieve. Arrange the remaining garlic around chicken. With a rubber spatula, press the reserved garlic through the sieve into a bowl; discard the skins. Whisk pressed garlic paste into the broth mixture in the skillet; bring to a simmer. Serve the chicken with the roasted garlic and the sauce. Yields piece chicken, about 3 cloves roasted garlic, and 2 tablespoons sauce per serving.

Notes

• To serve, squeeze the garlic from the roasted cloves onto slices of crusty baguette and dunk into the sauce. A 1-ounce chunk of French baguette will increase the PointsPlus™ values by 2.

A new me the smart and safe way...

I have started playing indoor soccer with some girls from high school and my sister Amanda. I am so excited to play every Monday. Even though we are a proud 0-3 it is still so much fun. I have found that this extra 30 lbs that I have been rockin has kept me from being my best. There are some other things that I have noticed this weight has had an affect on too. I was trying to decide how to go about taking this off. I thought about going back on the 17 day diet. I had had some great short term weight loss with it but nothing that lasted. Truthfully I can not stick to a super strict diet. I have tried and failed every time. So I am going to do this the smart, slow, and permanent way.

Today starts my daily log of weight, food and weekly struggles. I will be completely honest with weight and food for the week. This hopefully will keep me accountable for my decisions. I cant wait to get to my goal weight and share it with everyone. I hope to inspire those who are in the same boat to stick with it. It will be hard to change 32 years of bad eating habits but I am going to do it slowly and the smart way.

I have figured that with my taxi service back and forth to school that I can squeeze in gym time after dropping off Cj. I can be home in time for Christian to eat lunch and to get to school on time. So this is my goal : 3-5 days a week to hit the gym for an hour, eat less every day, and make better choices when eating. I am not going to set a time table to this weight loss goal so that I don't become discouraged if it doesn't happen in that time. All I am going to set is the total weight I want to lose.

I hope to loose 30lbs but will be thrilled with anything over 20. I am starting at 151.7 lbs as of today. When I got pregnant with CJ i was 122lbs. I would LOVE to see that again on the scale but was thrilled when I was 132 lbs. I even wore a bikini at 132 lbs. I just want to be healthy and comfortable in my clothes. So wish me luck on this journey and I will keep you posted every Wed how the week has gone,

See you on the skinnier side!!