Oh my word guys, I have so many things to share with y’all. I decided not to blog all weekend long because I wanted to get a bunch of things done and chill out a bit.
It was so nice.
*********************
I’m still going strong with Body for Life! I’ve only been doing it 9 days, but I love it so much. In fact, I’ve decided that out of all the “weight loss/healthy living” programs I’ve ever tried, this one is by far my favorite.
It definitely takes a lot of planning and hard work, but it just makes sense to me! I love all the healthy food and I love that I can have yummy carbs with each meal. I haven’t been hungry at all, unless I’ve put off a meal because I’m busy or something. In fact, I’m supposed to be eating 6 meals a day, but I’ve only been doing 5. I’ve just found it’s too hard to fit 6 meals in.
I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the exercise program. It’s great and very doable.
AND, I finally lost ONE pound. Yes, one measly little pound. I’m happy though. I’ve also noticed that my muffin top is mostly gone. Yay. AND, I’ve noticed my workouts are getting a lot easier. Strange.
I’ve been doing my fun 20 minute treadmill run about 2-3 times a week. It’s still challenging, but it felt quite a bit easier when I did it last night.
I also went to one of my fav muscle classes at the gym Saturday morning. We did 128 incline pushups (a little easier than regular pushups) and I did all of them on my toes! Yay. We did them in sets of 16 and during that last set of 16 I really wanted to drop to my knees, but I DIDN’T!
I also used 15 pound dumbbells (I usually use 12#) throughout the class I went to tonight. AND 15 didn’t seem too hard. Crazy.
I’m excited to see some sort of progress even though I’ve only lost one pound.
*********************
Anyway, I have a zillion and one pics to share with you guys, so here it goes….
I was able to get some of my “to do” projects done over the weekend. I made some yummy dried pears and pear leather…
These are amazingly, incredibly good guys! I will tell you everything you need to know about how to make them soon!
I also organized my scary pantry (hallelujah!)…
It had gotten to the point where we just chucked things in there and it had no rhyme or reason. SO, I took everything out, cleaned all the shelves and then organized it.
In case you’re wondering how I organized it, I labeled it for ya (click on the pic to enlarge it)…
I have more food storage in my basement, but we just like to keep a mini grocery store in the pantry.
********************
On Sunday, we went up to my parent’s house for a fun BBQ. I brought a big green salad (romaine, spinach, strawberries, raspberries, mushrooms, almonds and feta) and we also had fruit, hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken, cheesy potatoes, chips, baked beans, guacamole and Oreo Ice Cream dessert. Yum.
Here’s my plate…
I had a hamburger patty topped with ketchup, mustard, tomato and lettuce. I also had green salad, fruit and a little bit of baked beans and cheesy potatoes. It was perfect.
The Oreo Ice Cream dessert looked so good, but it didn’t tempt me at all because I’m very stubborn and have just decided I’m not going to eat that kind of stuff for about 66 more days (who’s counting!?)
Here’s a pic of my sissy and I with our food too…
Yesterday morning, I made a triple batch of Chocolate Protein Pancakes.
I wanted to have some leftover so I could freeze them. 😉
I enjoyed two of them topped with a little peanut butter (probably 1/2 tablespoon total), blueberries, banana and some sugar free syrup. I also scrambled 3 egg whites on the side. Yum, yum, yum.
My daughter decided to have one of my pancakes, but she got a little creative with it…
She topped it with butter, syrup and chocolate chips!
Ya, she pretty much killed it. But, she said it was “the yummiest thing she had ever had!”
Her 5 year old brother heard her say that and decided he wanted to have one too…
He did add blueberries to his though. 😉
For lunch I made a “kitchen sink” salad. I just opened up the fridge and chucked whatever needed to be used up into my salad.
This was dang good. It included romaine, cabbage mix, kidney beans, olives, red bell pepper, turkey and cottage cheese. I topped it all off with some salsa verde as a salad dressing. Yum.
I also enjoyed it outside on my deck while I watched these two cuties play with their superheroes in totes full of water…
Oh my goodness, they were hilarious! I could listen to them play “make believe” all day long.
Oh, and my 3 year old cutie patootie officially became potty trained over the weekend!
It really is a miracle folks.
All of my other kids were potty trained when they were 2 or 2 1/2, but this child was freaking hard! Frankly, I’m surprised I have any hair left. 😉
Anyway, he was very proud of himself so we took him out to buy a prize. I think I deserve a prize too.
He picked out a Spider-man Superhero set that included The Rhino. He’s been playing with them non-stop ever since.
*****************************
I decided to make this for dinner last night…
I bought it at Costco and thought it looked yummy and easy. I’m sorry to say, it wasn’t very yummy. 🙁 It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great either.
First of all, it didn’t make very much. It came with two packets of chicken and two packets of sauce. I made both packets of chicken, but only used one packet of sauce (it was plenty!)
It tasted okay, but was a little fatty and chewy. Ewww. My 3 year old tried it and then said, “I want you to eat that brown stuff mom.”
Soooo, I quickly made my “old stand-by” chicken. This is one of the first recipes I learned to cook when we were first married. It’s just Lemon Pepper chicken.
You just cook up a bunch of chicken in a little butter (2-3 tablespoons) and then sprinkle it with lemon pepper. Easy Peasy.
I also made some brown rice, broccoli and fruit salad to go with everything.
This meal is very easy to prepare and everyone likes it. Yay.
*****************
For dinner tonight, I made some homemade pizza for the kids…
I whipped this up just before I left to go to the gym, so it isn’t pretty. I was in a hurry….but it tasted good! I also made a couple pizzas on some Flatouts for Kev and I….
Again, I was in a hurry and just threw everything on those poor little Flatouts. I put spinach, tomatoes, peppers onions and olives on there. I loved it, but Kev isn’t a huge fan. I don’t know why!!?? He just said he doesn’t really love Flatouts. 🙁 I think they are dang good (sincerely), especially for how healthy they are!
I loved my pizza and it stuffed me to the gills!
I actually ate my pizza while I was driving to the gym. I went to an incredible class tonight. We worked every muscle and got a little cardio in too. I was dying.
Well, I better head to bed now. It’s getting late! I love you all tons and tons! xoxo
I can tell you’ve been way busy. Great sense of accomplishment. Well done Melanie!!!
Thanks so much Victoria! You are a sweetie. I have been so crazy. 😉