Adjustments and THANK YOU!

Ok so today is April 28th! This means that in one month from today my little girl will be ONE YEAR old!!I can't believe it! But it also means that my personal deadline to be at my goal weight is QUICKLY approaching! And to be honest my progress has kind of plateaued. I am still working my fanny off six days a week but I am not seeing any progress on the scale. I know my love of Easter candy is part of the reason but there had to be more. I haven't adjusted my caloric intake for months! So I was looking over my calorie journal yesterday and realized that it needed some adjusting--anytime you can eat 3 healthy meals, 2 healthy snacks, peeps and a cadbury egg and still remain in your calorie goal! I think you may have TOO much wiggle room. So this morning I jumped on freedieting.com and re calculated my caloric intake as well as carbs, proteins, & fats. I am going to buckle down! It's crunch time! I've got 5-7 more lbs to lose and I can't just throw in the towel now! If you have ANY motivating words this is the time to post em! :) Thanks for everything!

Can I just say that I LOVED your comments on my last post! It is SO great to hear from you! Keep it up and don't be shy! To be honest comments are kind of a pay day for me. It gives me motivation to post because I feel like people actually care!

YOUR TURN!

Alright, I have to be honest when I started this blog I kind of wanted it to be more of a forum. A place where we can all share and support one another but for months and months now I've been going on and on! Getting comments here and there is okay but I want to hear more from you! It's YOUR TURN! So here is your chance to share with me! I need some inspiration from YOU! Post a comment and tell me how your weight loss is going? What are your reasons for living a fit and healthy lifestyle? Why do you read this blog and how can I make it better!?

I SURE HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU! :)

Some Great NEW finds!

So I have found and fallen in love with a few new things.

First Sara Lee 45 Calories & Delicious Wheat Bread!

YUM! I LOVE a good turkey sandwich but always hated how many calories JUST the bread was! NO need to worry anymore! This bread is just 45 cals a SLICE! It is yummy too! Nice and soft!

Next is Wishbone Ranch Dressing Spritzer!

I LOVE salad but I have to have dressing I can't eat a dry salad. In the past it's been hard to find a yummy low cal dressing but not anymore! This dressing is just 2 calories a spritz! And it tastes good!

Tuna Artichoke & Olive Salad

As a nursing mother I have to watch the amount of fish that I eat but with this new recipe it's going to be hard! I ate this for lunch today! It was SUPER Yummy! (Thank You Eatingwell.com) The only thing I would caution you about is that it is high in sodium. :( So if you do eat this be sure your other meals are low sodium meals!

Here is the recipe (PS I halfed this cause I knew my husband won't be eating it). Try it and let me know what you think! :)

5 servings, about 3/4 cup each

Active Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 12-ounce can (or two 6-ounce cans) chunk light tuna, drained and flaked (see Note)
• 1 cup chopped canned artichoke hearts
• 1/2 cup chopped olives
• 1/3 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano, or 1/2 teaspoon dried

• PREPARATION

  1. Combine tuna, artichokes, olives, mayonnaise, lemon juice and oregano in a medium bowl.

  TIPS & NOTES

  • Note: Chunk light tuna, which comes from the smaller skipjack or yellowfin, has less mercury than canned white albacore tuna. The FDA/EPA advises that women who are or might become pregnant, nursing mothers and young children consume no more than 6 ounces of albacore a week; up to 12 ounces of canned light tuna is considered safe.

  NUTRITION

  Per serving: 210 calories; 8 g fat ( 1 g sat , 1 g mono ); 25 mg cholesterol; 12 g carbohydrates; 20 g protein;3 g fiber; 791 mg sodium; 166 mg potassium

Spark People.com

Okay I know that I am always bugging you with different websites to try but I have to tell you that I have been REALLY impressed with Sparkpeople.com. I've been ready their emails for about a year but it's only been a couple of weeks since I started using their site consistently. I still love fatsecret.com and livestrong.com. They are GREAT but sparkpeople provides SOOOO much more!

Here are some of the reasons I LOVE Sparkpeople.com

1st-The Reports

I am a VERY visual person! It is EXTREMELY helpful to see a pie chart of my calorie breakdown. Someone can say SueAnn you are eating to much fat and that would register but it REALLY clicks when I can look at a pie chart and see that 45% of my caloric intake is fat (by the way it's not that was just a for example. :))

2nd-Custom Food Entries

Sometimes you just can't find something you've eaten on your calorie counter. But Sparkpeople let's you enter your own items. This is also a GREAT tool if you have a specific recipe for something. So you can input your recipe at Calorie Count.com and get the nutrition info and then plug it in here at Sparkpeople.com. I love this because it means that my calories will be way more accurate!

3rd-The Articles

They have great articles! Whether you are looking for information about food, exercise, health, etc. you can find a great article about it on Sparkpeople.com. Plus if you sign up for their emails you get these articles everyday! LOVE IT!

4th-The Challenges & The Community

There is always a challenge going on at Sparkpeople.com! They have thousands of members and you if you are ever feeling a lack of support just hit the message boards! You will get the boost you need!

5th-Sparkrecipes.com

LOVE this site! It's easy to search and just about everything I've tried has been wonderful!

Like this recipe for CRISPY RANCH CHICKEN! Super easy and VERY yummy!

6th-The iPod Touch App & Website Sync EFFORTLESSLY!

Anything on entered on my iPod is recorded on the website within seconds and visa versa!

LOVE IT!

I could go on and on about the reasons I love Sparkpeople.com but I won't bore you any longer. Over the last 10 months I have tried at least a half a dozen calorie counting sites and I will tell you that this is HANDS DOWN my favorite. So go on-try it out and be sure to tell me what YOU think of it!!

Lose 25 lbs by Summer

Monday on The Doctors they talked about spring cleaning your body. They gave these three simple tips that can help you lose up to 25lbs before summer!

1- Take a Walk Everyday-60 minutes a day

2- STOP the Soda and Sugar Drinks

3- Eat 5 Small Meals a Day (300-400 calories each depending on your weight loss goals)

Click the picture to see Dr. Travis' explaination

ALSO

What kind of dieter are you? Take this quiz:

http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/personality_profile2.asp

I have a problem with portion control...I already knew that! :)

Spark People Diabetic Weight Loss Challenge

Okay now I am not a type 2 diabetic or pre-diabetic but I know enough people who are diabetic that I decide to do this challenge to try to motivate them! This challenge starts off pretty simple. Here are the things you need to do

(first you have to sign-up for a SparkPeople Membership-it's FREE)

Week 1 Action Plan

1. Set your goals. Tell us why you're here and what you hope to accomplish. Consider taking a "before" photos that you can post on your SparkPage or in the Team Photos section.
   
   
2. Start your workout plan. Follow a 15-minute workout video three times this week to build lean muscle to fire up your metabolism, and plan for a 10-minute cardio (aerobic) workout any three days of the week to burn extra calories and fat while strengthening your heart. Learn more about exercising safely with diabetes.
   
   
3. Track your food at least 3 days this week.. Food tracking helps with weight loss, but it's also essential for people with diabetes, as it can help you manage your carbohydrate intake and therefore your blood sugar levels. Using your Nutrition Tracker regularly will help you stay accountable and learn how to make the best food choices!
   
   
4. Learn how to earn your trophy. By completing these action steps and tracking your goals each week on your SparkTeam page, you'll be eligible for a special SparkTrophy at the end of the month. In addition, we're giving away special prizes each week, as well as several grand prizes every 3 months to help you stay motivated! See official rules and prizes.

JOIN THE CHALLENGE

Virtual Trainer on Shape.com and 6 week 6 pack

Okay so Shape.com has this tool called the Virtual Trainer. Interested? Me too! I am going to give this site a shot for a bit and see what I think. It's totally free so go to Shape.com and check it out with me! You can track your calories, weight loss etc. You can also create meal plans and workout plans. I am excited to see if it is helpful! One thing I already think is kind of cool is in the meal plans you can add your own recipes. Anyway if you try it out let me know what you think!

I will be investing in this DVD this week. I am excited! I'll let you know what I think!

Unqualified

So sometimes I feel very unqualified to write this blog and so I just don't post anything but then I got thinking-I'm a real person on a real journey and that includes the good bad and the ugly. So here is what has been happening lately!

So March went pretty well in fact I was on schedule to lose 5 lbs during that month! I was THRILLED! Then about 1 1/2 weeks ago I started making chocolate chip cookies for random events. Now I don't know if you do this but for some reason I feel like when I eat cookie dough it doesn't really count because it's not like they are 'real' cookies. DUMB! I know!

Then last week my little girl got an ear infection and a yeast infection/diaper rash! Needless to say my schedule was turned upside down! I wasn't working out, getting enough sleep and I was not eating the right things.

Easter is this month. Now you might not think this is a big deal but it is! I can resist Christmas goodies but Easter goodies! Forget about it! Peeps, Candbury Eggs, Robin Eggs, etc. I have VERY little self control!

Well here I am on the 4th of April only 1lb lighter than March 1st! :( I feel totally deflated! All of that hard work right down the drain! Thankfully my darling girl is feeling better. I am hoping to KICK butt this week! This month is going to be better than March was turning out to be! I am going to work harder than ever! You see my baby girl turns ONE at the end of May and my goal was to be at my goal weight by her first birthday! I have 12lbs to go!

So here is to a WONDERFULLY HEALTHY APRIL!

ps thank you for letting me vent. i know it's not as much fun to read but i really feel better afterwards!