Maintaining

I sit at my mom's house, over a month has past since I last weighed myself. The scale stares me down as I pass.

We traveled two hours to spend time with her for Christmas. After eating a delicious meal and several passes of the scale I decided to weigh myself the next day instead.

Having woken for the day and preparing to travel to my sister's house, I stand before the scale wondering what dirty secrets it will reveal.

187 lbs

I stand dumb founded.

I maintained.

Better then a gain! I silently release my triumphant approval. Maintaining is better then a gain any day!

Now to take the step and buy my own scale!

Resolutions and Moving Forward

That time of year has come around once more. That time when we sit down and look at the resolutions we made for the current year and evaluate them.

Did we stick to our resolutions?
Did we meet our goals?
Did we abandon everything at the drop of the ball?

Normally I do not set resolutions. I find that most of the time they are forgotten, broken or even to far out there they are not obtainable.

I sit here now after looking at a post from my friend about meeting our weight loss goals and having no excuses over the holidays or for the new year. 

I sit here watching my children either sleep, move about playing or learning to crawl. They go through life meeting milestones, playing and living life to its fullest. 

I realize I owe it them to get healthier, to loose the weight and stop making excuses. If I expect them to be healthier and more active, then I need to as well.

It is time I set some resolutions and stick to them. Over the next few days, I will compile, evaluate and set realistic and manageable goals.

Disappointment

This past weekend, I went to visit my mom with my family. I often do not know what to expect when I go there. My mom and my step dad seem to be more occupied with my weight then I am. They have even gone so far as to make comments and reasonings as to why I am overweight to my daughter.

While we are visiting the topic always comes up as to what I am doing to lose weight and how much I  now weigh. I get depressed just knowing that the topic will be brought up. It almost seems as if they think I am not aware of my weight issues.

I am doing all that I can to lose the weight. One of their comments always centre's around how much I eat. I often have to point out that I actually eat less then they do. They also see this as I use a small plate not your normal dinner plate. I also only have one helping while, they consume more.

I often go to bed feeling starved and resist the urge to eat more. I often feel as if the only thing my parents care about is me being overweight.

A bonus of sorts is that I did step on the scale and now know I weigh in at a grand total of 187.

Is this something to be proud of? Not at all. But it gives me a starting point and I   now can make further goals as to where I want to be.

November 9-14 Meal Plan

Better late then never I guess. I have been busy working on other things in my life and completely forgot to update this weeks meal plan. I decided to make some old favourites this week, just to keep it simple and quick.

November 9 - Turkey and Black Bean Salad
November 10 - Beef Stew (a recipe I have already posted on Adventures in Cooking Gluten Free)
November 11 - Bangers and Mash with Green Beans and Shallots
November 12 - Baked Chicken with Parmesan Cheese with broccoli and sweet potatoes
November 13 - Lasagna and Cesar Salad (made by my mother in law)
November 14 - Steaks with Baked Potatoes and Corn (requested by my oldest for her birthday)

I am really not looking forward to the last two meals since I have no control over what is going into the dishes as my mother in law pre-made the lasagna and I am not a fan of beef at all.

Bad Days equal Bad Choices

On Sunday we turned or clocks back one hour. Why we do this, I have no idea. Personally the entire changing the clocks forward and backward one hour should be abolished. It only leads to issues for those of us with little ones.

It was a very rough night for the youngest member of my family as we tried to change her internal clock to the new external clock. It made her miserable and myself miserable.

It made for a long night, which would mean the next day was going to be a long day. Naps were a mess and she was becoming over tired.

I decided I needed that coveted bottle of Pepsi (did I mention before this became my crutch that I was giving up. I use to only drink a can of pop and that would take me all day, now I was drinking it by the bottle). I packed up the little miss and ventured over the nearest corner store and I broke down and bought a bottle of Pepsi.

I got home and drank that bottle all day long. Odd thing is I started to get a really bad headache soon after. I had headaches prior but never once thought it was induced by the pop I was now drinking.

I became filled with shame that I had broken my no pop vow.

I am going to make sure it never happens again and will find something to consume instead on the bad days.

November 2-7 Meal Plan

A little late, but better than never.

Here is the meal plan, for dinners only currently, that I followed this week.

November 2 - Mini Turkey Meat Loaves with white potatoes and a garden salad
November 3 - Pulled Pork on rice with broccolette
November 4 - Spaghetti and meatballs with a garden salad
November 5 - Gluten Free Bubble Pizza with a garden salad
November 6 - Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken with white and sweet potatoes and mixed vegetables
November 7 - Sloppy Joes with fries and a garden salad

If you head over to my Adventures in Cooking Gluten Free you will find my families review of the meals along with information about meals I will never again make because I found them personally gross and meals that I am working on improving. Also I will admit if it was the cooks error that a meal did not turn out (it does happen and I am not ashamed to admit it).

New Recipes

If you have not had the chance late to visit Adventures in Cooking Gluten Free, I have recently posted new recipes that I have converted or found that were already gluten free by the original creator.

Just today, I mastered a delightful cream of chicken soup that will be used to create other creamy soups that I use to enjoy in the past. I felt great excitement at how the soup turned out alone as I prepared it for my chicken pot pie biscuits.

Enjoy your visit over to my gluten free cooking adventures.

Giving up my daily crutch...

Since I had my second child I have had the worse craving for a sugary drink. I craved it while pregnant and wanted it even after. He turned three in June and I still crave that sugary drink every day. It is worse now, as I use it to see me through the day.

I am not a coffee drinker at all. I cannot stand the smell of the stuff and often wonder why people would drink it. I have friends who thrive on it every day and need to have that first drink of coffee in the morning to function.

I prefer to drink water and on occasion tea (green tea) and some juices.

None of these are my new crutch, that sweet sugary drink that is full of caffeine and sugar.

I cannot stand to even drink flavoured waters and knowing that this sugary drink has now become my go to is bothersome. What use to be an occasional drink when out visiting friends, family or out dinning has become something I feel I need to survive.

Not anymore!

Today I stand my ground and say no to Pepsi and Coca Cola. I will no longer consume these products on daily basis, no matter how much I crave it now. I need to break the habit if I want to become healthier.

I have to be the role model my children see during this journey.

Good bye Coke.

Good bye Pepsi.

Hello water!

October 26-31 Meal Plan

This week was a bit tricky to plan for. We have company coming from out of town who are bringing one meal with them and I was not sure if they were staying for another meal or not. This weeks dinners are as follows.

October 26 - Sweet and Sour Pork (already posted on Adventures in Cooking Gluten Free)
October 27 - Gluten Free Lasagna with garlic bread and garden salad (prepared by my mom and I will only be eating the lasagna and salad)
October 28 - Stuffed Pepper Soup
October 29 - Creamy Mozzarella Chicken Bake with a garden salad
October 30 - Gluten Free Beef Ragu
October 31 - Chicken Pot Pie Biscuits with a vegetable

As I make each meal, a review from my family will be posted along with what I think of the dish after I convert so I can eat it safely. Feel free to venture over to Adventures in Cooking Gluten Free for my recipes and sources of inspiration.

I am now off to bake a cake for my company tomorrow, gluten free of course but sadly from a box.

October 19-24 Meal Plan

As part of my movement towards healthier food choices, I have also started to meal plan our family dinners. Sometimes my family helps me make the choices of what to have for dinner and other times I am met with great resistance and end up planning on my own. By meal planning, I am forcing others to stick to the grocery list and creating healthier meals for everyone to enjoy.

I have decided to share my weekly meal plans with everyone and perhaps it will aid in seeing where I can make even better choices. With that said, the following was planned for dinners during this week.

October 19 ~ Crock Pot Beef Stew
October 20 ~ Chicken Tacos
October 21 ~ Pork Souvlaki with Greek Salad
October 22 ~ Turkey stuffed Peppers
October 23 ~ Steak, potatoes and corn
October 24 ~ Salmon, baked french fries and mixed vegetables (I had rice instead of fries)

Now, I must add that this has already been changed. My husband arrived home supper late on Monday and the little one has been very irritable (cutting teeth), so instead of chicken tacos we had left over beef stew since all it required was warming up. I eliminated the pork souvlaki and bumped chicken tacos (I could not find the pork tenderloin while out shopping and did not feel like making a special trip just for the meat).

If you wish to try the recipes that I am using please see the page Adventures in Cooking Gluten Free. Everything we eat will be shared there, even if we did not like it after I made it safe for me to eat.

Enjoy the rest of your night.

New Pages and a New Blog

Over on the right you will notice a list of pages. These will take you to various articles that I have found useful in helping me make better choices. I use to have these as individual posts, but I needed to make them easily accessible.

At first, I had each individual article listed on a separate page. I have now reconsidered this option and placing similar articles under one page. I feel this makes it look less cluttered on the list.

At the same time, I realized that I needed to have a separate page for each recipe I try and alter to fit my dietary needs. If I were to put each recipe on my posts, I would eventually become frustrated trying to find a certain recipe among all the other items I have posted on here.

The new blog just for the food I am eating is called Adventures in Cooking Gluten Free, you can find it on the list of pages right under the option for Home. I am going to move my post about the pesto I made over the weekend to that blog.

For now I leave you to enjoy the rest of your day, while I tend to my little ones and make more baby food and clean out my cupboards of all the junk food my husband and children enjoy eating rather than the healthier choices.

To Pesto or Not to Pesto....

It is my hope to move my family from a lifestyle of processed, easy to obtain foods by just opening a jar or a box into a more healthy fresh make it yourself lifestyle, even if it takes a bit more time to prepare. With that, I grabbed more fresh fruits, vegetables and even herbs and spices.

Last night, I tried to make a homemade pesto. I received a lovely bunch of cilantro and parsley, in my organic fruits and vegetable box. I took to Google to look for a recipe and came upon one that looked promising.

I found the following

Cilantro Parsley Pesto

Ingredients

2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro sprigs

2 cups loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 large garlic clove, minced

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

1. Pulse herbs, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor until finely chopped. With machine running, add oil in a slow, steady stream. Pesto can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 2 days.

I obtained this beauty from Martha Stewart's website. Figuring she knew what she was talking about since she makes her living this way.

I was wrong.

It was easy to prepare and did not take to long. But something was missing and a flavour over powered it. Could I pin point what was missing, no. Could I figure out what flavour was over powering, no.

My family ate it, with the exception of the 6 month old and the 3 year old who said it was gross after one tiny bite. When asked what the others thought of it, my husband and 15 year old both said it was missing something.

Will I make this recipe again? Who knows, but the only way it will be made again is with the addition of added elements that I will have to toy with until it is perfect.

Realization Sets In

Over the past few months it has been an endless battle to get my children to make healthier choices. 

My husband as well can be included in this battle.

I try to get them to choose fruits and vegetables over cookies, chips and other junkyard items.

Do I succeed? Not a chance.

I get angry and blame my husband for continually buying the garbage foods. I blame him for the poor eating habits of my children.

Reality set in today as I prepared a few weeks worth of food in our freezer for our youngest child.

I control what she eats and how it is prepared.

I choose organic fruits and vegetables.

I choose to make her food over buying the pre-made jars of baby food.

Why am I blaming my husband when I allow him to still buy the garbage we are painstakingly trying to eat healthier and teach better eating habits and life choices.

Reality is, I am more to blame. I make good choices with food introductions and some where down the line I become lax and allow for poor habits to take shape.

Today, I take a stand and insist that the garbage no longer be bought. I will purge the cupboards of the garbage and rid my family of the temptations. Even if it means more home cooking and better for you baked goods.

Undergoing a revamping!

I have decided to update my blog and utilize different tools to help better organize this tool and perhaps help me stay on the band wagon so to speak.

Over the next little bit, I will be adding in side pages will become home to all information under a certain category. It is my hope that these pages will help me to become a healthier person.

At the same time, the pages will be utilized to house information about the allergies I have and how I adapt to a healthier lifestyle within the parameters I am hoping to achieve and maintain. For example, I am gluten free, it is my hope that I will be able to create some healthier choices at home, rather then relying on the store bought garbage like I have.

So please be patient as my blog goes under some major reconstruction; very similar to myself in many ways.

Wow 4 years!

Really four years have passed since I last posted. Shame on me for slacking so badly.

Not just with the blog but also with my fitness and health goals.

I now have two more added reasons why I need to get my rump in gear and become healthier.

In 2011 I welcomed the arrival of a very busy little boy and earlier this year I had a very curious little lady.

I need to lose the weight, become fit and eat better for my three children.

I must take the blame for my failures in order to succeed. No more looking for my husband to change and blaming him. I need to make the change and drag everyone along with me.

Wish me luck.