Storm's a comin'!

Hey guys! I need to be quick because bad storms are coming my way!!

My mom and I had such a wonderful time in Clarksville!! Okay Steff.. cut to the chase.

Dinner: Rafferty's of course. I ordered a Grilled Chicken Cesar Salad- No croutons- Cheese and Honey Mustard Dressing on the side. I added 1 T of cheese and using the dip method of eating dressing, I'd say about 1/8 c of dressing. The salad comes with these wonderful little croissants, which I did steal a bite of.My mom ordered a sirloin and a baked potato! I had 1/2 the potato and about 4 bites of steak. This was the first read meat I have had in a long while... SO delicious!! On the way home we had to stop and get my dad some dinner. Dairy Queen was the quickest stop. Mamaseta wanted a dipped cone...I know in Murray you can get SMALL 25 cent kiddie cones and have those dipped. So when I ordered two small KIDDIE dipped cones... I was shocked that this is what they gave me:

Oh well, you live, you learn, you splurge! It was SO sweet I could barely eat it. Then again I hate to waste..so I ate it and got the hiccups like I do whenever I eat ice cream. Okay guys!! I gotta go check the weather, pack lunches, grab the mag light, and read a little EPL!! :o) See ya in the AM! (or afternoon! haha)

Spring is in the air!

You can really tell the seasons (and full moons) by observing the kids at school. They have cabin fever and they stink! Spring is here!! They stink because 1. they have gym 2. the heat is still on in the buildings because it was cold yesterday! It's hard to regulate the heating an cooling of a building when the controls are in another building across town. Anyhow, Spring is here and it makes me a little happier I have to say. The sunshine just needs to be dim is all.

FOR BREAKFAST I wanted a sammie but we both got up late so I had oats instead. D put the last of my macerated berries in with 1/4 t of choco chips. However, the berries were bad :( I kept them too long. I kind of ate around them.

Lunch was boring, even I have to say. I haven't been cooking meals since I've been busy and he's been working so I had to settle for the remainder of the green peppers and a chicken sammie. Everything was good, just boring. As you see I had sugar free jell-o with cool whip as well.

At work I snacked on 10 almonds very slowly for a few hours. I made a protein shake with 3/4 c horizon and 1/4 c soy. Yuck-o. I tried to make myself drink it but the smell was so horrible I just couldn't stomach it any longer. Now I HATE to waste food...but this had to go!!! Once I was home this afternoon I had 1 T of peanut butter, a land o lakes colby/jack cheese square and about 7 kashi TLC's. I LOVE peanut butter and cheese!! I used to make little crackers with ritz, pb and that easy squirt cheese! haha.. they were good.

Tonight I am going to Clarksville with my mom to get our Salad Spinners!!! Ahhh! I don't know why I didn't buy this spinner a month ago! Well, I do know why, D thought it was dumb since we already have one (a crappy one) from Wal-Mart. Since luck was on my side a few days ago, I doubt I will have it today. I am sure they'll be sold out. I'm SO optimistic! I just love it.

Okay kids... Gotta fold some laundry before I leave. Hope you're Monday was Magnificent!

Sadly, the weekend is over

Oh Sunday nights. I hate Sunday nights because they mean Monday is just over the horizon. Ugh. Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts.

1. it's a FOUR day work week!!

2. I am getting a new salad spinner tomorrow.

3. I love myself.

Ahh... I feel better already. I am trying to stay positive in my life instead of adding un called for stress.

We had a meeting after church, and since D had to be at work at 2:00 we grabbed him fast food and I came home and made a mini pizza. I am sure you guys are sick of seeing these. Sorry. I needed to use up the green onions AND the pitas... so here's what you get! I am also a creature of habit. For desert I had strawberry yogurt with fiber one! Yum, Yum, Yum!!

I decided to go to my mom's house today because she's been sick and I wanted to check on her. Before I left I had a banana! I didn't plan on staying there all afternoon, but she was looking up kitchen gadgets online. I LOVE KITCHEN GADGETS!!!!! I can't get enough of them. While I was there I got hungry. The best thing in her house was a Ritz Peanut Butter Cracker Pack. I HATE these... and I only ate it because I really was hungry. They're way to buttery-- I've never liked them.

For dinner I didn't really feel like cooking anything grand for myself nor did I want an omelet so I settled for oaties on the stove top. Soooo rich and creamy. The horizon milk is a tad sweeter than regular milk. I enjoy it. However, I think cup for cup the regular skim has fewer calories. That being said, I will drink whatever has the fewest calories and carb content. My oaties were made with horizon, 1 banana, 1/4 t choco chippies, and I also had 1 T of peanut butter to eat along with them! Nice choice really. The drink of the evening was Prince of Wales tea. Very filling dinner. I am getting a little sad eating alone. My Papa said I am "batch-en'" it. He's right. :( Oh well come summer I will have two jobs as well so I won't be home alone anymore I suppose.

Okay kids, I need to get lunches ready for tomorrow! See ya then!

Like Water For Milk

For breakfast, I asked D to make me a sammie! I am fully capable of making these, but mine are never as good as his. It's a man thing-- they ALL know how to cook an egg...and all of them better than me. I had an english muffin, egg, cheese, and turkey bacon sammie with Tazo Organic Apple Red Tea! soooo good. Still not as filling as oatmeal because I don't feel satisfied. Oatmeal is a complex carb making it slow to digest. Eggs and Cheese are not!
Speaking of Organic... I had a coupon for Horizon Organic Milk so of course I got it. Listen to this dialogue:

D: Have you tried that new milk you bought?
Steff: No, why?
D: Well, are you sure it's milk?
Steff: Yes, It's just organic.
D: Are you sure it's not colored water?

I tasted it and it's sweet and delicious! Sorry for poor D, but I liked it a lot better than regular skim milk. The true test will be it's oatmeal making abilities!

:o)

I had a wonderful day with my Papa! It really was nice to go to Bowling Green with him. :o) I am excited of this picture I took this morning because you can really see my weight loss. I took the picture because I thought my make-up looked good today haha.. and It would be a nice picture for D to put on his desk at work. However, I feel that I am really starting to show my weight loss and this picture is a prime example :o)
Lunch: I knew he liked Chick-fil-A and that I could find something to eat there. For lunch I ordered a Chargrilled Chicken Salad. It looked DELICIOUS!! It tasted okay. :( The salad was wet therefore very watery. What was cool is that it came with broccoli on the side which I could have had 10 more little trees of! Check out all the mix-ins it came with! Fat Free Honey Mustard (that was gross and peppery, I didn't eat it) Croutons (which I had 2 of) and Honey Roasted Sunflower Seeds. Since the dressing was a bust, I decided to put the sunflower seeds on my salad. BIG mistake!! This decision was made before I knew how watery it was. Thankfully I only put half the bag on my salad and was able to enjoy the rest for my "desert"!
Snacks: I didn't eat my whole salad because it was sitting in a pool of water so I had an early snack today. It consisted of the remainder of my banana from this morning and Kashi Original TLC's. I love these little crackers. Later on I had a new protein bar....Slim Fast High Protein Chocolate Chip Granola. Thumbs DOWN. Okay, it ranked higher than the balance bar and some of those Luna's but it still tasted gross. I THINK I am going to go back to Zone Perfect Bars even though they have more sugar than I'd like.


Dinner: When in Russellville with my Papa where do I eat?! Well ROY'S of course, home of the lemon packets! (which in case you don't know crack me up EVERY time.) Tonight I was smarter... There is no way I will ever eat a salad from this place because I know I will hate it and only eat half of it.. sooo I ordered pulled BBQ Pork with NO bread and sauce on the side. Also, baked beans and a baked potato. IT WAS SO GOOD. I literally ate everything on my plate (except the sauce, I had maybe 2 dips of it because they gave me hot instead of mild) and would have probably eaten the plate too. Everything was fresh and hot. This meal was a little high on calories but since lunch was skimpy, I am still right on target with my daily intake. My Aunt Carol joined us and that was nice to have a little family outing. Hoo-rha.

Okay kids.. I am home now and cleaned a little and enjoyed a cup of Bedtime Tea. That's exactly what I plan to do.. go to bed!! See ya in the morning! :o)

The Weekend Arrives

Today is a breakfast sammie kind of day. I have found that on the weekends, I would rather have something other than oatmeal because I actually have the time to fix it! I bought new whole wheat english muffins last night and I wanted to try them. Turkey Bacon, Egg and Cheese all sounded too heavy so I opted for a lighter choice! On another blog I read, she often has jam, peanut butter, and banana on some sort of bread. I've always eaten peanut butter and banana sammies, and since I LOVE my black raspberry jam I decided to give it a whirl! Though DELICIOUS I do have one problem. I put the jam on one side and ther peanut butter on the other. With my bananas in the middle....the jam side just wants to make everything fall apart. If you chose to make this (and when I make it again) the proper assembly should be: Muffin, Jam, Peanut Butter, Bananas, a dab of Peanut Butter, Muffin. :o) I am also sipping on what is quite possibly my favorite tea: Salada Strawberry Orange Green Tea.

I am going to Russellville today to take my Papa to Bowling Green! I am sure we will have fun. With that said, I don't know when I'll be home! Enjoy your Saturday! I know I will enjoy mine.

Luck is in the air.

I love Friday! Today felt like Thursday though. I am pretty sure it felt so odd because I left work early yesterday to go to the dentist. The post is late because I had to go to the grocery after school. As PACKED as the parking lot was, it wasn't very crowded inside-- which I was glad for.
Breakfast: Last night I diced some strawberries and added splenda so they could macerate. They were delicious in this mornings oaties!! I told D to add 1 T of swemi-sweets. That was dumb---It was LOADED with chocolate. I really only need 1 tsp. of chocolate! Oh well, I ate it and I do have to say it was good. I love oats. I hope my love affair with them never grows old.

Lunch: Blah. You see pictured a salad with kens and shredded parm, tuna, and jell-o with cool whip. However the tuna had FISH BONES all in it! YUCK! Luckily I had a dollar (I NEVER have cash) So I chose what I know was the best choice from the vending machine. Lance Toastchee Crackers (that is not my hand in the picture. It's a male co-workers.). I ate half of my salad, all of the jell-o and the crackers. :( It was a sad little lunch.

Snacks: Because I used the last of the milk for my oaties, I had no Luna Bars, or anything else to eat for that matter--- my snack today was a yogurt with Uncle Sam's cereal. This was not as filling as I would have liked for it to be. Luck was on my side again today. Around 2:55 for some reason adults just started popping in our classroom, one of which was selling popcorn. I jumped at the chance for that! The popcorn was VERY filling and I was glad for it because grocery shopping when you're hungry as we all know is a nightmare.

WHILE at the store, YOGI TEA was on SALE!!!!! I was very excited! Even though Aimee just sent me 3 boxes, I couldn't resist buying just one more box. I probably will not try this tonight because I have a lot of chores to do and I want to go to bed early. I look forward to enjoying it this weekend.

Let me just talk about fat people for a minute. I am a fatty so I can speak freely. For me, and I imagine many more over weight people, food is EVERYTHING. I think about food ALL THE TIME. No sooner than I'd eat breakfast, I want to think and talk about lunch. Food is my drug. Everyday it takes every bit of will power I have not to gorge myself like a little stuffed pig. No joke. Just like an alcoholic buys just one more beer, I'd want just one more cookie. To those who read this that struggle with weight-- just know that YOU are STRONGER than the temptation to eat. Losing weight is all a mental game with me. I know my body and I know when it is full. I drink a lot of tea because I can sip it and it takes a while to drink. It's soothing for the mind and soul as well. This is also why I drink so much water daily. It fills me up. I also use a calorie counter online that keeps me right on track. I wish you all the best of success!! Losing 30 lbs has REALLY kicked me in to overdrive again. I feel like I felt when I first started to "diet". I have not been working out since I've been so busy and D has a second job. I am EXCITED to jump start that Monday (and use my poor little fitness watch!) Just know I am here struggling along with you. Sure I talk about what I eat, but I never talk about the struggles that go with it. It's hard, very hard to restrain from eating a lot of things-- which is why I am so strict with myself. I have to be, or I'd be taking "one more bite" for an hour. :o)

On to dinner!! While at the store I picked up green peppers and mushrooms!! Green Peppers and Mushrooms are my all time favorite pizza toppings. I used a Kangaroo Whole Wheat Pita, 1 T of Ragu Pizza Sauce, 1/2 c cheese, green peppers and mushrooms. I sauteed the veggies in cooking spray before making the pizza. Oh yes, I also toasted the pita in the toaster first as well. Easy as 1,2...3! Just broil until you nearly burn it and it's good to go!! Listen to these facts...

my WHOLE pizza was 374 calories, 37 carbs, 24 protein and 9g fiber. Compared to 2 slices (because I can't just eat one) of Pizza Hut's Pan Mushroom and Green Pepper Pizza: 500 calories, 56 carbs, 10 protein, and 2g fiber. Wow. I am VERY full without all the greasiness of their pizza. I will be making these pizza's time and time again! They are great for kids and families too. Everyone can make their own little pizza! How fun! I also had a skinny dipper for desert! (that I didn't want but I ate for the sake of eating desert. I SHOULD have used will power, see!)

Okay kids.. I have chores to do. I also rented a movie at the Red Box. The sweet lady in front of me handed a free movie coupie. I really appreciated this because I always leave coupies in the store and hand them out if I don't need them. Luck, Karma, and baby Jesus are on my side today. Wow.. and all at once! I better stop while the gettin's good.

See ya in the AM! (no really.. I will.)

Burnt is better!

As much as I don't care for Rachael Ray, I am like her when it comes to using the broiler (and baking!) For dinner I piddled around until my stomach would let me piddle no more! The fridge and cabinets are bare, so my choices were slim. I didn't want a salad and didn't have any sides other than salad to go with a sammie therefore a pita pizza it was! I toasted the pita in the toaster first so that it wouldn't get soggy from the sauce. A dab of sauce was all I needed and a pile of cheese did the trick! I really wish we had some mushrooms or green pepper, but I made do just fine with a gooey cheese pizza, slightly burnt. I was on the phone with D and by the time I remembered my pizza it had gotten a little brown around the edges! Turns out it was delicious! It didn't taste very burnt and the crispiness was delightful. Once I was done eating, I realized how nice a salad would have been. Oh well, I thought. I then began to ponder desert options. Jello, Yogurt, or Skinny Dipper. Chocolate cool whip is horrible on mixed fruit jell-o, so that was out. I only had a sample of the fiber one cereal, so I didn't really want to eat yogurt without it. Hands down a mint skinny dipper it was!! It was ALL I HAD not to run back to the fridge and grab a second and third one of these, however I managed! I am now sipping on Tazo Organic Apple Red hot tea. So yummy. Man, these teas are so much better than the Lipton crap I have! The depth of flavor is just unmatched. Now, Salada Strawberry Orange is probably still my favorite.

Speaking of Lipton, this afternoon while talking to my Papa (who you know calls me daily.) I sipped on Lipton Orange something Green Tea. It's horrible after having these nice teas!!

Well... I actually don't have anything else to say other than I bid you good night and happy dreams! (tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!)

It is confirmed!

I have TMJ. I don't have just NORMAL teeth grinding TMJ, oooh no. I have some jaw moving, cartilage cracking, muscle spasin', EXPENSIVE TMJ. Which causes me to need the MUCH more expensive night guard. Now, if I was only a teeth grinder and my muscles didn't spasm and my jaw didn't almost explode every time I opened my mouth, I would be a candidate for the $175 soft, cushy night guard. Oh no folks. I need the $420 diamond laced hard night guard. Okay, well it really doesn't come with diamonds, but it should for that price. There were a few good things that came out of this visit: Dr. Bottoms (the dentist) thought I was funny, I thought he was cute, everyone there was very nice, AND he gives a 10% discount if you pay upon service. Today I had to pay $128 for a panoramic X-Ray (that I really wish I had taken a picture of so I could show you guys) and for him to poke, prod, and measure every angle of my mouth. I also found out that my teeth are salvageable and I will not need dentures by the ripe age of 3o, which was a SERIOUS concern of mine! He did want me to stick to a soft diet, and I told him I wouldn't, but would continue to eat "softer" foods. We both agreed that was doable! Okay kids, lets talk about what all I ate with these teeth today!!

Breakfast: BANANA RAMA OATIES! Oats, Skim,Cinnamon & Splenda (other wise known as cinnalove ♥) and a whole banana. 1/2 of the banana was used during cooking and the other half was added to the top. So yummy and delicious. I would eat oats now if I had more bananas!

Lunch: Lunch was blah. I was a nervous wreck because I knew my dental appt. was coming up. I loathe the dentist if you don't remember. Anyhow. I ate 4 oz of Black Forest Ham (that I prefer in omelets), green peppers, broccoli, and strawberry yogurt topped with fiber one cereal. I LOVE THIS CEREAL!!!! Okay, well that's all I have to say about that.

Snacks: I did not have a 2PM snack because I had to leave to go to the DR. Once I got home I had a scoop of peanut butter. I finally used my brain and put the spoon on a PLATE to take a picture. I had been just holding the spoon up to photograph and was coming out with these unappealing pictures.

I need to go to the store, but I really don't feel like it. I will scrounge something up for dinner. Maybe even have another omelet! Who knows!

Omelet Disaster

I didn't have time to pack a dinner before I left because the cable guy came before D got home. I knew I didn't need to eat a Shoney's so I waited until I got home at 8:45 to fix myself dinner. An omelet sounded soooo yummy. Scrambled eggs were nice too! My omelet broke so I made a little egg (1 egg and 2 egg whites), ham, green onion and cheese scramble. I also had a slice of toast with buttery spread and black raspberry jam! Yum! Right now I am sipping on Yogi Bedtime Tea. I have NEVER had tea with such depth of flavor. I feel like I am tasting wine instead of sipping tea. At first you get the soft aroma and flavor of chamomile, as the beverage hits the back of your tongue, you taste the sweetness of the spearmint. Very yummy AND soothing.
I think I will finish it in my bed :o)
Tomorrow= Dentist!! ahh!! Fingers crossed!!!

Do a little dance...

That's what I did this morning when I discovered I've lost 30 pounds! That's THREE ZERO!! Woo! I am on my way. I have also decided that I do indeed what children. This is something I have been torn about for the past several years for reasons that shall not be discussed here. The light bulb came on yesterday at school. There are some kids that I absolutely ADORE (who don't have the greatest home life)and I think how much greater that love can be when the child is MY OWN. D and I both feel strongly about the possibility of adoption. It's something we've looked in to and will probably pursue later in our lives. It's a huge step and such a life changing one at that.

Anyhow.. For my celebratory breakfast I had Strawberry Banana Oaties with Chocolate. D put TONS of chocolate on those oats! A little too much for me. I ate them anyway of course!

You know the spoiler.. lunch was a repeat of last nights dinner! It was so delicious that I wouldn't mind having it again tonight! I get on kicks and stay on them for a while, in case you haven't realized. *wink, wink* For those of you who don't know what I had last night and those that need a refresher: Grilled Chicken Salad with Ken's and Shredded Parm-o. I also had Sugar Free Mixed Fruit Jell-o with chocolate cool-whip. Gross. I needed just regular cool whip for this one! Oh! I forgot that I ate Kashi crackers. They were just great with the salad.

I stayed very very full today and I attribute that to my large water intake. However at 2:30 I very SLOWLY drank my homemade protein shake, only to STILL get a tummy ache :( I am thinking of making my shake with soy milk. This afternoon when I got home around 4:30 I topped a pita with peanut butter and my left over banana half from this morning. I could have done without the pita. It was a poor choice.

Tonight I have tons of stuff to do. My little church group is going to Shoney's for dinner...there is nothing I CAN and WANT to eat there so I will be packing my own dinner along. That is IF I get going! It's 5:00 now and I still need to post pictures, pack a dinner AND get to my mom's by 5:30! eep! See ya later!

I wanna know...

Who you are!! You guys rarely leave comments and this little blog gets a decent amt. of clicks daily. I only know a handful of daily readers so I am giving you an assignment! Introduce yourself, if you like of course. I understand if you want to keep your identity a secret. I try to stay incognito most of the time too. Ms. Gilbert expects you to get an A + on this assignment. Please don't be like our kids and ignore the fact that you've been given homework! haha. Speaking of homework...the school board had a meeting tonight and brought their brains along with them. They overturned their original decision and gave us our spring break back and tacked the remaining days on to the end of the year like we VOTED on. :o) What's YOUR good news for the day?

Thanks for reading guys.
Much Love,
Steff (who is off to have bed time tea & read!)

A nice clean day!

D was off at the Credit Union today and and the house was beginning to show just how busy we've both been! He cleaned the house today, which I love of course. Tonight I am completing laundry and doing the second load of dishes. Sorry the post is so late. I have a lot of T-shirts to make for this kids at school so that took precedence, then I needed to cook dinner so D could go to work.
Breakfast: Straight up banana oaties! You know how it goes folks.. 3/4 c skim, oats, cinnamon, 1/2 packet splenda, & 1/2 of a banana! Yum, Yum, Yum. Seriously, if you don't begin your day with oats, give it a try just for ONE week.

Lunch: Leftovers! I mean did you really think I'd have ANYTHING different?! Rewind last night: 2 muffins, sauteed broccoli, and brown rice. I also drank 24 oz of water AT lunch, which I rarely do because it makes me feel bloated. Well, I felt sick afterwards of course. I also ate a TON of rice! Big mistake. It was all delicious though!! I was VERY full for the rest of the day. I ate my Chocolate Peppermint Stick luna bar around 2:00 and ate it over 30 minutes. That was my last Luna and I believe it will be my last for a while. I also had 2 T of peanut butter around 4:30.
Dinner: I have NOT been eating enough salads. I used to eat them a few times a week for lunch. Something I am going to change because I love salad. Tonight D and I had grilled chicken salads. We used romaine and spinach. Mine was topped with shredded parm and I dipped it in Ken's Honey Mustard as I ate it. I guesstimate I used roughly 1 T of dressing and 1/2 T of cheese. Spoiler: I am having this for lunch tomorrow! ;o) You probably already guessed that. I might have a yogurt or a skinny dipper in a bit-- It just depends if I am hungry or not. I have been very satisfied today. I need to count all my calories up. If I need more calories I will have a snack for sure.

I check http://www.postsecret.com/ weekly and have even sent in a few secrets. I reccomend doing it actually. Anyhow check this out:

I'm glad I'm not the only one! ha! I litterally laughed out loud.