Goal setting and winning..reevaluation

Sigh....it is so great to finally reach my goal. There were times I never thought I would see it again. But here I sit and I am there!!! 694 days of hard work and I made it.
Tomorrow begins a new month. With a new month brings new beginnings and new goals. The newness is refreshing!
My new goal is to lose 5lbs. I decided long ago that once I hit my goal weight I would take it 5lbs at a time. So now I plan to fight with 5lbs. It may take me a couple of months to get it off, but I WILL get it off.

I need to work on some serious toning between now and January.

For now, I need fuel. I am hungry.

Tropical Margaritas

While thumbing through magazines trying to get inspired for my next weeks menu I found this recipe.

Makes 8 servings

1 (46-ounce) can pineapple juice, divided
1/2 cup tequila
1/4 cup triple sec
1/4 cup banana liqueur
sugar

In a large pitcher, combine pineapple juice (reserving 1/4 cup), tequila, triple sec, and banana liqueur; chill.
Dip rim of glasses in reserved pineapple juice. Dip in sugar to coat. Fill glasses with crushed ice; pour margarita over.
Enjoy!!!

Goal setting and winning

This morning I finally hit my goal weight that I set in Sept. 2006. Today I will just bask in the glow and happiness of this great feat. Tomorrow I will look forward and reevaluate things.

Me and Sarah

I stitched together a couple of photos of me and Sarah.

Do you think we look alike? I need to try a similar pose for the full effect.

Us and the tree

The tree is really growing quickly. It looks a bit sad today. It is VERY hot and it looks like it is hot too. Later when it cools off and we give it a drink it will lift its leaves back to heaven.

Fig Ice cream

hubby sent me a link to a recipe for Fig Ice Cream. So I did a little copy/paste to mine.
I will report of if icy goodness after we make it


Fig Ice Cream
Making this ice cream with fresh figs is a true luxury, but the fresh taste and texture are worth it. That said, figs can be mighty expensive, so sometimes I use half fresh figs and substitute the rest with good quality fig preserves.

2 lbs fresh figs (about 20), or substitute 1 cup fig preserves
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp cloves (anise or cardamom also work nicely)
3/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup half-and-half

1. Remove the stems from the figs and chop them into small pieces. Place the figs in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water and the sugar. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the fig mixture is very thick, soft, and jammy, this may take as long as 20-25 minutes. You should have about 1 cup of fresh fig jam.
2. Cool the fig mixture slightly, then purée the fig mixture with the cream, half-and-half, cloves, salt, and lemon juice (if you’re substituting fig preserves, simply purée them here and omit the sugar).
3. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, at least 3 hours or overnight. Churn in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Figs, figs, and more figs

We have been blessed with TONS of figs. We have over 2 gallons in the freezer and another 1/2 gallon or so in the refrigerator. What do you do with that many figs!
1. freeze them:)
2. make preserves *I made preserves today* Strawberry Fig Preserves

40 min | 10 min prep

2 pints

• 3 cups mashed figs
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 (3 ounce) boxes strawberry Jell-O gelatin dessert

1. Combine the figs, sugar and jell-o in a dutch oven.
2. Bring to a slow boil over medium to medium-high heat.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Stir constantly to prevent sticking and burning.
5. Put in sterlized jars and seal.

(since the preserves were hot they sealed themselves. I put them in the jar and popped on the canning lid and ring. within the hour the lid had sealed) The color is a pretty red.

3. make fig cookies





they taste wonderful.

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup chopped fresh figs
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. Cream sugar and shortening and add beaten egg.
3. Sift dry ingredients and blend with creamed mixture. Fold in figs and nuts.
4. Drop by spoonfuls on greased sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes

4. fig ice cream
(we will be making this later in the week)

The birds

While out at the park last week we had hundreds of ducks and geese. I just thought I would post a few pictures of what we saw.

The National Youth Soccer games were great. A lot of great talent.

Above was one of the Under 14 girls games.
*pictures were taken with our older digital camera set on a lower resolution so pix are not great blown up*

This was the older boys game. Maryland (white) and North Texas (red). The score ended up 2-1 Maryland. The Maryland team was ON. Very exciting watching the headers and the over head kicks. WOW!!!

We are hoping to plan a trip to Dallas to watch the FC Dallas MLS team play in October.

At the park day 4

Today will be my last day out at the fields. It has been a great week. I have gotten great exercise and Adam has had a great time. All good things must come to an end. I have to work tonight and tomorrow night so I will not be taking him out there tomorrow, Jeff will. I will be sleeping.
On a fun note we may leave early Saturday morning and head to Little Rock for the Youth Soccer Tournament.


I will post an update when we get home about my distance and time.


We are home. I did 4.2 miles over 1 hour. The road is 0.7miles. I walked one, then jogged one. Made 6 laps.
the home stretch
BTW: these 2 photos were taken today. I was wearing the same shirt as Monday. If you even care:)

At the park day 3

We are about to head out to day 3 of soccer camp. I think the heat is wearing me down. We really need some rain!
My plan for today is the same as the previous 2 days. Drop Adam off and head to the track. Victoria is taking some old bread, mostly end pieces, to feed the geese and ducks. I am reluctant to carry the camera back out there because of the heat.

I will post my activity update when we get home.


Update: walk/jog 4 miles today

At the park day 2

Today was another hot one.
I ran Adam to soccer camp again. Then I hit the track.
Today I did 3.2 miles. My time was not good at all, but I did it.

The top photo was taken Monday. If you look at the building behind me you will see the Federal Prison.

At the park

yesterday morning while Adam began his morning of soccer. Victoria sat in the shade near the pond and I jogged. I went about 2 miles.
Today I hope to go further. Also, I plan on wearing my heart rate monitor today and see how many calories I burn:).

Soccer photo

I thought this was cool. I shot the photo with the focus on the net and the kids blurred.

Our day at the park

So, here's how it went down...
Got home from work, got ready, went to Wal-Mart,went to the soccer park. Adam got checked in, I jogged/walked 2 miles.
Victoria sat on a bench and took pictures of geese and ducks.
she did walk 0.4 mile with me.

There were TONS and TONS of ducks and geese! I mean TONS.



Here is my little soccer star

Soccer

Tomorrow starts Soccer Camp.
Every year 3 British guys come to the area and host a Soccer Camp for area youth. Anyway, tomorrow morning at 8:30am we will be at the Grady T. Wallis Park. They have soccer fields and a nice small park, pond, and walking trail. I usually don't leave him. I stay and endure the heat with him. It is just until 12pm. Monday - Friday...ugh
It will be especially hard tomorrow after working all night, but we will make it.

I will probably have photos daily!

Right now I need to prepare for work..

chow.

Saving money and planning ahead

Friday night we started our Financial Peace University class. Great practical information. Really, anyone can manage doing this!!
Something I have been working really hard at doing over the last several weeks is menu planning. I am not really creative in the kitchen. So I always feel like I am cooking the same things over and over and over. Usually, I think it is true. I do branch out now and then and try something new.

I found a cool website with blank menu planners with your grocery list off to the right of the page. Check it out
http://www.menus4moms.com/pdf/weeklyplannergroc.pdf

The debt snowball is rolling, better get out of the way:)

Working out 7/18/08

Ok, I may have overdone it today:).
I have been doing Slim in 6 for a week and a half. It is hard work, but not a lot of fun for me. I have been so used to the high energy of Turbo Jam that the SI6 is just lacking the energy to keep me going back to it.

Anyway, SI6 has a great mix of some cardio and lower body. So I did my own mix today, plus some.

So here is what I did today.
1. Turbo Jam 20 minute workout
2. Turbo Jam Ab Jam (10 minutes standing)
3. Turbo Jam Lower Body Jam (30 minutes)
4. Ten Minute Trainer Upper Body (10 minutes)

I burned nearly 500 calories to boot...yippie

Now it is time for a bite of lunch.

Victoria

Our beautiful daughter Victoria. We are so thankful for her in our lives. She was born 11 weeks before her due date. She weighed 2lbs 5oz! I was so scared for her. She was so tiny and helpless. God made her very strong. She is a beautiful girl inside and out. She is kind, considerate, loving, helpful. She puts others before herself almost always!!!

Anyway, I love her dearly. This week we played makeup. We put some makeup on her and then went outside for some photos. She looks SO grown it is hard to believe.

Weightloss..inching closer and closer

I am getting closer and closer to my goal weight. The weight that I set for myself in Sept 2006. What will I do when I get there, you might ask. Hmmm, probably drop the goal by 5lbs. It would probably be nice, in reality, to lose another 10lbs by January. Time, once again, will tell.

New Roof

The old roof. You can see the light gray. It is blurry because the photo is focused on the cucumber. But you can see that it was light and a little dirty looking.

Man these guys worked FAST!
They were outta here around 1230-100. They did a beautiful job.


This is "colonial slate". Looks very pretty. Pictures don't do it justice.

New roof stage one

They came like a fast moving storm. Beating and banging and rumbling around on the roof. Within a short period of time we were stripped down to the paper.

New roof

On Wednesday we will be getting a new roof. Around April 2-3 we had a bad hail storm that did some damage. It is not bad, but the insurance company will buy us a new roof.
We have now had 3 estimates. We have chosen the company that we feel will to the work efficiently.
Now the decision is to pick a color! I hate making decisions:)

Vacation...2009

We are "planning" on staying here next year.
http://www.laurelfork.com/

Any of the cabins would be GREAT!


In the meantime... we hope to do this..
http://www.cottertroutdock.com/index.htm
floating, camping, fishing woohoo

we also hope to do some hiking in the Natural State. I have some new hiking shoes and a pack..so lets go!

VAcation 2008

Above photo was the view from our deck in Gatlinburg, TN.
Picture of the falls. This was our favorite hike. It was 2.5 miles to get here. So worth the trip. We will do this one again.
Above you will see, "Chimney Tops". 2 mile hike UP! You are at a very steady incline during the hike up. When we got up nearly to the top it was COVERED in a cloud. You couldn't see very far ahead of you. Exhausting, but fun.

We are already planning on heading back to East Tennessee next year! I love it over there.

Victoria and Ajax

Victoria and I made bread today. While we waited for the bread to rise Victoria disappeared, and I cleaned up the mess..go figure. But when I saw this I melted.

Family..

Jeff's brother and his family live in Kansas. I wish we could see them more,but life is just like that.

Anyway we keep in touch with email and get to see each other once or twice a year. Not a lot really, but again..thats life.

Today I got a few pix of their garden. I must say I am totally jealous since our garden has pretty much flopped.

this is a photo of their youngest holding a squatty cucumber.
Laurie, thanks for the pix. We miss ya'll!

Fun in the sun

We got out and played today. Soaking in some natural Vit D. It is hot, but fun.
I mowed the yard and the kids played. Needed to get them out of the house and let them play for a bit.

It looks like it is raining on Adam. Cool, huh?

What can I say about this one... I guess he was hot, thirsty or something
The planning...but, what exactly are they planning...hmmmm
Oh boy I think I am in trouble.. Victoria looks like she means business

Yeah, I am in trouble.. (surely she knows better..)

Our tree

WOW.. this thing is really growing FAST!!!!

This is a "stitched" photo of just under a month of growing time.

New Workout!!!!

I am saving for this one...wooohoooo

http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/chalean_extreme.do
Check it out

Working out

Today I did Slim in 6, Start it Up today. Followed by Slim in 6 pack. Whew...that was something. I will do SIU again tomorrow. Next week I will move up to Ramp it Up.
I want to TRY and do the whole 6 week program, except the diet. By the time the 6 weeks are up it should be time for the new Turbo Jam to be released.
I have 5 1/2 months!!! My weight is STUCK!
I need to get into some lb shredding, body sculpting business.

Pizza

Last night we had homemade pizza again. Only this time we didn't make a thick crust. I actually didn't even make the crust at all.
Jeff prefers thin crust anyway. I was wanting an alternative to calorie and carb loaded pizza. So, here is what I did.
1. for the crust I used"Joseph's" Lavash Bread. At the Arkansas side Wal-Mart is it right at the deli. The bread is made from flax, oat bran, and whole wheat flour and contains 4 square breads. This is like "sheets" of bread. The great thing is 1 whole sheet has 100 calories, 4 gms fat, 14 carbs, 6 fiber, and 10 protein.
**if your are an avid carb counter you know that you can subtract fiber from carb to get your "effective carb count"** the ECC is the only % absorbed by the body.

2. then I sprayed a minimal amount of Olive Oil spray over the bread.
3. pizza sauce
4. shredded cheese
5. canadian bacon
6. pineapple
7. bit more cheese
8. splashes of pizza sauce on top of goodies
9. bake the baby!

My only proplem was the crust didn't crisp up like I thought it would. Next time I will bake the crust a little before topping it. Or use a rack or something to lift it a little off the cookie sheet that I cooked it on. Just needs a way for the heat to get to all the surfaces good!

I haven't done a complete nutritional count, but I do know that it is low.

Dream busted...lol

I did a web search on our little American Gladiator. She may not have look like the photo below, but she is no stranger to fitness and athletics.
Here is her bio
Monica Carlson is a 32-year-old mother of 8-year-old twins and a former Portland Trailblazer dancer. Growing up "American Gladiators" was her favorite show. Her husband is a football coach and athletics plays a large part in the family. One of 11 kids growing up, Monica is in great shape and loves competition. She currently lives in Milwaukie, Oregon.

Her career is a sports model.
I am really sure I have a great 6 pack right now. I just keep it covered in a layer of insulation.

I will finish my coffee, fix Jeff's lunch, and get some house work done. I hope to take the kids swimming today.

Dream Big

If your gonna dream, dream big right?!
The photo I am posting is of a self proclaimed "soccer mom". She competed on American Gladiator for a role as a Gladiator. Her real name is Monica. I really routed for her the whole time. She seemed sweet and likable and worked really hard.

So time passed and she won and some time later made her debut. I was shocked at how she had transformed herself. She is now known as "Jet".
I want my abs and arms to look like hers...lol

So this is my inspirational photo! Wonder if it is possible for a gal like me:)

Kick Start Day 10

Ok the 10 day deal is nearly over.
I haven't done bad, but not great either. If anything, most days I didn't get enough!
Last night was bad. Some crazy nurse brought 2 great big bags of M & M's. 1 bag peanut, 1 bag regular. Yes I had some!!! More than I should have, ok! So stop already..lol


Yesterday and today I did Slim in 6, Start it Up (25 minutes). Ok, it wasn't the high energy I am used to with Turbo Jam. However, I will confess I am SO FREAKIN' SORE!!! My legs are killing me. If I sit for very long I can hardly get up my quads and hams are so sore.

I will follow the SI6 workouts for a while for something different.
I will weigh in the morning, probably.

Kick Start Day 8

Oops, I skipped a day.
I have mostly behaved. I am not perfect:)

I worked last night, I work again tonight and Monday night.

I may do some Slim in 6 in the morning. I haven't tried that one.

Kick Start Day 6

It is the 4th of July!!! Happy Independence Day America.

Today's diet has been fair. It is not that I have eaten badly, I just haven't eaten much. I needed to take in more fuel.
We are about to leave for a party where there will be hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and beer.
I will try and be very careful.

My workouts today
1. ab ripper X (339 ab/core exercises)
2. Cardio Party 3

Now we are about to leave for the party.
Have a great evening!

Financial Peace

On July 18th we will begin a course through Financial Peace University. This course is done by Dave Ramsey.
I have read the book and have listened to 3 of the many cd's that come with the student kit. It is great information. A lot of the info is common sense stuff. Stuff that we should be doing but just neglect to do.

His basic plan has several steps. Called baby steps.

1. pay minimum on everything until you get $1,000 in savings. If you are low income $500.
2. the dept snowball. you line up your debt with the lowest balance being #1. pay minimum on everything except that bill in #1 slot. Pay whatever you can extra to that every month. When that bill is paid. Move #2 bill to #1 and take what you were paying to previous #1 and apply that payment WITH what you are currently paying to the new #1. You repeat this process until all your debt is paid off. (this step could take a while. don't get discouraged)
3. all that you should have left is your house (if you are buying a home). Begin putting money away for your emergency fund. You should save 3-6 months expenses. If something were to happen and your couldn't work for an extended period of time. You would have your emergency fund to pay your bills.
4. he talks about retirement funds. putting 15% of gross household income in 401K etc
5. college funds for kiddo's
6. pay your house off early
7. your dept free! invest in real estate, or mutual funds, annuities-tax deferred.

A good reason for paying off your lowest balance first is that you will SEE quick results. It will be paid off in no time. If you choose the largest balance first it could get discouraging when it seems like the balance never moves.

Kick Start Day 5

Ok, officially 1/2 way into the kick start. Today I promise to be more alert and ready to get stuff done.
Today's agenda involves working out, cleaning house, buying groceries, .... the list could go on and on.

My Kick Start range for today is:
Calores 1109
Carbs 85
Fats 35
Protein 111

Why the odd numbers you may ask. It is an estimate from a prewritten diet. I wasn't crazy about the foods, so I had the nutritional values calculated and I improvise and stay within the range.

Todays workouts consisted of:
1. Cardio Party Remix (30 minutes) it is one of the live workouts. It is fast and fun.
2. 10 minute Trainer lower body
3. Ab Ripper 200
For a total of 50 minutes of exercise and tons of sweat! At the end of this ten days I hope to be at my goal weight. I only had 2 lbs to lose in the 10 days! So surely I can get there. Also at the end of the 10 days I will see where I am with my weight etc and see what to do next. I will probably reset my goal by 5lbs at a time. Now that I have the biggest chunk of the weight gone I will make baby steps to the finish.
Could I dare to dream to be back at the weight I was 17 years ago...hmmmm. Only time will tell.


Later in the day:
It sure is hot outside! I would consider beginning running, but geez! We have worked hard cleaning the house today. I believe we are due for a rest. Victoria must go and buy groceries when Jeff gets home. I just know it is going to be busy. Tomorrow being the 4th of July. Oh, I can hardly wait to see Wal-Mart. Maybe we will go to Albertson's instead.

Kick Start Day 4

Well nearly 1/2 way there. Diet has been ok. Haven't had much in calories today. I need to eat something.
I had thought I would make today a rest day, but I am thinking I will do some type of workout later this evening. I worked all night last night and had a ton to do today, I am tired! I still feel like I should be doing something.

So...I don't know what I will do. I have to pick my husband up from work later.

I took the kids swimming for several hours today. I just want to go back to bed now:)


Addendum: after a light dinner I did some ab exercises and push ups. Didn't go by video. We were watching the Olympic Trials, swimming. I did the moves like Ab Ripper 200. It is better than nothing. I was way to sleepy to do much else.

Kick Start Day 3

So far so good. My weight this morning was the same as yesterday morning. I am pleased with that. I have not completely decided if I will weigh every morning. I probably wont since there will be several mornings that I will just be getting home from work etc. I only like weighing after I have slept a full night. I wont be weighing again until at least Thursday morning. If I can stand it I will wait until Saturday morning.
Todays nutritional breakdown goes like this:
Calories 1135
Carbs 115
Fat 25
Protein 116

My workout this morning was Power 90. I did Sculpt 1-2, 30 minutes of strength training. Then I did Ab Ripper 100. This ab ripper is the lesser version of the 200 that I have been doing. In the 100 you do 10 moves 10 times each for a total of 100 ab ripping exercises.

The Easy Six Week Diet Transition

BEACH BODY NUTRITION & WEIGHT LOSS
The Easy Six Week Diet Transition

In some ways, changing your diet is similar to making a successful resolution in that it's conceptual at first. Your long-range goal should just be to eat well. As your healthy eating behavior becomes a habit, you will find the other intangibles (such as weight loss, energy gained, etc.) falling into place. The easiest way to accomplish this is a gradual transition from food choices that don't help to food choices that do. By making this transition gradually over six weeks, we've found it to be the easiest diet program ever recommended.

Working in a 6-week cycle, you can train (or trick, if you will) your body into craving more nutritious foods. This cycle is easier if you're exercising because your body will crave the proper nutrients to re-build its broken down tissue.

Week 1
Eliminate the junk from your diet. That's it, just junk; no potato chips, candy, ice cream, etc. Other than this you may eat whatever you like... and here's the kicker: you may cheat on this twice, and that means for TWO WHOLE DAYS YOU CAN EAT WHATEVER YOU LIKE AND STILL SUCCEED!

Week 2
No eating for 3-hours before you go to bed. That way your body can go to sleep in fat-burning mode, rather than in calorie-storing mode. Plus each week carries over, so you still cannot have junk, except for the 2 days when you may cheat and eat whenever and whatever you like.

Week 3
Eat 5 to 6 small meals a day. If you make yourself do this, the size will control itself because you won't ever get ravenously hungry. Try to keep each meal balanced as close to 30% protein, 40% carbohydrates, and 30% fat as you can - and try and eat for what you will be doing for the next three hours (If you're working out, eat more, sitting at a desk, eat less)... Still no junk food, and still no eating three hours before bedtime. You may cheat on two days.

Week 4
Eliminate fast food and alcohol. This can be hard for many of us because we now have to plan our meals, but hey, it's only for a couple weeks. People tend to forget that alcohol has calories, and it also slows your metabolism. Cheat ONLY ONE DAY this week.

Week 5
Eat whole foods. This means that you eliminate any processed foods from your diet, such as bread, most salad dressings, almost all cereal, luncheon meats, cheese, anything with preservatives, and most everything served in restaurants. What you can eat are whole foods such as fruit, raw or steamed vegetables, meat (sans any type of sauce), natural grain rice, poached eggs, etc. It shouldn't be terribly hard since your eating habits have been slowly changing. Still, it's a hard week because it will feel like dieting. Try not to cheat, but you may if you find yourself getting ravenous - just keep your blowout to a minimum.

Week 6
Eat healthy. Eat whatever you want, following the general rules we've followed for the last five weeks. You may be surprised to find yourself craving something healthy instead of a candy bar or pint of Ben & Jerry's. You should now be better at listening to your body because it will tell you what it needs to eat, as opposed to what you're used to eating - especially if you're working out. Keep a couple of cheating days, allowing yourself to give in to occasional indulgences. Just try not to overdo it.

Now take some time off and don't think about dieting. Have your eating habits changed? Most likely they have. You may find that your body feels transformed and that you've shed some fat! More importantly, because you have gradually changed your lifestyle, your body is likely to maintain this change, without a lot of effort on your part.

You should now know enough about yourself to tweak the next 6-week plan to suit you. However, keep the cheating days. They are important, and not just because they allow you to have fun. Whenever you are restricting your caloric intake, your metabolism wants to slow down because it thinks that you are starving. By "cheating" a couple of days a week, you actually trick your metabolism to stay higher, so you lose more fat.